Finally Office is catching up to the real world

With more and more need to share information among users and businesses we have been forced to seek solutions that require a separate app or a long about way to accomplish the task. Sharepoint came along and help ease some of the pain but there was still a piece missing. Microsoft may have mended a solution in the upcoming Office 2010. Time will still tell how well they develop this suite but they are definitely headed the right direction this time.

Integrating share and Skydrive seems to be one of the best features I have seen an Office suite offer yet. I know there are many other options and new features that has been improved upon but this is actually breaking ground for a Microsoft Office product. I don't know how many times I have been at a family affair and asked if I could borrow a family members PC to get a doc out that someone asked me for. It is still in the works but I can soon edit that doc right online with a Word Web App and send it on its way. Lets face it carting around the notebook everywhere gets old. Editing a doc on the cell is still in infancy. The web is the best choice for out of the office work.

Even though I have used Google Docs and countless other solutions before now it is finally time Microsoft has come of age and is delivering. I have to say that 2009/2010 is the age Microsoft has finally listened to the customer and developed decent products that has worth to its customers. If they stay on point and don't get lazy they may improve their image some and gain some stock in the mean time.

Why all the hype Positive and Negative on the latest Windows OS's

All across the web we see Pros and Cons to Microsoft's latest Windows 7. Every blog, tech site, and news feeds have put out their input on the product. It has become such a heavy topic that it has drawn controversy from every corner. When the reality of the whole thing is; Microsoft has done the best their staff and developers can to produce a product within the business model they put together in delivering an OS around the every three year mark.

The many MS haters and Apple haters out there are going to criticize the OS and produce one sided opinions all day long. The end result will have very little to play on Microsoft's bottom line. Take a look at a couple of things Microsoft has to consider when they create a new OS. They know that no Mac user is going to fully convert to Microsoft. So they either conscious or subconscious (don't work for them so no facts) produce a UI that Mac lovers will purchase and run with bootcamp or completely virtual. You will not get that from Apple nor should you expect that. Microsoft is software centric. If the previous OS fails then they need to listen more closely to the community and fix what failed. While keeping in mind they're not going to please billions of users individually. If that were the case then they would lay the OS out like a Linux distro and you pick your favs. They attempt to at least put out a few versions with different options and price range but they keep to the core market they are approaching with each. They did that while improving compatibility in Windows 7. Microsoft is business first and consumer second. Their product has to fit the business model first and then adapt to the consumer. It has lacked to do this properly with Vista. That is why they had to go back to the drawing board and re-engineer Windows 7. I don't know of many businesses other than small businesses that ever upgraded to Vista.

The opinion that Vista was the worst OS: Well I upgraded when Vista came out and personally I would not completely put it on the worst side. Is it fast? Depends how much hardware you have! Is it slow? Depends on your tolerance! For those who say that Windows 7 is the greatest well guess what. It is only an improvement on the kernel from Vista. Sure some better code, performance tweaks, and UI changes have set it aside and to the norm people believe that it is a complete overhaul. So why should Microsoft not market it as such. Vista was a huge risk that Microsoft needed to take to make a serious change in their OS. I give them props for making that shift. We did at least get a more improved kernel. Vista was not the greatest but it functioned and provided some needed security that lacked from previous OS's. It is not like you have to upgrade from Windows XP or Vista to Windows 7.

To conclude; Microsoft is by no means a perfect solution. There is no perfect solution when it comes to computers. There never will be. There are only options and niche. If you love Apple then you sacrifice some gaming and office solutions. If you love Microsoft then you sacrifice simplicity, media to a point, and elegant design. If you love Linux then you are going in your own path the same way the three big names did in the beginning. So hype! Yeah that is why these three guys did their own basement work to begin with. They wanted it their way. To be known for what they think the OS should be. Like it or love it you at least have an option to have your OS of choice and they are almost to a point running along the same hardware. So I get the fanboyism. Though the post may look fanboy on the Microsoft side, I use variants of all three OS's everyday and IMO they are what they are and should stop being compared. They are OS's sure but each serve a different purpose.

Tablets and why we need better products

Tablet PCs have yet to hit the market properly. A device that can be put in the category of "before its time" should be hitting prime time right now. This is no longer a niche market. It is 2009 and multitouch has shown pure adaptation in the computer field. Lets look at some benefits already out that could push the tablet form factor a little bit. E-readers have really started to explode on the market. What may be a simple device to read a book has shown place in today's tech savvy lifestyle. So if you are more opt to read on a device rather then pick up a paper or book why should we not be apt to write on a said device. Sure a keyboard is a great input device. That is why most tablets are hybrids. Look at cellphones. We are already adapting to the touch screen technology on our phones why not our computers. With the price of notebooks dropping like flies splurging on a ink-able touch screen should not be a hard hit on the pocket anymore. Manufactures need to step up and start using this technology more than they have in the past years.

There has been some great tablet products that just did not take off. Most due to price and performance compared to the notebook. Tablets have a market. A large market too if done right. College students can really benefit from tablets. And lets face it what has been a bigger Marketing campaign adults or students lately. Netbooks hit a boom for a while because of price and the economy. What happened as a result is price wars on the average sized notebooks to compete. So how can you put the notebook back on the market. Simple start giving more options on hardware other than just performance and looks. If manufacturers start putting ink ability built right in to the average notebook then I can almost guarantee it will catch on. Take for instance the notebook I have currently. Plain ole Acer Aspire 5610Z. Nothing special. But what if the monitor had ink or multitouch. The screen does not necessarily have to rotate as a tablet but I could just pull out the pen and edit right on the monitor. They do not have to be pure rotate and fold tablets. More so just the tablet technology built right in. Its time folks for this to be a common option.

Sure Microsoft and Apple have been in the spot lite lately on new tablet technologies and some new twists to tablet use. That is all well and good but as we can see may not be for everyone. All I am asking is lets really make the notebook more of a personal device by giving me an option to put my real signature on my emails, hand write a personal letter, circle a snippet on the web, or make a doodle. I'm sure some may say why not just go and buy a tablet out right. To that I say why can't I go and get the notebook I want and have that as an option package. Why can this not be an option package on the majority rather than a separate category all together that limits me on the types of notebooks I have to choose from. Components for notebooks have really come of age. Speed has become almost second nature in development of newer devices. So the tablets of yesterday and their limitations should be out of the question. Processors and memory have made great leaps since. So to the manufactures "there is no excuse on why this could not be an option let alone a standard just as bluetooth and wifi."

Microsoft's answer to virus protection (Microsoft Security Essential)

"Hey its about time my software provider addresses its most vulnerable weakness!" You know most people don't care if Microsoft will put out a perfect virus protection solution. In fact we all know there is no such thing. Security suites are always a reaction to an action. Though Microsoft after all these years have finally addressed this fact and gave the users a solution that helps put owning a Microsoft product a little safer. Still not a perfect solution but it does the the job and holds its own ranking in the top five with the current free solutions. I really have to give Microsoft an attaboy on this one. I don't see anything revolutionary about this product but I finally see Microsoft doing one thing right. For years and years users have been frustrated with Microsoft on this issue. They even did a great job as a set it and forget solution. Most of the built-in recommended settings will do the trick. It also gives the more comprehensive user with options such as excluding file types, processes, and file locations. Though if your are real serious about security and still want the best from a free solution then Avira AntiVir is the solution for you. But if you just want a piece of mind virus solution I would far recommend this free solution to anyone I know. Kudos Microsoft for listening to your supporters and giving them something that should have been there a long time ago.

The Hype around Google Voice

There has been a lot of different opinions going around about this service. I'm not here to clear up all those but I would like to throw my uses for this service out there so some get a little understanding if they are still on the side lines. There are a couple of reasons why I chose to use Google Voice.

First and for most it is the best number for me to but on a resume and not have to worry about having to reprint my resume because one of my numbers change. I don't know how many resumes I have thrown away because of a simple change to the header. More so how many times I have gone trough all of my job search resumes and change numbers there. I now have to never worry about that.

Second I can actually have some privacy from all my business contacts by setting a time frame for certain phones to ring. Just change the ring defaults for that group and its done. All of those contacts will go to voice mail and I can continue to watch the game. But lets say the Boss calls and he is in the business group. Well I have the settings for his contact info to ring my cell. So it can play out very well for you just as you use a company PBX at work.

There are many other perks to using Google Voice. Like free SMS and getting your voice mail transcribed then emailed to you. But what it is not is a phone carrier. The image people tend to see when they look at Google Voice is a service that will get them away from their carrier. Not the case. You still use what ever phone you currently have to make and answer calls. There are tricks to not only cut down your phone bills and using Google Voices as a VIOP service but that is not what Google Voice is put out to the public for right now. The service is nothing new. It is a rebranding that got some new tools. So the hype is that Google put its name on it. It all comes down to do you want to use it or not.

A quick note on GMail. You can now use Google Sync to sync your mail along with your calender and contacts. So it is pretty much a full mobile exchange package now.

SugarSync now with a 2GB Free Account

Now that Sugar Sync has offered a free 2GB account, I decided to take the product for a spin. I have to say the first thing I noticed is when you send a photo from the iPhone or iPod it will sync instantaneous with the desktop. As soon and you click on the photo the desktop version shows a pending upload. I have not tested the same with my blackberry Curve yet but I am sure the same will apply. What is great about this product is you have the option to pick the folders on any of your computers to sync. You are not limited to default folders. Though I still use the Magic Briefcase folder primarily since I am only going to use the free 2GB account. The great part is when down the road when I decide to opt for more storage, and I want to sync those thousands of pics I have, I don't have to copy them to another folder and make duplicate files on my PC. Another little tip is that when you delete something it is still archived so it can be restored. Great option if you removed something on accident. The trash can and at the bottom of the desktop version in each folder a deleted file was in you can show the hidden deleted items and permanently delete. The folder I will use to sync my files is the Magic Briefcase folder stored in Documents on my PC. All of these files are automatically synced across all of the devices and no additional folders need to be created. If there is a folder on a device that you think you need to sync then once you select that folder under Manage Sync Folders in the desktop app, it will show up under that device. For instance on my Drew-notebook as pictured above I have a folder that has some files that I may need, I check that folder in the manager and when I use another PC or device that folder I selected on Drew-notebook will appear when I click on the Drew-notebook icon.

Sharing! The share option lets you email or copy a link that points directly to a folder with in you account. Since all these folders and files are also stored in the cloud anyone can view these and not have access directly to your device. This is one of the options that really sets this service apart from the others I have looked into using [Dropbox]. If you read my previous post on having a calendar that incorporates these features then you will understand why this feature really stands out to me. I can copy the URL and post it within the description of say a calendar and the end user can be copy the URL into a browser and view the contents. This gives me an option to set up a folder for the meeting and send out a shared link to those who need to view the contents or add and edit content. I can also setup a password so the contents of that folder are secured. The reason that this is such a great option is that I have plenty of time to prepare all of the contents of that folder leading up to the meeting on any device so I'm not tied down to my desk the whole time.

All in all with the 2GB free account I think I have finally found the cloud storage platform I have been looking for. For the time being anyway.

Click the image above for the link to the free SugarSync iPhone app in iTunes.

Waiting for Great Products

In 2006 I opted for an invite from the scrybe team to test the beta organization product. Before Adobe Air and Google Gears were available this company had produced an online calendar product that was available for offline use. It got so much attention at the time that everyone was under the impression the product would be available in the near future and would change how the calendar would be used. Well all of us that got the invite are still awaiting the launch of this great product. In fact many including my self have actually stopped using the product because no news or updates have been added in over two years. So here is my opinion why in the next coming months or year this company will bring us a product the users have been waiting for.

One. The time is now. So many new tools have been produced to put this product in everyday lives of the public and the public not looking at the product as something that came out before its time. Users are more interested in offline use of web apps. As cloud computing is become a thing of the present and not the future this products prime time opportunity is to get back into the public eye and soon.

Two. The fan base that was created in 2006 have provided the scrybe community with suggestions that has given the company some great feed back to implement and be the complete product they are looking for. Scrybe has had almost three years to gather trends to but together something the public is looking for.

Three. Still to this day I have yet to see a calendaring product produced that gives me the functionality as scrybe did. Here is why. Microsoft Outlook has the worst calendar options I have seen. Sure it is a good productive tool but not as functional as today's life demands have become. Using the calendar on multiple devices requires tethering a device. Google calendars are just that. A Calendar, subscription options, and some basic task options. No one has produced a true calendar that you can fully integrates notes, tasks, reminders, web clips, photos, videos, contacts, and other file formats. I would like a calendar that I can add people to and completely share almost anything with. Set up a conference and post an image or document the will show on the calendar for all to see. So when I look at the calendar I know what the meeting is about, have a few items on there that I can share with whom ever and we are all on the same page with, and everybody already has the notes right on the calendar. Here is a scenario that I used to go through every day while serving our country. As these meetings were more intense than any job I have had to date. Here was what I had to carry. A planner either PDA or paper type, at least five to ten documents I created on the days meeting, a note pad to take extensive notes from all of the departments, a company printout calendar that include many extra pages of what the other departments were doing on each sheet since they could not fit on a daily or weekly printout view, and a manual or two about the classes I had to perform. There were more depending upon the meeting but these were the basics. So having all of these options on a multiple platform based product would have really made each meeting more endurable since backpacks were not a uniform option.

In conclusion It would be nice to see the scrybe teams idea of an organizational product finally be put into place. If not then I may just try and find some great coders and do this myself.