Tag Archives: Microsoft Office

Computers

Jailbreak tool gives Windows RT tablets desktop-like functions

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Just a few days after hackers figured out how to run unauthorized desktop apps on Windows RT tablets, a hacker on the XDA Developers forum has posted a download-and-click jailbreak tool for the exploit. The jailbreak utility will allow any user, who wants to take the risk, to temporarily open up their Windows RT tablet to legacy Windows applications, XDA user netham45 claims.

The new temporary jailbreak tool has the potential to solve what some have called Windows RT‘s “desktop as barren wasteland” conceit. Unlike a traditional x86/x64-powered Windows PC, the desktop interface on ARM-based Windows RT tablets can only run a select number of apps such as Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer. Third-party apps are not allowed.

The jailbreak tool also comes a few weeks before Microsoft is set to release Surface Pro, a Windows 8 tablet packed with an Intel Core processor capable of running legacy desktop apps. Microsoft in October released a version of the Surface running Windows RT.

Anyone yearning to put legacy Windows apps on their RT touch tablets, however, should keep in mind this jailbreak method has limitations and risks. PCWorld also has not tested this tool. So if you choose to try it, you are doing so at your own risk including potentially voiding your device’s warranty and opening up your device to malware. The number of apps available to install is also fairly limited right now.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Computers

Turn any display into a virtual PC with Dell's HDMI stick

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LAS VEGAS—Dell this week unveiled a prototype of a pocket-sized HDMI stick that can turn any compatible display into a virtual PC capable of running Android apps or remotely accessing Windows apps on a cloud service or remote PC.

The concept device, called Project Ophelia, is the creation of Dell Wyse, the business unit formed from Dell’s recent acquisition of Wyse Technology. Former Wyse CEO Tarken Maner, now VP and general manager of Cloud Client Computing at Dell, expects the device to cost under $100 at launch.

The HDMI interface allows its use with big-screen displays such as HDTVs, making Project Ophelia a relatively inexpensive way to create a computer anywhere the stick can connect to a network via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Maner believes telecommunications companies wishing to sell cloud services (for example, access to Microsoft Office apps or data centers) might subsidize the device much the way they discount cell phones to customers who commit to service contracts.

However, Project Ophelia does face some significant potential obstacles. While many hotel rooms have TV sets with HDMI ports, keyboards and mice are not typically available—and if you have to bring them with you, you’ve now added both cost and bulk.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Computers

Microsoft Surface Pro hands-on impressions from CES

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Perhaps you remember Surface RT. It was Microsoft’s bid to become a legitimate computer hardware manufacturer—a Windows-based tablet with a clever, snappy, magnetically attached keyboard cover. It looked great. It felt great. It had all the pluck and presence of Grade A industrial design.

Surface RT gave us the touch control of Microsoft’s modern U.I., but was also intended to serve as a solid, no-excuses PC productivity station. The tablet even came with a starter version of Microsoft Office to help fulfill that promise.

But Surface RT was also laden with a crappy OS—hobbled by Windows RT and its “desktop as barren wasteland” conceit. And this is why I now discuss Surface RT in the past-tense. It’s not a device that anyone can seriously consider. Not when there are so many worthy Windows 8 Ultrabooks and hybrid designs to choose from.

The good money has always been on Surface Pro. It was announced right alongside Surface RT, with a promised release date of sometime in the neighborhood of January 26. Surface Pro is a slightly thicker, much more powerful version of Microsoft’s original Surface tablet. In fact, it looks identical to Surface RT, save for being 0.53-inch thick instead of 0.37-inch thick. And even though it weighs 2 pounds to Surface RT’s 1.5 pounds, it really doesn’t feel all that much heavier.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Linux

Impressed by Calligra compatibility with Microsoft Office

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planetkde

I’m using Microsoft Office quite a lot at work, and I must confess it is a very efficient. Not only because I’m used to it, but also because it allows creating nice looking content extremely fast, and is feature wise more complete than its competitors. That being said, Office remains a closed product, without proper support for Open Document Formats.

As soon as I’m leaving the office I switch to Archlinux, and use LibreOffice or Calligra : even if less complete or efficient than Office, they are Open Source and support Open Document Formats. They are totally suitable for my personal usage, where I do not need to create striking Presentations or complex Pivot Tables and graphics.

Being a bit bored between the Christmas and New Year’s Eve frenzies, I loaded a (not too) complex presentation I made in Powerpoint into LibreOffice Impress and Calligra Stage, and I was quite surprised finding out that Calligra at least as good as LibreOffice in rendering the document.

Original Powerpoint Document


If you click to enlarge images, you will notice the subtle shadows and gradients that Office allows you to add very easily.

LibreOffice

LibreOffice does a very decent job, rendering the doc essentials, but missing a few subtlties. Again, click on the image to get the full view.




Calligra

Calligra, is also very close.



The shadows are slightly better than LibreOffice, while the “bullets” on the third slide have a border where they should not.

Impressed, Keep it up !

All in all, I am extremely impressed by the progresses made by Calligra on the compatibility front. It really has the potential to compete, and possibly to overcome, Office. The Plasma desktop is (at least in my opinion) way better than Windows, both visually and in productivity, I’m sure Calligra can follow the same path. One killer feature in Office that maybe could be implemented (or even enhanced) in Calligra is the “Fast Style” selector, that applies a combination of gradient, embossing, shadows on shapes, with preview when hovering the menu items :

Again, kudos to the Calligra team for the terrific work !

Source: Planet KDE

News, Politics, Government

Will Google Apps Break The Last Tech Monopoly: Microsoft Office?

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By Tim Worstall, ContributorRecently I’ve been writing about monopolies. When they’re important and when they’re not. The really crucial point is whether that monopoly is contestable or not. If it is, then any attempt to actually exploit that monopoly power will lead to the monopoly being contested and thus disappearing. This doesn’t mean […]
Source: Forbes Latest

Computers

Answer Line: Old vs. new Microsoft Office file formats

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Ankush khandelwal asked about compatibility issues between files created in different versions of Microsoft Office–specifically the big changes in file format that came with Office 2007.

[Email your tech questions to answer@pcworld.com or post them on the PCW Answer Line forum.]

With Office 2007, Microsoft introduced entirely new file formats for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Designated by an x at the end of the file extension (.docx instead of .doc, and so on), these were not backward compatible.

Initially, I wasn’t happy with this change. I’m generally conservative about popular and established file formats–especially those supported by a great many software venders–and don’t want them to be changed. And almost everyone in the office software business has been supporting .doc and .xls for years.

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Source: PCWorld

Computers

Final Patch Tuesday of 2012 includes five 'critical' updates

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Today is the last Patch Tuesday of the year. There are seven new security bulletins from Microsoft this month, and five of them are rated “critical.” If you use Windows, Microsoft Office, or Internet Explorer, you’ve got some work to do to get these new patches applied.

MS12-082 and MS12-083, security bulletins related to flaws in DirectPlay and IP-HTTPS respectively, are rated Important. The Critical security bulletins apply to the Windows operating system, Microsoft Office, the Internet Explorer Web browser, and Microsoft Exchange Server—and a few of them require a restart for the patch to take effect.

Andrew Storms, director of security operations for nCircle, singles out MS12-077—the cumulative update for Internet Explorer—as the most urgent of the bunch. “Attackers will be targeting online holiday shoppers with this bug, so patch this before you do anything else.”

Storms also notes the unusual fact that the critical flaw in IE affects all versions, but is only exploitable on the newer versions, which are ostensibly “more secure” than their predecessors, including IE10 on Windows RT. Storms quips, “We can be sure this bug is not a gift Microsoft wanted to receive this holiday season.”
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Source: PCWorld

Computers

Review: Microsoft Office 2013 features new look, prices

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Although consumers and businesses are turning more often to Web-based software and mobile apps, many millions still depend on Microsoft Office to get their work done every day. The folks in Redmond want you to use Office wherever you go—on your PC, your tablet, and your Windows Phone handset. To that end, Microsoft is pushing deep integration between its desktop applications and your data, stored on Microsoft servers.

Office 2013, the next edition of Microsoft’s flagship productivity suite, is available for business customers but won’t go on sale to consumers until the first quarter of 2013. This review focuses on the desktop applications, which you’ll be able to buy either on their own or as part of the cloud-connected Office 365 suite next year. We’ll review Office 365 when it becomes available.

Both the Office 2013 and Office 365 packages provide online document storage and collaboration. The primary difference between the two? Office 365 is constantly updated, and it lets you run Office away from your main PC via an Office on Demand virtualization tool. Office 365 users get extra online storage and, for the Small Business option, add-ons such as shared calendars and HD videoconferencing.

In addition to the highly touted cloud features, the new Office desktop applications look sleeker and deliver several useful improvements.
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Source: PCWorld

Computers

VALO-CD serves up a smorgasbord of open source apps for Windows users

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It’s no secret that free and open source software holds numerous advantages for business users. That, indeed, is one of the many reasons Ubuntu Linux has become such an attractive alternative for those faced with Windows 8 as the next step on their operating-system upgrade path.

Whether or not you choose to switch to Linux, however, you can still enjoy many of the benefits of open source software in other areas of your computing environment. After all, there are countless excellent open source alternatives out there for Microsoft Office and numerous other expensive favorites, and they’re free to try, use, and modify as your needs dictate.

There’s no shortage of lists of such apps to guide you in the right direction, but recently I learned about an easy, one-stop alternative: VALO-CD.

LibreOffice, GIMP, and more
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Source: PCWorld