Enterprise Blog

Microsoft unveiled Office 2008 Service pack 1 for Mac today. The sp1 is going to optimize the performance, stability and security for Office applications. Office 2008 was launched at the beginning of this year at the Macworld Expo 2008. The Redmond company made a good business with a strong market performance of Office 2008. Customers can download the update for free from here.

The Mac BU developed Office 2008 to help Mac users simplify their work with a Mac-like interface, tools to easily create professional documents, and, most notably, the most cross-platform compatible suite on the market for the Mac.

“The response has been amazing — since we launched in January, the velocity of sales for Office 2008 is nearly three times what we saw after the launch of Office 2004. As we set our course for future versions, we are working closely with customers and we’ll also expand our staff to ensure that Office for Mac remains the most powerful and compatible productivity suite for Mac customers,” said Craig Eisler, general manager of the Mac BU at Microsoft.

The additional features for service pack 1 are as follows:
Microsoft Office Excel

• Compatibility. Improved compatibility with files exchanged between Excel 2008 for Mac and Excel 2003 and Excel 2007 for Windows

• Custom Error Bars. Restored formatting option on the Error Bars panel for data series

• Printing. More reliable printing for elements on Excel 2008 workbooks

Microsoft Entourage

• Calendar. Significant enhancements to improve calendar view and all-day reminders with re occurrence

• Exchange Server support. Overall improvement to synchronization support, including removing attachments from Exchange Server messages and synchronizing to the server, as well as support for editing the contents of Exchange Server messages via AppleScript and synchronizing the changes to the server

• E-mail images. Ability to send and view images in Entourage from third-party tools

Microsoft Office Word

• Printing. Improved accuracy when orienting tables with cell shading

• Document map. Improved reliability and responsiveness to select items

• Notebook layout. Updated formatting, recording status and a variety of display options

Microsoft Office PowerPoint

• Printing. Improvements to eliminate crashing when printing documents to high-dpi printers and increased overall printing speed by 10 times on some large presentations

• Mobile viewing. Ability to view Mac .PPTX files on Windows Mobile phones

• AppleScript. Ability to use the PowerPoint selection object in AppleScript to implement custom scripts that operate on the current selection in PowerPoint

Microsoft will bring Visual Basic for Applications back to the Mac platform in a future revision of Office, in addition to the current Automator and AppleScript support initiatives. The move comes from Microsoft in recognition that users require cross-platform macro compatibility, since Windows users can not use the previously mentioned scripting methods.

Courtesy: Gizmodo.com

PC World reports the following tools to speed up the performance of your daily life.

• Supercharge Excel: This program from Data Instruments Group adds handy features to Excel, improves existing ones, and makes the application easier to use. For everything from tracking down broken links to generating median values to trimming errant spaces, this software is certainly worth the price of admission–plus you can try it free for 15 days. DigDB for Excel costs $59 per year.

• TrustFax: To use the service you scan the document in the multifunction printer, upload the file to the TrustFax Web site, and send it off. It doesn’t get much easier than that. It costs $30 a year for a fax number, 50 outbound and 150 inbound fax pages, and online storage.

• SmartDraw: Sometimes you need to draw things like boxes, circles, and arrows. That’s when you turn to SmartDraw, a business-graphics app from the company of the same name. The listed price is $297. But, it gives discount from time to time.

• AskSam: This database lets you store all sorts of data, from Word documents to e-mail to Web pages, that you can retrieve with simple, free-form word searches. ‘Add Web page to AskSam’ feature works only with Internet Explorer. Standard version costs $150 and faster one cost $395.

• FolderShare: It creates a mirrored image of your most important folders - like your Favorites, Pictures, and Documents - so they’re the same on all your computers. Sharing with friends, co-workers, and family is easy when you add and update files in a shared library. Install FolderShare on all your computers, and you can access all your files from any computer on the Internet.

Source: PC World

The new search engine company, Powerset, has released a public beta version of its search engine. Right now, Powerset can only search Wikipedia. In the new version, people can search using simple phrases, short questions and keywords. The product launch comes just a day after reports that the company is being shopped to potential buyers by investment bank Allen & Co.

The way that Powerset returns queries means that answers are often found in the result snips. They are also structuring a lot of the Wikipedia and (and already structured Freebase) data and inserting it into results. So a search for “Bill Clinton” shows results, but also shows Freebase structured data along with additional query refinements to get to more information. The important thing below isn’t the structured data in the results, its the fact that you can click on the action words and drill down into very specific queries (to find, for example, what bills he signed, or which Supreme Court justices he nominated).

Powerset is indexing web pages much differently than normal search engines, which generally just record content to match against keyword queries. Instead, Powerset is trying to understand the content on the page so that it can be matched meaningfully to queries later. Even queries that don’t use matching words.

Powerset definitely has an interesting search product on its hands. Its approach of pulling third-party content into its own UI and providing tools to better analyze it is undeniably useful. On the other hand, Google and Yahoo will be watching to see if Powerset’s semantic search proves popular.

Source: Washington Post

Google will launch a new product on Monday called “Friend Connect,” which will be a set of APIs for Open Social participants to pull profile information from social networks into third party websites. The new tool is going to compete with data portability crowd like Facebook Connect from Facebook or Data Availability from MySpace.

Google has been taking a more open and distributed approach with its OpenSocial API, which allows compliant applications to work across any social network. By extension, Friend Connect would provide glue to allow any site to add a social dimension and build connections to other social networks.

The reason these companies are are rushing to get products out the door is because whoever is a player in this space is likely to control user data over the long run. If users don’t have to put profile and friend information into multiple sites, they will gravitate towards one site that they identify with, and then allow other sites to access that data. The desire to own user identities over the long run is also causing the big Internet companies, in my opinion, to rush to become OpenID issuers (but not relying parties), ” said TechCrunch’s Mike Arrington.

The key for all the data portability efforts (check out the DataPortability Project) is that users have granular controls to manage their data and to maintain privacy and security. Although, Facebook and MySpace have not fully disclosed how their privacy controls will work yet.

Source: TechCrunch

Last December, Microsoft rolled out Service Pack 1 , a total of 320 MB. The update includes fixes for 455 issues throughout the entire Office suite. Microsoft is not going to push users for Automatic Update for at least three months. “We’ll give users a 30-day notice before throttling up [SP1 via] Automatic Update,” promised Shaffner, worldwide product manager for Office. The notice will be posted on Microsoft’s Web site and publicized elsewhere.

Shaffner and Rizzo detailed only a few new features in SP1, including support for the not-yet-released Windows Server 2008 and beefed up compatibility between 2007’s native file format, Office Open XML and the formats used by earlier editions of the suite. Also, Office 2007 SP1 features a slew of security patches and bug fixes (including the mathematical error in Excel), but doesn’t add any new features. Aside from bug fixes, SP1 reportedly offers a number of performance enhancements, particularly for those running Windows Vista, where performance often lagged.

You can get a more complete description of SP1, including a list of issues that were fixed, in the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 936982: Description of the 2007 Microsoft Office suite Service Pack 1.

You might ask, why Service Pack 1? Well, SP1 focuses on the issues that matter to users of Office 2007 which have been collated based on direct customer feedback and error reporting tools.

Source: PC World

Open Office rolled out 3.0 beta version. This version of the popular software suite will support the forthcoming OpenDocument Format (ODF) 1.2 standard as well as being able to open files created with Microsoft Office 2007 or Office 2008 for Mac including .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx alongside the traditional Office binary file formats such as .doc, .xls and .ppt. It is also the first version of OpenOffice that will run on Mac OS X without X11. You can download the free software from here.

New Core Features:

* 1.1 Mac OS X Support
* 1.2 ODF 1.2 support
* 1.3 Microsoft Office 2007 Import Filters
* 1.4 Solver
* 1.5 Chart Enhancements
* 1.6 Improved Crop Feature in Draw and Impress
* 1.7 Spreadsheet Collaboration Through Workbook Sharing
* 1.8 1024 Columns Per Calc Sheet (Instead of 256)
* 1.9 Display of Multiple Writer Pages While Editing
* 1.10 Improved Notes Feature in Writer
* 1.11 New, Fresh-Looking Icons
* 1.12 Start Center

PCs and Macs will now be able to run OpenOffice 3.0 (beta) on their machines, as Sun Microsystems yesterday released the public beta of the same, compatible with the two operating systems. With this new version, developers are aiming to offer users significant improvements in the much-loved open-source office application suite.

Source: PC World

TorrentSpy, the File sharing site, has been ordered to pay a $110 million fine for copyright infringement by a federal judge in Los Angeles. MPAA accuses TorrentSpy for concealing evidence.

“This substantial money judgment sends a strong message about the illegality of sites. The demise of TorrentSpy is a clear victory for the studios and demonstrates that such pirate sites will not be allowed to continue to operate without facing relentless litigation by copyright holders,” said MPAA’s Dan Glickman.

TorrentSpy utilised a legitimate file-sharing technology called BitTorrent. It makes it easier to exchange large files over the Internet without having to rely on central servers, with individual users sending and sharing bits of files.

In 2006 TorrentSpy was more popular than any other BitTorrent site, but this changed quickly in August 2007, when a federal judge ordered TorrentSpy to log all user data. The judge ruled that TorrentSpy had to monitor its users in order to create detailed logs of their activities, and hand these over to the MPAA.

TorrentSpy shut down on 24 March and the website now has a message saying it has closed as “the ultimate method of privacy protection”.

Source: TorentFreak

Most of the computer users came across the situation where the screen says “A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down…”. Here’s what to do when Windows throws the dreaded Blue Screen of Death your way, and how to restore your OS even if you’ve lost the original restore CD.

When you encounter a BSoD (Blue screen of Death), there’s not much you can do except grumble about lost data, reboot your machine. If you start getting them regularly, however, you have a problem that must be addressed. But, the interesting part is that BSoD screens actually contain some useful information. Please, note down the description and technical details of the problem from the screen.

Then please, reboot your machine and search the web with those problem description. It may be related bad device driver that you changed recently. If that is true, please, do the following.

1. Select Start, Run (in Vista, Run is enough), type devmgmt.msc, and press Enter.
2. Double-click the device in question, click the Driver tab, and then click the Roll Back Driver button.

Otherwise, if you recently added new hardware to your system, installing a more recent version of the driver may fix the problem. Check the vendor’s Web site to see whether there’s an update.

Sometimes a bad RAM module can create the problem. In that case, you can use a free program downloadable at Memtest to test your RAM. This is not a windows program. You can download this .iso file as a CD image and convert it a bootable CD by using Nero. Then, boot and see what Memtest says.

It may be overheating that is causing the problem. Please, open the cabinet of your PC and use an air canister to clean the dust. While the cabinet is open, please, check to see any loose connection internally.

Occasionally, Registry may be the culprit for the problem. You can try running System Restore or use Registry clean up. PC World recommends ToniArts’ free EasyCleaner and ChemTable’s $40 Reg Organizer for this purpose.

If all of the above attempts fail, back up your data and take it to a registered professional.

Source: PC World

If you are a die-hard Firefox user then I am sure you are always on the look-out for tips to get more out of Firefox in less time and hence be more productive. Here are six ways you can keep yourself organized when taking notes on web pages.

1. Diigo
It’s really a bookmarking powerhouse with note-taking capabilities. When you’re on a Web page select the text/image you want to highlight and click the highlight button on your Diigo toolbar. Doing so will highlight that content as well as keep a copy of it in your Diigo account. You can also add notes to any content on a page. The next time you return to that page, there will be your notes as you left them, so no need to figure out where you left off.

2. Google Notebook
It is going to give you a reminder about blog article ideas. Google Notebook fits easily in Firefox browser. Just select the content on a page, and “clip” it to your account.

3. Internote
A simple, but effective way to manage notes on any Web page you view. Just like Diigo, but much more simplified in that it keeps your notes on the page when you return to it. No bookmarking, just notes.

4. Dappad Notebook Sidebar
This tool will let you keep all sorts of content in your Firefox sidebar. You can even share the information you save with friends, make private, or share with the public at large. Just copy from Word or Excel and put it in here if you wanted. Also, the tagging feature makes it more user friendly.

5. MyStickies

A colorful way for you to add your notes in boxes all over a Web page. Move them around to your liking. Return to that page, and your notes are waiting for you.

6. Notefish
It is pretty much the same as above, but the information is collected on your account page instead of on the Web page you’re on. So you can rearrange or colorize the stuff over there for further convenience.

All of the above tools are free to download.

Source: InformationWeek

Sun’s Chief Executive, Rich Green hailed JavaFX, a rich Internet application environment at its JavaOne conference. This tool is all set to compete with Adobe Systems’ AIR and Microsoft’s Silverlight. He showed a JavaFX application with Flickr and Twitter feeds running in Facebook within the browser, and then he dragged it out of the browser–to the desktop. The same application also was shown running on a Java-enabled phone via JavaFX Mobile.

Sun wants to expand the way Java plays on the Web by adding a scripting language, JavaFX. Scripting languages tend to be easier to use than full-bore C#, C++, or Java. Languages such as Ruby, Perl, Python, and PHP have gained currency in Web applications because they are easy to apply in user interfaces and easy to change. JavaFX is another such language and compiles its simple scripting code to the same byte code that Java does. Consequently, JavaFX can run in the Java Virtual Machine anywhere Java does, including on smartphones, PCs, and servers.

Sun is hoping to tap into 2.2 billion mobile devices and the vast majority of desktop PCs that are Java-enabled. JavaFX was shown running on Google’s Android mobile platform. Green noted that 85 percent of cell phones, 91 percent of desktops, and 100 percent of all Blu-ray Disc players will run JavaFX.

Sun set forth a road map for JavaFX:

* In July, Sun will open the JavaFX Desktop SDK Early Access Program
* In the fall, JavaFX Desktop 1.0 ships.
* In the spring of 2009, the JavaFX Mobile and TV 1.0 variants will ship.

Source: InformationWeek