Microsoft’s Raikes Touts Office 2003; Takes Swing at Linux (Oct 12)
Information worker productivity is at a tipping point, becoming a workspace for innovation, integration and teams, with Microsoft itself making a major transition and working with its partners to make this happen, Jeff Raikes, Microsoft’s group vice president on productivity and business solutions, said Friday.
Addressing several thousand attendees at the Worldwide Partner Conference, he took a swipe at Linux, open source and StarOffice, saying, “they simply accept the view that what they have is good enough. That view does not foster innovation. Being where we were with Office 1997 is not good enough for us,” he said.
Microsoft Office 2003 shows the new potential of information worker productivity, where services come together to dramatically enhance what people can do together, said Raikes.
Microsoft will release more products around information worker productivity this year than it has ever released before, with nearly 50,000 Microsoft employees already using Office 2003 internally, Raikes said.
Randy Schilling, president of Microsoft partner Quilogy Inc., took the stage to share his experience with Office System so far, saying it has fundamentally changed his business and the way it went to market. Quilogy’s customers wanted a simpler solution, and Office System offered them that, he said.
The company is already implementing solutions on top of Office System; for example, at Seattle’s Children’s Hospital it has simplified and reduced the number of applications used by nurses, doctors and staff from 60 to 10, Schilling said.
Read full article at eWeek: Microsoft’s Raikes Touts Office 2003; Takes Swing at Linux
Microsoft Project 2002: System Policy Editor and Templates (Oct 10)
The Microsoft Project 2002: System Policy Editor and Templates download includes the Microsoft Project 2002 system policy template. You must install the System Policy Editor and the template on your computer before you can create a system policy file.
Using the System Policy Editor, you can control which Microsoft Project 2002 options are available to your users. You can create system policies and easily distribute the settings from a central administrative installation point.
You need to have the Office XP Resource Kit installed before installing this download.
Download: Office XP Resource Kit
Download: Microsoft Project 2002: System Policy Editor and Templates
Sothink Glanda: Template-based Tool to Create Flash Movies in FrontPage (Oct 10)
Sothink Glanda is a template-based tool designed to create Flash movies for your Web site in a fast and easy way. With a few mouse clicks, you can create a variety of animated effects such as buttons, navigation, splash pages, graphic logos. A WYSIWYG design panel and an integrated preview makes creation easy. It supplies hundreds of well-designed templates including animated buttons, text effects, motion backgrounds and greeting cards so you don’t have to start from scratch. A User manual is included in the software package.
Download: Sothink Glanda: Template-based Tool to Create Flash Movies (trial version)
Sothink DHTMLMenu for FrontPage (Oct 10)
Sothink DHTMLMenu can help Web designers create professional DHTML pop-up menus for Web pages without writing a single line of code.
Sothink DHTMLMenu generates robust code that works with different Web browsers. This eliminates browser compatibility problems. The pop-up menu can be fully customizable by changing the text, font, link, background, bullets, border style, pop-up effect and so on.
Sothink DHTMLMenu provides many pre-made effects, themes and templates.
Download: Sothink DHTMLMenu
Windows SharePoint Services Administrator’s Guide (Oct 10)
This download contains information about managing Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services, including:
Planning
Deployment Scenarios
Installation
Security
Configuration
Administration
Backup and Migration
Maintenance
Customization
Troubleshooting
Reference
Note This guide is a compiled Help file and opens in HTML Help.
Download: Windows SharePoint Services Administrator’s Guide
MapPoint Streets and Trips Construction Update (Oct 9)
Download the construction update to keep your maps current in Streets and Trips. Save the file in the Data folder, located where you installed the program files for MapPoint or Streets & Trips. I.e. C:\Program Files\Microsoft MapPoint\Data\.
Download: MapPoint 2001 and Streets & Trips 2001 Construction Update
Download: MapPoint 2002 and Streets & Trips 2002 Construction Update
Download: MapPoint 2003 and Streets & Trips 2003 Construction Update
Download: MapPoint 2004 and Streets & Trips 2004 Construction Update
Customize Outlook’s Display Map of Address link (Oct 9)
One useful but often forgotten feature of Outlook’s Contacts is the ability to map the contact’s address using MapPoint on CD or through a web site if MapPoint is not installed.
Outlook originally used maps on the Expedia website and Microsoft recently redirected the URL to mappoint.com. However, Outlook 2000 does not redirect properly and users are unable to use the external mapping service. If you use Outlook 2000 and don’t have MapPoint installed, you can edit the registry to enable another web-based mapping service.
Read full guide on how to do this at Poremsky.com: Customize Outlook’s Display Map of Address link
Internet Explorer 6 SP1 Update: “HTTP 404 – File Not Found” Error Message When You Try to Visit Web Pages That Are Opened by JavaScript Functions in Frames or in Windows (Oct 9)
People who have already installed the October 2003 Cumulative Patch for Internet Explorer installed do not need to install this patch!
After you apply the cumulative security patch for Internet Explorer that is included in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS03-032, you may receive the following error message when you try to visit Web pages that are opened by JavaScript functions in frames or in windows:
HTTP 404 – File not found
This problem occurs because the cumulative security patch for Internet Explorer that is included in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS03-032 changes the base URLs of JavaScript functions to the direct scripting sites. If the JavaScript functions use relative URLs to open Web pages, this change will cause the URLs of the Web pages to be incorrect and you will receive the error message.
Download: Internet Explorer 6 SP1 Update: Error Message When You Try to Visit Web Pages That Are Opened by JavaScript Functions in Frames (English)
Download: Internet Explorer 6 SP1 Update: Error Message When You Try to Visit Web Pages That Are Opened by JavaScript Functions in Frames (different language)
Microsoft Office Solution Accelerator for Recruiting Launched (Oct 8)
Today at the HR Technology Conference & Exposition at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Microsoft Corp. introduced the Microsoft® Office Solution Accelerator for Recruiting software, designed to empower human resources (HR) departments to increase enterprise productivity. The Accelerator for Recruiting was created in response to feedback from customers who want to use Office System technologies, such as the Outlook® messaging and collaboration client and Word, to achieve highly efficient recruiting.
“Office Solution Accelerators help our partners readily build great solutions that give enterprises more value out of the software they already own by solving real-world business problems,” said Peter Rinearson, corporate vice president of the Information Worker Business Unit at Microsoft. “Our customers tell us that up to 50 percent of the time they dedicate to recruiting is spent on administrative duties such as scheduling. With the Accelerator for Recruiting, these tasks can be automated to maximize productivity. For example, a recruiter can schedule a whole set of interviews with just a few mouse clicks.”
Read full article: Microsoft Office Solution Accelerator for Recruiting Launched Today At the HR Technology Conference & Exposition
Microsoft pockets an IM patent (Oct 8)
Microsoft has won a patent for an instant messaging feature that notifies users when the person they are communicating with is typing a message.
The patent encompasses a feature that’s not only on Microsoft’s IM products but also on those of its rivals America Online and Yahoo. The patent was granted on Tuesday.
Patent No. 6,631,412 could serve as a weapon in Microsoft’s battle for IM market share. Microsoft is investing heavily in IM as a springboard for selling communication software to businesses. Later this year, Microsoft plans to launch Live Communications Server, a software product that will initially offer IM for the enterprise and then expand into Internet voice calling and video services.
The software giant currently offers MSN Messenger as a free download off the Web, as well as Windows Messenger, the IM client for its XP operating system. Both services have amassed millions of users.
Having a patent can be a powerful tool, but only if it can be proven in a court that its owner has bulletproof claims to the invention, according to legal experts. Companies that challenge a patent have to prove the patent owner was not the first one on record for the invention.
Read full article: Microsoft pockets an IM patent
Microsoft Office Project 2003 Workgroup Message Handler (Oct 8)
The Microsoft Office Project 2003 Workgroup Message Handler is a collaboration tool used by earlier versions of Project that works with the Workgroup Mail functionality. It provides a project manager the ability to communicate with the resources assigned to tasks by using e-mail. Workgroup Mail functionality has been removed as a collaboration option from Microsoft Office Project Standard 2003 and Microsoft Office Project Professional 2003 and is no longer a supported collaboration method. The recommended method for collaboration is to use Microsoft Office Project Server 2003 and Microsoft Office Project Web Access 2003.
Note Workgroup Mail is an unsupported feature of Microsoft Office Project 2003 and is not planned for future versions of Project.
If you have used Workgroup Mail in earlier versions of Project and were planning on using it in Project 2003, it can be re-enabled as an interim solution while you plan your move to an alternate method of collaboration for future versions of Project. It is important to note that Microsoft plans to discontinue Workgroup Mail in all future versions of Project, and prior versions of Workgroup Mail will not be supported. In addition, no technical support will be available for Workgroup Mail if any issues are encountered after re-enabling it for use with Project.
Download: Microsoft Office Project 2003 Workgroup Message Handler
Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003 HL7 CDA Demo (Oct 8)
InfoPath 2003 HL7 CDA Demo is based on a doctor visit scenario where the patient is received, examined, a diagnosis is made and a medication prescribed. The demo is comporised of two InfoPath 2003 solutions, the Physician’s Progress Note and the Pharmacy Order Forms. These electronic forms are based on the Health Level 7 (HL7) Clinical Document Architecture (CDA) standard and show how medical data can be retrieved, stored and transmitted electronically to streamline the paperwork normally associated with this encounter, reduce errors and imporove the quality of healthcare.
Download: HL7 CDA Demo
Download: HL7 CDA Demo documentation
Microsoft Office System Connects Desktop Programs With Amazon.com (Oct 8)
Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. today announced a joint development project that leverages Amazon Web Services (http://www.amazon.com/webservices/) and the Extensible Markup Language (XML) capabilities of Microsoft® Office System programs to provide users with access to Amazon.com products and data while working in Microsoft productivity applications. The solution, called Amazon.com Research Services for Microsoft Office System, will be available for download in the Office Marketplace (http://www.office.microsoft.com/marketplace/) at no additional charge later this fall.
By integrating Amazon Web Services, Amazon.com Research Services for Microsoft Office System will provide Microsoft Office System users with convenient and seamless access to Amazon.com from within Microsoft productivity applications via the Research Task Pane. Users will be able to access Amazon.com information and make purchases without launching a browser or leaving their document, e-mail message or presentation. For example, a customer reading a bibliography in a Word document could easily click on a book title and purchase it from within the Research Task Pane without having to leave the Word document. Alternatively, a user will be able to add a footnote, bibliography entry and even cover art for books without needing to manually enter the information into a document.
The Research Task Pane, a feature in the Microsoft Office 2003 Edition desktop applications (Word, Excel, the Outlook® messaging and collaboration client, the PowerPoint® presentation graphics program and Access) and in Microsoft Office System products OneNote (TM) note-taking program, Publisher and Visio® drawing and diagramming software, uses industry-standard XML to enable users to retrieve and navigate relevant internal or external Web-based information, all from within Office programs.
Read full article: Microsoft Office System Connects Desktop Programs With Amazon.com
Microsoft Office 2003 Web Services Toolkit (Oct 7)
The Microsoft Office 2003 Web Services Toolkit brings the power of XML Web services to Microsoft Office 2003 applications. It has been updated to support Office SOAP 3.0, and features improved handling of complex data types.
Download: Office 2003 Web Services Toolkit
US needs Euro-style spam laws, says APIG (Oct 7)
The US must model its anti-spam laws upon those in Europe if it is to effectively crack down on unsolicited email, the All Party Internet Group (APIG) has warned.
The parliamentary anti-spam group is sending a group of its members to Washington to persuade the US congress that unless there are similar global laws to outlaw spam, the problem could get worse.
APIG believes that the EU solution offers better protection than many of the bills currently in front of congress.
“We are not saying we have the right solution but it’s in everyone’s interest to find a solution,” said APIG treasurer, Brian White MP.
The group is concerned that the US might adopt an opt-out measure. This would be at odds with the EU directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications, which will introduce the opt-in principle to EU member states.
“The US should adopt the opt-in line we have here in the EU, and this is the single most important measure in the report,” said Richard Allen MP, APIG’s joint-vice chairman.
He warned that if the US, which is currently considering a number of anti-spam bills, adopts one at odds with the EU, it could “potentially make matters worse, which is why we are going to Washington to beat the drum”.
Brian White feared differing laws would be leapt upon by spammers, who would use dissension to wriggle off the hook. “We want to make legislation complementary so spammers can’t play countries off against each other.”
Also in its report on spam, APIG warned that the UK Information Commission, which has to police the EU anti-spam laws, is under-resourced. If policing spam is to be effective, it advised, government will have to give the commission stronger powers to deal with spammers.
And the group criticised the Department of Trade and Industry for a loophole in the planned enforcing of the directive, which does not penalise spammers sending their junk mail to businesses.
The DTI has made “a very serious mistake in not prohibiting unsolicited business-to-business email”, said APIG, calling on the department to reverse this decision.
