August 17th, 2007

iWork '08 - no Office killer 'cause it's not supposed to be

Posted by Marc Orchant @ 7:12 am

Categories: Apple iWorks, Mac, Mac OS X, Microsoft, Microsoft Office, Productivity, Software

Tags: Apple Macintosh, Microsoft Office, Apple Inc., Apple iWork, Marc Orchant

I picked up a copy of iWork ‘08, the new update to Apple’s productivity suite, the other day and have been noodling around in it since I installed it on my MacBook and my wife’s iMac. It’s a worthy upgrade for two principal reasons in my opinion: the significant improvements made to Pages (document processor) and the addition of Numbers, a new layout-oriented spreadsheet application. I’m not going to do a full, feature-by-feature review here – there’s plenty of those already on the tubes. I just want to address the notion that this signals some throwing down of a gauntlet by Apple in front of Microsoft. It doesn’t.

I thought we’d gotten past this but apparently not. Even venerable tech journalist and unabashed Apple fan Walt Mossberg fell into the trap of trying to compare iWorks ‘08 to Microsoft Office calling iWork “elegant but wimpy”. It’s a bad idea because they’re simply not the same thing. Walt goes so far off track as to slam Apple for not including an Outlook-like PIM in one sentence and them almost immediately points out that, well, Apple really doesn’t need to make an Outlook clone because, well, they already have a very nice set of applications for e-mail, calendar, and contacts built right into every Mac they ship. So why, oh why make bones over this. Why not just say so?

This, my friends, is a classic case of fomenting controversy where none needs to exist.

iWorks is not an Office “killer”. In fact, if you take Apple at their word, that’s never been their intent in producing the suite. According to a very lucid quote in an analysis piece at MacWorld from Apple’s Rob Shoeben, the raison d’etre behind iWorks is pretty simple:

“One of the things that you’ll see in some of our materials is, ‘Productivity the Mac way,’” said Rob Schoeben, Apple’s vice president of applications product marketing. “That means, ‘I bought a Mac on purpose. I bought into the idea that things should look right and be well-designed and really easy to use.’ They want to enjoy the way they work, they want their work product to look great, and [they want to be] fundamentally integrated into iLife. If you buy into all that, that’s going to be appealing.”

And if you don’t, because you need (or want) the compatibility and feature full Microsoft Office experience then you go buy Office. Office:Mac is a decent product, if a bit long in the tooth. Even though the new Universal Binary Office 2008 for Mac has been delayed until sometime next year, the current version works pretty well. And it’s very compatible with it’s cousin on Windows. If you want compatibility with Office and don’t want to go the Microsoft route, you still have options. NeoOffice, a Mac-friendly version of OpenOffice is available at the nice price (free). You can also use ThinkFree Office which comes in both web-based (free) and desktop (commercial) flavors and will soon offer real-time sync between documents in the cloud and on your desktop with their Premium offering (disclaimer: I’m an adviser to ThinkFree).

It is what it is – a decidedly different approach to constructing documents, presentations, and spreadsheets nicely integrated into the Mac OS experience. Gee. Thinking different. From Apple. Go figure.

Update: Thanks to the MacWorld review of Pages I just learned that the Track Changes feature in the new version is compatible with the MS Word feature of the same name. Because Apple does not make this clear in their marketing messages or the small manual that comes with iWork ‘08, I assumed it was a proprietary approach to change management. This is huge for me as that’s one of the gating factors for me preventing me from seriously considering using Pages in more of my work. Sweet!

August 7th, 2007

SpeedFiler 2.0 for Outlook - faster and smarter

Posted by Marc Orchant @ 11:30 am

Categories: Mastering the Inbox, Microsoft Office, Productivity, Software, Utilities and Add-Ins

Tags: Microsoft Outlook, Version, Claritude Software, Marc Orchant

Claritude Software has announced version 2.0 of their SpeedFiler add-in for Microsoft Outlook 2003 and 2007. This utility makes processing and clearing your inbox a much less onerous chore and the new version adds a few welcome new features and a blast of performance tuning.

SpeedFiler replaces the built-in Move to Folder command in Outlook with a much more powerful version that word-wheels to a selection of matching folders as you type. It’s an intelligent agent in that it learns from your behavior which folders you’re filing into most frequently.

Here are the notable enhancements in version 2.0:

• File most incoming messages with a single click.: SpeedFiler analyzes your messages, and predicts where you want to file them.
• Auto-file original messages when you reply: File your outgoing replies and the original messages in a single action.
• Improved Folder Selection Dialog: The ranking of matching folders takes into account the match quality and your past behavior.
• Load Time Reduced by Almost 100%: SpeedFiler now scans the folder tree in the background, so there is no longer a delay when Outlook starts up.

SpeedFiler is available in two version - Standard ($24.95) and Pro ($39.95). A feature comparison can be found on the Claritude site. Upgrades from version 1.x are $14.95 and $24.95 respectively. If you need to process a lot of e-mail and value an empty inbox, this is a utility you ought to take a look at. It’s saved me countless hours of time.

August 2nd, 2007

Microsoft delays Office 2008 for Mac until... 2008

Posted by Marc Orchant @ 6:46 am

Categories: Mac, Microsoft, Microsoft Office, Software

Tags: Apple Macintosh, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Corp., Marc Orchant

Jim Dalrymple, reporting at MacWorld announced the following news from Microsoft’s Mac Business Unit:

Microsoft will delay the release of Office 2008 for Mac until mid-January 2008, representatives of the company’s Macintosh Business Unit announced Thursday.

The long-awaited Intel-native Office, featuring programs such as Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Entourage, was originally scheduled to be released later this year. Instead, Microsoft said it hoped to release Mac Office 2008 to manufacturing in December, which would allow it to release the product at the January 2008 Macworld Conference and Expo in San Francisco.

This is bad news for those of us who need some of the advanced functionality in Mac Office to collaborate with folks in the Windows world. Track Changes, in particular, is a compatibility issue that keep from from switching off Microsoft entirely on the Mac. It’s so commonly used in the work I do that I simply can’t afford to rely on another suite or set of products. I was pretty excited about the changes I’ve been hearing about in this next release but I guess I’ll just have to continue muddling along with Office 2004 on my MacBook a while longer.

That, or I need to just bite the bullet and use only Office 2007 in Parallels (serious overhead) and just remove Office 2004 from the Mac. Once Leopard arrives, I plan to reevaluate my Bootcamp thinking and may ultimately end up partitioning and dual-booting. Or I may just throw my hands up in abject defeat and do this kind of work on my Tablet PC and forget about everything-on-one-PC scenarios entirely.
I’ve already found a solution for cross-platform, work from any device, online/offline productivity for less complex documents and where the use of Track Changes is not mandated. I’ll be posting about that sometime soon, once the software/service I’m using is officially announced.

I know that Office is a big complex product and I’m sure there are legitimate reasons why MBUmade this decision but I’m increasingly feeling like Microsoft has some deep-rooted issues they need to address. More and more, it feels like everything they produce has a very good likelihood of slipping from its announced ship date. That does not bode well for them in the long run. The impact on SOHO and SMB customers is significant. The implications for Microsoft’s relationship with the enterprise is potentially catastrophic if they cannot hit their dates and provide a reasonable level of predictability.

UPDATE: On the virtualization front, VMWare has announced that Fusion, their Mac OS product will be released on August 6th for $79.99 (same price as Parallels). Between now and August 5th, you can pre-order Fusion for $39.99. You’ll get a license key instantly which can be used with the Release Candidate currently available or you can wait until the official release is available next week. Either way, it’s a sweet deal from a longtime leader in the space.

July 7th, 2007

Share OneNote notebooks online

Posted by Marc Orchant @ 10:03 am

Categories: Microsoft, Microsoft Office, Software, Uncategorized, Utilities and Add-Ins

Tags: Notebook, Microsoft Office OneNote 2003, Marc Orchant

OneNote has long had the ability to create shared notebooks but a newly released OneNote powertoy from Microsoft developer Dave Tse allows you to export a OneNote notebook as an interactive website. Even better, the project has been deposited at CodePlex for community input and enhancement. The exported notebook is, unfortunately, best viewed only in IE7 as the .MHT “single file” HTML format is not well supported by third-party browsers. The web export can be saved on a local drive, a network share, or a SharePoint server.

For those working in a Microsoft-centric environment, this is a great way to share OneNote content with those who do not use the application and far more efficient than requiring a download of the bulky viewer application. The export can be scheduled to occur on a regular basis to keep content up-to-date. Compared to other authoring tools for creating SharePoint content, I’d much prefer using OneNote and this may well prove to the “killer” application for this powertoy.

Hat tip to Daniel Escapa, whose Search and Replace powertoy for OneNote I wrote about here for the link.

June 28th, 2007

Fake Microsoft security bulletin in the wild

Posted by Marc Orchant @ 5:53 am

Categories: Microsoft, Microsoft Office, Windows

Tags: Security, Vulnerability, Sophos Plc., Microsoft Corp., Phishing, Hacker, Marc Orchant

If you (or someone you know) receives an e-mail about a zero-day exploit affecting Microsoft Outlook do not, under any circumstances, click on the links embedded in the message. It’s a phishing scam folks. The Security Bulletin (MS07-0065) it points to doesn’t exist. And just because it can never be said too often, I’ll say it again here. Microsoft does not alert users to security issues via e-mail. Ever. That’s what Windows Update is for. Details from Sophos are available here.

In the closing paragraphs of their announcement, Sophos describes why this vector has become so popular for phishers and hackers – people have learned that patching their systems against exploits is part of their “job” in keeping their systems running properly but haven’t yet completely grasped the potential vulnerability that awareness creates if they allow themselves to be duped into reacting to messages like this.

“Security bulletins from Microsoft describing vulnerabilities in their software are a common occurence, and so its not a surprise to see hackers adopting this kind of disguise in their attempt to infect Windows PCs,” said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. “The irony is that as awareness of computer security issues has risen, and the need for patching against vulnerabilities, so social engineering tricks which pose as critical software fixes are likely to succeed in conning the public.”

In examples seen by Sophos experts, the emails have contained the recipient’s full name, and the company they work for, in an attempt to lull user’s into a false sense of security.

“By using people’s real names, the Microsoft logo, and legitimate-sounding wording, the hackers are attempting to fool more people into stepping blindly into their bear-trap,” continued Cluley. “Users need to be on their guard against this kind of confidence trick or they risk handing over control of their PC to hackers with criminal intentions. They should also ensure that they are downloading Microsoft security updates from Microsoft itself, not from any other website.”

Update: Well, a number of commenters have corrected me  on my statement that Microsoft does not provide security alerts via e-mail. Apparently they do – on an opt-in subscription basis. And, apparently, the e-mails are PGP-signed (although, as the person who informed me of this pointed out, the vast majority of people don’t have PGP installed). My best advice to those of you who prefer to be safe rather than sorry is to use Windows Update to check for any security (or performance-related) updates.

June 26th, 2007

Powerful and free CSV export utility for Outlook

Posted by Marc Orchant @ 5:24 pm

Categories: Microsoft, Microsoft Office, Software, Utilities and Add-Ins

Tags: Microsoft Outlook, Marc Orchant

CodeTwo Outlook Export is a free add-in for Microsoft Outlook (98 - 2007) that provides much greater flexibility than the built-in export feature in Outlook. All folder types are supported (including Post and Journal) and the utility provides an easy interface that will be instantly familiar to anyone who’s poked around in the backwaters of Outlook to customize views and forms. This will come in handy for anyone looking for an easy way to eport Outlook data for use in a spreadsheet or database application.

H/T to Slipstick

June 23rd, 2007

New OneNote Powertoy adds search and replace

Posted by Marc Orchant @ 7:13 am

Categories: Microsoft, Microsoft Office, Software, Tablet PCs, Uncategorized, Utilities and Add-Ins, Windows

Tags: Microsoft Office OneNote 2007, OneNote Powertoy, Daniel Escarpa, Marc Orchant

Daniel Escapa has just released a new Powertoy for OneNote 2007 that adds a basic search-and-replace feature to the application. I’ve long wished for this ability in OneNote. The add-in currently supports text only (no support for searching against pre-recognized text which makes sense in a certain way since what would it replace a result with?). Like all Powertoy releases, this is unsupported by Microsoft or the author so use at your own risk, your mileage may vary, back up all of your data before installing, and other cautionary admonitions apply.

June 3rd, 2007

Work virtually from anywhere

Posted by Marc Orchant @ 9:05 am

Categories: Mac, Microsoft Office, Mobility, OpenOffice, Productivity, Software, Utilities and Add-Ins, Web Apps, Windows

Tags: Google Inc., Tool, Marc Orchant

Leo Babauta at Web Worker Daily has posted a very thorough guide to working virtually that focuses primarily on tools but also includes some excellent workflow recommendations. It’s a bit Google-centric but he does provide a number of alternative choices for most of the key ingredients for a cloud-based workspace.

What is apparent in reading his article and increasingly is impacting the decisions I make about the web-based tools I use is how, over time, the integration and interaction Google is building into their individual offerings is feeling more and more like what Microsoft has done with Windows, Office, and Internet Explorer. Or, on the other side of the aisle, how Apple has, with the assistance of some really talented third parties, managed the same on OS X with iLife and iWork.

It really is beginning to come down to a three-way horse race between Microsoft, Apple, and Google to determine who delivers your workspace. The first two are, quite obviously, impacted by hardware choices and preferences. Google is agnostic and actually is the best way to work on both platforms with relative ease (assuming you have the budget and need to use both a Windows PC and a Mac).

If you’re using Linux, Google is the clear leader, especially as integration with popular tools like Evolution and OpenOffice continue to emerge.

Platform independent RIAs will further blur the lines. With the recent introductions of the Apollo alpha from Adobe, Silverlight and Popfly betas from Microsoft, and Google Gears, the shape of the connected world we’re moving into is becoming clearer all the time.

May 29th, 2007

Tim Sanders' PowerPoint epiphany

Posted by Marc Orchant @ 7:40 pm

Categories: Microsoft Office, Productivity, Software

Tags: Microsoft PowerPoint, Conference, Marc Orchant

Tim Sanders ran into an all-too common problem at a speaking engagement. The sequence of speakers at a conference was running behind schedule and he found himself facing a hungry, tired crowd just before lunch.

Faced with these circumstances, he made the snap decision to ditch the PowerPoint deck he’d prepared and interacted with the audience – from the audience.

What could have been a disaster turned out very well. And Sanders says he’s going to limit his slides or go without more often. Based on my experience this is a sound strategy, not only when presenting at a conference but also when conducting a meeting. Use mind-mapping, affinity brainstorming, and other approaches that engage everyone. You’ll get better results and more cooperation.

There are times when a slide deck is just the right thing and there are certainly people who can use them effectively (think Steve Jobs and Tom Peters). Cliff Atkinson literally wrote the book – Beyond Bullet Points – on how to approach presentation building from a storyteller’s perspective. So I’m not saying don’t use the tool. I am saying use it with discrimination and mix up your bag of tricks.

May 3rd, 2007

What's in your Tablet PC?

Posted by Marc Orchant @ 8:47 am

Categories: Hardware, Microsoft Office, Mobility, Productivity, Software, Tablet PCs, Utilities and Add-Ins, Vista, Windows

Tags: Microsoft Outlook, PC, Tablet PC, Tablet, What, Marc Orchant

Fellow Tablet PC MVP and GottaBeMobile.com contributor Warner Crocker wants to know what software applications you consider essential on a Tablet PC or UMPC. He's posted his list here. My list has some overlap with Warner's but diverges a bit based on the different ways he and I use the device. I tend to use my Tablet PC as a highly flexible, extremely portable, and long-lasting internet and media machine these days.  Here's my list:

• Tablet Enhancements for Outlook 3.0 (TEO): a perennial favorite. I cannot endorse this add-in for Outlook enough. It turns Outlook into a Tablet PC powerhouse (which, despite the improvements in Outlook 2007 it most decidedly is not without TEO).
• 2007 Microsoft Office system Outlook and OneNote: My dashboard. Everything I need to manage the various and sundry projects, activities, and commitments in my life. The integration between these two applications is the best reason I have for recommending everyone who uses them upgrade immediately to Office 2007.
• Mindjet MindManager 7 Pro: While this will not be officially available until the end of May, I've already uninstalled version 6 in favor of this new version which features the Fluid UI (Microsoft's official name for the ribbon-driven user interface in the core Office 2007 applications) and a slew of useful new features which I mentioned here.
• Zinio Reader: All of my periodicals that can be subscribed to in digital format are read in this excellent application. I use it on all of my Windows and Mac PCs.
• New Yok Times Reader: Another great app on the Tablet, especially the Lenovo ThinkPad X60t I'm currently using with it's dual-mode touch and pen display.
• And of course my essential Windows utilities: ActiveWords, Anagram, ClipMate, and SnagIt.

Warner's list has some excellent recommendations. If you use a Tablet PC or UMPC (or are considering wither platform), this is a must-read.