microsoft office
Linux Training Week: Software Availability
February 16, 2010
One of the biggest issues when moving away from Windows is software availability; what we do on a computer isn’t defined by the operating system, but the third party software we use on that operating system. Because most of the software written for Linux operating systems is open source, it may be difficult to find a replacement for the everyday software that you use on Windows or Mac OS X.
Web Browsers and Email
Everybody has their favourite browser, and you’ll find many available for Linux. I chose to use Firefox (which is installed on Ubuntu by default), Google Chrome (my browser of preference on Windows and OS X) and Opera 10 Browser in addition to this.
When testing each browser, I found them to be on par with each other, although Opera was definitely slower than Firefox and Chrome. I found Chrome to be extremely fast and lightweight in comparison to Firefox, and it remains my browser of choice on Linux. If you make the switch, or already use Ubuntu, I definitely recommend checking Chrome out. Enabling Flash was also an easy process – I simply downloaded the plugin on first use and everything worked great.
Continue reading »Windows Phone 7 Series Announced By Microsoft
February 15, 2010
Microsoft have just announced their re-branding of Windows Mobile; the Windows Phone 7 Series at the 2010 Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona. The name may be a bit of a mouthful, but it’s clear that their new mobile operating system has taken a drastically different approach than previous efforts from Windows Mobile.
Every Windows Phone will have three buttons on the front of it: Start, Search and Back. This consistency will allow for a better experience for the user with hardware and software working together better – it’s a theme that Google’s also been chasing with their Android devices (such as the Nexus One) by encouraging manufacturers to use their 4 button template on the front of their devices, offering consistency across the board. This is definitely a step in the right direction as not only does it allow hardware and software to work better together, but also allows a much easier transition between Windows Phone devices.
Continue reading »Crossover Mac Review (Mac OS X)
February 11, 2010
I was lucky enough to get my hands on a copy of CodeWeavers’ flagship product ‘Crossover Mac’ this week. The software is designed to allow applications from other platforms, primarily Windows, to run seamlessly on Mac OS X without the need for emulators or dual booting the computer which requires a restart and wasted hard disk space.
To say that the software achieves this is an understatement to say the least. During the testing of the program, I found all aspects of it to be pretty much flawless.
The first element of the program that needed testing, was naturally the installation and setup. As with the majority of OS X software, installation was simply a process of drag and drop into the applications folder. Registering the software was a breeze too. I simply had to register on the CodeWeavers website and then register the software using the same details.
Continue reading »Microsoft Office 2010 RC Download Released
February 3, 2010
Every few years or so we are all presented with a new version of Microsoft’s hugely popular office suite of applications. The last time this happened was in 2007 and please correct me if I’m wrong, not all that many people/companies took kindly to it with the majority choosing to stick with the perfectly capable 2003 version.
Microsoft Office 2010 has now hit the Release Candidate (RC) stage after a period of beta testing which started in November and now the beta testers will be getting to play around with this Office 2010 RC download. As of last month, there were a total 2 million downloads of the beta release. This is no doubt a major milestone on the way to releasing the final version which will be offered in both 32 and 64 bit editions for the first time ever.
Continue reading »Essential Software for Mac OS X
January 9, 2010
More people today are using Mac’s than ever before – OS X market share has been climbing steadily since the release of Mac OS X, but third party software is just as important as the OS it’s running on, so what do you need to put on your Mac?
Web Browsers
Every new Mac comes with Snow Leopard pre-installed, which gives you Safari 4 out of the box. If you’re on an older Mac or just don’t like Safari, there are a host of alternatives available. I have three browsers installed on my Mac, but often use Safari. If you want to customise your browser then I recommend Mozilla Firefox, my PC and Linux browser of choice. As well as offering plugins and add-ons that allow you to make the browsing experience more personal, it’s open source too. You could also try Google’s Chrome browser for OS X. It’s been unofficially available for quite some time now, but the official Google Chrome Beta was released a few weeks ago and it’s very speedy and takes up less system resources than Safari.
Continue reading »Microsoft Stores Opening In High Streets & Shopping Centres?
August 10, 2009
The jump between manufacturer and retail store is one that only a few have done really successfully in the tech world – the most notable exceptions being Sony with their Sony stores and Apple with their, err…Apple Stores.
However, there is a new company starting to jump the gap from just manufacturer (admittedly a pretty big one) to opening up retail stores, and with brands and new products coming such as Windows 7, Microsoft Office 2010, Xbox 360 and Zune HD you can’t help but think that Microsoft will emulate Apples undoubted success. Oh, and no prizes for guessing what they will probably be called!
Continue reading »Microsoft Office 2010: The Movie Trailer
July 28, 2009
Microsoft have currently busy at work on Office 2010 adding a host of new features such as online web versions of the Office 2010 applications, but as part of their pre-launch strategy they’ve clearly come up with another innovative promotional tool for their upcoming product – yes indeed, who would have thought it, this company might actually be getting the hang of marketing what with this and their recent Microsoft TV adverts.
Microsoft Office 2010 Preview Guide
July 19, 2009
Here at Zath we’ve already had a look at some online aspects of Microsoft Office’s impending release and now Microsoft have released a load more info that gives us a better idea of what will have changed in Office three years on, and whether it will actually be worth buying.
The Office line is a pretty important one for Microsoft, and with the recent rise of the open source market it is now competing with the likes of Open Office (which I am currently using due to the fact I’m on a netbook) on a bigger scale, as well as its Apple counterparts. So intrigued as what it will bring? Read on!
Continue reading »Microsoft Office 2010 To Include Free Online Web Versions
July 13, 2009
Microsoft have recently upped their game against Google with the release of the Bing search engine, it would now that they intend to start competing more strongly against Google Docs with their next office suite, Microsoft Office 2010.
The next version of Microsoft Office 2010, which typically includes Word, Excel, Powerpoint (plus some others depending on the package you get) will include web versions of these Office applications which will be available for people to use free of charge – the only requirement will be that you login using your Windows Live account, which if you haven’t already got one, are free to register for.
Continue reading »Top Smartphones For Leisure
March 1, 2009
Over the last few weeks we’ve been looking at the best smartphones on the market at the moment with the aim of finding the best one out there, and we have covered the T-Mobile G1, Blackberry Storm, Blackberry Bold, Nokia E71, HTC Touch HD and the iPhone 3G.
So having gone through them all it’s time to decide on which phone is the ‘Top Smartphone’, and as we have already found out which is best for the more business orientated smartphone user it is time to see which is the best smartphone if you are looking to use it more at home than at work.
Continue reading »
