Category Archives: Microsoft Office
Opening Word Files in Microsoft Works
A common question I get is about the difference between Microsoft Office, especially Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Works. Works has spreadsheet and word processor programs, so why would you need to pay for Office? Worse, how can you still use Works and still collaborate with someone who has Office? Well, it turns out that it might be a few more steps, but it is possible.
As a background, some computers come with Microsoft Works already installed and working. This program suite comes bundled with the computer. However, Works natively uses different formatting and file extensions than Office does. In the past, this was a royal pain, and converter programs had to be used to convert back and forth. This almost always resulted in significantly changing the formatting of the data file.
Well, Microsoft has made available the Office Compatibility Pack. According to article KB933428, as long as this is installed, you can open MS Word files in Microsoft Works. If you don’t have Office installed, you can just double-click on the .doc or .docx file and open it in Works Word Processor or double-click on the .xls or .xlsx file and open it in Works Spreadsheet. Using the Office Compatibility Pack should allow you to make changes and save them as well.
If you are using Works, you might want to get in the habit of using Save As to save Works files in the compatible Office format. Note as well that you can use the file format converter in Word to open a Works document in Word 2007+.
Outlook 2010 Resources: File Locations
I’ve recently needed some information on where Outlook 2010 stores its files and such. It turns out that there are a few resources out there, but few seem to be as easy to use and read as Slipstick Systems’ article “Outlook 2010 Backup and File Locations".
You might want to peruse the site, as they have some other articles of interest to those aggravated by Outlook and Exchange. I’ll be posting a couple of other resources this week as well.
Largest Ever Microsoft Security Update
Several people have asked me about computer slowness and many, many security updates recently. I know I was putting together a new Windows 7 machine, and I was amazed at how many updates there were. However, I was surprised to go to an existing machine and find out there were 14 updates for it as well.
So, I poked around a bit, and it does seem that MS has released a huge update. PCWorld reports “Microsoft Releases Biggest-ever Security Update”. It looks like the latest includes no less than 16 patches, 2 of which are rated “critical”. The patches include fixes for Windows, Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer, so it is a wide-ranging release.
It is important to keep up on MS updates. I realize that some worry about doing updates because of past issues, but you can set the updates to download and install manually rather than automatically. That way, you can Google online to see if there are any serious problems before running the install. However, that also means you have to remember to run them on a regular basis because the longer you hold off on installing them, the more likely someone will take advantage of a vulnerability.
Live Mesh + Live Sync = Live Sync?
As you are well aware of, I’m big on backups and sharing data across devices. One of my recent frustration centers around Live Mesh not sync’ing Outlook PST files. Another is that a recent reinstall revealed that Live Sync wasn’t keeping up with my PST files either. Double ouch!
However, I still found Live Mesh useful for things I didn’t necessarily need everything of. Instead of my entire Document directory, just share out the subdirectories I need. Plus, I setup one organization so that it’s backup files would sync online, thus providing automatic off-site storage.
Well, it now appears that this is going to change, and some of the changes are not for the better. The Microsoft blog Inside Windows Live details some of these changes in the article “Windows Live Sync beta blends the best of Sync and Mesh”.
First, the good news is that consolidating these 2 programs means streamlining. In my book, anything that reduces another program is a good thing, provided you still get the functionality of both programs. It helps to instruct others on just one program, it takes fewer resources than 2 programs (or, it should, at least), and then there is the reduction of a chance of a collision because you only have one program in control.
BUT, what Microsoft has decided to do is reduce the amount of disk space you can use to sync online. So, that organization with the 2.5 GB backup file? Too bad, as the new limit is 2 GB, when it used to be 5. True, you can always sync locally, but the point is that it was a very useful way to do online backups for small organizations.
MS is putting some of the functionality of Live Mesh into Office Online. Personally, I have found limited usage for Office Online and even more the SharePoint version that comes with Office 2010, but esp. the latter. After a while, SharePoint simply refused to sync correctly, so Office Online would have been the only alternative. Live Mesh filled this gap nicely, ensured that the document was available offline and worked.
So, what to do? I guess there is still time, as this is all still beta. However, I’m disappointed at this turn of events overall.
Google Sync Software – And the Winner is …
I posted before about looking for software that can sync Outlook 2010 calendars and contacts with Google. I posted a couple of hacks that you might want to think twice about trying for the calendar part, but neither will help you much with contacts. So, I began to survey some of the landscape.
My Digital Life posted an article “Synchronize MS Outlook and Google Calendar/Gmail With Free Sync Utility KiGoo”, but it is not free. KiGoo costs $9.95/yr for one license. It claims it doesn’t use synchronization for the calendar but uses the actual Google calendar(s), which sounds intriguing. The down side, though, is that it doesn’t support alerts or the ability for users to accept or decline meeting requests. Both of these are biggies, IMO.
Somewhere along the way, I thought CompanionLink was a hosting site that was a middleman in the synchronization game, but it now appears I was wrong. You can purchase it for $39.95 on their site. However, it had gotten so many bad reviews on C-Net (as in only 2 stars) that I didn’t even try it.
I had to try out gSyncit, as it is only $14.99. It claims to sync calendars, contacts, tasks and even notes. You would use it to sync Google and Outlook, and then use the Google Sync For Your Phone to sync up with your mobile device.
Notice I said “it claims” and “you would”. I had trouble getting it to work at all. It sync’ed just one time, and then I don’t know if it just hung or what. When I looked at the calendar, it duplicated more events than I would have liked. Worse, it changed the time of one recurring events so that it was an hour off.
Afterwards, I would tell it to sync, and it would say it was already sync’ing. I’m not even sure how you’re supposed to tell. I couldn’t find a decent status window. I think it was just frozen up. Just going by the features list, this was my #2 but cheaper choice, so not getting it to work is very disappointing.
OggSync was touted as a free calendar sync. However, it turns out not to be free. If you dig deep enough (why hide your price?), it is $29.95 for a year. I don’t understand this yearly subscription model for a calendar sync program. In addition, that seems like a steep price considering it doesn’t seem like it does contacts.
That pretty much left me with one sync application.
4Team, the makers of Sync2, also have a ton of other sync and sharing products on their website. So, if you don’t need to sync with Google, perhaps another product like Sync2PST might be better for you. This allows you to pay for the features you need rather than a one-size-fits-all model.
Sync2 had the most features out of all of them I reviewed, so it wasn’t the cheapest on the list (but at least it wasn’t subscription based). It is $39.95 for the first license, but one of the features is to sync with another PC, so 2 licenses is $59.95 ($79.90 for business). I totally gritted my teeth.
Initially, the directions were very confusing, to be honest. It pops up a screen telling you about sharing folders. “What does that have to do with Google?” I was asking myself. At any rate, I had to read most of the pages trying to figure out what I was supposed to do.
In the end, I figured I would just try it. I had already screwed everything up when Live Sync lost my PST file, so it wasn’t like there was much to lose. What I finally figured out is that you create a profile for each type of sync you want to do. Once I had this down, I created a profile for the Google calendar and another one for Gmail contacts by clicking through the menus. It sync’ed up with surprisingly few duplicates. I mean I’ve seen MS’s ActiveSync do worse than this!
You can also use Sync2 to sync up with another PC running Outlook. It turns out that this is why you would want a shared network folder to work in. If you aren’t using this feature, you do not need a network share.
So, I created a network folder on my desktop PC. Then on the laptop I created a profile, pointed to the shared network folder and selected the folders to sync up with. I then went back to the desktop PC and installed Sync2. I then created a profile on the desktop machine pointing to the shared folder. It actually turned out to be much easier than I anticipated.
I should point out I made sure the installation on the desktop PC sync’ed only with the laptop. That prevents a circular loop of Google<->laptop<->desktop<->Google.
Finally, I have Google Sync For Your Phone to sync up the BlackBerry. All’s well!
End result: BB Pearl<->Google<->laptop<->desktop.
What can I say? I love it when software works! Other than the initial duplications, which you’re going to get, I haven’t had any issues with it yet.
You Might Not Believe This, But … (a Tale of OpenOffice, MS Office 2007 and 2010)
I am putting Windows 7 on a MicronPC Transport GX3. Call it desperation if you wish.
It all started innocently enough. All I wanted was to be able to read, edit and save spreadsheets on the road. I did not want to buy another license of MS Office to do that. Just install OpenOffice and all will be well, no?
Well, no. Yes, I can read Excel 2007 worksheets, but I cannot save in that format. It converts it to ODS format. So, the question was whether or not Excel could read/write them, so I gave that a try. Yes, it can. So, I’m golden, right?
Well, not so fast. First of all, viewing the header is a pain. Since that is where such unimportant things as invoice numbers go, that was a bit of a drag. However, when I checked up on the formulas, and anyone who has done any multi-sheet formulas in Excel knows the pain it can be to set them up correctly, they were not there. It converted the data, but not the underlying formulas.
Nice. Not.
OK, I’m a MAPS subscriber. Why not use this opportunity to check out Office 2010? It might be slow, but I’ll just put that on the Transport instead. After all, it isn’t like I’ll need fifteen windows open at the same time like when I’m sitting in my office.
Well, that sounded good. I downloaded it, but the install complained about either the package being corrupt or there was a network error. OK, so I copied it locally just to make sure it wasn’t a network issue. This time it just complained about “an error”. Oh! That’s helpful! OK, maybe the download really was corrupt. So, I’ll download it yet a 3rd time, but this time directly from Microsoft onto the desktop. While I’m waiting for that, I will uninstall OpenOffice – just in case. Still no joy. “An error” has occurred.
“This is wacky,” I thought. I checked and rechecked the specifications.
“OK,” I thought, “what if I put Windows 7 on here?” Well, then I knew I had gone beyond the standard of reason. So, I pulled down the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. To my surprise, it only really seemed to be a problem for the Belkin Wireless G card (which has me a little confused). Some of the other things, like the fingerprint scanner, would be nice, but I don’t consider them requirements. I can work around the wireless card with a USB one, I suppose.
However, the Upgrade Advisor also installed a newer version of .NET. Could that be the missing ticket? No joy there, either.
And so, here I am hours later, burned DVD in the drive and looking at a Windows 7 desktop.
The saga continues…
MS Office Professional 2010 Beta
I just found out that Office 2010 is available as a beta. You can get it at Microsoft’s Download Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 Beta page. Please remember that this is a beta, not a full release. Therefore, I wouldn’t recommend it for mission critical anything. Also, things may still change before full release.
Another little wrinkle is that Microsoft is recommending you uninstall any previous version of Office before installing this one. I also see they are moving fully to the Software Protection Platform that replaced the old Windows Genuine Advantage activation for Office products.
It will work with XP SP3 or better (or, on a server, Windows 2003 R2 or better), but from what I’ve heard it really integrates well with Windows 7. So, if you like to be on the bleeding edge, this is this time!
Bad Powerpoint Presentations
I had a colleague that said one of his university instructors (or maybe even a professor) refused to use PowerPoint. His reasoning was that the computer generated slides flicker enough to mesmerize students and put them to sleep.
I’m not so sure. I cannot find evidence to corroborate that opinion. I think PowerPoint probably has its place, although it appears that Edward Tufte at Wired would disagree and say “PowerPoint Is Evil” and that “Power corrupts. PowerPoint Corrupts Absolutely.”
Of course, I just had to read the presentation “Don’t Use Powerpoint” where the author makes the point that using PowerPoint makes you stupid. Available as a PPT, of course.
On a more serious note, Carmine Gallo wrote “How to Give a Lousy Presentation” at BusinessWeek. I’ve had to endure a few of these presentations, but some of these I haven’t. Not all of them are really PowerPoint suggestions, so I guess I’ve been spared.
But, if you aren’t into the more serious note, some of the same points are made by Comedian Don McMillan in the video “How NOT To Use Powerpoint!”. It’s a hoot!
