1.  Upgrading to Office 2007 — My First Thoughts

 

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I've just upgraded from Microsoft Office 2003 Professional to Microsoft Office 2007 Professional, using the Upgrade package. It's taken me quite a while to do upgrade. Duh! It's the 2007 version!

My intent has always been to upgrade as soon as I found that I would be using Office 2007 at work in my "day job." All of a sudden, it's happening.

First, my wife told me that she's using Office 2007 at work and that she likes it, but wants to know more about it. So, I decided it was time to retire her Office XP Small Business Edition OEM editions and to get her a full retail Office 2007 Small Business Edition (she doesn't want or need Access). That way, when I upgrade her PC to a new motherboard and processor, I can move Office 2007 to her newly upgraded PC (or even new PC) while still complying with the End User License Agreement.

So, I ordered her a retail copy of Office 2007 SBE. I planned to work on her PC occasionally to learn a little about Office 2007.

In last week's online newsletter, I had a How To article on creating underlined fields in forms, and discussed both Office 2003 and Office 2007 — and in writing that article, I discovered that I liked the new version a lot more than I expected I would. After all, it was just an update with a new and changing ribbon interface for commands, wasn't it?

The day after I ordered my wife's Office 2007 copy, I found that we were shifting to Office 2007 at work...

Since I had a retail copy of Office 2003 Professional, I knew I could transfer it to another PC. So, I was able to save money by purchasing the Upgrade version of Office 2007 Professional instead of another retail copy. Fortunately, shipping was free.

I ordered from NewEgg.com, from whom I have purchased hardware and software for years. Their price beat that of Amazon.com at the time, although Amazon now has the same price. NewEgg's delivey beat the socks off of Amazon's typical free delivey — I ordered on Tuesday evening and received it on Thursday.

Installation was simple. There were two big decisions to make. First, did I want to upgrade my Office 2003 versions to 2007, or did I want to install Office 2007 and keep my Office 2003 installations, too. I chose to upgrade.

The other big decision was whether to install the applications on the second CD. Those two applications were the Business Contacts Manager for Outlook 2007 (which required 50 MB) and/or Microsoft Accounting for Small Businesses, which was another 800 MB. In addition, before I could even get into the CD to see what could be installed, I had to install Microsoft .Net Framework 2.0 from the CD.

I chose to install .Net, but chose not to install the Business Contacts Manager and Microsoft Accounting. I might have installed the accounting program, except the installer was nice enough to tell me that the program would use Microsoft's web services (which could be different or discontinued — so I felt that couldn't count on this program continuing to function) and that it would download and display advertisements to me.

2.  The Lighter Side of Technology

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This week's technology cartoon at Terry's Computer Tips!

It's all about perspective...

3.  First Observations and Customizations in Office 2007

Now that I'm starting to use Excel 2007 and Word 2007 (I haven't gotten to Powerpoint and Access yet), I'm starting to like the new ribbon bar.

The ribbon bar is designed to resize automatically, collapsing some sections to an alternative layout, depending upon how wide your display window is. So far, it seems that all the information is still accessable via smaller width windows, but it's not as easily accessible.

Here's a set of examples. First, we see the Excel 2007 ribbon bar at a width of 800 pixels, as you would see it if your monitor was set to show 800x600 resolution, or if your window was 800 pixels wide.

(click on the image for a larger version)

Now, see how some of the ribbon bar sections show more options now, at a width of 1024 pixels.

(click on the image for a larger version)

Finally, at a width of 1200 pixels, the bar is again different, but there wasn't any real change in accessibility to the available options.

(click on the image for a larger version)

Microsoft made another neat menu bar for Office 2007, the Quick Access Bar, which is located at the top left corner of the program's window. By default, as shown below the icons that show here are Save, Undo and Redo.

(click on the image for a larger version)

Fortunately, there's a options pulldown at the right side labelled Customise Quick Access Toolbar. This allows us to add the icons of our choice to the toolbar.

If you click on the Customise Quick Access Toolbar icon, you get the menu shown below. To pick among the many, many options available, click on More Commands...

(click on the image for a larger version)

Once you've clicked More Commands..., the dialog box below opens and lets us pick, choose, and change the order of the icons shown on the toolbar. You may have to use the option box labelled "Choose commands from:" in order to find the command you want. I needed to do this and pick All Commands in order to find Save As and Print.

(click on the image for a larger version)

Now you can see my finished Quick Access Toolbar, which now includes Save, Save As, Pring, Undo and Redo. I'll probably add Print Preview to it also.

(click on the image for a larger version)

I spent some time looking for the Office 2003 icon for Print To instead of just Print. In Office 2003, the Print icon printed to the default printer. The Print To icon opened a dialog box where I could select the printer to which I wanted to print. Since I usually used Click2PDF as my printer, which took the print command and instead created a PDF file with the output, I would need to use the dialog box to change printers when I wanted a real paper copy.

I'm pleased to see that the Print icon in Office 2007 opens the printer dialog box, instead of immediately routing the print job to the current default printer.

4.  How To Show Full Menus in Office 2003

 

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I absolutely hate Office 2003's design of displaying the few menu-bar items that I had recently used and then, if I hover long enough, changing the limited menu bar to the full menu bar.

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5.  My Computer Security Software Recommendations

I review my security software recommendations and update them for each weekly newsletter issue, if I think they need to change.

My Philosophy: Many people want to pick their most economical solution and prefer an all-in-one anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall solution. In concept, that's a great idea. In actual practice, I don' think that this type of package is likely to be the best in all the protection categories you need. Other people want to pick the best of each type program. I'm one of the these folks.

My choice of software that I am willing to recommend is driven by my search for software for me to use. I only recommend programs that I like and that I use. I will sometimes suggest alternatives to my recommendations, but I clearly note if I no longer use them.

UPDATE: I like the thought of not "having all my eggs in one basket." I also have requests occasionally from readers and subscribers who either want an alternative, so they can make a choice themselves, or want to use a suite. I stopped using the major brands years ago for one reason or another — I've just installed Panda Internet Security 2009 on my desktop for testing. Look for a review in the near future. Meanwhile, I've found a special limited-time sale price if you use this link: Buy Panda Internet Security 2009 for $51.97. Save $27.98! . This sale price is scheduled to end in late March.

Anti-Virus

I'm often asked about several other popular anti-virus or anti-virus combination packages. Yes, I realize that they are not in my recommendation list. "Enough said..."

From 2003 through mid-2008, my personal choice was ESET's small, fast NOD32 anti-virus program, which offers a FREE 30-day evaluation license. I consider NOD32 one of the best in anti-virus protection — and it continues to get recognition andn awards. Unlike some of its competitors, ESET offers multiple-year licenses also, and includes program updates in the multiple-year license.

However, I've changed from my long-time programs NOD32 (antivirus) and CounterSpy (antispyware) to Sunbelt's new VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware.

I've found that VIPRE puts even less load on my computer than the speedy combination of NOD32 and CounterSpy. I've also been impressed with the way its "deep scan" has found and eliminated risks that were stored in zip files, which is one of the latest malware email tricks.

Read more about anti-virus programs on my web site.

Related articles:

• Anti-Virus Programs and Online Scanners
• Free Online Antivirus Scan
• NOD32 Anti-Virus Review - A Look at NOD32
• VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware Review

Firewall Software

While the Windows XP firewall is much better than no firewall at all, don't count on the Windows XP firewall to meet your needs. You need a two-way firewall, which the Windows XP firewall is not!. Microsoft woke up and supplied a two-way firewall with Windows Vista.

The Windows XP firewall does not control outbound communications originating from your computer — and you should want to have control if adware/trojans/spyware or even commercial products want to talk to the Internet. Whether they are calling home or spewing spam, you want to be able to control your computer.

Do you want Windows Media Player to call home every time you play something? It does! Do you use the Search function in Windows Explorer to find things on your hard drive? Did you know that every time you search, Windows Explorer talks to Microsoft?

I didn't know that when I ran ZoneAlarm, but the Sunbelt Personal Firewall flags that to me, and I can stop it or allow it to happen. Many other programs try to call home when you run them, too.

I recommend my choice for a firewall program, which is Sunbelt Personal Firewall.

You can try the full-featured "paid version" of Sunbelt Personal Firewall free for 30 days — after that, you can register it or, if you're using it on a home non-business computer, you can let it revert to the free, lesser-function license.
Tip: Be sure to read my review of SPF for the settings I recommend.

Sunbelt Personal Firewall is regularly $19.95 (with discounts for multiple computers and/or multiple years!) for a non-expiring license for the program and includes one year of their updates subscription.

Related articles:

• The Internet Versus You
• Do I Need a Firewall Program?
• My Sunbelt Personal Firewall Review

Anti-Spyware / Anti-Adware Software

CounterSpy, from Sunbelt Software, has received many kudos from the computer press for its always-running and periodic full system scans. It has been my personal choice for my PC's and my family's PC's.

Sunbelt's CounterSpy v2.5, both improved CounterSpy's performance against malware and reduced its impact on system resources and responsiveness when its scanning.

Sunbelt continues to release updated program versions — the current version is v3.1 — and there's an even newer version about to be released. Nicely, Sunbelt do NOT install the updated programs automatically. You have to use the Update process in the program, which means that you'll know that something significant has changed.

Now, I've changed from my long-time programs NOD32 (antivirus) and CounterSpy (antispyware) to Sunbelt's new VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware.

I've found that VIPRE puts even less load on my computer than the speedy combination of NOD32 and CounterSpy. My computer seems to have much more pep and power than it had previously. I've also been impressed with the way its "deep scan" has found and eliminated risks that were stored in zip files, which is one of the latest malware email tricks.

Related articles:

• Fighting Against Spyware & Malware
• My CounterSpy Review
• My VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware Review

Anti-spam Software

In today's Internet world, the question is not "if" you will get spam, but "how much will you get?"

I use and recommend POPFile as my first choice for handling spam. POPFile sits on your computer, between your email program and your ISP mailbox, and handles emial as it downloads.

POPFile uses a different approach to handle spam than some other programs do — it does nothing to reduce spam. It is designed as an email classification tool — you train it to recognize spam and any other type of email that you want to classify. These classifications can help you sort your emails into appropriate folders in your email program.

Sunbelt Software, who makes the anti-spyware program CounterSpy (which I use and recommend) and the firewall that I use and recommend (Sunbelt Personal Firewall) also has a well-regarded, award-winning anti-spam program called iHateSpam for Outlook and Outlook Express. Since I don't use Outlook or Outlook Express for email, I haven't tried iHateSpam.

Mailwasher Pro would be my first choice to handle spam before it ever gets into your computer's Inbox. Mailwasher Pro uses on-line Realtime Black Lists mail servers sending spam recently, "training" by you of what you think is spam, and your own "friends" and "blacklist" lists. Note: I found that PopFile generally meets my needs and stopped using Mailwasher Pro, even though PopFile works AFTER the emails have been downloaded. If I used a dialup connection, I would be more interested in Mailwasher Pro.

Mailwasher Pro can even bounce spam messages, as if your email address was not valid, although the usefulness and appropriateness of this is questionable. There is a free version called "Mailwasher," but it omits the functions that I consider critical for this purpose -- such as safely previewing the emails safely before they ever get to your email inbox.

Related articles:

• Spam Filtering
• Keeping spam out of your Inbox
• Getting Control of Your Inbox
• How Can I Prevent spam?

Cable/DSL Router

If you have a cable modem or a DSL modem, you need to have another layer of inexpensive protection between you and the Internet. A cable/DSL router isolates your computer from direct connection to the Internet. Your computer can easily request your email, web pages, etc. through the router. The responses come back to the router and are smoothly routed to your computer. But, someone on the Internet side of the router can not initiate a connection to your computer — they can only respond to your request.

Even if you only have one computer to connect to your cable or DSL modem, I recommend that you purchase and use a cable/DSL router because of the protection it can give you against attempts to attack through some flaws in Windows itself.

A router isolates your local network, whether it is only one computer or several, from the Internet by actually making it a separate network. The router gets the "public" IP address and handles all your outbound communications and the responses to them. But, it blocks computers on the Internet side from being able to initiate communications with your computer! This will prevent you from falling prey to many worms that try to attack security holes in Windows itself.

For a wireless router, I recommend the Linksys WRT54G wireless router. I'm using the relatively new version 6 of this router.

If you don't want wireless, I recommend the Linksys BEFSR41 wired router, which I also use. Either way, based on my experience, I recommend Linksys routers for price, reliability and Linksys' habit of releasing updated firmware for their products..

See these related articles:

• Wireless Security
• Wi-Fi Hotspots and Computer Security
• Wireless Networking Problems & Wireless Networking Security

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