Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Want to use MS Office to open and save ODF spreadsheets, word processing, and presentation documents, but don’t want to wait until 2009 to do it?  Sun has got you covered.  Microsoft recently announced that native ODF support would be coming to its popular Office 2007 productivity suite with the release of Service Pack 2, currently scheduled for early to mid 2009.  Users who either can not or do not wish to wait that long have an alternative though, and it comes from one of Microsoft’s chief competitors in the market for office productivity software: Sun Microsystems.

Sun has taken the open source OpenOffice suite of productivity applications, and offers a branded version called StarOffice 8.  The productivity suite, which includes word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, drawing, and database capabilities (think Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio, and Access) costs far less than typical licenses for MS Office, and offers nearly the same functionality.  Major advantages include full compatibility with both ODF and popular MS Office formats, including .doc/.odt, .xls/.ods, and .ppt/.odp, as well as significant cost savings versus a typical installation of MS Office.

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The good news: MIcrosoft has announced its flagship Office productivity software will gain support for more open formats, including PDF v1.5, PDF/A (the ISO standard for archival PDFs), and ODF v1.1. 

The bad news: Users will have to wait until 2009 and Service Pack 2 to get it.

In a press release, MS detailed the intention to increase the interoperability of Office 2007, and reaffirmed the commitment to delivering ODF support for older versions of Office through support of the OpenXML-ODF open source translator project.  This move comes after Microsoft’s recent success in establishing its own Open Office XML (OOXML) as an ISO standard, and provides significant backing to Microsoft’s pledged support of interoperability.  The media spin that Microsoft is using goes something like this: Step 1: Innovate.  Step 2: Create partner opportunities.  Step 3: Profit.  But is this really a move for greater compatibility, or simply a move to maintain dominance?

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It’s his last time to host a Microsoft CEO Summit as company chairman before answering philanthropy’s call, so Bill Gates decided to use the opportunity for one more demonstration of Microsoft Research prowess. Gates allowed the high-profile executives attending the annual meeting of high-dollar minds to see Microsoft’s Touch Wall, which threatens the existence of whiteboards and Magic Markers in all those sterile conference rooms around the world.

So far it’s been a good year for touch-screen technology, big and small; besides the iPhone and all its competitors, there’s the touch technology on display during coverage of primary elections on CNN. Microsoft’s offering is basically its Surface computer mounted vertically and expanded out to a 50-inch screen. Gates showed off interactivity with documents, Tablet-style writing and easy access to applications like PowerPoint, and promised that the technology would not be all that expensive. Still, after the showing this week in Redmond for the business elite, you can expect corner offices in corporate headquarters across America to be the first places for the Touch Wall to show up.

Read [Seattle Times]

Microsoft has brought back their “Ultimate Steal” promotion, and once again are offering a great deal on Office Ultimate. Microsoft is currently running the promotion for students which will allow them to save $620, which is 91% off the retail price of Microsoft Office Ultimate. The office suite normally retails for $680, however up until May 16 anyone with access to a .edu address can take advantage of this deal.

Based on the website for the promotion, you must be an active student, meaning you are currently enrolled in a class, however the New York Times is reporting that all you need is an active .edu email address. Well, I have a spare $60 lying around, just a shame I don’t still have access to my old .edu address.

Read [The Ultimate Steal] Via [Lifehacker]

British online retailer BT Shop is currently offering a bundle that is sure to make just about everyone scratch their head. Lets just hope that some unsuspecting person does not take advantage of this offer thinking its going to save some money, because in turn it will just waste it, that is unless they have another Windows-based computer lying around that needs Office. Sadly the bundle, aside from being incompatible only saves the user £1.76, which is around $3.50 US.

Via [CrunchGear]

Let’s face it, Microsoft Office is one mighty expensive software package. Costing hundreds of dollars for each Office iteration, it makes upgrading to the latest MS Office a difficult and sometimes impossible task. Not everyone can afford paying hundreds of dollars every few years. Fortunately, Microsoft is attempting to make it easier for users to migrate to the latest and future versions of its highly popular productivity suite. Currently in private beta testing, Microsoft’s “Albany” program is a subscription based model of Office. Specifically, Albany bundles Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 (containing Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and OneNote), Office Live Workspaces, Windows Live OneCare (online virus and firewall service), Windows Live Mail, Messenger, and Photo Gallery all into one package with one single installer.

Unfortunately, details regarding the program are sparse; whether the subscription model will be monthly or annual remains unknown. Pricing is also unknown. Microsoft is quick to point out that the subscription-based model is not the “next” version of Office. Instead, its a new way of experiencing and purchasing Office. Interestingly, the company has announced that each subscription is valid for up to three computers, allowing families with multiple computers to share one single subscription. 

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There are not that many places that you would be able to pull this off and not look entirely foolish, that said I am sure some places of employment would benefit from such a device, I am just not sure I would want to ever have to wear one. The “hip office” from hk-ergonomics allows you to easily work on your laptop in a variety of situations without having to need an additional table. The office is made from a glass-fiber prototype that slips around your waist which rests on your hips. The sides then continue out in front making a nice “table” to rest your laptop on. According to HK, this will be good for posture, but it seems like it would also be very difficult to type, after all the computer does sit very close to your stomach.

Keep reading for a few great shot (courtesy of hk-ergonimics) of the hip office in action, we also could not help but notice that the last shot features a situation just like we imagined. A loner type individual on a laptop with no one else in site.

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An agency employed by the government in the UK has told schools in the UK that they should stay away from Windows Vista and Office 2007 when looking to upgrade.

The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA) has not seen enough evidence that the related costs such as hardware upgrades and installation would produce enough benefit to warrant the £175 million it would cost schools to upgrade. At the same time they have stated that Office 2007 has no ‘must have’ features for schools and should be avoided, and that schools should look more towards free options and those that support the international standard ODF (Open Document Format) for storing files. The report criticizes Microsoft “ for dragging its feet with incorporating support for ODF in Office 2007.”

Not good news then for Microsoft in the school sector in the UK!

Via [Macworld]

Are you proud of everything on your office computer? Are those items you might not be so eager to display really hidden from the view and scrutiny of others? Alas, for the answer is now unequivocally “no.” Your office PC, thanks to Microsoft’s new Big Brother-style software, may now be considered a weapon loaded with ammunition!

This new software is a lazy, ineffectual office worker’s nightmare, for it is capable of remotely monitoring a worker’s productivity, physical well being and competence. This monitoring system would enable computers to wirelessly pick up on a user’s heart rate, galvanic skin response, brain signals, body temperature, facial movements and expressions, blood pressure, and respiration rate. Previously, this technology was only the headache of pilots, fire fighters and NASA astronauts. This patent from Microsoft marks the very first time a company has proposed such a software for use in mainstream offices. 

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As we reported back in March, Microsoft’s next-gen productivity suite, Office 2007, will sport what they are calling the ribbon.  The ribbon is their attempt to change the menu bar as we know it, and to more logically place the functionality that is already built in.  Ever since people started playing with the beta version, there have been complaints of how the ribbon is far too big.  Now, Microsoft has officially stated that they will add an auto-hide feature to it so it’s less obtrusive and you can fit more content on the screen.

They’re also working on tools to help companies more easily migrate to the new Office file-formats.  Microsoft’s John Hodgson explains the demand for such a tool.

“We’ve been asked by a lot of customers to provide tools to do mass migrations,” he said. “There will be tools that will take a million documents and migrate those to the new formats.”

Via [Download Squad]
Read [ZDNet]