Archive 6

office    4 Live Communications Server 2003 Documents Available (Oct 17)

With Live Communications Server 2003, people can connect to each other and to information instantly, whenever and wherever they need to. Live Communications Server 2003 offers a secure, reliable and easy-to-manage alternative to publicly available instant-messaging (IM) services. Enterprises can take advantage of the productivity gains that make IM popular, while helping to protect valuable intellectual property and corporate privacy.

Download: Live Communications Server 2003 Document: Reference Guide
The Reference Guide details the client configuration and policies, reference hardware and environment, Active Directory® directory service, and Microsoft Windows Management Instrumentation extensions that are installed as part of Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2003.

Download: Live Communications Server 2003 Document: Release Notes 1.0a
The Release Notes Update contains new information for Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2003 Standard Edition.

Download: Live Communications Server 2003 Document: Migration Guide
The Migration Guide provides a migration guide for organizations making the important move from Microsoft Exchange 2000 Instant Messaging to Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2003 Standard Edition.

Download: Live Communications Server 2003 Document: Deployment Guide
The Deployment Guide explains how to implement the best practices for planning, designing, migrating to, and deploying Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2003 Standard Edition in your enterprise.


office    Information Workers at Companies Using Microsoft Office System Improve Communication and Collaboration (Oct 16)

Early Adopter Customers Report An Average Productivity Gain of 25 Percent

Microsoft Corp. today announced that American Management Systems Inc. (AMS), Graphic Packaging International Inc., Honeywell International Inc., Lockheed Martin Corp. and Virgin Entertainment are among the companies now achieving greater individual, team and organizational productivity using Microsoft’s communication and collaboration solutions. Enterprise companies participating in Microsoft’s early adopter program reported an average productivity gain of 25 percent through use of the communication and collaboration capabilities in the new Microsoft® Office System, which is scheduled for release Oct. 21.

Inefficient, expensive collaboration is a major business challenge in today’s economy. The Microsoft Office System meets the collaboration challenge head-on by delivering easy-to-use programs, servers and services that help streamline communication and encourage collaboration both inside and outside of organizations. Companies are adopting the user-centric technology in the Microsoft Office System as a way to increase individual, team and organizational responsiveness, as well as eliminate inefficiencies inherent in collaboration today. Customers report that the Microsoft Office System provides measured collaborative benefits such as shortening project cycle times, reducing the number of meetings teams have inside their organizations by one-third, cutting operating costs from 10 percent to 20 percent, and increasing customer satisfaction, customer retention and revenue generation by as much as 20 percent.

Microsoft products that contribute to enhanced end-user communication and collaboration include the 2003 editions of Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office SharePoint (TM) Portal Server 2003, Microsoft Windows® SharePoint Services, Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, Microsoft Office Live Meeting, Microsoft Office Project 2003 and Microsoft Office Project Server 2003, and Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2003.

Read full article at PressPass: Information Workers at Companies Using Microsoft Office System Improve Communication and Collaboration


office    Sports- Trading Card Dynamic Web Template (Oct 16)

This zip files cotains all the files and images necessary to get you started in building a sports-related Web site using Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003.

Download: Sports- Trading Card Dynamic Web Template


info    Gates foretells death of spam (Oct 16)

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates believes the computer industry will outgrow spam, and predicts that Wi-Fi will be a key technology both for homes and business.
Speaking at ITU Telecom World 2003, Gates said that Wi-Fi had taken off in the four years since the last event, and that it would find its way quickly into the enterprise and be key to developing the digital home.

“Wi-Fi in the enterprise is on the way to becoming a common sense tool to drive business productivity,” he said.

In residential areas Wi-Fi could drive “the dream” of the digital home, he added.

But security is still a major issue for Microsoft. Gates acknowledged that the “level of richness and maturity” needed to secure the wired and wireless digital world has yet to appear.

Gates said much of Microsoft’s $6.8bn (£4.1bn) investment in research and development was being focused on this area, and suggested radical changes in the way society approaches internet technologies.

He called on anonymity to be removed from internet protocols like SMTP, because it allows spammers to mimic other users, and suggested that passwords could be replaced by smart cards and biometric technologies.

“We have to know who is accessing the network. By being able to identify who the sender is we will be able to make the spam problem essentially go away,” he said.

Gates added that by the end of the decade the majority of homes in most developed countries will be connected to the internet by broadband.As Wi-Fi had been a surprise in the last four years, the service opportunities offered by broadband would “surprise us all”, he said.

One such service, IP-TV, would be offered by all major broadband operators this decade. IP-TV would offer a much richer user interface than TV “as we historically know it”, he added.

Read article at VNUnet: Gates foretells death of spam


office    5 Project 2003 Server Related Downloads Available (Oct 16)

Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services Migration Tool
SMIGRATE helps you migrate to Windows SharePoint Services from SharePoint Team Services when upgrading to Microsoft Office Project Server 2003 from Microsoft Project Server 2002.

Microsoft Office Project Server 2003 In-Box Documentation
Documentation about various Project data formats and setup scenarios that can be used out-of-the-box.

Microsoft Office Project Server 2003 ConnInfo Utility
The ConnInfo tool ensures that Project Server administrators maintain user roles and registry settings when moving Project Server data to a new database server.

Microsoft Office Project Server 2003 Restore Single Project Tool
RestoreP can backup a single project from a saved backup and restore it to the Project Server database.

Microsoft Office Project Server 2003 WinHTTP Proxy Configuration tool
Proxycfg is required to configure proxy settings for Microsoft Office Project Server 2003 deployments.


update    7 Security Bulletins (Oct 16)

And on top of the just released Rollup package comes some additional critical fixes.

MS03-047 : Vulnerability in Exchange Server 5.5 Outlook Web Access Could Allow Cross-Site Scripting Attack (828489)

MS03-046 : Vulnerability in Exchange Server Could Allow Arbitrary Code Execution (822363)

MS03-045 : Buffer Overrun in the ListBox and in the ComboBox Control Could Allow Code Execution (824141)

MS03-044 : Buffer Overrun in Windows Help and Support Center Could Lead to System Compromise (825119)

MS03-043 : Buffer Overrun in Messenger Service Could Allow Code Execution (828035)

MS03-042 : Buffer Overflow in Windows Troubleshooter ActiveX Control Could (826232)

MS03-041 : Vulnerability in Authenticode Verification Could Allow Remote Code Execution (823182)

Run Windows Update


update    Update Rollup 1 for Microsoft Windows XP (Oct 16)

It’s here!!! Finally :-)

This update consists of previously released critical updates, for Windows XP, rolled into one convenient package. Installing this item provides you the same results as installing the individual updates. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.

Download: Update Rollup 1 for Microsoft Windows XP (English)
Download: Update Rollup 1 for Microsoft Windows XP (different language)


update    Exchange 5.5 Information Store Patch 2657.74 (Oct 15)

This patch resolves problems that were found in the Exchange Server 5.5 Information Store since SP4 was released.

Using the Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 client to modify rules or to import rules into a mailbox that is located on a Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 computer can result in a server-side rule with a malformed property. The execution of rules in this condition may cause the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service to unexpectedly stop responding.

More info: Information Store Intermittently Stops Responding and an Access Violation Occurs in EcDSDNFromSz (829418)
Download: Exchange 5.5 Information Store Patch 2657.74 (English)
Download: Exchange 5.5 Information Store Patch 2657.74 (different language)


info    Your Potential, Our Passion (Oct 14)

Today I went to the TechNet MSDN Briefings 2003 in The Hague. Bill Gates was special host at this briefing to talk about the vision of Microsoft and how they created software with that vision and what will be the next steps for the coming years to pursue that vision even more.

Getting to The Hague was a hard task as the NS (Dutch Railways) were on a strike and no train stopped between Rotterdam and Leiden (The Hague is in between for the ones with no topographical knowledge of The Netherlands). Getting in the wrong room with just executives of companies that are Microsoft partners was real easy; I was there very early and with just nothing to do me and my friend just starting to walk around in the building to see if there was anything to do. With two security guards at every door we figured that if we went to places we shouldn’t be going we probably get halted. The reality was different; when we saw a fancy room with loads of people we just walked in. In fact we even got greeted by the security guards!

After a cup of tea a conference room opened and we got a presentation by a company that analyzes the behaviour of people and translates that into the vision of people in general. This presentation was followed by one from Bill Gates! I’ll spare you the details of the presentation as the pictures of the most important slides will speak for themselves.

Because we were in the Executives Circle session we missed the Key Note for the general public as the large conference room was completely sealed when Bill Gates entered (yep, now security worked!). All with all not too bad as he gave kind of the same presentation which we could follow outside on a TV screen. Quite fun to see him do the same presentation directly again after the first one.

The rest of the day I attended the following sessions;

  • Exchange Server 2003: mobility, RPC over HTTP and migration explained

  • Windows 2000 Active Directory Diagnostics, Troubleshooting and Recovery

  • Windows 2000 Security

I also included some pictures of the most important slides of the Exchange session.

I’ll post the full presentations when I’ve got them available.

View: Pictures of Bill Gates at the TechNet MSDN Briefings 2003 in The Hague


office    NetStores FrontPage E-commerce Add-in (Oct 14)

NetStores E-Commerce Add-Ins For FrontPage give Web Designers and Site Builders the tools to quickly add complete e-commerce capabilities including: shopping cart, search features, quick search, add to cart, and many ordering capabilities for conducting E-commerce. With the NetStores E-Commerce Solution, designers can quickly build and customize a Web site integrated with credit card processing, B2B, B2C, merchant accounts, without the need for additional software for their hosting platform.

Download: NetStores FrontPage E-commerce Add-in for FrontPage 2000 and 2002


office    Microsoft Insider: Office System Preview (Oct 14)

In this edition of Insider, hosts Ari Bixhorn and Chris Flores give you an in-depth preview of the new Microsoft® Office System.

Learn how the new Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 can save you time and help you work more productively. Watch demonstrations of new and revamped Office technologies, plus see the new Microsoft Office Word 2003 and Microsoft Office PowerPoint® 2003 in action. Listen to Robert Rounthwaite as he discusses how Microsoft Office Outlook® 2003 can help you combat junk e-mail, then watch a demo of the program so you can see for yourself.

Preview one of the best parts of the new Office: Microsoft Office OneNote™ 2003. See how it will completely change the way you take notes. Then watch how it works with a Tablet PC to make your standard notepad and pen virtually obsolete.

Download: Microsoft Insider: Office System Preview for Windows Media Player 9 (55MB)


office    Microsoft Office Project Server 2003 SetTracing Utility (Oct 13)

Microsoft Office Project Server 2003 uses the Project Server Tracing Service to log application errors to the Event Viewer. The Project Server SetTracing Utility also allows you to redirect the tracing output to a log file, or to the Event Viewer and a log file. Directing application errors to a log file will output the errors to a format that you can send to Microsoft Product Support Services, making it easier for them to help determine the cause or causes of any errors your organization may be running into.

Download: Microsoft Office Project Server 2003 SetTracing Utility


office    Microsoft Launches Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office System (Oct 13)

Microsoft Is Providing the Tools and Technologies Developers Need To Build Next Generation of Solutions for the Office System

Microsoft Corp. today announced the launch of Microsoft® Visual Studio® Tools for the Microsoft Office System, which brings the power and productivity of Visual Studio .NET 2003 and the Microsoft .NET Framework to business solutions built on the latest versions of Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. Microsoft Office is the most broadly used client application in the world, used or customized by nearly 3 million developers and over 400 million users. With today’s launch, Microsoft is now providing professional developer customers with the compelling developer tools that they need to take advantage of the power and flexibility of the .NET Framework in their Office-based solutions.

In addition, the Microsoft Office Access 2003 Developer Extensions will be paired with Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office System and offered at an upgrade price to users of the previous Office Developer Edition products. The Access Developer Extensions provide the tools and resources developers need to more quickly and easily create, test and deploy sophisticated Microsoft Access solutions.

“Developers wanting to build solutions for Word and Excel will find greater productivity with Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office System,” said Eric Rudder, senior vice president of the Servers and Tools group at Microsoft. “The customization opportunities offered by Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office System will help businesses achieve faster time to market for their internal and external applications.”

Read full Press Release: Microsoft Launches Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office System


office    Big changes for Office (Oct 13)

Quite a critical article about the new Microsoft Office 2003 Family;

Getting the most out of Microsoft’s imminent Office upgrade will require a host of other software updates

Firms wanting to reap the productivity and collaborative benefits of Microsoft’s Office System, which launches on 21 October, should be prepared for a long haul, according to experts.

“To gain full functionality, firms will have to switch their whole environment to Server 2003, SharePoint Portal 2003 and Exchange 2003,” said Clive Longbottom of analyst Quocirca. “Desktops should be the last piece of the puzzle.”

Longbottom said firms would need to set up good policies and procedures for collaboration with automated access rights to shared documents. He added that some firms would have to train staff to XML-enable documents.

Collaborative functionality is the jewel in the crown for the revamped Office, said Longbottom. “But Office will not become a corporate tool without changing procedures,” he added. “It is up to firms to decide where the value lies and how to make it work.”

Read article at VNUnet: Big changes for Office


search    Added Search Functionality (Oct 12)

I did some updating on my site over the weekend and I added Google search functionality to my website. The search link is added to the navigation.

I also changed all the pages of this web to reflect the style used on the main page and to have navigation as well.

Hope you like it!


Sperry Software
Use "BH93RF24" to get a discount when ordering!

Archive 5

office    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


office    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


office    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)


office    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


office    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


office    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


office    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


update    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)


office    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


other    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


office    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


office    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


office    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


office    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


info    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.

View: US needs Euro-style spam laws, says APIG on VNUNET


Archive 4

howto    Added Content: Open link from Outlook in new window (Oct 7)

Ever had that when you are reading a webpage a new mail arrives that has a link in it and when you click on it it opens in the window you were just reading? Very annoying if you ask me. Follow the instructions in the “How To” to change this behaviour and let the link open in a new window.

View: Open link from Outlook in new window


faq    Added Content: Minimize Outlook to the Notification Area (Oct 7)

This is probably already known by most of you but now it is in my FAQ as well.

View: Minimize Outlook to the Notification Area


office    Microsoft Office Project Professional 2003 Database Compatibility Scripts for Microsoft Project Server 2002 (Oct 7)

Due to the addition of new features in Microsoft Office Project Professional 2003, it cannot save projects to an existing Microsoft Project Server 2002 installation without first making some minor modifications to the database schema. You can load and view projects from an unmodified Microsoft Project Server 2002 database in Project Professional 2003, but if you want to make changes or create new projects in Project Professional 2003 and save them back to Project Server 2002, you must download and run the four SQL scripts provided here. These scripts will add some additional fields to the database tables that are required by Project Professional 2003, but will be ignored by earlier versions, so users of Microsoft Project Professional 2002 or Microsoft Project Standard 2002 can continue to connect as normal to the upgraded Microsoft Project Server 2002.

Download: Microsoft Office Project Professional 2003 Database Compatibility Scripts for Microsoft Project Server 2002


office    Office 2003 Add-in: Web Parts and Components (Oct 7)

Microsoft Office Web Parts and Components is a collection of Web Parts, Web Part Page solutions, templates, and data retrieval services that work closely with Microsoft Office 2003 and Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) 2.0 from Microsoft. These added features are particularly useful for large enterprises who have deployed Microsoft Office throughout their organization and who want to take advantage of the enhanced functionality and efficiencies these Web Parts and components provide for their sites.

Download: Office 2003 Add-in: Web Parts and Components (English)
Download: Office 2003 Add-in: Web Parts and Components (different language)


office    Microsoft reboots Office, giving reasons to upgrade (Oct 6)

InfoWorld posted a good review about the new Microsoft Office 2003 family.

Microsoft reboots Office
XML capabilities in Word, Excel, and InfoPath help bridge the gap between desktop documents and databases, and give enterprises a reason to upgrade

InfoPath makes Office shine
Office 2003 offers little to individual users, but XML features should wow IT shops

OneNote makes tablet sing
Microsoft’s audio and digital note-taking tool is useful even to sloppy scribblers

Microsoft’s Office ‘system’ attacks collaboration from all sides
Office, Exchange, SharePoint, and Live Communications Server cover the bases, but present a patchwork to users and IT

SPS 2003 offers tight Office integration, easy personalization
SharePoint Portal Server 2003 has many collaboration advantages, but issues such as pricey licensing keep it from being everything it claims

Live Communications Server 2003 limits instant messaging to authorized users
Microsoft’s release offers strong usability features with an eye to security

Download: Full review as in PDF-format


update    Security Update for Windows Media Player 9 Series for 2000, Windows XP, and Server 2003 (Oct 4)

A security issue has been identified that could allow an attacker to execute commands on a computer running Windows Media Player. You can help protect your computer by installing this update from Microsoft.

Download: Secrity Update for Windows Media Player 9 Series for Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows 2003
Download: Security Update for Windows Media Player 6.4, 7.1 or 9 for Windows Millennium Edition
Download: Security Update for Windows Media Player 6.4 for NT 4.0 Server
View: Security Update for Windows Media Player 9 Series for 2000, Windows XP, and Server 2003

Run Windows Update


update    Microsoft Security Bulletin MS03-040 (Oct 4)

A number of security issues have been identified in Microsoft® Internet Explorer that could allow an attacker to compromise your Microsoft Windows®-based systems and then take a variety of actions. For example, an attacker could run programs on a computer used to view the attacker’s Web site. This vulnerability affects computers that have Microsoft® Internet Explorer installed. (You do not have to be using Internet Explorer as your Web browser to be affected by this issue.) You can help protect your computer by installing this update from Microsoft. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.

Who should read this bulletin: Users running Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Impact of vulnerability:
Run code of attacker’s choice.
Maximum Severity Rating:
Critical
Recommendation: Customers should apply the patch immediately.
End User Bulletin: An end user version of this bulletin is available at: http://www.microsoft.com/security/security_bulletins/ms03-040.asp
Affected Software:

  • Internet Explorer 5.01

  • Internet Explorer 5.5

  • Internet Explorer 6.0

  • Internet Explorer 6.0 for Windows Server 2003

View: Microsoft Security Bulletin MS03-040

Run Windows Update


other    Microsoft Patches Exchange Glitch (Oct 3)

Microsoft released a patch Thursday for a newly discovered incompatibility between the new version of the company’s Outlook e-mail client and an older version of the Exchange mail server program.

Brian Holdsworth, senior product manager for Exchange marketing at Microsoft, said the company had received four reports of problems among customers running version 5.5 of Exchange in combination with a beta version of Outlook 2003.

In each case, the Exchange server had to execute a complex set of message-handling rules that eventually caused the server to choke, affecting message processing and server availability.

Microsoft created an Exchange 5.5 patch on Thursday to fix the problem, and engineers were working on an article describing the issue for the company’s Knowledge Base support site, Holdsworth said.

Outlook 2003 will be part of Office 2003, the update of the productivity software set for release later this month. Hundreds of thousands of beta versions of the software were distributed earlier this year.

Holdsworth said the issue appears to be rare, but customers experiencing problems with a combination of Exchange 5.5 and Outlook 2003 should contact Microsoft customer support to receive the patch.

“Right now, we think it’s a pretty small amount of customers that have this complex set of rules built up,” Holdsworth said. “As customers have an issue, they can apply that patch.”

View: article at Cnet


other    Storage Solutions for Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server (Oct 3)

This article discusses the principles of designing an Exchange 2000 storage solution. It does not, however, provide a procedure for configuring and deploying Exchange 2000 storage solutions, nor does it discuss storage from a clustering perspective, although the principles outlined in this article are applicable to a clustered version of Exchange. This article focuses mainly on mailbox storage, but the principles and concepts apply to public folder storage as well.

Download: Storage Solutions for Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server


office    SalesCart Express (Oct 2)

Instantly add E-commerce/Shopping cart capabilities with unlimited products on unlimited web sites. Configurable checkout with auto-calculation of items, shipping and taxes, optional real-time processing. Easy to use with step-by-step Wizard and toolbar.

Works with any ISP that supports FrontPage Database connectivity. No other monthly or yearly service fees.
Compatible with FrontPage 2000, FrontPage version 2002, and FrontPage 2003.

Download: SalesCart Express trial


office    Excel White Paper: OLAP PivotTable Considerations (Oct 2)

Microsoft® Excel 2002 and Microsoft Office Excel 2003 provide more OLAP PivotTable® functionality than earlier versions of Microsoft Excel, but the extra functionality may have a performance cost when you are using large data sets. This white paper describes these performance issues and some ways to minimize them.

Download: Excel White Paper: OLAP PivotTable Considerations


other    Duplicate Email Remover (Oct 2)

I came across a nice tool to remove duplicate e-mails. It looks quite flexible to me and does its work correctly. This can be very handy when imports or synchronisation goes wrong or when you recover bulk mail into the original folder. It gives you the options to mark messages with a flag, copy it, move it or even delete it (for the brave ones among us). Also you can let it apply to every message or just the ones you received the last couple of days. The tool is a 30 day demo and functional, registration is $15.

Download: Duplicate Email Remover
View: Screenshot
View: MAPIStore website


info    Three in five emails will be spam in 2004 (Oct 2)

Around half of emails sent are spam, and this figure is set to rise to 60 per cent by mid-2004, industry experts have predicted.
Analyst Gartner has warned marketing firms to take immediate steps to differentiate their marketing messages from spam if they want to be succesful with email campaigns.

Gartner said that by 2005, content managers, rule-based software and ISPs will effectively blacklist 80 per cent of all email marketing campaigns, including permission-based email.

But for marketers the pressure to cut costs outweighs consideration for the email’s usefulness to customers, said Gartner industry analyst Adam Sarner.

“Before customers ignore this valuable medium, marketers must start again by clearly identifying their customer base, surveying their customers as to the types of email they would like to receive, and then deliver on the feedback and give customers a way to update their preferences frequently,” he said in a statement.

According to Gartner, email marketing can be an effective communication tool, with a well-crafted email receiving a response rate of as high as 15 per cent, compared with less than one per cent for banner ads.

“Because email can be effective and is less expensive than traditional marketing methods, by the end of 2004 more than 80 per cent of companies engaged in direct marketing will conduct at least one email marketing campaign,” added Sarner.

View: Three in five emails will be spam in 2004 at VNUnet


office    PowerPoint 2003 Add-in: Presentation Broadcast (Oct 2)

Presentation Broadcast for PowerPoint 2003 is an add-in for Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 that makes it easy to synchronize the audio and video delivery of your PowerPoint presentations. Use this download to record presentations for playback and to record a presentation during delivery in person or to a remote audience.

Download: PowerPoint 2003 Add-in: Presentation Broadcast (English)
Download: PowerPoint 2003 Add-in: Presentation Broadcast (different language)


other    MSN Messenger Beta (Oct 1)

It’s version 6.1.0.128. Still a BETA but works for me. For the people addicted to the MSN6 games mess.be has developed some custom games and have updated their patch for this release. Next to the default games from MSN you’ll have; Chess, Nine Men’s Morris, Reversi, Sea Battle, Yahtzee and Tetris (new!) as extra games available from the Launch Site button. You need to have your MSN6 closed before you apply the patch.

Download: MSN Messenger BETA 6.1.0.128
Download: Mess.be Games Patch
View: Mess.be games site


Archive 3

office    CodeCharge Studio Add-In (Sep 30)

This Add-In converts FrontPage into a powerful Web development environment that lets users rapidly create database-connected Web applications such as Portals, Stores, Catalogs, Employee Directories, Internet and Intranet systems, etc. It generates clean, customizable, industrial strength programming code in all popular server languages, including ASP and C#. You build your application through wizards, and CodeCharge Studio automatically generates both your HTML pages and server code.

Download: CodeCharge Studio Add-In


office    Catalog-CD Publisher (Sep 30)

Catalog-CD Publisher with Portable Server allows you to convert your FrontPage-based Web sites into interactive CD/DVD presentations, from which your customers can order electronically. FrontPage-based layouts become web-styled presentations that can include broadband displays, databases, email forms, surveys, calendar of events, chat and other interactive functions. A few of the file types supported are ASP, HTML, XML, XSL, DTD, CSS, Javascript, PDF, MS Access database(s) and other portable file formats, that support web links.

Why Convert your Print-layouts to CD-ROM?
Because you can quickly and easily re-purpose your existing data into portable interactive broadband displays, which can be direct mailed to your clients. It’s an excellent direct marketing piece. The low cost CD-ROMs save on Printing, Postage, and Advertising Costs. These portable electronic catalogs can not only be put on CD-ROMs and mini-CD-ROMs, but can be downloaded over the web.

Download: Catalog-CD Publisher


office    NetPlugin Tags (Sep 30)

NetPlugin Tags is a FrontPage Add-In tag inserter for your NetPlugin Store templates. It integrates itself within Microsoft FrontPage, making it simple and easy to create and customize your online store templates directly within FrontPage. With the NetPlugin E-Commerce shopping cart solution, designers can quickly build and customize an online storefront. The storefront can then be easily uploaded to your Web site by clicking the Publish button within FrontPage or using standard FTP.

Download: NetPlugin Tags


other    Microsoft Office HTML Viewer Service for Windows SharePoint Services (Sep 29)

The Office HTML Viewer server provides support for users who want to view the content of files on document libraries, but do not have Word, Excel, or PowerPoint from Office 97, or a newer release of Office, installed on their local computer.

Download: Microsoft Office HTML Viewer Service for Windows SharePoint Services


office    FrontLook Site Search Engine Demo (Sep 26)

FrontLook Site Search engine is a professional site search engine to help viewers locate your Web site information without leaving their site or exposing their viewers to annoying ads. The package is inexpensive, easy-to-use and lets users set up a site search engine on their FrontPage-based Web site with a look consistent with the look of their Web site, professional result summaries, search areas and easy-to-use controls for what pages are included in each search area. A Quick Search Form add-in is also included to insert a compact search form on any page taking the user to the search page to view their results.

The search engine supports both Boolean and exact matches of text and keyword meta-tags. Summary pages can be formatted to match the look a feel of the Web site. The Web site viewer has controls for page navigation, items per page, sort order, search area and search type.

FrontLook Site Search Engine can be configured by Microsoft FrontPage 2000, 2002 or 2003 and runs on a Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) server 4.0 or greater running Active Server Pages (ASP).

Download: FrontLook Site Search Engine 30 Day Demo
View: Frontlook


office    Cart32 Form Wizard (Sep 25)

Getting your e-commerce site up and running could not be any easier. Simply enter a few product details and the wizard will generate the HTML and insert it into FrontPage for you. This shopping cart add-in for FrontPage makes it very easy to add all of the HTML needed by the Cart32 shopping Cart system.

Download: Cart32 E-commerce Add-in


info    Microsoft Prototype Camera Designed To Enhance Web Conferencing (Sep 25)

Microsoft is showing around a prototype product, called the Ring Cam, designed to make Web conferences more like face-to-face meetings. Combined with Web-conferencing software that Microsoft acquired this year, remote-meeting participants would be able to view and hear a live, 360-degree image of participants in another location.

Few details are known about when products might result from the prototype. A Ring Cam–actually multiple FireWire cameras–would stitch together images from its surroundings. Software would isolate the audio and image of whichever participant is speaking, says Amit Mital, general manager of Microsoft’s real-time collaboration unit. That technology likely would be incorporated in Microsoft’s Office Live Meeting 2003 service, which is based on products it acquired with the recent purchase of PlaceWare Inc.

Microsoft’s challenge is to integrate the real-time technologies it’s developing–instant messaging, presence awareness, team workspaces, and now Web conferencing–over the next several years, Mital says.

Read the whole article at CRN
See the ringcam: Screenshots


other    Exchange 2003 Anti-Spam and Anti-Virus Capabilities (Sep 25)

Spam and viruses cause more problems for mail servers and email users than just about anything else. As part of Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing initiative, Microsoft has built new anti-virus and anti-spam capabilities into Exchange Server 2003.

Exchange 2003 will not include any built in virus scanning engines. However, Microsoft has created a new virus scanning API for Exchange 2003. This API will allow companies such as Norton, McAfee, and Hauri to develop Exchange 2003-specific anti-virus software capable of scanning both inbound and outbound mail, and capable of notifying the sender of the infection.

Read the whole article: Exchange 2003 Anti-Spam and Anti-Virus Capabilities


office    InfoPath: Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003 Software Development Kit (SDK) (Sep 24)

The Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003 Software Development Kit (SDK) is designed for solution providers (SPs), value-added resellers (VARs), and other developers who are interested in developing solutions with InfoPath 2003.
The InfoPath SDK includes documentation and samples that demonstrate development techniques for customizing and implementing InfoPath features, including integration with Microsoft Office Access 2003, Microsoft Office Word 2003, Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services, Microsoft BizTalk Server, Microsoft SQL Server, XML Web Services, Component Object Model (COM) components, and ActiveX Data Objects (ADO).

Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003 SDK contents:
Section 1: Getting Started
Section 2: Common Developer Tasks
Section 3: Best Practices
Section 4: Developer Sample Forms
Section 5: Tools
Section 6: Technical Articles
Section 7: InfoPath Developer’s Reference

Download: InfoPath: Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003 Software Development Kit (SDK)


office    Microsoft Office System 2003 Evaluation Kits (Sep 24)

You can order a trial copy of the Microsoft Office 2003 now. The shipment will begin late October. The evaluation kits are available worldwide for the cost of shipping and handling, $7.95 US for the first kit and $4.95 for each additional kit. Express delivery will cost more.

Read: Microsoft Office System Product Evaluation Kits FAQ
Order: Microsoft Office System Product Evaluation Kit


office    It’s here! Outlook 2003 Add-in: Personal Folders Backup (Sep 24)

Back-ups can be lifesavers! The updated add-in is the same as the previous version but now also supports Outlook 2003. If you also want to schedule your back-up at specific times you might want to take a look at my script in the Download section. I already spoke with someone from Microsoft to implement it in a future release. Also with the open-file back-up functionality in Windows XP the possibility is there to let the back-ups occur when Outlook is open. This way backing up could be completely transparent. Well, we’ll see what future versions will bring us. For now the updated back-up feature is already more then welcome.

Download: Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 Add-in: Personal Folders Backup
Download: My own schedulable script


office    Microsoft and Monster to Offer Customers “Smart” Resumes (Sep 23)

Microsoft Corp. and Monster, the leading global online careers property and flagship brand of Monster Worldwide Inc., today announced a technology alliance designed to help job seekers build professional resumes. Through the alliance, Monster’s downloadable Extensible Markup Language (XML)-enabled “smart” document templates can be seamlessly installed in Microsoft® Office Word 2003, enabling job seekers to upgrade the quality of their resume. The templates will be available via the Microsoft Office Online Web site, which is visited by nearly 25 million unique visitors per month.

Read: Press release at Microsoft


downloads    Outlook Command ID overview (Sep 22)

I added an overview of the command ID’s in Outlook to the Downloads section. Command ID’s are the underlying numbers for the Toolbar buttons and menu options. These numbers correspond with a certain built-in action. The ID’s can be used to create custom menu’s or disable certain buttons by using Group Policy. Disabling Toolbar buttons can be very handy for network administrators to prevent users from using certain functionality like printing (and help saving the Rain Forest! ;-). A guide on how to disable button’s will be available soon.

Download: Command ID overview Outlook 2002
Download: Command ID overview Outlook 2003


office    FrontPage Add-in: AllWebMenus Menu Builder (Sep 22)

Create any cross-browser, popup or drop-down menu with AllWebMenus, the dhtml menu / javascript menu builder that requires absolutely no DHTML/Javascript experience.

DHTML/JavaScript menus are designed with a treelike approach. Users can tailor their menu by using the Properties Pane or by choosing a predefined appearance from the Style Gallery. The menu can be either vertical or horizontal (pop-up or drop-down menu), it can be movable, stay visible while scrolling, contain static or animated images, borders, colors, and much more. Once everything is set, you can use the insert-menu-into-Web-page command to add your menu in the Web page in a fast and easy manner without any code.

Download: AllWebMenus


office    Microsoft Unveils Office Solution Accelerator Program (Sep 22)

As already introduced below today Microsoft unveiled their Office Solution Accelerator Program.

As part of its mission to deliver ongoing value to customers with the Office System, Microsoft Corp. today announced the Microsoft® Office Solution Accelerator program, a new set of offerings built on and designed for the Microsoft Office System. The accelerators are intended to help customers quickly realize more value from their Microsoft Office System software investments, and to assist industry partners in continuing to grow their businesses into new areas.

Read: Press release at Microsoft


Archive 2

office    Office hunts for new niches (Sep 22)

Microsoft plans to announce new specialty software packages on Monday based on the upcoming update of its Office productivity software.

The new packages, which will combine Microsoft software with third-party add-ons and services, will be sold by Microsoft partners under the Office Solution Accelerator Program. The program is part of a broad effort by Microsoft to court partners to help exploit new enterprise capabilities in the upcoming Office System.

Read the full article at CNET


other    MSN Messenger 6.1 Release Date and New Features (Sep 21)

The new version of MSN Messenger is announced to be released on October 23. As Microsoft often changes the release date of their products it cannot be said if this is really going to be the release date. Check out the website to find out about the features or even try them out yourself by downloading the BETA.

View: New in MSN Messenger 6.1
Repost Download: MSN Messenger 6.1 Beta


howto    Added content (Sep 20)

I added a link in the How To section to a Microsoft website which shows the command line options you have for the Microsoft Office 2003 setup.

When you run Setup for Microsoft® Office 2003, you can use command-line options to change some of the parameters that Setup uses to install Office, such as display settings and default values for Setup properties.

View: Setup Command-line Options


office    Upgrading to Outlook 2003 from Previous Versions (Sep 20)

With the upcoming release of Microsoft Office it’s good to know what happens when you upgrade your Outlook from previous versions. The article is an old release and marked as BETA but it still applies.

View: Upgrading to Outlook 2003 from Previous Versions


info    New Hotmail coming up! (Sep 20)

There is a demo of the new Hotmail. It displays some new features which are mainly anti-spam related. Hotmail will look a lot more to Outlook Web Access as well. To check out the demo make sure you are logged on to Hotmail first.

Logon to Hotmail
View:
MSN Hotmail demo


office    Office Live Meeting 2003 review (Sep 20)

As mentioned at the beginning of this week Microsoft launched into web conferencing with Microsoft Office Live Meeting.

Office Live Meeting 2003 is essentially a Web conferencing service that allows you to hold meetings over the Internet, such as team meetings, sales calls, training sessions and customer demonstrations. Office Live Meeting 2003 also allows you to access the desktop of other PCs using the service. There is no need to install servers in order to share content and applications with other people.

Read: Full article at Bios
View:
Live Meeting website
View:
Live Meeting demo
Read:
Press release at Microsoft


other    PDF Converter Released (Sep 20)

Forgot to mention this last week as the mail ended up in my spam folder :-S. The PDF converter will let you text based pdf-files convert to Microsoft Office Word documents. This can be very handy if you don’t have or lost the original document. Actually there is no need to save the original document at all as the conversion is very smoothly. This way you won’t have to check if the pdf-file is the same version as your original doc-file and edit the wrong doc-file by mistake.

ScanSoft PDF-converter


update    Latest Patch? (Sep 19)

An update on the virus that pretends it is the latest patch from Microsoft is spreading. The mail is starting to look pretty good and can easily fool people who don’t realize that patches from Microsoft are never spread by e-mail. Make sure you are running the latest virus definitions by visiting the website of your virus scan developer.

Read about the virus on Symantec
Screenshot of the E-mail


office    Toshiba to Preinstall Microsoft Office OneNote on All of Its New Portable PCs Worldwide (Sep 17)

Today at WPC Expo 2003 in Tokyo, Microsoft Corp. and Toshiba Corp. announced an agreement to deliver Microsoft® Office OneNote (TM) 2003 preinstalled on all new Toshiba laptops and Tablet PCs worldwide. OneNote 2003, the new digital note-taking program from Microsoft, will be available to customers preinstalled on Toshiba portable computers when the Microsoft Office System is launched Oct. 21, 2003, in New York.

Read the press release


other    What’s New in Exchange Server 2003 (Sep 16)

It’s not a complete overview of all the new functionality but this article discusses the most important new administrative and security features in Exchange 2003.

Read the article


office    PowerPoint Templates Pack and PowerPoint 2003 Viewer (Sep 16)

This download is a collection of background and design templates included with PowerPoint 4.0 and later versions. Strangely enough they made 3 separate packs for it of just a couple MB’s in size while they just released rollup packages for Exchange documentation of tools (see below). There is also a new PowerPoint viewer which can deal with PowerPoint 2003 files.

Download: Template Pack 1
Download: Template Pack 2
Download: Template Pack 3
Download: PowerPoint 2003 Viewer


other    Exchange 2000 – Technical White Papers (All) (Sep 16)

This download contains all the Exchange 2000 Server white papers through August 7, 2003.

View: whitepaper overview
Download: all whitepapers


other    Exchange 2003: All Exchange Tools and Updates (Sep 16)

This package contains all the Exchange tools and updates bundled together in a single download.

View: tools and updates in the package
Download: all Exchange tools and updates


office    Microsoft launches into Web conferencing (Sep 15)

And the Office family grew with yet another product: Microsoft Office Live Meeting.

Participants log into a central Web site, where they can then concurrently view a presentation, exchange notes or ask questions through chat software, and collaboratively edit documents. A number of companies use it for remote training seminars.

Read the article at CNET


info    Could we really have had a cool Clippy? (Sep 13)

In an animated video to promote PDC we hear some interesting “facts” about the characters who are now in the Halo videogame. The video is about two squads, red and blue, in heavy combat when all of a sudden one wants to leave as he has to go to PDC (Professional Developers Conference 2003) in Los Angeles. So they stop their war and talk about their life at Microsoft. Pretty funny video with the introduction (or actually replacement) of a very cool Clippy!

Download: Red vs. Blue PDC Video
View: Professional Developers Conference 2003 website


Archive 1

other    Extra games for MSN6 (Sep 13)

For the people addicted to the MSN6 games mess.be has developed some custom games. Next to the default games from MSN you’ll have; Chess, Nine Men’s Morris, Reversi, Sea Battle and Yahtzee as extra games available from the Launch Site button. You need to have your MSN6 closed before you apply the patch.

Download patch from mess.be here
Main mess.be games site


office    Office 2003 official comes early! (Sep 12)

It doesn’t happen too often but sometimes Microsoft releases something ahead of schedule (well, their latest schedule then). As of Monday, September 15 Microsoft Office 2003 can be downloaded from MSDN for those with Select, Enterprise Agreement and MSDN subscriptions. The retail release is still scheduled for October 21.

Read it at CNET


office    Office 2003 leaks (Sep 11)

I guess someone lost his job today at Microsoft. The question is whether he lost it before or after he leaked Office 2003. From the screenshots posted everything looks quite the same as after the Technical Refresh. Anyway, see the new build numbers by clicking the link below.

Screenshots at ExtremeXP


update    Security update for Windows (Sep 10)

This patch is rated critical so run Windows Update immediately! Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows ME are not effected. There is also a tool available which enables you to scan your network for unpatched computers. It will also scan for computers that doesn’t have the “Blaster” patch installed.

Bulletin: MS03-039: A Buffer Overrun in RPCSS May Allow Code Execution (824146)
Scan tool: KB 824146 Scanner for MS03-026 and MS03-039 Patches

Run Windows Update


office    Office 2003 Editions Resource Kit Tools (Sep 10)

As we are approaching the release of Office 2003 the Resource Kit Tools are already there to get you ready for deployment.

Download: Office 2003 Editions Resource Kit Tools


office    Finally it’s here! Access 2.0 Service Pack (Sep 10)

Well, better late then never right? Some info on the file;

Publish date: September 9 2003
Signature date: September 3 2003
EULA date: July 17 2003
Last Knowledge Base review date: April 23 2003
Executable date: May 1 1995
Oldest file in the executable: September 20 1994

So we are about 9 years later… will this be the final release? (talking about “Extended Support Phase”)

Download it for your archive here


other    Exchange documentation (Sep 10)

Microsoft added some new Exchange documentation.

Exchange Server 2003 Administration Guide
Exchange 2003 Deployment Guide
Working with Store Permissions in Microsoft Exchange 2000 and 2003


office    Office Professional Edition 2003 Tour (Sep 9)

With the launch of Office 2003 coming up it’s good to know what new feature’s it brings and how it can help you at home and in your organisation. A quick tour shows you how Office 2003 is safer and more effective than ever.

Take the tour


other    Telnet as an Alternative to OWA (Sep 9)

Don’t like the new Outlook Web Access interface? Well I doubt it but if you really want to go back to basics with your interface you might want to try to connect to Exchange by using good old Hyper Terminal or Telnet.

Read the article


office    Download the Microsoft Office Online Preview Demo (Sep 8)

This download contains a video demo of the new Microsoft Office Online website. It’s pretty funny to see that the web address in the video still says http://officebeta.microsoft.com. Anyway check out the new site and download this demo to see where you can find everything.

New Microsoft Office Online website: http://office.microsoft.com
Microsoft Office Online Demo for WMP9, 300kbps
Microsoft Office Online Demo other formats


about    I gave my site a facelift (Sep 5)

Hope you like it!


other    MSN 6.1 Beta hits the web (Sep 5)

To download directly from Microsoft press here


update    4 Security updates for Office came out today (Sep 4)

Bulletin: MS03-035: Flaw in Microsoft Word Could Enable Macros to Run Automatically (827653)
Bulletin: MS03-036:Buffer Overrun in WordPerfect Converter Could Allow Code Execution (827103)
Bulletin: MS03-037:Flaw in Visual Basic for Applications Could Allow Arbitrary Code Execution (822715)
Bulletin: MS03-038:Unchecked buffer in Microsoft Access Snapshot Viewer Could Allow Code Execution (827104)

Run Office Update


howto    Added content

How To section: Using command line switches


faq   Added content

FAQ section: About mailboxes, addresses and aliases