XiJEN College

Tech Talk
Joel T. Fagsao

Microsoft has upped the ante and remains the office suite queen as it released this month the latest version of its software called Office 2010. Sorry folks, your Office version 2007 has suddenly become history. Similar to car manufacturers who signal the arrival of their latest model based on a particular year, the same is true with software manufacturers. We can just call this, part of a business strategy. There is this pressure of continous improvement over an earlier model because without it, a software company can become a has been in a matter of time. When we talk of an office suite, the key word here is suite. In a hotel, when you stay in a suite, expect complete amenities. The same is true with an office suite that is actually a set of computer applications from word processing, spreadsheets to database and more. In the early days, IBM, Correl were a few companies that provided a similar set of productivity software. Today, IBM and Correl still remain the rivals of software giant Microsoft when it comes to producing office suites. Each company has its own strenghts and weaknesses. Correl’s latest offering is WordPerfect Office X5-Standard while IBM no longer charges for free its Lotus Smartsuite. Microsoft has surged ahead of its rivals by releasing Office 2010 which promises a better version. A check on the various features of Microsoft Word (2010), Excel, Power Point, Outlook and more makes you want to move on the latest version. Basically, visual impact, web integration and online collaboration are the highlights of Office 2010. Office staff can collaborate, update their work while away from the office. Staff can work on any computer that is connected to the Internet because Office 2010 can let you save files on your Skydrive- the web based storage by Microsoft. Skydrive pampers you with 25GB of free storage space. So what can you do in Office 2010? In PowerPoint 2010, you can edit video that you embedd in your slides. A presentation created in PowerPoint can also be viewed on the World Wide Web instantly by your clients. In Excel, select or highlight a group of numerical data and you have an instant graph visualization of the numbers. In Word, its a visual delight. You create impressive documents with graphics enhancement features. Those are just some of the new features of Office 2010. So how much does Office 2010 cost? The complete set that includes OfficeNote, Publisher and Access sets you back by US$499 or let us put it at P25,000.00. The student edition is at US 149.00 or P7,450.00 is cheaper but minus Access and Publisher. The licensed editions sell at this prices while your illegal copies might hit your “side walk” vendors soon. Of course unlicensed editions will have no updates. Meanwhile, you can still work online with the new Office on Skydrive. If you have a Skydrive account, you can now work on a new Word document, Excel worksheet or create a presentation in PowerPoint. You can all do these right in your Skydrive account. This is Microsoft’s answer to Google’s Google Docs. Even if you don’t have Word, Excel or PowerPoint installed in your computer (e.g. you are in an Internet Cafe rushing your report), you can still work on your documents. These are the developments for the workplace. Time comes when commuting to the office is no longer practical when you can finish your report at home or collaborate with your work mates on a single document-online. So roll up your sleeves, lay off Facebook for a while, explore new ways to work with a trial version of Office 2010 or register for an account at Skydrive and discover the Office Web application. (Tip: type Skydrive or Office 2010 in your Google search box). Create your own company or organization website with the popular and easy to use WordPress. Enroll the course at Xijen College of Mountain Province. Schedule of classes is from 5:30 to 7:00 P.M. every Tuesday and Thursdays. For details inquire at 0920 903 1948.