Word 2010 is out in the clouds
After installing Office 2010, naturally the first application that I tried would be Word 2010 (I use that a lot).
I am still playing around with it but one of the key features that I really like is Microsoft Word 2010 Web applications. What does it mean? It means that now Microsoft is offering what Google Docs is offering. (Finally, after so long)
Word 2010 Web application will be available to anyone with a free Windows Live account. I can store my office documents online in Windows Live Skydrive. It also allows me to create, edit, and share existing documents with others.
But don’t expect the exact same feature as the Desktop version of Word 2010, it will have basic feature for you to edit your documents.
Here’s is my Word Document on the cloud.
Office 2010 Beta – Try it out
I had known that Microsoft Office 2010 was opened for public beta a couple of weeks back. But only until recently that I found some time to really try it out. I must say that its pretty stable and enjoyed using some of the new features.
Download the beta and try it out at Microsoft Office 2010 website. Its free and for folks who is already used to the new User Interface of Office 2007, it will be fairly easy.
In the beta, you will be able to try out the following applications for free:
- Word
- Access
- Powerpoint
- Publisher
- Outlook
- InfoPath
- Excel
- OneNote
- SharePoint Workspace
- Communicator
- If you want to know more about what are the new features of Office 2010, you can also download the “First Look Office 2010” e-book for free.
Meanwhile, stay tune for my next few blog post where i will share my thoughts on the new Office 2010 beta.
YikeBike – Urban Freedom
Recently when I was in Beijing, I had a chance to meet the founders of YikeBike. I saw a real life demo of YikeBike and I like it a lot.
YikeBike is a electronic bike that allows riders to ride on it in the city. It is environmentally friendly as it does not run on petrol and it is light enough for you to carry around.
It’s very light, less than 10kg and foldable for you to carry around. I think this is great innovation and personally will like to own one if its available in Malaysia.
But looking at the trends, Malaysia will be the last country they will launch it. Think IPhone and Kindle, we are the not on their initial launch list. How sad!
Source: YikeBike
All the Useful Windows Shortcut Keys That You Should Know
I’m am a workaholic and have always find ways that i can increase my productivity. Even small little things like shortcut keys will help especially you are like me: I spend like 70% of my work day working on the PC
So here are some Windows 7 shortcut keys that I always used. Hope its useful!!
| Windows Logo Shortcut Key | Description |
Windows logo key  |
Open or close the Start menu. |
| Windows logo key +D |
Display the desktop. |
| Windows logo key +M |
Minimize all windows. |
| Windows logo key +Shift+M |
Restore minimized windows to the desktop. |
| Windows logo key +E |
Open Computer. |
| Windows logo key +L |
Lock your computer or switch users. |
| Windows logo key +R |
Open the Run dialog box. |
| Windows logo key +T |
Cycle through programs on the taskbar. |
| Windows logo key +number |
Start the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number. If the program is already running, switch to that program. |
| Windows logo key +Tab |
Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D. |
| Windows logo key +Spacebar |
Preview the desktop. |
| Windows logo key +Up Arrow |
Maximize the window. |
| Windows logo key +Left Arrow |
Maximize the window to the left side of the screen. |
| Windows logo key +Right Arrow |
Maximize the window to the right side of the screen. |
| Windows logo key +Down Arrow |
Minimize the window. |
| Windows logo key +Home |
Minimize all but the active window. |
| Windows logo key +Shift+Left Arrow or Right Arrow |
Move a window from one monitor to another. |
| Windows logo key +P |
Choose a presentation display mode. |
| Windows logo key +X |
Open Windows Mobility Center. |
3 Windows 7 Shortcut Keys that you want to know
Here are some more Windows 7 Shortcut keys that I really love.
Tip 1: Sneak Peek on your desktop
Win+Space: All windows become transparent so you can see through to the desktop. This can be handy when you want to quickly view the files in your desktop without leaving your active window.
Tip 2: Quickly Launching Windows Mobility Center
Win+X: This will quickly launch the mobility center which will enable you to change your battery status, turn on Presentation Setting etc. (This is in Windows Vista but i always find this useful to share)
Tip 3: Quick way to launch application pinned on taskbar
Win+number: Start the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number. If the program is already running, switch to that program.
This will be a quick and easy way for you launch certain applications.
4 Useful Windows 7 Shortcut Keys for Presentation
After playing around with Windows 7 for a while. I realized that Microsoft did not neglect the little things that makes life a lot easier for folks like myself to do presentations. Here are some simple tips that you can leverage on to make your presentation smoother and to “Wow” the non-techie folks that you are presenting too.
Tip 1: Easier way to display projection
Just use the short cut key Win Logo + P
Tip 2: Magnifying in Windows 7
In Windows 7 it is easier to magnified certain parts of your work in presentation. You can use this feature to zoom in our zoom out in certain parts of your presentation.
Just use Win Logo ++ (plus key) to zoom or Win Logo + – (minus key) to zoom out.
If you want to do it manually (beats me why) you can always click on the options in the magnifying glass to zoom in and out.
Tip 3 – Short Cut Keys to Quickly move your active Window
In making presentations, sometimes you would want to quickly minimize or maximize your window without manually using your mouse. So here are some good shortcut keys that can help you achieve that quickly.
Win Logo + Up – Maximize current Window
Win Logo + Down – Minimize current Window
Win Logo + Left – Move Window to left hand side of the screen
Win Logo + Right – Move Window to right hand side of the screen
Tip 4- Moving Windows to an Extended Monitor/Projector
This only works if you have a extended monitor or projector connected to your PC. To display a Window to your extended monitor or project, you typically need to drag a active Window to it. Now with a flick of a button you can do that easily. Here’s how
Win Logo + Shift + Left – Jump active Window to left monitor
Win Logo + Shift + Right – Jump active Window to right monitor
Office Tips: Remove Formatting and Paste
When copy and pasting something into a Microsoft Office Application such as Word or Outlook, it will sometimes screw up the current format that you are having. This is normally happens when you copy and paste from other sources.
What you could do to remove the formatting is – Select the text that you have just pasted and use the shortcut key “Ctrl + Space”
Windows 7: Boosting Performance with ReadyBoost
Windows ReadyBoost is not a new feature in Windows 7. The feature is also available in Windows Vista, but most of the folks that i know do not use it because having an extra thumb-drive sticking out like a sore thumb is not exactly very mobile.
But there is a tip that you can use. Instead of using a thumb-drive, use a SD card. Most laptops now have a built in SD card slot, now you can permanently attach the SD card to your PC.
Do to that is very simple.
- Stick your SD card to the laptop
- Choose “Speed up my system” when the AutoPlay dialog box pops up.
- Use the maximum spaces to boost up your speed.
- Now you can easily boost your performance with Windows Readyboost to make your PC even faster.
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Some info about Windows Readyboost
Windows ReadyBoost is a new concept in adding memory to a system. You can use non-volatile flash memory, such as that on a universal serial bus (USB) flash drive, to improve performance without having to add additional memory "under the hood."
Windows ReadyBoost improves system memory and boosts performance.
The flash memory device serves as an additional memory cache—that is, memory that the computer can access much more quickly than it can access data on the hard drive. Windows ReadyBoost relies on the intelligent memory management of Windows SuperFetch and can significantly improve system responsiveness.
It’s easy to use Windows ReadyBoost. When a removable memory device such as a USB flash drive or a secure digital (SD) memory card is first inserted into a port, Windows Vista checks to see if its performance is fast enough to work with Windows ReadyBoost. If so, you are asked if you want to use this device to speed up system performance. You can choose to allocate part of a USB drive’s memory to speed up performance and use the remainder to store files.
Installing Windows 7 on Netbook. Can ah?
In my previous post, I mentioned that you some of the common complains about Vista is that is performance, IE and UAC. I have also mentioned that Windows 7 has the flexibility to turn off IE or lower the level of security of UAC.
What about performance? Rather than judging its performance without any quantifiable evidence, I got my friend to borrow me her netbook and try to install Windows 7 on it. To me, this is a good enough test. Most of us knows, the preferred OS (Operating System) on netbook is Windows XP.
The Netbook that I’m testing on
Toshiba NB200 with 1.66 GHz Mini Laptop
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The steps to install Windows 7 on your netbook
- Download the WinToFlash (to make your USB drive bootable )
- Get installation file of Windows 7
- Run WinToFlash and in the following dialog box point it to your Windows 7 setup files
- After the setup files is done
- Go to the bios of your netbook and make sure its booting from USB
- Plug in your USB and your installation should fire when the netbook boots
Here’s how i got Windows 7 working on a netbook. According to my friend who is using it, performance is very good. No difference with Windows XP, but she loves all the aero effect and eye candy that comes with Windows 7.
You don’t even need to turn off all the eye candy to make it work on Netbook. Try it on your netbook!
#Updated – Clubhouse Tags
Limitation of Sending HTML Emails via Outlook
In my previous post, I detailed out how to send HTML emails via Outlook. But I think its fair for me to also list out the limitations of Outlook 2007 so that you know what to expect
In Outlook 2007, Microsoft has removed the Internet Explorer based rendering engine and replacing it with Microsoft Word.
With that, Outlook 2007 has limited support for HTML and CSS to display HTML email messages. Unless your HTML emails are extremely simple, users of Outlook 2007 will have difficulty reading your message.
Here are some notable limitation:
- no support for background images (HTML or CSS)
- no support for forms
- no support for Flash, or other plug ins
- no support for CSS floats
- no support for replacing bullets with images in unordered lists
- no support for CSS positioning
- no support for animated GIF’s
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Normal Lenovo Page |
Lenovo Page in Outlook |
- There is no immediate workaround or solution but to compose your HTML email around those limitation. For more information on Outlook’s rendering capabilities check out:
- Information compile by E-Dialog
- Word 2007 HTML and CSS Rendering Capabilities in Outlook 2007 by Microsoft
- Outlook HTML and CSS Validator – A tool develop by Microsoft to check your email compatibility
