January 2004 - Posts

No Doubt (the band) ain’t just for Chicks! Music and Technical Writing
31 January 04 07:18 PM | chris | 0 Comments   

Good Programming Music Good programming music is good to have at hand, especially if it's a weekend and you are still working. My good buddy John Durant is an avid programmer and music lover. He prefers U2 as his source of late night coding motivation. Read More...

Office Update Inventory Tool Version 2.0
30 January 04 09:40 PM | chris | 0 Comments   

Microsoft has put out an update to the Office Inventory Tool. According to their site: "The Office Update Inventory Tool version 2.0 enables administrators to check one or more computers in their organization for the status of Microsoft Office 2000, Office Read More...

Taming Outlook with A Little Code
30 January 04 09:16 AM | chris | 0 Comments   

Today I suggest a subtle change to how you use Outlook that might just make you more productive. I use Microsoft Outlook every day, all-day long. It?s typically the first program I start and the last one I shut down. However, I realized something about Read More...

Another Believer, Join in on the Fun!
29 January 04 03:47 PM | chris | 0 Comments   

Today, to my delight Jan Fransen finally made another post: Jan Fransen: Discussion on Why Haven't I Been Blogging? Ok, I could not resist that as an opening line. Jan has finally got the concept and for someone only doing this for a short period of time Read More...

How to Buy Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office System (VSTO)
29 January 04 10:09 AM | chris | 0 Comments   

Many people have asked how they can buy the new Visual Studio Tools for Office. If you are an MSDN Subscription holder, you can download it direct. Otherwise consult the How to Buy Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office System page for details on Read More...

ActiveWords: More cool features you have to see!
28 January 04 11:42 AM | chris | 0 Comments   

Yesterday I featured ActiveWords , the winner of the first OfficeZealot.com Stamp of Approval . Today I want to follow-up on how I use this revolutionary program. Don't take just my word for it: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1020605,00.asp http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,109405,00.asp Read More...

First Product to Win the "OfficeZealot.com Stamp of Approval"
27 January 04 07:54 AM | chris | 0 Comments   

Today I have to tell you about an application that has totally impacted my daily experience and from this point on is one utility I cannot live without. That application ActiveWords . This simple application is a little hard to describe and at first glance Read More...

Mac Office 2004 May Not Have XML, But It’s Gorgeous
26 January 04 10:36 PM | chris | 0 Comments   

Here are some screenshots of Office 2004 on the Mac. Its simply beautiful. As much as I like Windows, I really admire Mac OS X. click for larger image Notice the tabs in Word. I wonder what they are used for? Whatever the purpose they sure look cool. Read More...

Attention All Microsoft Employees: Foolproof Strategy for Instant Career Advancement
26 January 04 07:00 AM | chris | 0 Comments   

It's a gray and wet Redmond day. You're sitting in your office staring at the wall. You ponder, is promotion possible? Can I make more money? Can my career go big time here at Microsoft? You say to yourself: I know!!! I need some brilliant idea to bring Read More...

Creating Office Documents on the Server
24 January 04 07:32 AM | chris | 0 Comments   

SoftArtisans, a well-respected software company that specializes in server-side components has an interesting offering for those developing Microsoft Office solutions on server. They have a product called SoftArtisans OfficeWriter that allows you to create Read More...

The “Uninstall Office for a Week Challenge”
23 January 04 08:07 AM | chris | 0 Comments   

About 2 years ago, Charles and I wrote this little article. It is fun to read now for a number of reasons. First, we think that the naysayers of Microsoft Office can still benefit from this little test. Second, it is fun to see how our writing has improved Read More...

Can you get Feedster and NewsGator to work together?
22 January 04 11:08 AM | chris | 0 Comments   

For those not familiar with Feedster.com , it is a search engine for blogs. The cool thing is you can setup a search and return it as RSS. So I want to keep track of whenever "OfficeZealot.com" is mentioned in a blog, I just setup an RSS search and now Read More...

The OfficeZealot.com Stamp of Approval
21 January 04 08:53 AM | chris | 0 Comments   

This last year has been a busy one for the staff at OfficeZealot.com. It seems like we have too many good ideas and not enough time to implement them. Like many of our readers, we use Office extensively to simplify our life. However, for some tasks, more Read More...

NewsGator 2.0: Blows My Mind!
19 January 04 08:54 PM | chris | 0 Comments   

NewsGator 2.0 is finally out and I could not be more excited. RSS has totally redefined my web experience. I don't browse anymore (unless forced too). I let NewsGator bring news and articles from sites I like. I figure I've added 10 to 15 minutes to my Read More...

Office Source Code? I May Be Eating Humble Pie!
16 January 04 11:14 PM | chris | 0 Comments   

Big news today in the world of Office! CNet reports that Microsoft is considering making the source code for Microsoft Office available through its Shared Source Program. Quoting from the article: "Microsoft is considering an expansion of a program that Read More...

Where Have I Been?
12 January 04 12:00 PM | chris | 0 Comments   

Charles instant messages me the other day "How come you have not blogged since last year? This was funny, as my last post was December 31, 2003. However, he is right in that its been a while since I have posted an entry. Mainly I have been taking some Read More...