Recently in Microsoft Category

This post was written by John Heckman: "Word 2003 and 2007 have a "feature" that creates a read-only copy of a document when you copy it to start a new document.  This can sometimes be turned on without users being aware of it.  In theory it is supposed to prompt you when you create the new document, but that doesn't always work. The net result is that users wind up with documents they can't edit and don't know why.

To turn off this feature in a given document, in Word 2003, go to Tools | Options | Security and uncheck the box that says "Read Only Recommended."

In Word 2007, Select "Save As" a Word document. When the Save box appears, click "Tools" at the bottom left corner, then General Options. Make sure the box "Read-Only Recommended" is NOT checked.  Note that if you are using a document management system such as Worldox, you will have to exit out of the DMS in order to get the native Word 2007 save dialog to do this.

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Source: Does It Compute? 4 August 2010, reproduced with permission of the author.

This post was written by David Bilinsky: "This is a "Tip" from my colleague and friend, Reba Nance, who is a fellow PMA (Practice Management Advisor) for the Colorado Bar Association:

How to compose and send an E-Mail Without Ever Leaving Microsoft Word from Word 2007, 2003 and 2000:

Many of us spend much of our time in Word. Wouldn't it be nice to easily compose and send an e-mail in Word rather than having to minimize Word, open Outlook to send the message, and then go back to Word? Here's how to do it in Word 2003 and earlier versions:..."

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Source: Thoughtful Legal Management, 23 July 2010,  reproduced with permission of the author.

This post was written by Greg Lambert: "When Scott suggested yesterday that we "Get the Conversation Out of Email", my first reaction was "yeah... good luck with that, buddy!" Not that Scott wasn't correct in his assessment that Outlook is a resource hog (actually it is a 'sounder of resource hogs'), but the fact that everyone in a law firm uses email as their primary communications tool, and their habits are so ingrained that making them change would be a monumental task.  Like the Associate pictured on the right... they all want you to change the way Outlook works for them, not vice-versa.

People use Outlook in many ways that it just shouldn't be used..."

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Source: 3 Geeks & a Blog, 4 August 2010. Reproduced with permission of the authors.

This post was written by Greg Lambert: "I was having a discussion with some attorneys recently about making everything accessible from within Outlook. Their collective spin was that they spend all of their time in Outlook, so IT needs to make everything work from within Outlook. My response to this was, "We need to get rid of Outlook. Email clients like Outlook have been the worst thing for the legal profession since we were forced to transition away from WordPerfect 5.1." You can only imagine the reaction I received from these attorneys. I was being a bit over the top, but sometimes you need a little drama to get people's attention.

I am not suggesting that we abandon Outlook, though the insistence that everything work from within Outlook is causing serious performance issues. The real issue is that programs like Outlook tend to thwart the sharing of knowledge.

There is a great deal of institutional knowledge in email. Many conversations begin and end in email..."

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Source: 3 Geeks & a Blog, 3 August 2010. Reproduced with permission of the authors.

This post was written by Greg Lambert: "Although I'm loving my iPad, there are just certain things that I'd much rather do in a Windows-based environment. For example, editing this blog using the iPad is very difficult to do and I just don't have the flexibility that I have when I'm on my PC. Well, never fear, TeamViewer HD helps connect your iPad to your personal PC's desktop. For someone that has grown up in a Window environment, it makes the iPad even more productive, and gives me the ability to not worry about "do I need to find another app that helps me do what I could easily do from my home PC?"

Now TeamViewer HD is not for iPad alone... it works very much like the Real VNC program I used to use to connect to remote desktops. So the concept isn't new, just the ability to do it from the iPad is. As with all remote desktop sharing software, you are literally connecting to the desktop as though you were sitting in front of that PC. So, remember, anyone that happens to actually be in front of that PC (or Mac, or Linux) can see everything you are doing..."

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Source: 3 Geeks & a Blog, 21 July 2010. Reproduced with permission of the authors.

This post was written by David Bilinsky: "Microsoft has officially cut the life support on a number of products this week. Prominent among these products are:

Windows 2000/Windows ME (official date of death: July 13, 2010)

Windows XP SP2 (official date of death: also July 13, 2010)

Now to be fair, these products won't stop working, however, Microsoft has stopped issuing any further support or patches or security upgrades..."

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Source: Slaw.ca, 14 July 2010. Reproduced with permission of Simon Fodden, founder of Slaw.  

This post was written by Tom Mighell: "Have I written here about how much I love Xobni? It's one of the best Outlook email managers I've ever used - with just a few clicks of a button, you can view all messages, tasks, contacts, and even social networking posts about any of your contacts, or those from whom you receive email. It also provides lightning-fast search for your Outlook email..."

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Source: Inter Alia, 4 June 2010, reproduced with permission of the author.

This post was written by Tom Mighell: "If you're using either Windows Vista or Windows 7, definitely check out the Microsoft Fixit Center. MS provides a great little download that helps you diagnose and fix some of the problems that may plague your computer from time to time."

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Source: Inter Alia, 1 June 2010, reproduced with permission of the author.

This post was written by Allison Shields: "Ben M. Schorr has written yet another guidebook for Microsoft products - The Lawyer's Guide to Microsoft Outlook 2007. I was especially interested in this book because I found Outlook 2003 to be frustrating at times. I liked the new interface of Outlook 2007 with its 'ribbon' at the top of the screen, but I knew I wasn't using the program as effectively as I could be - and I suspect most lawyers aren't, either.

The book is written in a breezy style, interspersed with humor, anecdotes (who knew that SPAM email messages were named after a Monty Python skit?) and tips that can be implemented right away.

Schorr's book is written specifically for lawyers, with their concerns in mind..."

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Source: Legal Ease Blog, 1 June 2010, reproduced with permission of the author.

This post was written by Richard Georges: "Google: Don't upgrade Office, add Docs | Beyond Binary - CNET News. Microsoft makes a lot of money selling software. The Office franchise is very familiar to lawyers who have largely adopted Microsoft Word as a standard word processing system. Those of us who grew up with WordPerfect still use it; but, we are always having to send copies of documents in Word format to other lawyers. Google Docs is a web based document processing system that can be used in conjunction with Word to collaborate on documents, and to make documents available to other lawyers without worrying about software compatibility..."

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Source: Future Lawyer, 11 May 2010. © 1996-2010, Richard M. Georges, reproduced with permission of the author.