12.5%
... click here to read more at Office-Watch.com ...TechNet - get less, more uncertainty, but still useful
Microsoft TechNet program has been recently changed to limit the use of software and allow reductions in what you get, even after purchase.
TechNet has been a popular program for IT professionals, developers and testers for many years. For a relatively low annual fee you got access to Microsoft products, desktop and server, for testing and development purposes. Not only did you get latest releases and previews but also past versions which are often needed for testing.
That once cost over a thousand dollars and involved deliveries of many CD/DVD?s sometimes for the most obscure software (?SQL Server 8 Hungarian language edition? anyone?).
These days with downloading options and a much more restrictive list of software, TechNet is a lot cheaper.
From July 2012 Microsoft further tightened up on TechNet features with some important changes.
Subscription model
Now all TechNet software is licensed only while you have a Technet subscription. If you stop your subscription you also have to stop using the Microsoft software acquired through the program.
Any changes, any time
The terms of use now allow Microsoft to change the TechNet subscription rules even after you bought it. In 2010, Microsoft overnight reduced the number of licenses available to existing subscribers from 10 licences apiece for various software to just two or five depending on their subscription level. No rebate or reduced price was offered for this change.
The revised terms of use make that condition more prominent so TechNet subscribers need to know that what they are offered upon purchase may not continue for the entire year.
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For US$199 a year, the TechNet standard subscription is probably good value for anyone needing to test software. Using virtual machines (Hyper/V or VMWare) with TechNet supplied Windows is especially useful.
... click here to read more at Office-Watch.com ...Final London 2012 medal tally in Excel
We close our Olympics coverage (sorry ?Quadrennial Corporate-sponsored Rings-based Sporting Event?) with links to some looks at the medal tally.
The Guardian continued their data analysis of the medal wins. In the end they produced a simple interactive which shows the medal count adjusted in several ways:
Medal Tally in Excel
Or you can go to their Google Docs page and download the entire Olympic results raw worksheet data including population data, GDP, team size etc to play with yourself. Copying to Excel is easy from the File | Download menu in Google Docs.
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Note: at time of writing, the data hasn?t been updated to reflect New Zealand?s delayed win of a sixth Gold medal and other changes due to a positive doping test. If you?re playing at home with the medal tally as at the closing ceremony ? deduct one Gold medal from Belarus, one silver from New Zealand and one bronze from Russia . ADD one gold medal to NZ, one silver to Russia and one bronze to China.
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And congratulations to New Zealand for a wonderful performance overall, even before the unexpected late Gold.
The Aussies did very well too, though you?d not know it from the mean-spirited coverage in their local press. Just to show you can prove anything with statistics, an Aussie statistian has (with tongue in cheek) come up with a way to make Australia top the medal tally. All you have to do is multiply a country's team size by the number of medal won and divide by population.
... click here to read more at Office-Watch.com ...Switch from Outlook.com back to Hotmail
If you?ve tried Outlook.com mail service and don?t like it, you can switch back to the Hotmail interface easily.
On the top right of the Outlook.com page is a ?gear? icon, click on that and then choose the Switch to Hotmail option.
Keep in mind that Outlook.com is in beta testing now but eventually will become the default for everyone using the free Microsoft service. Existing Hotmail users will be forced to the Outlook.com interface at some stage, probably in 2013.
Microsoft makes it hard to like the Windows Phone
Office-Watch.com has a Windows Phone and we?d like to write about the Office related features for our readers. Sadly there?s a problem with the device so that will have to wait.
In the meantime here are some thoughts on how Microsoft shoots itself in the Windows Phone.
Consistent Interface Delusion
Windows Phone has some useful parts and other things that are clumsy, to put it mildly.
For many years, Microsoft has persisted with the fantasy that customers want the same interface on all their computers and devices. This fantasy persists despite all the evidence and logic against it.
The evidence is clear and market driven. Every day, millions of people switch to and fro between Windows or Mac computers to Apple, Android or, in fewer cases, Microsoft devices. These countless people have no trouble with the different interfaces of devices from different companies. Often they buy a newer product with the same interface so they can?t be that unhappy with the interface.
The reason is simple and logical ? a large screen with a keyboard and mouse is a very different type of interaction from a much smaller screen with only your finger. The size of screen and available options for interaction demand different interfaces. Just in the same way that motorbikes and cars have different control methods because the handlebars and pull levers work for the bike while a wheel and pedals are better for a car. ?Form follows function? is something that designers, architects and engineers understand ? but not at Microsoft.
Despite the evidence and logic presented to Microsoft over many years, they insist on trying to make all their Windows software fit into the same model.
The common interface delusion is shown at its worst in Windows 8 which has a tile/Metro interface rammed at users even though it makes sense best for touch screen devices that aren?t even public yet.
... click here to read more at Office-Watch.com ...Comparing series of values in Excel
We all know how to compare one number against another - equal to, less than, greater than etc. But what if you have a series of numbers that you want to compare, as a group, with a similar set of numbers to see how different each set of numbers is from the other.
Comparing a series of values happens quite often and is a useful tool for professionals and casual Excel users. It?s not only practical but an example of how a once complex mathematical function is now available with a few keyboard strokes.
Welcome to the CHITEST function in Excel. Its most commonly used to compare a new set of results from the real world against the standard or expected results. It can also be used to compare one period?s results against another periods or the new results against the past average.
The syntax is:
CHITEST (actual range, expected range)
The above works in all versions of Excel but the preferred naming in Excel 2010 and Excel 2013 is:
CHISQ.TEST (actual range, expected range)
Use CHITest if your worksheet may be opened in Excel 2007 or previous.
The function is defined as ?the test for independence. The value from the chi-squared distribution for the statistic and the appropriate degrees of freedom.?
In English that means a fully matching set of values returns 1. Any variation in the two series means a value less than one. The more variation ? the lower the ChiTest result.
Remember that ChiTest is only a guide to variance and it works better with larger sets of numbers.
Testing Air
Here?s an example of ChiTest using tests of air samples that might be used by Scuba divers to check the air in their tanks.
... click here to read more at Office-Watch.com ...
Outlook name confusion
The new version of Hotmail is called ?Outlook? ? just ?Outlook? ? at least on the web site itself.
In the promotional material for the new service it?s called Outlook.com which is a better name because it?s clearly different from Outlook software and Outlook Web Access.
We asked Microsoft about the possibility of confusion by using merely the name ?Outlook? and here?s their entire response:
As a company we?ve been simplifying our approach for individuals. You?ve seen it with the ?metro-style? design. You?ve seen it with SkyDrive. We?re taking the same approach with mail ? we want to have a brand that means mail from Microsoft. Outlook means that today for many people, and is in general a very strong brand.
So it seems strong branding is more important than customer confusion. As we mentioned before, plenty of people mix up ?Outlook? and ?Outlook Express? two very different email clients with similar names.
There?s nothing wrong with strong branding ? ?Windows? is a strong brand ? but each version of Windows is explicitly named ?Windows 95? , ?Windows 8? etc. There?s never been a release just called ?Windows?.
The next release of the ?Hotmail Connector for Outlook? could be called, according to Microsoft strong branding logic, ?Outlook Connector for Outlook?!? Of course it won?t be. Most likely it?ll be named ?Hotmail/Outlook.com Connector for Outlook? or similar.
It would be better for everyone, and still be a strong brand, if the new service was consistently called ?Outlook.com? ? especially on the web site itself.
Sadly that?s not going to happen. The decision has been made. Microsoft?s desire for branding and unwillingness to admit error will maintain the new naming despite the problems it?ll cause customers and their own support staff.
London 2012 medal tally in Excel
?Thanks to all the readers who dropped us a note about our article on the London 2012 Olympics calendar and how to overlay it in Outlook.? While many are using it to schedule their TV viewing, others use the calendar to work out how delayed their local TV's 'Live' Olympic coverage is <g>.
We don't know whether to be pleased or feel neglected because the "Olympic Branding Police" haven't contacted us <g>.
The Guardian newspaper has the usual medals table but goes beyond that with some more creative approaches.? They have a comparison between various predictions and the current medal tally.
Even better they have alternative tables comparing medal counts against a countries population, GDP and team size.?? At the time of writing Slovenia is 19th on the official medal ranking (1 Gold medal) but first when compared to population.
You can hop over to their spreadsheet to see all the data and calculations.? Use the tabs at the bottom of the worksheet to see the information in various forms.?
It's posted in Google Docs but can be downloaded to Excel via File | Download so you can do your own analysis.
... click here to read more at Office-Watch.com ...How to connect Outlook software to Outlook.com click here for more ...
How to copy a table from Wikipedia to Word or Excel. click here for more ...
The latest version of Hotmail has some interesting features and an invitation to confusion. click here for more ...
A look at the Office suite numbers in the MSFT annual report. click here for more ...
How to schedule your Olympic viewing with Outlook. click here for more ...
A fully revised new edition of one of our most popular ebooks, Organizing Outlook Email, for Outlook 2010 click here for more ...
A different view of prime numbers and clever web programming. click here for more ...
Outlook 2013 takes a backward step in readability. click here for more ...
Unread messages view returns in Outlook 2013. click here for more ...
What you need to know about Office 2013 and getting the preview. click here for more ...
All Office 2013 programs have a full screen mode. click here for more ...
A PDF editing mode arrives in Word 2013. click here for more ...
Finding the stand-alone version of Office 2013 isn?t made easy ? here?s how. click here for more ...
A look into the history of Dragon Systems. click here for more ...
How to show original text and translation side by side in Word. click here for more ...
There are various options for making sure a text label matches the quantity. click here for more ...
What is an interrobang and how to use it in Microsoft Word. click here for more ...
How to change the font and font size of Comment balloons in Word click here for more ...
The Office 2010 Starter edition won?t continue for Office 2013 but not for the reason Microsoft says. click here for more ...
Microsoft scoops up Yammer for inclusion in a future Office. click here for more ...
Screen sharing is still free with Skype, but you?d not know it from Microsoft?s weasel words. click here for more ...
Microsoft?s Surface offers a new way to buy and use Office. click here for more ...
Buried in today's Microsoft announcement is the name of the next Office version. click here for more ...
Adding comments to documents isn?t just for groups, use them yourself. click here for more ...
Talk about a virtualized Office for iPad ? it already exists and it?s called CloudOn. click here for more ...
Microsoft will get the .office top level domain, among many. click here for more ...
Microsoft might have an easy way to make Office for iPad, but it would be a trick not a solution. click here for more ...
Is there a security risk when you forward or reply to a message? click here for more ...
Amazon Kindle?s get a software update to support a new file format and other goodies. click here for more ...
Google buys QuickOffice in an effort to keep up with Microsoft?s move into tablets with Office. click here for more ...
Office News Wire
The Office 15 Technical Preview has begun. click here for more ...
Innovative Online Data Recovery Technology Allows Users to Repair Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access Files from Web Browsers Faster Than Ever click here for more ...
If you want to take the plunge to Solid State Drives, here are some comments from our experience. click here for more ...
Why the low use of Bitlocker when it can secure your private documents and emails? click here for more ...
Things you should know that Microsoft won?t tell you: saving money, installing, configuring and using Office 2010. click here for more ...
A full copy of the licence terms (aka MSLT formerly EULA) for Office 2010. click here for more ...
This is a direct copy of the Office 2010 pricing as presented by Microsoft with all the footnotes described as a 'more detailed guide'. click here for more ...
Q&A: Kurt DelBene, senior vice president of the Office Business Productivity Group at Microsoft, discusses what is new in the public beta and what developers can expect from the upcoming release of Office 2010 and related products. click here for more ...
Jive Extends its Social Layer Deep into the Enterprise, Wide Across the Firewall, and Out into the Marketplace click here for more ...
If you get access to Office via your browser, what?s on offer now? Only half. click here for more ...
Source: http://ofl.me?1750
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