Comment on Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010 (Disc Version) by Surgery100 “ADJ”.
A whole lot of polishing make it an efficient, worhtwhile upgrade,
I’ve had an opportunity to use Office 2010 Beta edition for a couple of months now and now that I see the full, final, edition I can say that this is a very worthwhile upgrade. First things first, I am not a techie. I am someone who uses Word, Excel and PowerPoint on a very regular basis, who really liked some of the changes in Office 2007 but who thought some things needed tweaking, so when given the opportunity for the beta edition I jumped on it and have not been disappointed. Office 2010 is to Office 2007 what Windows 7 was to Vista; that is, there are not many breakthrough, drastically different features, but a whole lot of polishing and cleanup to make it easier and more efficient. Overall, the program seems to run faster, incorporates many of the most commonly used options and makes them more accessible (eliminating many dialog boxes and tabs) and allows for more customization.
At first glance it looks very much like its predecessor, the ribbon is back and it is now also found on OneNote. There are plenty of sites that will give you a play-by-play on all the features available in this new version, so I’m just going to mention some of the biggest improvements that I’ve seen.
1) The biggest change is the addition of the web apps. It may not be a true direct competitor to google docs, but it allows for easier sharing of documents, as well as making your documents more accessible.
2) The ribbon is back and it now includes the “File” option and a new feature called “Backstage view.” Backstage view incorporates the most commonly used actions in one place (yay! no more dialog boxes with tabs). You get the usual open, save and print, but you also get several templates for new documents, print layouts and ways to share your work, all without dialog boxes and tabs, everything is much more easily accessible.
3) Another new feature is that the ribbon is now customizable so you can organize it according to your needs.
4) There is a Paste Preview which lets you switch between paste options so you can make sure that your work will be formatted correctly.
Changes in PowerPoint.
You can now edit video directly on PowerPoint. You can trim a video, add effects, fades and even triggers for animations for the presentation. Another new feature is that you can add effects and edit images without the need for third party software.
Changes in Word.
One nifty new feature in Word is called “Navigation pane,” which replaces the old document map. It incorporates minor changes in design that make big changes in productivity and ease of use. It allows you to quickly rearrange the document. Take for example a document with several headings/sections. The Navigation pane provides a list of all the headings. The headings are live, so you can drag them up or down, thus rearranging the document. It also incorporates most of the functions that used to be available in the “Find” dialog box but now they are all visible so you don’t have to go digging through several menus to find the option that you need.
Changes in Excel.
Most of the changes in Excel deal with very large datasets. There is a new PowerPivot add-in which works great if you are dealing with a very large dataset that does not fit in one Excel spreadsheet. PowerPivot pulls the data from multiple sources (several Excel spreadsheets for instance) to analyze it.
Changes in Outlook.
There is a ribbon, and this makes for a huge improvement. You can turn long email threads into conversations so you can find information from a specific participant without having to read entire threads. You can also filter out or ignore entire threads on a particular subject, including future emails. Be careful though, you can unknowingly eliminate important future emails because they have the same subject title as a conversation you ignored in the past.
Summary:
Overall this is one well planned and executed upgrade that essentially takes all the promises of Office 2007 and makes them a reality. Yes, some things are different, and it will take some getting used to; but, once you realize the improvement in efficiency you’ll agree that the changes are mostly for the positive.
Comments (4)Recent Comments by Surgery100 \”ADJ\”
GE Power Pro X500-WH 16 MP with 15 x Optical Zoom Digital Camera, White
A great starter camera if you want better pics than a point and shoot.,
Like many other reviewers I am not a professional photographer, and this is my first digital camera. I do like taking pictures though and I’ve dealt with a few nice film cameras and some nice Fujifilm cameras (a P&S, ‘bridge camera’ and a DSLR) and I feel like this camera is most definitely worth the price. The X500 is a bridge camera, almost a SLR and almost a point and shoot. But it boasts some great specs and features that you cannot find anywhere in this price range.
Pros. The 16 megapixel sensor is great. Most entry level cameras of any type and brand start off at about 12 MP right now. GE has this model at 16. I think the other 16 MP cameras are over twice the price of this one. You can see the difference when you zoom in on your computer, the clarity is apparent.
The zoom on the X500 is awesome. This camera has 15X optical zoom and along with digital zoom (digital zoom takes away image quality as you zoom in so just keep that in mind when using it) it has a total of 60X zoom.
The X500 has a panoramic mode which I love because I wanted a panoramic film camera and now I don’t have to buy one. This camera also has a setting for everything from fireworks to snow to fisheye. More than just night and outdoors.. there are 20 different presets and thats not including the different modes the camera has for shooting (it has manual, very important!)
So far I’ve taken 100+ pictures and the battery is still full on the display. The manual says it’ll shoot 300+ pictures on a set of 4 batteries… thats pretty good.
Not a pro for some, but this camera is a bit hefty. I like it because its like you are actually holding onto something. But it is heavier than I thought it would be.
Viewfinders are sometimes left out of cameras now because they all have screens, but this one has an electronic viewfinder (for those sunny days) I think thats a nice perk.
The video quality is better than I expected, though its not HD. The sound is so-so but thats the case on everything with a recorder.
Cons. The screen resolution and quality isn’t the greatest (I have a 3 year old Creative mp3 player that has a much nicer screen and it’s smaller.) Like most cameras though you look at the screen and its grainy and the color doesn’t look quite right but you snap the picture/ upload and it looks like it should when its on the computer screen (or printed out.) I think they had to cut corners somewhere.
The lens pops out when you turn it on and the lens cap pops off, even if you just want to look at the pictures on your SD. And I also do not like the lens cap. It just slides on. No clips.
The sound effects were annoying, but theres a setting to turn it off (saves your battery anyway.)
Not a biggie but the SD slot is in the battery compartment. Just out of the way I guess.
The camera is a bit noisy, you can hear the processor working and the internal stuff moving around at times. More of a side note than a con though.
Bottom line is I’m not sure how long the X500 will last (because I got it in the mail two days ago) but so far I’m very glad that I bought this camera. It’s a lot like Fuji’s bridge camera and if you know the menus and buttons from their cameras then this thing will be a snap because its pretty much a carbon copy. The layout is simple enough for a beginner or teen who’s looking into photography and it wont break the bank like a nikon or canon with the same specs.
