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Zoho Docs 2.0 adds iPad support

Lee Mathews — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 22:17:00 EST

Zoho has offered an iOS app for a while now -- at least for the iPhone and iPod touch. Those of you who have been wanting to use the Zoho app on your iPad were out of luck, but that's no longer the case.

Zoho Docs 2.0 has landed in the App Store, and the most notable change is that it's now a universal app. Now you're able to take advantage of the app's mobile productivity powers on your larger iOS device. Retina display support has also been added, as have document sharing options -- which you can utilize in both the viewer and collaboration modes.

Just like the basic Zoho service, the app is available totally free of charge. Paid subscriptions get you additional storage space and start at $3 per month for professional use.

Zoho Docs 2.0 adds iPad support originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 22:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OmmWriter brings its clean, calm writing interface to Windows

Erez Zukerman — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 13:00:00 EST

I have a thing for full-screen text editing. I use WriteMonkey for my creative writing needs, and VIM in a full-screen PuTTY session for my Web development work. That being the case, I'm all over the monospace, dark-background, focused editing scene.

OmmWriter attempts to take that aesthetic and make it somehow more spiritual, with three picturesque backgrounds and ambient background audio tracks (there are seven of each in the paid version).

I'm of two minds about this app. On the one hand, yes, it's beautiful. But if you want music as a background to your writing, why not pick your own soundtrack with Winamp or Foobar2000 running in the background?

OmmWriter also offers three keyboard-clicking sounds, which are kind of nice. None of these features are groundbreaking, really. OmmWriter could be seen as a way to gently ease into the world of distraction-free writing -- in case something like WriteMonkey's dark background is just too oppressive for you.

After the fold you can see a video showcasing several of OmmWriter's features and creative soundscapes.

Continue reading OmmWriter brings its clean, calm writing interface to Windows

OmmWriter brings its clean, calm writing interface to Windows originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hello Expense is a simple, reliable expense tracker for Android

Erez Zukerman — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 13:30:00 EST

A good mobile application is a fine balance between simplicity and functionality. You're using it on the go, so you don't have a lot of time to sit there and fumble with the phone to figure it all out. But you also need it to be powerful enough to let you do whatever it is you're trying to get done.

Hello Expense is one mobile app that gets it right. It's an expense tracker that lets you use your Android-powered phone to quickly log the money you spend and then analyze it and see where it all went.

I recently had the chance to use it in a real-life situation - a road trip that took a few days and involved quite a few expenses. Logging each expense took seconds, and at the end of each day I could get a great overview of how much money I spent on each category so far.

Categories and tags are user-configurable; the app also sports its own number pad to make number entry easy, regardless of what keyboard you're using.

Hello Expense is a simple, reliable expense tracker for Android originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Evernote Web gets a new interface, Facebook sharing, and more

Lee Mathews — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 10:50:00 EST

Evernote, the popular multi-platform 'digital memory' app, has done some serious re-tooling of its Web interface. In addition to a more polished UI that more closely mirrors the look of Evernote on the desktop, the update brings features like notebook stacks and snippet view to the Web.

Auto-saving is now enabled as well, and you can select multiple items by holding down the Cmd or Ctrl key on your Mac or Windows keyboard. If you've got items stored in your notebooks that you want to share with friends or co-workers, Evernote has improved that process, too. You can quickly post an item to Facebook, share it via email, or generate a Web sharing link to paste into an IM conversation or status update.

Head over to the Evernote Web login page to try out the new interface.

Evernote Web gets a new interface, Facebook sharing, and more originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 10:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SoftMaker Office coming to Android

Lee Mathews — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 14:00:00 EST

SoftMaker Office has been a popular cross-platform and mobile productivity suite for quite some time, and it's likely going to get a whole lot more popular thanks the the impending release of an Android app.

The company hasn't shared many details at this point. In a blog post, SoftMaker does offer a peek at how the app's toolbars function. "You will be amazed how fast you can work with [the Android app]," the post closes out.

SoftMaker also reveals that a public beta is due in the very near future, so we'll update you when the download becomes available.

SoftMaker Office coming to Android originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 14 Mar 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft Office Web Apps now available everywhere

Vlad Bobleanta — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 15:45:00 EST

The number of countries where Microsoft's Office Web Apps are available has continually grown since the apps' first preview back in September of 2009. Recently, Office Web Apps have become available in 15 additional territories, and then in 150 more last month. That was also when Microsoft promised that its Web-based Office suite would finally achieve worldwide availability this month.

It has happened today. With the addition of 18 more countries from Central and South America, Office Web Apps are now available worldwide to anyone using Hotmail or SkyDrive. The countries that have received access today are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Office Web Apps are now available in more than 190 countries, and they've already been used by 30 million people. To join them, just head to Office.com/WebApps.

Microsoft Office Web Apps now available everywhere originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 09 Mar 2011 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Docs OCR adds support for 29 additional languages

Lee Mathews — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:00:00 EST

Google Docs introduced its OCR feature last year, and its addition was a welcome one for anyone who uploads photgraphed or scanned documents like receipts, faxes, or other dead-tree materials. Now, Google has announced that OCR support is being expanded beyond the original five languages -- English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish -- to a whopping 34 in total.

The official post also states that the tool's formatting abilities have been improved and should produce digital documents that more accurately reproduce your paper originals. To convert a document using OCR, just head to the upload page, check the appropriate box, and select your JPG, GIF, PNG, or PDF file(s).

Google Docs OCR adds support for 29 additional languages originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google releases Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office

Jay Hathaway — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 12:15:00 EST

Google Cloud Connect, Google's plugin that integrates Google Docs and Microsoft Office apps, launched last November for a limited number of users. Now, Cloud Connect is ready for prime time, and the plug-in is available to everyone.

Cloud Connect allows you to save your Office documents to the cloud, edit them in Google Docs, and sync the changes back to your desktop. It doesn't replace Office with Google Docs, but it lets people who aren't ready to make the switch to the cloud use both simultaneously. If you want, you can just use Google Docs for syncing, and do all your actual editing on your desktop in Word, PowerPoint or Excel.

Key features of Cloud Connect include simultaneous collaboration (with the ability to work offline and resolve conflicting changes once you reconnect), revision history, document sharing and, of course, cloud sync. Cloud Connect works with Office 2003, 2007 and 2010.

Continue reading Google releases Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office

Google releases Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Evernote for BlackBerry gets Android-style home screen and better search

Lee Mathews — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 09:00:00 EST

Evernote has updated its app for BlackBerry smartphones, rolling numerous bugfixes and improvements in to the new build. Among them is an updated home screen, which now looks much more like the Evernote app for Android. The search bar has been removed from the bottom of the screen and a shortcut to all your notes has been added.

The new version also brings a much more powerful search feature, which is why Evernote chose to swap the bar for an icon. The new search displays suggestions as you type and also allows searches to be saved for easy scroll-and-click (or tap, if you've got a BlackBerry with a touchscreen) execution later.

Download the new Evernote for BlackBerry from AppWorld -- the QRCode is after the break.

Continue reading Evernote for BlackBerry gets Android-style home screen and better search

Evernote for BlackBerry gets Android-style home screen and better search originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 20 Feb 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Docs Viewer adds 12 new file types

Jay Hathaway — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 16:00:00 EST

Google Docs is getting better and better at replacing desktop office software. Today, Google added support for 12 new file types in Google Docs Viewer, including all remaining Microsoft Office file types, Apple's Pages format, and Adobe's Photoshop and Illustrator files. A few important niche document types made the cut, too. Designers rejoice, because TrueType fonts and vector graphics files are now supported. Engineers and architects, you've now got support for AutoCAD files.

Here's the full list of a dozen new things you can view and share in Google Docs:

Microsoft Excel (.XLS and .XLSX)
Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 / 2010 (.PPTX)
Apple Pages (.PAGES)
Adobe Illustrator (.AI)
Adobe Photoshop (.PSD)
Autodesk AutoCAD (.DXF)
Scalable Vector Graphics (.SVG)
PostScript (.EPS, .PS)
TrueType (.TTF)
XML Paper Specification (.XPS)

Some document and image types are also getting a Quick View feature and a "view" link in Gmail that will let you preview them in the Google Docs Viewer when they're sent as attachments.

Google Docs Viewer adds 12 new file types originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 18 Feb 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Crocodoc launches plug-in free, embeddable document viewer

Lee Mathews — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 13:00:00 EST

Looking for a slick way to share documents and allow collaborators to add annotations? Check out Crocodoc, which has launched a plug-in free document viewer powered by the standard Web code we both love and hate to refer to as HTML5.

Just like competitor Scribd, files you upload to Crocodoc can be easily embedded on any site (check out a demo after the break). Readers can also post comments and annotations and download documents as a PDF with or without markup applied.

Crocodoc offers a full API and the company's Ryan Damico says it is more focused on attracting developers, whereas Scribd is aimed at publishers. Even so, Crocodoc is an excellent option for users who want to share and embed documents on the Web.

Continue reading Crocodoc launches plug-in free, embeddable document viewer

Crocodoc launches plug-in free, embeddable document viewer originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 18 Feb 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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QuickOffice shows off version for Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablets

Lee Mathews — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 09:00:00 EST

QuickOffice has been making top-notch productivity apps for smartphones for quite some time, and now the company has unveiled a new version for Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablets. As is the case with its apps for other platforms (including iOS and webOS), the new tablet version features Google Docs, Dropbox, MobileMe, and SugarSync integration and offers on-the-go editing of documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. QuickOffice is fully Microsoft Office compatible, of course.

To see QuickOffice for Android Honeycomb in action, take the jump and check out the hands-on video from the folks at Laptop Mag. Those of you on the Apple side of the tablet war can currently pick up QuickOffice for about $15 -- which is a good deal on a great app suite.

Continue reading QuickOffice shows off version for Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablets

QuickOffice shows off version for Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablets originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 18 Feb 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NeverNote is a full-featured Evernote app for Linux, Mac, and Windows

Lee Mathews — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 10:30:00 EST

Windows and Mac users have a first-party Evernote app, but Linux users have been limited to running Evernote in WINE or using the Web interface. NeverNote, however, offers a full-featured desktop app which runs natively on 32- and 64-bit Linux distros.

In addition to covering the basics, NeverNote offers a number of features you won't find in Evernote's desktop app. Multiple databases are supported (and each can have a different username and password), databases can be encrypted, images within notes can be rotated, an existing note can be copied to a new note, note titles can be edited, inline PDF display is offered, and you can set NeverNote to auto-sync when you close the app. As Andrew at WebUpd8 notes, there are a few missing features -- like recording webcam notes, drawing ink notes, sharing, and built-in screen clipping. NeverNote also currently sends emails in plain text.

Need some help getting started with NeverNote? Its developer has shared -- what else? -- an Evernote notebook full of handy information. And while the primary goal goal of NeverNote is to provide Linux users with a quality, native Evernote app, Windows and Mac builds are available for download as well.

Download NeverNote for Linux, Mac, or Windows

NeverNote is a full-featured Evernote app for Linux, Mac, and Windows originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft Office Web Apps available in 150 new countries, worldwide next month

Lee Mathews — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 11:15:00 EST

Late last year, Microsoft expanded availability of its Office Web Apps to 15 additional countries. Now, the company has announced another bump -- this time by a whopping 150 new locales. Microsoft's announcement doesn't include a full listing, but India, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, and Thailand are among the additions.

The post also states that Office Web Apps will fully rolled out worldwide by March. Right now, more than 30 million people are using Microsoft's online suite -- that number will obviously increase now that the remaining geographical roadblocks are being removed.

Microsoft Office Web Apps available in 150 new countries, worldwide next month originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Docs update brings Collections, Priority Sort, and file previews

Lee Mathews — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 15:30:00 EST

Your Google Docs dashboard just got a whole lot easier to use, thanks to a slew of new features. The update includes additional filtering options and Priority Sort -- sort of the Google Docs equivalent of Gmail's Priority Inbox. Priority Sort uses a number of signals to determine which files require your immediate attention. Folders have been replaced by Collections, which are a mashup of both folders and tags. Just as you can slap multiple tags on an email message in Gmail, your Docs files can reside in several Collections.

The preview pane -- which we told you about a little while back -- is now live as well. The preview pane shows thumbnailed images as well as a file's sharing settings and which collection(s) it belongs to. One other minor -- but extremely useful -- addition is keyboard-powered multiple selections. No longer do you have to check multiple boxes. Just hold down shift or control on Windows (as you would do in Explorer) or cmd on Mac.

As with other Google updates, this is being rolled out gradually -- so you'll have to wait patiently for your Docs interface to update to enjoy the new features.

Google Docs update brings Collections, Priority Sort, and file previews originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 31 Jan 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 now available as a free 30-day trial

Vlad Bobleanta — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 13:30:00 EST

Microsoft has made Office for Mac 2011 available as a free 30-day trial. During the trial period, you'll have fully functioning versions of all the apps in the suite: Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. The only possible downside here is that before being able to download the trial, you'll have to give Microsoft some personal details, including an email address. But that's a small price to pay for being able to try the entire Office suite before you decide whether to buy it or not.

Naturally, if you do decide to buy it after trying it out, you'll be able to just insert your key into the existing trial installation and unlock it, without needing to reinstall anything. You'll only need to reinstall if you've purchased Office in a different language than that of the trial.

To run the Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 trial you'll need a computer running Mac OS X 10.5.8 or newer, and a minimum of 1 GB of RAM and 2.5 GB of free space on your hard drive.

Download Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 30-day trial

Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 now available as a free 30-day trial originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 26 Jan 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LibreOffice 3.3, the open source office suite, now available

Lee Mathews — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 07:22:00 EST

LibreOffice -- the Document Foundation's fork of OpenOffice -- has come a long way since the project was first announced in September 2010. Today, the Foundation has announced that its first stable release, LibreOffice 3.3, is ready to download.

Among the many changes you'll find in version 3.3 are the arrival of new import filters and improvements to existing ones -- key features when you're trying to persuade users to migrate from competing suites like Microsoft Office, Works, or WordPerfect. Calc (the LibreOffice spreadsheet app) now boasts better Excel interoperability, SVG images can be opened and modified in Draw, and they can also be imported into Writer.

The Suite's PowerPoint alternative -- Presenter -- now ships with a presentation mode plug-in which makes controlling slideshows from your laptop a breeze. Testers will enjoy the addition of Experimental Mode, which you can toggle if you'd like to play with new features before they've officially been added to LibreOffice. It's a bit like the about:flags page in Google Chrome. LibreOffice 3.3 also sports a long list of interface and usability tweaks -- check out this page at the official site for a complete rundown.

Download LibreOffice 3.3 for Windows, Mac, or Linux

LibreOffice 3.3, the open source office suite, now available originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 25 Jan 2011 07:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Docs.com update brings speed, stability, and support for additional languages

Lee Mathews — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 07:30:00 EST

Microsoft brought its Office apps to the Web late last year, and the Fuse Labs team has been busily working to improve the suite ever since. Today, a backend update has brought more stability, increased speed, and support for more languages. Docs.com now supports 30 languages in total -- all of which are supported by the built-in spellchecker. Ambitious polyglots will be excited to know that the Office Web apps will even let you mix multiple languages in a single document.

In addition to posting the announcement on the Fuse Labs blog (which still sports the post-migration WordPress favicon), the news is also available over on Docs.com as a .docx. If you haven't seen Docs.com in action yet, hit the link -- it's pretty darn cool.

Docs.com update brings speed, stability, and support for additional languages originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Move Outlook notes to Evernote easily with a free script

Lee Mathews — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 16:00:00 EST

Microsoft Outlook lets you export your notes, but your file type choices are pretty limited. The same can be said for Evernote's import feature, which only handles its own export files or Microsoft OneNote 2007 or newer. Thankfully, a gent named Richard was kind enough to point us toward a script he created to make moving notes from Outlook to Evernote as easy as possible.

Download his outlook2evernote ZIP file and run the included VBS. A command prompt window will open, and you'll be prompted to allow access to Outlook -- which you'll want to grant, of course. When the script has completed, an Evernote-ready .enex file will be waiting for you in your Documents folder. All that's left is to hit File > Import in Evernote and you've migrated your Outlook notes.

Richard's script also preserves timestamps and trims the first line of any note which matches the subject. It's a handy little script, and it just works.

Download outlook2evernote

Move Outlook notes to Evernote easily with a free script originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 17 Jan 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How to customize the Ribbon menu in Microsoft Office 2010

Erez Zukerman — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 11:30:00 EST

This week's series of tips will be focusing on handy little features for Microsoft Excel and Word. To see the previous tips, check our Tips index.

While earlier this week I've shown you how to keep the Ribbon from getting in your way, that's not all you can do with it in Office 2010. Back when the Ribbon interface first came out, in Office 2007, it wasn't really customizable. You could modify it if you were lucky enough to know VBA (Visual Basic for Applications, Office's built-in programming language), but otherwise, you were pretty much stuck with the stock arrangement of tabs and buttons.

Fortunately, with Office 2010, Microsoft introduced a simple way to customize the Ribbon, requiring no programming at all. Simply go to the File menu, click Options and then select Customize Ribbon. You'll get a two-pane dialog, showing all available commands versus your existing ribbon, and letting you toggle things on and off and re-arrange them as you see fit.

The best part is that once you're done customizing your setup, you can easily export it for backup or to take with you to your other computers. Just click the Import/Export button and select Export all customizations.

How to customize the Ribbon menu in Microsoft Office 2010 originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 14 Jan 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Tasks top 5 user-requested features announced

Lee Mathews — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 10:30:00 EST

A while back, Google asked users of Google Tasks to submit their most wanted features. The polls have closed, so to speak, and Google has announced the top five (in no specific order):

a Tasks API and synchronization
reminders and notifications
recurring tasks
shareable task lists
visual distinction for overdue tasks

Perhaps more importantly than merely announcing the top picks is the fact that associate product manager David Tattersall states that Google is getting ready to build these new features into Tasks. Tattersall doesn't offer a timetable, only stating that changes to Tasks will arrive "throughout the year."

Google Tasks top 5 user-requested features announced originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 14 Jan 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How to check how readable your Microsoft Word document is

Erez Zukerman — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 12:30:00 EST

This week's series of tips will be focusing on handy little features for Microsoft Excel and Word. To see the previous tips, check our Tips index.

If you use difficult words, your documents will be difficult to read and understand. That's a fairly basic statement; fortunately, there have been several smart people who took this statement and created formulas that help you quickly see how readable your document is.

It turns out Microsoft Word can be made to show "readability statistics" using these formulas. This could help you write simpler, clearer text, and hit the level of comprehension you're trying to reach. Here's how to enable readability statistics in Word 2010:

Click the File tab, and then click Options
Click Proofing
Under When correcting spelling and grammar in Word, make sure Check grammar with spelling is selected.
Select Show readability statistics

(These instructions come from Microsoft's documentation, where you can find similar instructions for Outlook, too.)

Once readability statistics are enabled, run a spell check on your document. At the end of the spell check you'll get a new dialog with all sorts of interesting numbers, such as average sentences per paragraph, words per sentence, and characters per word. You will also get three different readability grades, which you can use to easily judge your document's level.

How to check how readable your Microsoft Word document is originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 13 Jan 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How to use names instead of cell addresses in Microsoft Excel

Erez Zukerman — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 13:00:00 EST

This week's series of tips will be focusing on handy little features for Microsoft Excel and Word. To see the previous tips, check our Tips index.

By default, Excel uses cell references in formulas, which results in formulas that look like D5/20 (Meaning, divide the contents of cell D5 by 20). This is fine as long as your formulas are very simple. If you start pulling in data from multiple cells and using many complex formulas in a single spreadsheet, however, it becomes increasingly difficult to remember what each cell address means.

That's where named ranges come in handy. As the name implies, these are names you can give ranges of cells -- but a range can also be a single cell! So rather than having a formula read D5/20, you could have it read CostOfLiving/20. "CostOfLiving" is actually a named range consisting of one single cell.

This all sounds quite complex, but once you name your first cell you'll see how simple it is. To do this, simply:

Select the cell you wish to name.
Click the Name Box. This is the text box to the left of the formula bar - it should contain your cell's current address (say, H12).
Type in whatever name you wish to use for this cell (say, "MonthlyExpenses"). It must not contain spaces.
That's it! You can now use this name in all of your formulas instead of the cell's address.

How to use names instead of cell addresses in Microsoft Excel originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft silently kills off Office Genuine Advantage anti-piracy software

Samuel Gibbs — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 04:20:00 EST

Microsoft has silently decommissioned one of its primary weapons against Office suite piracy, the Office Genuine Advantage scheme. A wolf in sheep's clothing, OGA was essentially a road block through which you had to pass to download templates and the like. Proving that your Office installation was genuine allowed you through, and while it's obvious why it was there, it created yet another hurdle for legitimate users to jump over, while the pirates just circumvented it.

Microsoft seems to be keeping this one strangely quiet, even from the rest of the company, as the only mention of the demise of OGA being a retired Knowledge Base article, which ZDNet managed to dig up. Links for validating your genuine Office software across the rest of Microsoft's sites seem to be broken, indicating that the news wasn't internally circulated. Still, one less hurdle for legitimate users is always a nice -- goodbye OGA, you won't be missed.

Microsoft silently kills off Office Genuine Advantage anti-piracy software originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 04:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Docs Spreadsheet gets multi-user revision history

Erez Zukerman — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 05:30:00 EST

So far, Google Docs has been no match for Excel's raw power. Recent additions such as macro editing and scripting bring it somewhat closer, but it's still an uphill battle for Google. So instead of playing catch-up, they're now giving Spreadsheets users something Office users don't have - multi-user revision history.

While Excel does let users track changes, you can't separate the changes into distinct revisions easily (i.e, "all changes made yesterday"). The new tool for Google Docs allows users to see color-coded previous versions of the spreadsheet, with clear indications of who changed what and when. This functionality has been available for text documents for a while now, but having it for spreadsheets is definitely going to come in handy for collaborative work.

Google Docs Spreadsheet gets multi-user revision history originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 05:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac updated to 14.0.2

Samuel Gibbs — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 04:45:00 EST

Office 2011 for Mac might be the best yet, but it's still one of those key products that constantly needs updates, fixes and patches. Microsoft let fly Office 2011 14.0.2 this week, featuring such highlights as improved reliability, improved stability, and a fix to the annoying bug that made you close Office AutoUpdate to be able to actually run the Office Update.

If you have any applications that use Office, such as Endnote, or any other Office associated add-on that invokes one of the Office suite programs, 14.0.2 addresses an issue where the third-party program failed to get Office to load the appropriate document. Microsoft's fledgling Outlook for Mac also got some attention with a bug fix that would cause a crash when importing .PST files that contained categories that had no name attached to them.

The Office 2011 14.0.2 update requires Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later, and can be downloaded through Microsoft AutoUpdate or direct from Microsoft.

Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac updated to 14.0.2 originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 15 Dec 2010 04:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTML5 drag-and-drop upload comes to Google Docs

Lee Mathews — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 07:00:00 EST

You've been able to do it for a while now in Gmail, and now drag-and-drop uploading has arrived in Google Docs. If you're running a compatible browser like Chrome, Firefox 3.6+, or Safari 5, adding new files to your Google Docs storage is as easy as sliding them over from your desktop file manager.

To use the new drag-and-drop uploader you still need to click through to the Docs upload page. I'd like to see this added to the main screen, so I can drag right into a specific folder.

HTML5 drag-and-drop upload comes to Google Docs originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 24 Nov 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Cloud Connect plug-in connects Microsoft Office to your Google Docs

Jay Hathaway — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Office, Productivity, Google

As fast as Google Docs has been growing, many people are still unwilling to abandon their desktop office software and take to the cloud. Well, Google just made it easier with Cloud Connect, a new Microsoft Office plug-in that connects Word, PowerPoint and Excel to Google Docs. That means anything you do in Office will be saved in the cloud using your Google Docs account.

Cloud Connect actually works where Microsoft's online collaboration software doesn't (yet). For example, Cloud Connect works across different versions of Office, and includes Excel support. Also, anyone who's shared files using Google Docs knows how easy it is compared to setting up SharePoint.

Instead of forcing the switch to Google's own Web apps, Google is letting businesses have their Office and share it too. Sounds like a solid strategy to convince Office users that Google is the way to go for online collaboration, before Microsoft can even finish getting its cloud services off the ground.

Right now, a preview of Cloud Connect is only available via limited signup to Google Apps for Business customers, but it will be available for everyone -- individual users included -- when it launches.

Google Cloud Connect plug-in connects Microsoft Office to your Google Docs originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac is significantly faster than 2008/2004

Samuel Gibbs — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 05:18:00 EST

Filed under: Macintosh, Office, Productivity, Microsoft

The bods over at MacTech have been putting the Microsoft Business Unit's latest Mac offering, Office 2011, though its metaphorical paces, and have found that, on the whole, it's significantly faster than its previous siblings Office 2008 and 2004. App launches are around 70% faster from cold and 98% faster on relaunch, a noticeable and welcome improvement for the user. That's not all, common tasks in the big four applications, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, have also been streamlined giving an average speed up of between 36 and 129%.

The usual disclaimer is in force here -- measured by a stop watch, might not be accurate, etc -- but MacTech was adamant that on the face of it, the whole Office suite for Mac has seen real-world speed improvements that directly affect the user, something to which we can personally attest. Impressive stuff indeed, and when combined with ditching Entourage for Outlook, Office 2011 makes a worthy upgrade.

[via 9to5Mac]

Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac is significantly faster than 2008/2004 originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 18 Nov 2010 05:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft Lync 2010 replaces Microsoft Office Communications Server for workplace collaboration

Jay Hathaway — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 20:30:00 EST

Filed under: Utilities, Office, Productivity, Microsoft

Microsoft's workplace collaboration tool, Office Communications Server, just got a big upgrade and a new, less stuffy name: Microsoft Lync 2010. Like OCS, Lync connects the various Microsoft services in a workplace, including Office, Exchange email and Sharepoint storage. It's also a hub for instant messenging, voice calls and video calls.

The major new stuff in Lync 2010 includes enterprise voice calling that's compatible with various USB and IP devices, and could theoretically do the job of your office's legacy phone system. Contact lists are now unified across your Microsoft applications, so you can use your contacts in both Lync and your office apps. Lync also includes new conferencing features, like desktop and app sharing (including PowerPoint sharing and whiteboarding).

The last big Microsoft OCS release was back in 2007, although it got a service pack last year. Lync 2010 represents a huge leap forward in functionality that looks like it actually belongs in a 2010 office environment. There's an insane amount of info on new features, including several demo videos, at the Microsoft Lync 2010 launch page.

Microsoft Lync 2010 replaces Microsoft Office Communications Server for workplace collaboration originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 17 Nov 2010 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft Office 2010 Service Pack 1 beta has been made available to testers

Vlad Bobleanta — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Office, Microsoft, Beta

Microsoft has made the first beta of Office 2010 Service Pack 1 available to testers. This is not a publicly released beta, and probably never will be -- it is ready for download by those who Microsoft has invited to test it and people who have registered to test it via Microsoft's Connect beta testing portal. The version number for this beta is 14.0.6011.1000.

It doesn't boast any new features, for it is merely a collection of bug fixes and various enhancements and improvements -- so you aren't missing anything by not having access to it. You will, of course, be able to install the finalized SP1 when it's ready via Windows Update. The service pack should add stability and performance to what is already Microsoft's fastest-selling consumer version of Office in history.

[via Winrumors]

Microsoft Office 2010 Service Pack 1 beta has been made available to testers originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 17 Nov 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Docs gets mobile editing support on Android 2.2 and iOS

Vlad Bobleanta — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Office, Productivity, Google, iPhone, Mobile, Android

Google has just announced that it has started rolling out mobile editing support for Google Docs. The roll-out will take a few days and when it reaches you, you'll be able to edit documents in Google Docs by simply pointing your mobile browser to docs.google.com and clicking on Edit while viewing the document you wish to make changes to.

This feature will only be accessible for owners of devices running Android 2.2 or newer and iOS 3.0 or newer (including the iPad). The only language supported at first will be English, with more options to come in the future. A demo video of how the new feature works is waiting for you after the jump.

Continue reading Google Docs gets mobile editing support on Android 2.2 and iOS

Google Docs gets mobile editing support on Android 2.2 and iOS originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 17 Nov 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Docs adds LaTeX support, customizable autocorrect

Lee Mathews — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 09:30:00 EST

Filed under: Office, Google

The official Google Docs blog has announced a handful of new features, including LaTeX equation support, the option to place images in spreadsheet cells, and automatic corrections.

LaTeX is a fairly significant addition, since it should greatly improve Google Docs' spreadsheet muscle. While that alone won't pull it even with Excel, it's certainly a step in the right direction. Image insertion is as also a nice addition, and it's as simple as popping image=(URL) into a cell. You can also use Google Image search to insert files which are marked for re-use with modification.

Autocorrect is an extremely handy addition -- especially since you can use it for more than fixing up typographical errors. Google allows you to add your own corrections, so you can also use Docs autocorrect as a text expander -- to turn ffx into Firefox, for example. Pair autocorrect up with Google Scribe, and it won't be long before Google just types your whole doc for you.

Google Docs adds LaTeX support, customizable autocorrect originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 17 Nov 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Zoho Support adds a Help Desk to its Web-based office suite

Lee Mathews — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Office, Web services

Zoho -- the popular Web-based office suite -- has added another component to its customer support offerings. In addition to Zoho Assist, their Java-based remote assistance app, the company is now offering Zoho Support, a full-featured help desk application.

Support packs tons of essential features, from managing customer requests and contracts to maintaining tasks and contacts. There's also a powerful reporting feature so you can analyze your Support data. It's an excellent option for small or medium-sized businesses who need a way to track customer issues and problem resolutions. Access to the core help desk functionality is free for one help desk user and up to 25 incidents per month -- which might not seem like a lot, but should suffice for small-time freelancers. Paid plans start at $12 per month per user.

Want to see Zoho Support in action? Check out the official preview video after the break.

Continue reading Zoho Support adds a Help Desk to its Web-based office suite

Zoho Support adds a Help Desk to its Web-based office suite originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 13 Nov 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac gets update two weeks after debut

Samuel Gibbs — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 05:47:00 EST

Filed under: Macintosh, Office, Microsoft

Not more than two weeks out of the gate, Microsoft has already released its first update for Office 2011 for Mac. A bug fix release, the update will take 110.5 MB of your precious hard disk space, but should stop unexpected quits and hangs. Some specific applications get a bit more attention -- Excel gets an update to its handling of revised data for formulae, plus improvements to the FORMAT macro command reliability. Inserting equations into that valuable, time consuming report should be a bit more stable in Word. PowerPoint gets improved compatibility with 2007 and 2010 creations. Last but not least, the fledgling Outlook for Mac also gets some attention, with better Keychain integration for new account imports and reliability fixes to make sure deletions across multiple IMAP accounts stay deleted.

Pretty dry all round, but what do you expect from a point release to Office? It's a free update for all those with Office 2011 for Mac and is available through Microsoft Autoupdate or direct from the Microsoft Download Center.

[Via TUAW]

Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac gets update two weeks after debut originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 10 Nov 2010 05:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Webclip for Google Chrome snips text to your Google Docs

Lee Mathews — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Google, Browsers

There are plenty of good note taking and clipping tools around -- like Evernote -- but maybe you just want something lightweight to help you gather research or quotes for use in a project. Webclip is a handy little extension for Google Chrome which is up to the task. It's got a single purpose: to save Web page text you select to Google Docs.

Once you've installed the extension, just highlight text on a Web page and press the webclip icon in your browser actions area. You'll see an OAuth dialog the first time, but from then on clips will be added directly to a document called 'webclips'. The extension even uses Chrome's notification system to tell you when your text has been successfully saved. As you can see in the screenshot, details about the source are saved as well. The page title, URL, and date of your capture are all inserted before your copied text.

Webclip has a lot of potential. With the addition of support for more than just text -- say images or rich formatting -- and the ability to save to more than one webclip doc, it would be a killer extension for Google Docs users who browse with Chrome.

Install webclip for Google Chrome

Webclip for Google Chrome snips text to your Google Docs originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 09 Nov 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac now available

Jay Hathaway — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: Macintosh, Office, Microsoft, Commercial

Microsoft has officially released the retail version of Office 2011 for Mac. This update to the popular software suite includes Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Messenger, and adds Outlook to the Mac version of Office for the first time. Microsoft's cloud focus is evident in Office 2011, with Office Web app integration, cloud storage via Skydrive and networked file sharing with SharePoint. Design nerds will appreciate that it also comes with brand-new icons, created by product design firm Frog.

Prices for Office Mac 2011 are $119 for a single-license Home and Student edition, $149 for a Home and Student Edition Family Pack (3 licenses), $199 for a single-license Home and Business Edition, or $279 for 2 licenses, and a mere $99 for the Academic Edition. If you can't find Office Mac 2011 near you, you can still buy Office Mac 2008 before November 30 and get a free upgrade to Office for Mac 2011.

According to the official Office for Mac Blog, retailers that should have Office for Mac 2011 today include Apple, Amazon.com, Best Buy, MacMall.com and, of course, Microsoft's site.

Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac now available originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 26 Oct 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft announces next stage of cloud strategy: Office 365

Erez Zukerman — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 11:48:00 EST

Filed under: Utilities, Office, Microsoft

If the screenshot above seems a bit grainy, it's because I snapped it off of a live video that Microsoft has just finished streaming. It was a 30-minute event announcing Office 365, which is a very bold foray into the cloud for Microsoft. Some of the highlights of the announcement:

Full access to Microsoft Word and Excel -- plus video conferencing, quick-setup website, intranet, extranet, and more
Subscription-based -- from $2-$27 per month per user, with the average small-business user coming in at $6/month
Single-sign on - log on to your PC (or phone), and you're logged onto the entire system
IT administrators have almost full control -- just like local installations, the administrator will be able to configure how a user can interact with the system

Microsoft's idea for enterprises is that the whole place would run on a single platform; so the CTO will use the exact same system and infrastructure as the guys down at the mail room, but each user will only get "what they need" (which explains the wide price range).

It sure sounds interesting, but I'm afraid I can't show you any in-product screenshots yet because this is an announcement rather than a launch. The product will be generally available sometime in 2011, but beta signups do begin today over at office365.com. Just to show you how fresh off the press this is (or how unprepared Microsoft is), the Office365.com website isn't even ready yet - as of this writing, it still hosts the website for an IT company from Melbourne, which was apparently the domain's previous owner.

At any rate, Microsoft says that both large organizations and tiny businesses can benefit from Office365, so if any of this sounds interesting, go sign up for the beta! (It should be up from 3PM EST, but we'll see!)

Microsoft announces next stage of cloud strategy: Office 365 originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 19 Oct 2010 11:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Evernote strikes it rich, secures $20 million in funding

Lee Mathews — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Productivity

If you're an Evernote fan, their official blog has some good news this morning: the wildly popular cloud-centric note taking app has secured a cool $20 million in funding.

That's a big chunk of cash, and Evernote plans on putting it to good use. "Things are moving pretty quickly at Evernote," Phil Libin writes. "They're about to start moving even faster." Count on seeing more features and support for more devices coming in the very near future.

But Evernote isn't stopping there. Libin mentions a lofty new ambition for the app: to become "the global platform for human memory." Evernote wants to be the app to use when it comes to preserving your memories digitally, and it will be interesting to watch its evolution going forward.

Evernote strikes it rich, secures $20 million in funding originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 19 Oct 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Docs for Facebook adds full text document search, PDF support, user templates, and bulk uploads

Vlad Bobleanta — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Office, Productivity, Web services, Microsoft, Social Software, Web, Facebook

Docs for Facebook is the Microsoft-made online document sharing and editing suite that launched as a lead partner of Facebook's Instant Personalization feature. (And it has a killer domain name: Docs.com.)

Today, it's gotten a nice round of updates. First off, full text document search is now available. To address the possibility of having a bazillion results show up for more generic terms, they're using a bit of Facebook-powered social mojo. As well as sorting results by relevance, Docs will also sort by other criteria such as your (Facebook) relationship to the author and the number of "likes" that each document has received. The search results page has also been redesigned, and the performance of search suggestions has improved.

Next up is PDF support. You can now upload PDFs to Docs.com, which are then viewable online via an integrated Silverlight-based viewer. And just like all other file types on Facebook Docs, these are shareable with your Facebook friends.

Also new is the fact that any document can now become a user-generated template. There's just an option that you need to turn on, and viewers of a specific document can make it into a template for themselves.

Last, but definitely not least, Docs finally has a drag-and-drop bulk upload tool. For it to work, though, you're going to need Silverlight 4 or newer installed.

Docs for Facebook adds full text document search, PDF support, user templates, and bulk uploads originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 14 Oct 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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