Top Metro apps for Windows 8 power users
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17 epic Microsoft Windows Auto Update meltdowns
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The desktop lover's guide to supercharging Windows 8.1
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The hidden fangs of Windows 8.1 -- and how to avoid them
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Review: Microsoft Office 365 vs. Google Apps
Two and a half years ago, when InfoWorld first pitted Office 365 against Google Apps, I likened Office 365 to the Queen Elizabeth 2 and Google Apps to a sailboat. In the intervening years, both have changed but in remarkably different respects.
Office 365 has turned into an 800-pound gorilla, with loads of new features and new options. Back then, Office 365 seemed like a cobbled-together mA(c)lange of Office 2000 and Exchange Server, with a few goodies tacked on the side. Now it's richer, smoother, more tightly integrated -- and one of Microsoft's major profit centers. Microsoft's revenue from Office 365 is now measured in the billions.
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An open letter to Microsoft's next CEO: 12 wishes from the Windows faithful
While the world waits for that puff of white smoke and the announcement of a new Defender of the Windows faith, I wanted to take a few minutes of your time and explain how things really look from the trenches.
No, I'm not going to tell you how to run a bazillion-dollar company with 130,000 employees and a bewildering array of products. You have enough folks with green eyeshades running around already -- no doubt with a nasty propensity to tell you, "Yes, sir!"
I just want to talk about customers, especially Windows customers. If you can keep us in the fold, we can help you out of this fine mess Microsoft seems to have gotten itself into.
Microsoft action item No. 1: Fix the branding
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What's new in Windows 8.1 Update
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Review: Office Online is great for Word and Excel, not PowerPoint
This is the first in a series of three reviews covering the major online productivity apps: Microsoft Office Online, Apple iWork for iCloud, and Google Drive (aka Google Docs or Google Apps). We'll wrap up the series with a detailed comparison, but, in the meantime, I won't leave you hanging: There's no standout "best" online suite. Each has something compelling to offer, but none emerges as the clear winner.
Office Online leads in Office document compatibility -- no surprise there -- but, even in that department, it still has a long way to go. Office Online and Google Drive lead in raw word-processing and spreadsheet features, but iWork's elegant and cohesive design runs rings around the other two. As for presentations, iWork takes the prize. PowerPoint Online looks like something the cat dragged in.
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Review: Apple's iWork for iCloud is elegant but limited
This is the second in a series of three reviews covering the major online productivity apps -- Microsoft Office Online, Apple iWork for iCloud, and Google Drive (aka Google Docs or Google Apps). Welcome to iWork for iCloud and its three component apps: Pages, Numbers, and Keynote for iCloud.
Perhaps the most striking thing about iWork for iCloud is that unlike Office Online and the Google Drive suite, it has clearly been built as a whole from the ground up. Office Online inherits its DNA from Microsoft Office, which itself grew in Frankenstein fashion over many years. The Google Apps resemble Office 2003 in an uncanny way; they, too, have odds and ends grafted on the side. Both remain saddled with old-fashioned interfaces, and even old-fashioned notions about what constitutes a document or a spreadsheet or a presentation. With iWork, Apple takes a fresh approach.
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Google Drive leads in features, lags in ease-of-use
This is the third in a series of three reviews covering the major online office productivity apps: Microsoft Office Online (Word Online, Excel Online, and PowerPoint Online), Apple iWork for iCloud (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote for iCloud), and in this article, Google Drive (with Docs, Sheets, and Slides) aka Google Docs and Google Apps.
It's hard to believe that Google suffers even worse branding confusion than Microsoft, but in this case it's true. Depending on where (and when) you look, Google Drive is a cloud file storage system or a set of apps -- word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager -- along with the cloud storage. Google Docs used to be the generic name for all the productivity apps, but now it most commonly refers to the word processor only. And whereas Google Apps used to be the preferred name for the three apps, now it looks like Google Drive is taking on that role. In this review, I'll use Google apps (note the lowercase "a") to refer to Google Docs (the word processor), Sheets, and Slides.
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Review: Microsoft Office Online vs. Apple iWork for iCloud vs. Google Drive
Over the past few weeks I've regaled you with detailed reviews of the three major online office productivity suites: Microsoft Office Online with Word Online, Excel Online, and PowerPoint Online; Apple's iWork for iCloud with Pages, Numbers, and Keynote for iCloud; and Google Drive (aka Google Apps) with Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Which suite is for you? There is no clear winner in this horse race, so your specific needs will dictate that choice.
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25 useful, free tools for every Windows desktop
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17 ways to hate Microsoft Outlook 2013 less
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What Windows 10 means for the enterprise
Microsoft rolled out the widely anticipated Windows Technical Preview yesterday morning, playing to a handpicked crowd of Microsoft reporters and analysts. Although Microsoft didn't have the technical will to broadcast the event live, you can see a recording of the 40-minute presentation on YouTube.
Windows honcho Terry Myerson surprised almost everybody with the new name: "Because we're not building an incremental product, that new Windows is Windows 10." Well, it didn't surprise InfoWorld's Pete Babb, who "predicted" the Windows 9 skip in an April Fools' gag more than a year ago.
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13 things you'll love and hate about Windows 10
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Windows 10 Start menu secrets every desktop pro should know
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Secrets of Office for iPad masters
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20 epic Microsoft Windows Automatic Update meltdowns
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First look: Office 2016 for the Mac closes the gap
For many years, Office for Mac has played second fiddle to its Windows cousin. If you’ve been struggling with Office for Mac 2011 and suffering from Windows envy, your time has finally come. Last week, Microsoft made a preview edition of Office 2016 for Mac available to the masses, runnable on any OS X Yosemite computer. Surprisingly, the feature set of Office 2016 for Mac is nearly on par with that of the Windows version, with the gaps lying mainly in Excel and PowerPoint. Naturally, we’ll have to wait for the final, shipping products to draw detailed conclusions.
This preview edition includes new beta versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint, as well as the previously released beta versions of OneNote and Outlook 2016 for Mac. (Outlook 2016 has been updated precious little in the past year and not at all since January; it’s still an embarrassment.) If you already have Office 2011 installed, the new Office 2016 will run side by side on the same Mac with no interference.
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Windows 10 reality check: Separating fact from fiction
With the world officially on a collision course with Windows 10 on July 29, it’s time to clear up common misconceptions about Microsoft’s latest, evolving version of its flagship OS. Perhaps not surprising, there’s quite a bit of misinformation floating around, some of it harmless, but some of it potentially damaging to any decisions you make about Windows 10.
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