Newsletter Archives

• The software subscription model

  Posted on June 10, 2024 at 02:42 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  COMMENTARY

  

  By Will Fastie

  My data is being held hostage.

  A recent email from TechSmith, the maker of Camtasia and Snagit, rubbed me the wrong way. This came on the heels of an annoying experience trying to activate Adobe Creative Suite 3 (CS3, from 2006) on my newest computer. I admit to knowing, in advance, that I would be annoyed.

  I then started thinking about software subscription plans and their pros and cons.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.24.0, 2024-06-10).

  Commentary Adobe, Camtasia, Creative Cloud, Creative Suite, JetBrains, Microsoft, Microsoft 365, Newsletters, Office, Snagit, Software, Software Subscriptions, Subscriptions, TechSmith

• Better and safer file sharing in OneDrive

  Posted on March 25, 2024 at 02:44 CDT by Peter Deegan • Comment in the Forums

  ONEDRIVE

  

  By Peter Deegan

  I often use OneDrive to share photos, videos, and files from a trip or event with others who were there — or those who wish they had been!

  OneDrive has many options for people to edit, caption, and comment on photos and to play videos directly from their browser.

  Sharing photos, videos, and other files via cloud storage is a lot easier than using email, instant messaging, or the old “sneakernet” with a USB drive (quelle horreur!).

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.13.0, 2024-03-25).

  OneDrive File sharing, Microsoft 365, Newsletters, OneDrive App, sharing

• Why not to use Outlook (new)

  Posted on October 30, 2023 at 02:43 CDT by Peter Deegan • Comment in the Forums

  OFFICE

  

  By Peter Deegan

  Underdeveloped and overhyped, a truly new Outlook is coming. But it’s not yet a proper replacement for either the Windows or Mac version of Outlook.

  As usual, Microsoft is hyping a product that’s still a work in progress. I’ll explain the dirty little secrets behind Outlook (new) — that’s one of its names — and why serious Outlook users should not touch it yet.

  Outlook (new) is now replacing Windows Mail and Calendar apps in new Windows 11 installations. Existing Mail/Calendar app setups will continue to work.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.44.0, 2023-10-30).

  Office Licensing, Microsoft 365, Newsletters, Office, Outlook, Outlook (new), Outlook Mobile

• When OneDrive isn’t OneDrive

  Posted on April 17, 2023 at 02:43 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  ONEDRIVE

  

  By Will Fastie

  You think you know what you’re talking about, and then reality hits you smack on the nose.

  You may recall that I have two OneDrive instances — one belonging to me, my personal Microsoft 365 account, and one belonging to the 365 Business plan we use to run this operation.

  I thought they were identical in every respect.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.16.0, 2023-04-17).

  OneDrive Microsoft 365, Mobile apps, Newsletters, Office Online, storage, Windows

• Inside the overpacked Microsoft 365 app

  Posted on April 3, 2023 at 02:45 CDT by Peter Deegan • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 20.14 • 2023-04-03

  MICROSOFT 365

  

  By Peter Deegan

  The Microsoft 365 app — formerly known as the Office 365 app — is what I call the Office “all-in-one” app.

  It’s available for Apple (iPhone/iPad) and Android devices and combines the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint mobile apps into a single app — with elements of OneDrive, the Lens app, and many other Microsoft features thrown in for good measure. Anyone can use the app, though there are some extras for Microsoft 365 customers.

  Because the “all-new” Microsoft 365 mobile app is being pushed heavily, let’s take a closer look.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.14.0, 2023-04-03).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Microsoft 365 Microsoft 365, Microsoft 365 app, Mobile apps, Newsletters

• How to get the most out of Google Bard and Bing Chat

  Posted on April 3, 2023 at 02:43 CDT by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  Whether you like it or not, generative artificial intelligence — gen AI — is making its way into Google’s search engine, Gmail, and Docs. Its Redmond competitor is building OpenAI’s GPT-4 into Microsoft 365, Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more.

  Other tech companies don’t want to go down the tubes like buggy whips, slide rules, and Silicon Valley Bank. So they’re all racing against the two software giants to bolt gen AI into their apps and gadgets. Who knows, you might get AI-driven responses from holographic humanoids in Facebook’s failed virtual metaverse.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.14.0, 2023-04-03).

  Public Defender Artificial Intelligence, Bing AI, ChatGPT, Generative AI, Google Bard, Microsoft 365, Newsletters, OpenAI

• Microsoft 365 Copilot announced

  Posted on March 27, 2023 at 02:44 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  MICROSOFT NEWS

  

  By Will Fastie

  Another shoe has dropped in Microsoft’s quest to build generative AI into just about everything.

  On March 16, Microsoft announced a new feature named Copilot, which will be provided with Microsoft 365 accounts. Copilot uses generative artificial intelligence, a large language model (LLM), and the Microsoft Graph to provide services based on natural language prompts. Examples of such prompting are evident in the controversial BingAI, but Microsoft emphasized its commitment to “responsible AI” for Copilot.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.13.0, 2023-03-27).

  Microsoft News Artificial Intelligence, Bing AI, Copilot, Generative AI, Large language model, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Graph, Newsletters

• Changes to Outlook and OneDrive have fallout

  Posted on February 6, 2023 at 02:44 CST by Peter Deegan • Comment in the Forums

  MICROSOFT 365

  

  By Peter Deegan

  Last week there were two big — and related — changes to Outlook.com and OneDrive.

  One is a way for Microsoft to gobble up more of your OneDrive quota. The other is a new Microsoft 365 plan, which might interest people with a perpetual license to Office 2021, 2019, and earlier.

  I’ll explain these changes in detail; in particular, I’ll explain why these two changes are related and how to deal with the fallout.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.06.0, 2023-02-06).

  Microsoft 365 Microsoft 365, Microsoft Outlook, Newsletters, OneDrive, Outlook.com, outlook.com attachments
• « Older Entries

  Newer Entries »