PDC & Windows 7 Plus Future Office

I would suggest that you check out Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite for Windows and  read the articles on the left side about both Windows 7 and Office 14 (or what it is referred to). I think you will see where Microsoft is trying to stake it’s claim on the Cloud.

 

Microsoft will be providing light weight versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote up in the Cloud. Paul does say in his write up (which includes pictures) that

“..sign up for Office Live Workspace. Microsoft tells me that it will allow any Workspace customers to access the tech preview when it becomes available later this calendar year.”

Get it - Office Live is GOOD right now and worth looking into if only on a Personal use. Mesh will be an active part of all of this. If you haven’t you need to check out Microsoft’s Mesh.

Now, after all the hoop la, a good part of this is not coming until 2009 – 2010. More information can be found at Mary Jo Foley’s blog as well as at the Technologizer blog by Harry McCracken. Mary Jo was there at PDC and her write up and information is always not notch. Her article is Microsoft to “Webify Office (Sort Of).

Here is Press Pass Information for Journalists direct from Microsoft, http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/Features/2008/oct08/10-28PDCOffice.mspx – check it out.

Last but not least is Steve Clayton at Microsoft who blogs and works in the Software + Services area. I enjoy his writing – tech or no.

OK time to go prepare for tomorrow and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 day 2. I love this life. Where else can I play with this “stuff”, teach this “stuff” and then try to pass along information with blogging? 

Who would believe that a Netscape Beta user could become a Microsoft “Fan Boy”. What a LIFE!

Live Services & Mesh Are Up Tomorrow @PDC

OK so today was not everything that I had hoped for. Windows Azure as a platform in the Cloud. You can follow PDC tomorrow (and watch the developments live) at PDC.

There is also an ongoing blog that I referred to in the past and that link is at Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite for Windows/pdc. Look down the right side of the page for the conversations from the bloggers that were asked to participate.

As the title says; tomorrow is Live Services which is supposed to include new information on Mesh. Today was for developers and tomorrow’s announcements are to be aimed at the consumer (user).

PDC Has Started & Here Comes The Cloud

Ray Ozzie has just introduced Windows Azure – the NEW Windows Cloud Computing system. More later.

Economist Magazine & Cloud Computing

In Reading The Eponymous Pickle this morning Franz Dill linked to an article in The Economist regarding Cloud Computing that I thought was very good. The article is “Corporate IT - Let it Rise”, you can follow it here.

 

Good reading.

PDC Is Upon Us

While the PDC (Professional Developers Conference) “officically” starts tomorrow however it actually began last night and today there are many things happening. You can get information at http://www.microsoftpdc.com/ and follow along with the conference as it develops.

After reading some of the notes I see that there are going to be 7 bloggers that have been invited to participate in an “All Star Blogging” event and they are: Ed Bott, Mary Jo Foley, Kip Kniskern, Rafael Rivera, Paul Thurrott, Tom Warren, and Long Zheng. The article says that this “will include the latest on Windows Strata Cloud Computing, Live Mesh and of course Windows 7”.

My only wish (at the moment) is that I were there to witness the conference. A great deal of it may be over my head however you do not learn by not stretching. I try to tell that to all in my classes. If you do not know if something will work with your software, back it up and then try it. You  only have experience to gain and good or bad it will lead to learning. Some of the best experience I have had was from some of the great mistakes I have made, unfortunately I cannot seem to impart that wisdom to others.

Yes I am looking forward to what comes out of this PDC and I am seriously hoping that I will not be let down as I am expecting big things. My friends are somewhat concerned that I have suddenly become a Microsoft  supporter because of my background (early Netscape user – read Beta)  but I see them going places that we need to experience. I don’t care if Google is pushing them or they are driving Google, in either case we win.

I have to admit though that I have been a Microsoft Word user since around 1983 and stayed with them through the Word Perfect attack – and MS Word won that one also. I just wish sometimes that they were a bit more flamboyant and exciting in their approach.

Fast Company & Microsoft

There are many fascinating articles in this months issue of Fast Company however there are three that I found linked closely to what I do and what I am interested in as The App’s Guy and as an application instructor.

 

First up is “Presentation Pep Talk” on page 87 which has input regarding creating PowerPoint presentations. Like so many articles today it takes on the overkill of using PowerPoint and what it should be rather than mega slides of bullet points. Only two pages and it is a thinking piece.

Onto the article about Gary Flake, head of the Live Labs at Microsoft. The writing is titled “Young Flakenstein” and can be found on page 119. The piece and the insert are both very interesting.

Last but not least in the three is Scobleizer on page 90. I like reading Robert and this is not different. We see these people all the time in our classes and they can be great spokes people for what we do.

There are many other pieces of writing that are worth the $4.99 – grab it up.

Monday, October 20, 2008

OK it's Monday and we have a new week with new technology news. Some of this is has been garnered from my Google RSS Reader - don't leave home without it.

From an article in Computerworld it appears there is a chance that Microsoft will be bringing forth a SP2 for Vista. The report; Microsoft Prep SP2 Beta is interesting reading.

Adobe's famous Photoshop is now available in CS4 at $699. In fact from what I am reading the complete CS4 Creative Suite is now available at the Adobe website. 

From TechCrunch today we have Motorola on the way to bringing us a Google Adroid phone and is recruiting people to work on it. I want one!! I have said that I would not use a phone for Internet connection from what I have heard the G1 at T-Mobile (being release on Wednesday) is looking good. Let's hope that Motorola can do as well. 

Now to find out what else is new and post that. Enjoy your day.

 

Using Google To Blog

This post is being created using Google Doc's. I am impressed with the changes that I see here as it has been some time since I have dropped into Google Doc's to use it. I am on the road and was looking for a way to post to the blog without using Microsoft's LIVE WRITER tool.

 

Interesting note; I started this yesterday and could not finish it so I picked it back up today on a totally different computer in another town. I then dropped in right back to where I left off. Today I am Excelling where yesterday I was Illustrating and on Wednesday I had a great Outlook (I do today also). Microsoft products are so correctly named. First you get the Word, then you Excel. After that you can make a PowerPoint and get a good Outlook. With all of that you get Access. Bill or Steve, your not listening. Ah such is the life of the instructor  

Cloud Computing

I am reading InformationWeek and discovered an item in their Analytics column (Oct 6 – pg 8) that I thought was very interesting in the way that it was stated.

“Cloud Computing The shift to delivering information technology through a utility model is poised to change the business computing landscape as we know it. While smaller companies may lead this particular charge, enterprise IT can’t afford to hang back.”

I like that on the surface and more can be found at http://informationweekanalytics.com/ however since it is $499.00 I think I will most likely wait. I did like the teaser.

Blogging & Other Thoughts

I find it rather fascinating how blogging is so main stream that we do not talk about it anymore. The local newspaper’s, magazines, and some more advanced businesses have found another voice and a way to get it out there. In classes I have students who last year looked at me as if I was from outer space when blogging was mentioned and this year some of them are bloggers.

When I first started teaching application software in 2000 (after many years of consulting) I would have classes where only 1 or at the most 2 would even have an email address, today most people in our classes have at least two and some have three. What makes that more interesting is that email to some degree is being supplanted by SMS or text messaging and at a high rate of speed. Kids do more text messaging than email and they have been our leaders in a great deal of this technology. What is it, “out of the mouth of ….”.

.

Text messaging coupled with the use of Twitter is considered micro blogging – maximum length of post is 140 characters. In discussing Twitter with a student this week and explaining how a business could put it to use (and benefit from it) her comment was “Please do not tell my boss”. Technology is coming at us fast and if you duck you are in trouble.

One of the great things that I do (in my opinion) is to turn someone’s lights on to these great tools. I guess I have a passion for learning and for spreading the word.

Oh yes, I have 37 email addresses, but who is counting. I have a great Outlook so it’s a sunny day in the cloud.

Microsoft To release 'Windows Cloud' OS

InfoWorld has the following article on Cloud Computing that is inline with other information that had been said earlier.

Ballmer: Microsoft will soon release 'Windows Cloud' OS | InfoWorld | News | 2008-10-01 | By Jeremy Kirk, IDG News Service

I believe that Paul Thurrott (of Supersite for Windows) had said that something would be forth coming this month per Ray Ozzie at Microsoft. Could this be connected to Microsoft’s Mesh? It is possible.