Over the past few months Microsoft has taken several shots at Google, mostly with videos like Googlightling and Cupcakes.  They have also offered instructions for users to move their Google Docs to Office web Apps.  Now they are at it again, except this time it’s a slide show presentation that pits Office 365 against Google Apps.  Office 365 is the professional version of Office Web Apps, much as Google Apps aims at corporations while Google Docs is aimed at more casual users.

The simple new nine slide presentation was posted to the MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network) blog today by Microsoft UK.  It offers a frame by frame comparison of the two services.  It points out the differences, such as security and privacy, customized versus generic dashboards, feature roadmaps, differences in support, and more.

While we have used both services here, we have never done a head-to-head comparison, but this got us thinking that one may be on the way in our very near future.  In the meantime, you can check out the Microsoft slide show posted below. Stayed tuned for that battle in a future post.

Alan

Alan is the owner and editor of Making Windows Easy. In addition to writing about technology he is also an avid distance runner and hiker. Read More

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Office 15 is starting to make more appearances on the web lately, with screenshots leaking out, many of which are from the private beta that is currently being run by a few handpicked testers.  Microsoft is also working on it’s first ever ARM version of Windows, which they have branded Windows 8 RT.

The latest leak comes from the venerable Business Week, who managed to get their hands on an ARM tablet running both Windows 8 RT and Office 15.  What they reveal is that Office 15 has been ported to ARM in-tact, with no noticeable  missing features.  There is nothing new about Office 15 that is revealed in these shots, so there isn’t much to say.  You can check out a pair of them that we have posted below, and for the rest you can head over to Business Insider.

A public beta of Office 15 is expected in June of this year and the final release is expected in late 2012, around the same time as Windows 8 should be released.

A pblic b

Alan

Alan is the owner and editor of Making Windows Easy. In addition to writing about technology he is also an avid distance runner and hiker. Read More

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No matter how much you think you know about Office every one of us ends up clicking the “Help” link at some point.  Now Microsoft has announced that they are trying to make that resulting list of topics more relevant for Office users.  The Help feature has been part of Office since the start, and over that time it hasn’t changed much, except for the brief life of “Clippy”.  Now Microsoft is opening up the search to include the internet – both their own forums and third-party web sites.

“Many people are using Office products in creative, inspiring ways. Some of these people are publishing how-to articles to their own sites, answering questions in forums, putting free Office tutorials on YouTube, and so on. We want you to be able to tap into this wealth of content, so that you have a better chance of finding the answer to your question.”

That’s not only good news for those search the Help area in Office, but also for bloggers, since it’s a potential new traffic source.  Microsoft’s own results will still appear at the top of the search results, but now other sites will appear further down the page.

The new search results are available in both Office 2007 and 2010 for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access.  Microsoft announced these changes earlier today over at the Office Blog.

Alan

Alan is the owner and editor of Making Windows Easy. In addition to writing about technology he is also an avid distance runner and hiker. Read More

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We have been seeing screenshots of Office 15 leaking out here and there over the past couple of months, including some which we know to be legitimate because they came from Microsoft insider Paul Thurrott.  Today the web  site Windows 8 Update released screenshots of a new Office 15 build, labeled version 15.0.3919.1011.

The web site claims that a user sent them the pictures and they can’t claim the legitimacy of the screenshots.  There really isn’t much different from what we have seen in previous leaks, but there is an interesting Metro look in the  Excel 15 screenshot, which we have posted below.  This build does appear a bit more polished than what we have seen thus far.

Office 15, which isn’t necessarily its final name, is currently in private beta to a few users who were handpicked by Microsoft.  A public beta is expected sometime early this summer and a final release will likely come in late 2012, possibly in conjunction with the release of Windows 8.  To see the rest of new screenshots you can head over to Windows 8 Update.

Excel 15

Alan

Alan is the owner and editor of Making Windows Easy. In addition to writing about technology he is also an avid distance runner and hiker. Read More

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Information has been slowly creeping out regarding Office 15, the next version of Office, which is expected later this year or early in 2013.  Recently a load of new screenshots were published by Paul Thurrott, but today his book writing partner Rafael Rivera published a video on his WithinWindows blog.

Rafael gave no information along with the video post, but placed a disclaimer on the YouTube page.  ”NOTE: This video was pulled from beta software and may not be representative of the final product.”  Rafael didn’t “create” the video, but when I contacted him he stated that “The video was pulled out of the Technical Preview bits intact; owned/created by Microsoft.”

The video doesn’t show Office 15, but is more of a concept advertisement.  It hints at the cloud storage ability that will be built into the next-generation version of Office, likely based on SkyDrive.  The video kicks off by stating that “It goes, wherever you go”.

Office 15 is currently available in private beta to a few hand-picked users.  A public beta is expected sometime this summer and a final release is expected sometime around the release of Windows 8 in the fall of 2012, although there are rumors that Office 15 (not necessarily it’s final name) could slip into early 2013.

Alan

Alan is the owner and editor of Making Windows Easy. In addition to writing about technology he is also an avid distance runner and hiker. Read More

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This morning Paul Thurrott of WinSuperSite posted a bunch of new screenshots of Office 15 that show the new Metro type design.  Microsoft has released a Technical Preview version of Office 15, but they only released it to a small group of selected users.  Thurrott managed to get his hands on one of these copies.

In addition to all of the new screenshots he also posted some of his thoughts on the next version of Office, which he stressed is not quite ready for general use.  For one, he couldn’t get a clean installation to work quite right, but was able to upgrade from a previous version of Office.  Another surprise he found was the number of live tiles that Office 15 dumped onto the Windows 8 Metro Start Screen.

To get his full thoughts, and to see all of the screenshots you should head over to his site.  A public beta version of Office 15 is expected sometime this summer and a final release could come around the same time as Windows 8 in late 2012.

Alan

Alan is the owner and editor of Making Windows Easy. In addition to writing about technology he is also an avid distance runner and hiker. Read More

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Office 365, Microsoft’s online version of Office, which they began offering to individual and business users last year, has received a lot of good reviews and is gaining a lot of momentum in the enterprise.  Microsoft has been adding new features and updating the service on a monthly basis.  Today they announced that, thanks to ever-growing number of users, they are able to lower the price of many of their plans by as much as twenty percent.

In addition to the price cuts, and perhaps even bigger, is that Microsoft also announced that Office 365 for education (both students and teachers) is now completely free.  The Office 365 for education plan is known as the “A2″ plan.  ”A2 includes the core capabilities of Exchange, SharePoint, and Lync and the Office Web Applications.  Exchange Online and Lync Online are available today for academic institutions, and we’ll launch the full Office 365 for education service starting this summer.”

Current pricing begins with an Exchange only plan which runs $4 per user per month and plans go up from there, including enterprise-level plans for companies with 50,000 users.  You can try out Office 365 with a free trial by visiting here.  If you would like to read the details of the announcement from earlier today, then you can head over to the Office Blog.

Alan

Alan is the owner and editor of Making Windows Easy. In addition to writing about technology he is also an avid distance runner and hiker. Read More

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Excel is one of the most popular apps in Office, perhaps behind only Word., or maybe Outlook.  However, between those three, Excel is certainly the most daunting to approach.  There is something about those blank spread sheets that has a way  of scaring off users.  After all, there is more to Excel than sitting down and typing – there are workbooks, worksheets, and formulas to name just a few.

With Office 2010 in use at many businesses, and Office 15 recently officially announced by Microsoft, the Redmond software maker would like to help users get familiar with Excel.  To do so they have a website with a series of videos that will demystify and explain Excel.  The web site, called Excel Skills Builder, contains a series of videos to teach users such basic skills as how to create a workbook, format data, use sparklines, and print worksheets.

If all of that sounds like gibberish to you then you may want to watch the videos, or at least bookmark the page.  You never know when your boss may come knocking on your cubicle door with a request for that spreadsheet, so being skilled in all Office apps can be a big bonus in the workforce.  You can check out an example video posted below.

Alan

Alan is the owner and editor of Making Windows Easy. In addition to writing about technology he is also an avid distance runner and hiker. Read More

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Microsoft today announced an upcoming series of webinars based around their popular Office platform that will be free and open to the public.  The webinars will be fairly short and are geared towards beginners.  Microsoft now has Office available in three different ways – the standard desktop version, the free Office web apps that are a part of Microsoft Live SkyDrive, and the paid online version – Office 365.

“Next week we’re launching a series of free webinars about how to use Office programs. Join us every Tuesday to view these Office 15-Minute Webinars from the Office.com help writers, or view them later. They run 9:15am-9:30am PDT on Tuesdays with a live Q&A session to follow. Links to previous recordings are below (when available) along with a calendar reminder for the series you can download.”

Microsoft is opening these webinars up to the public so that everyone has the opportunity to join in and learn and ask their questions.  They have made it as easy as possible for users to get in.

• There are three ways to join via Lync. If your company has Lync, you will join automatically. If you don’t have Lync, there is an option to join through your web browser or a free download of Lync Attendee.
• For the best experience (full video and audio), download and install the free Lync Attendee program. After the one-time set-up, click again the link above to join the webinar.
• If you choose the web browser option, you will need to call a phone number listed above.

You can check out the schedule, which is posted below.

Alan

Alan is the owner and editor of Making Windows Easy. In addition to writing about technology he is also an avid distance runner and hiker. Read More

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While rumors and accusations fly about Microsoft releasing Office for the iPad, it appears that they have missed out on the opportunity with Android and a third-party, OnLive, has taken care of it.  OnLive, a streaming game service, are using their Desktop service to allow Android Tablet owners to run Microsoft Office and IE 9.

Previously Android users have been able to access and work with Office documents using non-Office solutions that were file-compatible, such as OfficeSuite Pro.  In a statement released today on the OnLive web site the company announced their new Android app, which is available now for free in the Market.

“The OnLive Desktop App is now available free in the Android Market, empowering you to get your work done anywhere with unprecedented speed and efficiency. Enjoy a no-compromise, media-rich, multi-touch Windows desktop on your tablet, with fully functional applications such as Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Adobe Reader, along with 2GB of cloud storage. The OnLive Desktop Plus service, available for $4.99/month at desktop.onlive.com, provides all OnLive Desktop Standard features plus our gigabit-speed accelerated browsing—the world’s fastest browsing experience, whether you’re connecting over Wi-Fi- or 4G LTE. Together, we think they’ll change the way you look at your tablet forever.”

Many users may not want to shell out the $4.99 monthly fee for the faster speed, but if you have a 4G device it may be worth it for that boost.  OnLive claims Desktop support for smartphones, PCs, Macs and televisions will be coming in the future, but for now, it requires Android 2.3 and it’s compatible with the Acer Iconia Tab A500, ASUS Eee TF101, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1, and HTC Jetstream.

Alan

Alan is the owner and editor of Making Windows Easy. In addition to writing about technology he is also an avid distance runner and hiker. Read More

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