File sync and backup service SugarSync (which we’ve blogged about before) just announced new small-business friendly features, including a central admin feature to manage from three to 100 users collaborating and sharing files using the app. The new package also includes flexible group pricing plans starting at $29.99 per month, with no setup fees and free phone support.
While speaking with the CEO of SugarSync, I quickly realized that my post about running a virtual team was missing a critical component: backup. As I listened to the company’s presentation of its product, my mind began working overtime. SugarSync isn’t just about backing up files securely in the cloud. It can also be used for secure file sharing, collaboration and file syncing with cross-platform and mobile device access and compatibility. Read the rest of this entry »
Some big news yesterday was the announcement of the Bing/Twitter/Facebook deals that will see the three services sharing info and working together in all kinds of interesting ways. One of those ways has now gone live, and it’s Microsoft’s Bing Twitter search. It looks a little like Twitter Search, only better, and much more broadly useful.
What do I mean by that? Well, for one, you have Twitter’s trending topics, but more than the 10 you normally see, and they’re arranged in a tag cloud. I also noticed that some from the official Twitter search page aren’t actually present, but it looks like it’s cut out the hashtagged, frivolous stuff, and left the more meaty subjects. Read the rest of this entry »
The sound of cheers swell across the nation: Today, Vista users can finally dump the clunky and sluggish operating system for Windows 7. Praise for the new version has already started coming in from early adopters and reviewers. Read the rest of this entry »
With the official release of Windows 7 on deck for later this week, Microsoft Press has released a free, 332-page downloadable e-book, “Deploying Windows® 7 Essential Guidance from the Windows 7 Resource Kit and TechNet Magazine.” The book — which reuses material from the Windows 7 Resource Kit and TechNet — covers a wide range of topics related to deploying Windows 7, including:
- Deployment Platform
- Planning Deployment
- Testing Application Compatibility
- Migrating User State Data
- Deploying Applications
While primarily aimed at system administrators rather than home or small business users, if you’re looking to make the move to Windows 7 there will undoubtedly be some information in here that will help. The book is a free download (6.5 MB PDF) from Microsoft.com.
Are you moving to Windows 7?
(via gHacks)
Microsoft Project is frustrating. Although it’s still a very good planning and project management tool, it’s tricky for non-PM professionals to get the hang of, and it hasn’t seen any significant updates in a very long time — while its (mainly online) competitors have been improving apace. Hopefully, that frustration should be eased next year, when Project 2010 is launched. Project 2010, officially announced today at the Microsoft Project Conference in Phoenix, looks like it will include significant improvements to the user experience, coupled with better integration with other Microsoft products.
I had a chance to speak to Senior Director of Product Marketing for Project, Seth Patton, prior to the announcement to get the lowdown on the new version. Patton says that it will be significantly easier for non-PM professionals to use, with an interface that includes the Office ribbon and a wizard-like Task Inspector that will make it easier to discover Project features without overwhelming the user, while at the same time retaining (and building on) the functionality that seasoned Project pros need. Simple collaboration will be available via SharePoint (so companies won’t necessarily need to shell out for Project Server), and Project now integrates tightly with Visual Studio and Dynamics. The Project product range will also be streamlined, with a clear pathway to more advanced project and portfolio management capabilities as business needs change.
If you’re growing tired of the lack of updates to Project and are considering switching to one of its online competitors, you might want to hang tight until you can give this new version a run for its money. Somewhat annoyingly, Microsoft hasn’t made a beta available with the announcement, so you can’t try it out just yet; according to Patton, the public beta (which you can sign up for here) is due to land “before the end of the calendar year.” The final release should happen early next year, to coincide with the main Office 2010 launch.
Are you looking forward to Project 2010? Or have the lack of updates to the product forced you to jump ship?
Most web workers have have stories of struggling to send large files around to their geographically-dispersed project team with the inevitable choking of network bandwidth. Even while online collaboration tools like SharePoint are used in many organizations, it’s almost impossible to escape emailing large Microsoft Office documents to co-workers and clients.
Recently, Balesio introduced FILEminimizer Office, a shareware Outlook add-in promising a staggering — and, frankly, hard to believe — “up to 98 percent” file compression solution, including embedded objects and pictures, with no need for unzipping software or proprietary tools. While many web workers may still use the venerable WinZip to compress files before emailing them, or use web apps like YouSendIt and DropBox to host their files, FILEmininimizer Office might offer an easy to use, integrated solution. But does it achieve that lofty claim of 98 percent compression? Read the rest of this entry »
As web workers, sometimes we have to walk a fine line between keeping clients happy, and providing the best possible services. For web developers like me, the issue of whether to continue supporting Internet Explorer 6 is becoming a major headache.
It would seem to be a no-brainer to ditch support for a browser that is slow, prone to malware attacks, and incompatible with modern standards. Those of us who design and maintain web sites have to resort to all sorts of time-consuming (thus expensive!) tricks to make the sites we create work with IE6 — a browser that is now almost nine years old.
Unfortunately, up to a quarter of web users still use IE6, and in big companies, the percentage is even higher. According to Forrester Research, “60 percent of companies use Internet Explorer 6 as their default browser.” Read the rest of this entry »
The much-anticipated online version of Microsoft Office will roll out into Technical Preview later this summer. While Microsoft has announced that it will be free to everyone with a Windows Live account (and thus free to anyone), it looks like the free version will not have the full feature set. In a detailed post over on GigaOM Pro (subscription required), Tom Reestman explains that this is a case of Microsoft tripping over itself by wanting the best of both worlds — to offer a free, web-based solution for consumers that leverages the Office brand to compete with Google Apps and Zoho, while at the same time telling businesses that it’s really just a supplement to the “real” Office on the desktop, and that it will require licensing and server costs in order to get the full package.
Microsoft has a great brand in Office, a huge user base and an opportunity to come up with an online product that blows its online competitors out of the water — unfortunately, as it’s still heavily reliant on revenues from the desktop version of the suite, it looks like the web app will be compromised, which is good news for both Google and Zoho.
Are you looking forward to Office Web?
Web Work 101: How To Escape The Cubicle
