Microsoft Office 2010

Microsoft Office 2010

Hello again everybody, Dave here!

Where to start? Microsoft have brought the file button back, and decided to cram it full of options designed to speed up everyday tasks like print and save. This is a smart move as many people will be moving from office 2003 straight to 2010. The ribbon interface is still there, and after 2 years of using 2007, I’m still in two minds as to whether I like it or not.

If you are looking to upgrade to office 2010 from 2007 then you will almost definitely be able to run office 2010 as the requirements are almost identical. The natural operating system for Office 2010 is undeniably Windows 7, the graphics complement each other nicely and the whole feel of Office seems natural.
If you’re reading this from a Macintosh, or are an avid Mac user, you will no doubt be glad to hear that Microsoft have binned Entourage and have given Mac users “real” outlook.

Whilst on the topic of Outlook 2010, in the past we have had customers ask if they can have two exchange accounts on one outlook profile, and until now that has not been possible. However, in Outlook 2010 you can have multiple exchange accounts in one profile!

All in all, having done a large portion of my college coursework in Office 2010, on Windows 7, I have found it a lot easier to use, perhaps it’s because I’m now used to the ribbon at the top (I find now that I only curse it once a month or so when I can’t find something).

If you are looking into Windows 7, Office 2010 or both then please give us a call on 0845 83 82 998 and we will talk you through the options and how we can help you.

Dave

Blog has moved.

As you may have noticed the Blog has moved.

The new address is blog2.firstsolution.co.uk

Please update any links you may have to this blog.

Thank you

Jame Clewitt.

It's been a good start to 2009/2010 for First Solution Technologies.

We are delighted to announce that Cisco and Microsoft have renewed our certifications for 2009/2010. This is in recognition of our continued growth and success in implementing and supporting ICT solutions.


Cisco Select Certified Partner

This means that we are accredited to sell, install and support Cisco solutions throughout the UK. We have already built a strong reputation for delivering these quality solutions which have made a real difference to our client's ICT environments.

Cisco SMB Specialisation

Being awarded this specialisation means that we can continue to promote and support Cisco solutions to small and medium businesses. This allows us to bring enterprise style technologies to the SMB, making them affordable and flexible to support growth.

Microsoft Certified Partner

Our continued development of our Microsoft skills allows us to install and support a wide range of Microsoft solutions to help SMB's to use technology to drive their performance and growth.

Continuous Improvement

With these certification renewed again, we are looking at the next phase of building our skills so we can provide an even better service to all our clients.

More information?

Give us a call on 0845 - 83 82 998

Even More From Windows 7

Hello again!
After more time evaluating (ok, playing with) Windows 7 I still believe it to be brilliant, one feature I particularly like is how you can drag programs around on the task bar. I have always hoped windows would add a feature where this is possible, because it’s good to be able to organise things the way *I* want, not the way I opened it.

The installation is really simple, as Windows 7 loads you are presented with a vista "orb" type logo while the set up wizard loads, the next screen is a blue box, with "Install now" in the middle of the screen, so you click it. Then the screen asking for which language pops up, when I change the language to English (UK) the keyboard changed accordingly, which is a small but nice touch. When you click next, you are presented with a screen asking which kind of install you would like to go for, with large buttons which give a brief explanation of upgrade and advanced, I went for advanced, as I am upgrading from XP 32bit to windows 7 64Bit (it is not possible to upgrade XP to 7 or 32bit to 64bit). The next screen showed my hard drives and asked which one I wanted to install onto, as I didn’t want to keep any of my old data I was briefly confused by the lack of format options, but soon noticed the "More options" button which gave me the format options. What surprised me here is that windows used the last 8MB which previously was left spare.

Ok, I have been using windows 7 for quite some time, and for me its perfect; however, I have been talking to a friend of mine who has said that he has an issue with windows 7 and his new hard drive, hopefully this will be resolved with the full version - only time will tell. This issue is unlikely to affect businesses with servers, as the same drive works fine if it is mapped as a network drive from a Windows Vista pc, which is built on a similar system to Server 2008.

I am still very excited about the release of this amazing operating system - I remember helping friends with various issues with vista when it first came out, I do not foresee any major issues with windows 7.
'Till next time

Dave

More From Windows 7

Hello again!

After using Windows 7 as my main operating system I stand by what I said in my previous post, it is a very stable and simple operating system. However, since then I have done some investigating into what it could mean for our Customers, and to us at First Solution Technologies Ltd in terms of support and downtime.

As a test I manually set the IP of my network connection to 192.168.54.85 (my normal IP would be 192.168.0.***) and almost immediately I was presented with a popup alerting me to the issue, with recommendations on how to fix the issue, and the first option was the one to resolve this.

Away from the technical side, Windows 7 has stayed similar to Vista in the layout of the OS menus, however, rather than the traditional way of opening a recent file (open the program then opening the file) if the program is in the start bar, which I’m sure Excel and Word will be for most of us, there is a pop out menu which displays the last few documents you have opened with that program. Somewhat predictably, DVD burning capability has been built into Windows 7! For those of us who use DVDs to store data or to send pictures to friends this is perfect, also if you have a video you need to burn, the burner takes this well in its stride, it almost seems that Nero is redundant!

Although I mainly use this PC for Gaming, I have found myself utilising some of the more serious functions in Windows 7, such as the window positioning I mentioned in my previous post.

The more I use this new version of windows, the more I feel like saying "hasta la vista" to Vista - in my mind, this is *EVERYTHING* that Vista should have been, and a true demonstration of what Microsoft can do.

More to come on this.

Take Care!

Dave.

Windows 7

Hi there!
Having found myself with nothing to do for the weekend, I decided to take windows 7 for a test run, and right from the start it amazed me. The setup was easy and relatively quick, however, what impressed me most was the graphics, before I had customised it it was beautiful, elegant and sleek. Windows 7 has retained some of the great features from Vista (such as the Snipping tool) it has a few more party tricks, perhaps the most useful for me is when you drag a window flush to the side, it fills that half of the screen, allowing you to do the same on the other side with another program! Although drivers are not plentiful for windows 7 yet (only my graphics card had windows 7 drivers) there were no issues with installing windows XP/vista drivers (it is worth noting these updated the moment I connected to my home network). The sidebar from vista is no more, now you can place gadgets anywhere you like allowing a more personal feel to your desktop. Among the gadgets available from the site, is one that links in with Outlook and shows your next few appointments in the calendar; great for those of us who like to be reminded of calls.
Overall, this Beta version of windows 7 is far in advance of its vista predecessor ever was, it is stable, sleek and immensely customisable. To me this is everything that Vista should have been and I know people who have upgraded to the windows 7 beta from vista.
Well, I've now had windows 7 up for 2 days; I am amazed at what it can do. Expect more posts as I discover more.
Take Care!
Dave :)

HP and TANDBERG to Deliver Full Portfolio of Visual Collaboration Solutions

HP and TANDBERG, a global leader in visual communication, announce an alliance to make their respective telepresence and video conferencing portfolios interoperable.

As a result, businesspeople will soon be able to collaborate using everything from the immersive telepresence experience of HP's Halo Collaboration Studios to TANDBERG's conference room and desktop-based systems.

HP and TANDBERG have agreed to pursue a development program that will allow TANDBERG's industry-leading standards-based video conferencing systems to operate on the HP Halo Video Exchange Network (HVEN), which powers the Halo experience.

Users of TANDBERG video solutions will have the opportunity to experience significant quality improvements and, at the same time, users of HP Halo Studios will be able to extend their communications links to TANDBERG systems worldwide.

Enabling natural, personal connections across cities or around the world, HP's HVEN is a dedicated and secure, high-bandwidth, full duplex, worldwide fiber optic network. Halo on the HVEN significantly increases team effectiveness, provides faster decision-making capabilities and decreases the need for travel.

With its alliance with TANDBERG, HP intends to extend the application of the HVEN from a dedicated telepresence network to one that enables full interoperability between HP Halo and traditional standard-based video conferencing.

"Interoperability between immersive studio environments, such as HP Halo, and standards-based video conferencing solutions has become a key requirement for our customers," said Ken Crangle, general manager, Halo Collaboration Studio Unit, HP. "This alliance answers that need as we will be able to provide customers with a complete portfolio of conferencing and collaboration solutions from immersive telepresence studios to executive desktop solutions."

Deploying TANDBERG solutions on the HVEN will enable customers to enjoy reliable, high-quality video applications such as high-definition video without requiring further investments in internal IT resources or upgrades to corporate networks. For HP Halo customers, the addition of TANDBERG's systems to the HVEN will allow them to use a broader suite of collaboration solutions.

"By leveraging HVEN, customers can unleash the full power of TANDBERG systems for a greater video experience," said Geir Olsen, executive vice president, TANDBERG. "With this alliance, customers can be assured of uncompromised video and audio quality and reliability every time they are in a video call, whether at the desktop, in the conference room or in a Halo Studio."

The companies plan to begin marketing each others' solutions in the coming months.

Source: http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2007/070103a.html