Office Suites

Switches The Background:
There is a lot of news in the press recently about how Google Docs is poised to start stealing market share from Microsoft Office. I’m convinced that Google has a good product and a smart plan for strategic growth, but I would not count on Microsoft’s dominance of the Office productivity market to end – at least not yet.

I have worked with both Microsoft Office and Google Docs for quite some time now and have come up with 3 reasons why someone would not switch from Microsoft Office to Google Docs.

The Reasons:

1) Google Docs’s Compatibility with Advanced Office Features: Google Docs does not have the ability to use advanced Office functions like custom animation, Pivot Tables, Custom Animation, or VBA Macros. I’ve actually had much more success with spreadsheets using both Zoho and ThinkFree. Although, Google has been updating Docs to include more of these items. I think the basic issue is still compatibility with older Excel spreadsheets.

2) Linkage with VBA. There are a lot of Excel spreadsheets and Word documents that are heavily built around VBA scripts. From my tests, Google Docs does not have the ability to convert VBA scripts.

3) The Availability of Broadband: Although this is not really Google’s fault, it still is a reality. I still get very frustrated with “The Cloud” when a connection is not available or a connection is unreliable. This problem will become less of an issue as broadband becomes more widespread, but will continue to plague cloud computing applications until broadband is more available.

The Future:
As of now, I don’t see Microsoft in any danger of losing signficant market share. This does not mean that they should not be worried. Google (as well as others) is a force to be reckoned with and even if Google Docs is not quite ready for primetime yet. In 3-5 years I see them become a much bigger player.

Microsoft has went on the offensive again though with Office 2010 which will have a web-based component called Skydrive. Only time will tell who will win the battle, but it should be interesting to watch in the coming months and years.

[Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulcross/ / CC BY 2.0]

Using OpenOffice.org for Office Productivity

May 12, 2010

Office Suites, Open Source, Spreadsheets, Word Processers

1 Comment

In our last post, I discussed what open source software is. In this post I want to provide a little more information on OpenOffice.org, an open source office productivity suite.

What is it?
OpenOffice.org is an open source office productivity suite originally financed by Sun Microsystems (now Oracle). It consists of the following applications:

Writer – A word processing application (similar to Microsoft Word)
Calc – A spreadsheet application (similar to Microsoft Excel)
Base – A database application (similar to Microsoft Access)
Impress – A presentation application (similar to Microsoft PowerPoint)
Draw – A graphics editor program
Math – A mathematical formula creation tool

Why Use it?
One of the main benefits to using OpenOffice.org is that it is free. It is also an excellent way to support the open source movement and allow other software applications to compete the office productivity market. In addition, it is a robust office suite that is able to run on multiple operating systems, supports OpenDocument format, and for most applications is backward compatible with Microsoft Office products. One drawback is its compatibility with Microsoft Office applications that have Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) macros – I have had little success using Microsoft VBA macros in OpenOffice.org. You can read more about this on their website.

How do You Get it?
OpenOffice.org is available for free from their download website. You can find training and tutorials on the web. A few good sites include:

OpenOffice.org Training, Tips, & Ideas
OpenOffice.org Tutorials

[Image Source: OpenOffice.org website]

Focus On: Open Source Software

May 5, 2010

"Focus On" Series, Cloud Apps & SaaS, Office Suites, Open Source

2 Comments

The term Open Source Software refers to computer server and software applications that are developed for the free private use of individuals under varying circumstances. There are two main concepts associated with open source software; 1) the software is distributed free to end users and 2) the source code is available to anyone and derivatives of the software are allowed to be created and distributed based on the source code.

Open source applications can be financially backed by all large or small companies, be developed through a community of developers, or some combination of both. There are several methods for companies to make money through open source software applications, including offering consulting support services for their application, offering technical support for the applications, or through the offering of advanced add-on features to the software.

The open source philosophy promotes sharing, collaboration, and accessibility for all software programs. A formal definition of open source software was developed by the Open Source Initiative in the late 1990s.

There are several successful open-source applications on the market today including:

Linux: The term Linux is the generic name given to operating system applications that use the Linux kernel. It was originally developed as a derivative of the UNIX operating systems in the mid-1990s. Linux has established itself in the business server market and is used widely by many industries. Distrowatch is a great resource for researching and downloading Linux distributions.

OpenOffice.org: OpenOffice.org is an open source office productivity application that is financially backed by Sun Microsystems (now owned by Oracle). It is a robust office application that includes a word processor, a spreadsheet application, a presentation application, a drawing application, a database application, and a mathematical function generating application.

Mozilla: Mozilla is an internet software suite consisting of a web browser, Firefox, and an email program, Thunderbird. It is financially backed by Mozilla Foundation. Recent market studies have shown that Firefox has up to a 25% market share of the web browser market.

Other examples of successful open source software applications include the Apache Server Software, MySQL, PHP, and Ubuntu.

For more information, check out the following links:
Open Source Initiative
OSAlt – Open Source Alternatives
Open Source Windows

[Image Source: Wikimedia Commons]

Get Ready for Microsoft Office 2010

April 26, 2010

News & Admin, Office Suites, Spreadsheets, Word Processers

3 Comments

Source: Microsoft

Last year Microsoft announced they will be releasing the latest version of Office, aptly named Office 2010, in mid-2010. I have not found a firm date, but some sites have suggested it will be released around May or June.The layout of Office 2010 will be similar to that of Office 2007. Some of the new key features that will be incorporated into the latest version include:

- The ‘Ribbon’ has been modified to be more intuitive and easier to use
- Enhanced integration with Microsoft’s SkyDrive web site.
- Increased image editing capabilities within the Office applications
- Enhanced social media connectivity and collaboration tools

Rumors also have been floating that Microsoft will offer free online versions of Excel, Word, and PowerPoint through Microsoft’s Live Office website to compete with other online programs like Zoho and Google Docs. I’m skeptical about this since I have not seen anything from Microsoft that can compete with Zoho and Google’s strictly 100% online applications – they may be possibly waiting to release access to this until Office 2010 is officially released.

Other changes include the addition of Office 2010 Starter to replace Microsoft Works and a new mobile version of Office 2010.

Screenshots of Office 2010 can be found on the CNET website. Microsoft has also released a beta version to the public which can be downloaded from their site.

Sources: Microsoft.com, Wikipedia.org, CNET.com

Tech Primer: Using Microsoft Excel Filters

April 22, 2010

"Tech Primer" Series, Office Suites, Spreadsheets, Training

1 Comment

Microsoft Excel filters are a wonderful way to access data that are stored in data lists. They effectively allow the user to hide rows of data that do not meet a specific user-defined criteria. I used filters quite often when comparing data sets that have multiple column headings.

As a result of the Microsoft Office redesign that occurred with Office 2007, the application of filters is slightly different between Excel 2000/XP/2003 and Excel 2007. Below are descriptions on how to implement them in both Excel 2003 and Excel 2007.

Implementing Filters in Excel 2000/XP/2003

Step 1: Highlight the column headings and go to Data>Filter>AutoFilter. Ensure that the AutoFilter text is checked. Notice that the column headings now have drop down boxes associated with them.

Step 2: To filter, choose the drop-down bar from the desired column heading. Notice that the drop-down box has several choices that match the row values. To filter, just choose the desired value. Rows that do not match the chosen value are automatically hidden.

A more detailed description of the use of filters in Excel 2003 can be found here.

Implementing Filters in Excel 2007:

Step 1: Highlight the column headings and choose Data on the ribbon. Click the Filter icon and ensure that it is selected. At this point you should see drop-down bars on your column headings.

Step 2: To filter, choose the drop-down bar from the desired column heading. Choose the desired values that you wish to filter by. Rows that do not match the chosen values are automatically hidden.

Revisions Made to Google Docs

April 19, 2010

Cloud Apps & SaaS, News & Admin, Office Suites, Spreadsheets

1 Comment

Google recently announced upcoming enhancements to their Google Docs platform. At their recent Atmosphere conference, Google discussed upcoming changes that will allow for more enhanced collaboration and advanced features related to usability. The enhancements showcase the evolution of Google Docs as is continues to compete with Microsoft Office 2010.

A list of some of the new features found within Google Docs can be found here.

I’m personally interested to see how the new features will work. I’ve been a long time user of Microsoft Office products but recently have been using web-based applications like Google Docs and Zoho more. One of the main advantages to web-based (or cloud) applications is that the data is stored on a server on the web, which allows for more freedom when using multiple computers.

I still rely heavily on Microsoft Excel and Word for all of my heavy data crunching and writing. I feel that for more advanced applications web-based office programs are still a few years off before they can be used for all tasks. Nonetheless, with Google’s continued innovation, they seem poised to become a major player in the years ahead.

[Image and Article Sources: GigaOM, CNet]

Focus On: Cloud Computing

April 11, 2010

"Focus On" Series, Cloud Apps & SaaS, Office Suites

3 Comments

The basic premise behind cloud computing is that software applications and data will be stored on large centralized data centers instead of the user’s local machine. Instead of accessing applications and data from the user’s hard drive, they will be accessed from someplace remotely via the internet.

Cloud computing can be quite a complex idea, and there still is a lot of discussion amongst experts about exactly how to characterize it. It obtained its name through the metaphor of a shared source of data that anyone can access as a cloud in the sky.

The four components of cloud computing are:

Data: This includes personal files (such as pictures, documents, etc.) as well as any other data that is required to run your applications. Some companies that currently use this technology are Google, Dropbox, Box.net, and Drop.IO.

Applications: Applications are the software that allow us to achieve the productivity we require from computers – think Microsoft Office. Google Docs is a great example of a cloud computing application that combines cloud data and applications into one framework.

Hardware: As high-speed internet becomes more available, the way we access the applications and data of the cloud will continue to become easier for everyone. Instead of relying on desktop or laptop computers, we now and will continue to have more access top data via a wide variety of smaller, more flexible computing devices, including smart phones and netbooks.

High-Speed Internet: Without high-speed internet, cloud computing would not be possible. Accessing data and applications can only be accomplished through a robust broadband network. Expect to high-speed availability improve greatly in the next few years.

Cloud computing has become and will continue to be an important concept in computing. Watch for computing technology to continue to shift towards “the cloud” in coming years.

Image Source: Saperaud under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License

Online Alternatives to Microsoft Office

March 30, 2010

Office Suites, Spreadsheets, Word Processers

3 Comments

Online tools are relatively new and still have some kinks to work out, but for the most part work well for everyday use. They generally do not have all of the features as Microsoft Office, but still do a reasonably good job.

Three very good online tools are Google Docs, Zoho, and ThinkFree. The nice thing with each of these is that your files are kept on the company’s server, so as long as you have internet access, you can access your files.

Google Docs is a nice alternative to Office, but don’t expect to be writing long reports or crunching lots of data in spreadsheets with it. At this point, I feel that it is more suitable for small spreadsheets or documents that don’t require a lot of formatting.

Zoho is actually a large suite of office productivity tools that extend far beyond spreadsheet, word processors, and presentation software. The spreadsheet and word processors are a notch above Google’s in my opinion, but they lack the web infrastructure and ability to easily connect that Google has.

ThinkFree also offers an online spreadsheet, word processor, and presentation software. From my tests, I think that ThinkFree does the best job at converting Microsoft Office documents and also offers the most robust of the three online office programs.

There are actually several other online spreadsheet/office productivity suites on the market, but I have not played around with them very much. We will have to wait to see how Products like SkyDrive, Smartsheet, Sheetster, Feng Office, and Contact Office fare.

Overall, I feel that online office suites are still in their infancy, but are getting better and more robust everyday. For light spreadsheet and writing medium sized memos or reports, they work pretty well.

One of the things I hope to do with this blog is to provide additional information on the details of online office suites – so stay tuned!

-TW

—TechJotter

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Office Suites

Using OpenOffice.org for Office Productivity

Focus On: Open Source Software

Get Ready for Microsoft Office 2010

Tech Primer: Using Microsoft Excel Filters

Online Alternatives to Microsoft Office

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