Tag Archives: Office Web Apps

Computers

Microsoft adds two-factor authentication to keep accounts secure

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If you’re an active user of Outlook, SkyDrive, Office Web Apps, or other Microsoft services, you may want to add two-step verification for an extra layer of security.

Microsoft is rolling out this optional security measure, also known as two-factor authentication, over the next couple of days. Once available, it can be enabled through account settings.

As the name suggests, two-step verification requires you to login with a second form of identification, in addition to your user name and password.

For instance, Microsoft can send you a code via text message or email, which you enter while logging into your account for the first time on any PC or other device.

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From: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2035459/microsoft-adds-two-factor-authentication-to-keep-accounts-secure.html#tk.rss_all

Computers

Meet the Microsoft Office Luddites: Why power users won't live in the cloud

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The future is in the cloud. Every traditional software company is pushing cloud services over programs you actually install, and even Microsoft, which formally completed its new, cloud-based Office 365 package in February, has included cloud features in Office 2013, its new desktop suite.

For starters, Office 2013 saves your work to SkyDrive cloud storage by default. The new desktop suite also ties in deeply with the browser-based Office Web Apps. These are notable steps in a cloud-based direction, but given the overwhelming adoption of Google Drive in the workplace—it’s the platform of choice at PCWorld—it’s a bit curious that Microsoft updated its desktop suite at all. 

Indeed, isn’t shuttling Word documents over file servers and email a bit passé? 

The bottom line is that Microsoft knows its customers still need (or at least want) traditional, “hit-a-button-and-install-this-to-my-programs-folder” software. But who, exactly, are the holdouts who refuse to make the switch to Google Drive, Office 365, or even Microsoft’s Office Web Apps? Who’s still using a local copy of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint exclusively, and why? 

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Computers

Yammer to integrate Office Web Apps, SkyDrive Pro

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Yammer plans to roll out an integration with the SkyDrive Pro cloud storage product and the Office Web Apps Web-hosted productivity application suite this summer.

The initiative is part of Yammer’s ongoing push to deepen and extend the integration of its cloud-hosted enterprise social-networking software with products from Microsoft, which acquired Yammer last July for US$1.2 billion.

SkyDrive Pro, an enterprise version of the consumer SkyDrive cloud storage service, will become Yammer’s underlying file-storage platform for Yammer, Microsoft said on Wednesday.

The link with Office Web Apps, a browser-based version of the Office suite, will let Yammer users preview and edit documents from applications like Word and Excel right from within the Yammer activity stream interface.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Computers

Why Office 365 and Office 2013 may not be right for you

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The next generation of Office is here, and while it’s not necessarily an essential upgrade for Office 2010 users, it’s easily the best Office suite to date. Editing complicated financial spreadsheets has never been so semi-seamless!

That said, with this particular $100-plus investment, you’ll want to look before you leap. Whether you’re opting for a straightforward Office 2013 installation or the multi-PC, cloud-connected ubiquity of an Office 365 subscription, there are four potentially crippling gotchas to consider before you plunk down your hard-earned cash. I’ve also identified a supposed gotcha that you can actually ignore entirely.

1. Your computer may not run Office 2013.

Unlike Office 2010, Office 2013 does not work with Windows XP or Windows Vista. Yet the latest data from NetApplications shows that roughly 45 percent of all Internet users still rock those two aging operating systems. If you’re part of that sizable horde, there’s absolutely no reason to buy Office 2013—it won’t work on your system. And because an Office 365 Home Premium subscription simply lets you install the latest version of Office—Office 2013, again—on up to five PCs, you’ll want to pass on that as well.

2. Other computers may not run Office on Demand.

Office Web Apps offer basic functionality, but nowhere near as much utility as Office on Demand.

One of the big draws of an Office 365 subscription is Office on Demand, a full-fledged, Internet-streamed version of the productivity suite that Microsoft calls “Your Office away from home.” And it really, truly is—if the host computer meets the suite’s fairly stringent requirements. As with local installations of Office 2013, Office on Demand plays nice only with PCs running Windows 7 or 8. It also requires the PC to have a fairly modern browser: Internet Explorer 9 or later, Mozilla Firefox 12 or later, Apple Safari 5 or later, or Google Chrome 18 or later.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Computers

SkyDrive now allows document editing without requiring login

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Microsoft is making it a little easier to collaborate on Office documents over the Web by letting users edit files without signing in.

Previously, users needed a Microsoft account in order to edit other people’s documents using Office Web Apps. In a blog post, Microsoft noted that users, especially students, became frustrated if they were just trying to make a quick edit and were forced to sign in or sign up for an account along the way. Now, all they need is an edit link.

To create an edit link in Office 2013 or in Office Web Apps, go to the “File” menu and click the “Share” tab. In Office 2013, you’ll see a “Get a Sharing Link” option, with buttons to create links for editing or for viewing only. In Office Web Apps, you’ll see a “Share with Other People” option, followed by an option to “Get a link.” From there, look for options to create “View only” or “View and edit” links.

Users can create a link to share a document for viewing only, or allow editing. (click to enlarge)

Keep in mind that Google Docs has offered editing without a login for a while now. After creating a share link, the user has an option to specify who has access to the document, and from there, an option to allow editing, commenting, or just viewing privileges to users without a sign-in.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Computers

Make Office 2013 more powerful with 10 killer apps

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There’s no dictionary, geographic mapping or flow chart tool baked into the core Microsoft Office 2013 software, but you can still get all these functions for free or a small fee. Developers from Microsoft and beyond have created a variety of apps that you can embed within Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook to work faster and more intelligently.

browse featured and new apps and find apps by Office program.

The new apps for Office are available only for the Office 365 subscription, Office 2013, and some of the Office Web Apps—not for earlier versions of Office. There are three types of apps:

  1. Task pane apps typically provide reference information, such as a dictionary. They’re supported by the 2013 editions of Excel, Word, Project Professional and PowerPoint. These apps open a task pane on the right side of the current program window, where you work them.
  2. Content apps are supported by Excel 2013 and the Excel Web App only. They are embedded inside your worksheet and saved with it. Examples are a calendar date picker or additional charting designs.
  3. Mail apps are supported by Outlook 2013 and the Outlook Web App, and they require you to be using Exchange Server 2013. Mail apps won’t work with POP and IMAP email accounts, so they’re effectively limited to business use. Mail apps display next to an item in Outlook, such as an email message or a meeting request. They access data from the Outlook object to provide additional content—for example, a map showing the location of a meeting.

Additional apps are compatible only with SharePoint Server 2013 Enterprise edition.

Here’s the Apps for Office button in Word’s Insert tab.

How to install apps for Office

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Computers

Office Web Apps v. Google Docs: Which suite works best for you?

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For years, folks looking for free online word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations have turned to Google Docs. However, Microsoft recently released an updated set of Office Web Apps, accessible to individual users from their SkyDrive accounts, and to business users through Office 365 and SharePoint.

The Microsoft apps now support printing, touch-screen tablets, and add some other previously missing features. While overall, Google Apps offers more functionality, the Office Web Apps are starting to show promise—especially for companies committed to the Microsoft ecosystem, since Microsoft’s platform makes it simple to open documents in the full, desktop-based Office software.

However, some Office Web Apps seems to be missing key components required for basic usability. The Word Web App, for example, is missing the autosave function and the Excel Web App doesn’t allow users to freeze rows.

Stephen Sauer

Just to be clear, Office Web Apps are not the same as Office on Demand, which is a streaming service that offers the full-featured Office software as part of an Office 2013 subscription.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld