Tech News: What's new in Microsoft Office 2013?

Office 2013, the next edition of Microsoft’s flagship productivity suite, is available for business customers but won’t go on sale to consumers until the first quarter of 2013.

We got a look at it and here’s what is new in Microsoft Office 2013.

1. Office 2013 has undergone some drastic new changes featuring a clean new interface, and is more accessible that any previous version of Office.
   
   
2. The first thing you will notice in Office 2013 is the new modern interface. It still has the ribbon on the top with all of the toolbars just like Office 2007 and Office 2010.
   
   
   
   
3. In the top right corner you will notice that you can sign in using a Microsoft account allowing you to access your Office documents from any Windows computer, smart phone, or tablet.
   
   
   
   
4. Another way Office is more accessible is the added feature of saving your documents to Microsoft's cloud storage SkyDrive, allowing you to easily share documents and access them from anywhere.
   
   
   
   
5. Making a new document has been made even easier with the expanded templates in Office 2013.
   
   
   
   
6. Saving and opening files has been streamlined as well. Your most used folders will show up when saving and opening documents and you can even pin specific folders to the list.
   
   
   
   
7. Sharing your document for collaboration has been simplified. Office 2013 allows you to invite people to view your document, email your document, present your document using Office Presentation Service, or Publish the document as a blog post.
   
   
   
   
8. These are just a few general new features across the Office 2013 suite. Each individual Office program also has their own new features.
   

What do you think? Will you get Office 2013?

For more assistance contact Technical Support here.

Getting an error for Microsoft Office after installing a different version of Office

This article will provide the steps in troubleshooting errors after installing a different version of Office on the computer.

Problem: Your newly installed version of Office and an existing version of Office are reporting errors, asking for the Product Key Code, will not open, or windows reports there is a problem with Office and needs to be shut down.

Resolution: All of these errors are a result of installing a newer version of Office in the same folder that contains an older version of Office. Several files have been replaced with newer files and the existing, older program cannot access the newer files. While the newer program is trying to read the existing older files in the folder.

To have multiple versions of Office installed on a computer, all versions need to be removed first.

1. Click on Start, All Programs, or Programs, and select Control Panel.
2. Click on Add/Remove Programs, or Programs and Features. Allow the list of all installed software to populate.
3. Click on the first entry for Office on the list then, click on Add/Remove or Uninstall/Change.
4. Follow the prompts on the screen to uninstall the program. Continue to do this until there is no listing of Office displayed in the list of software
5. Restart the computer.

Once the computer is back to the desktop, install the first version of Office onto your computer.

• During the install, you will be prompted on where to install the program. Change the location from the default location to a different location, such as C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Version 2003 or C:\Microsoft Office\2003.
• Continue with the install, until Office has been successfully installed, then restart the computer again.

Once the computer is back to the desktop, install the next version of Office onto the computer.

• During the install, you will be prompted on where to install the program. Change the location from the default location to a different location, such as C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Version 2011 or C:\Office\2011.
• Continue with the install, until Office has been successfully installed, then restart the computer again.

This will allow different versions of Office to be installed on a computer with no conflict or replacement of files.


For more help you can contact Technical Support here.

Using Office 2010 Starter-To-Go

A useful feature included with Microsoft Office 2010 Starter Edition is “Starter To-Go”. It allows you to install a version of Microsoft Office (with the limited functionality) on a USB flash drive. The drive can then be plugged into another Windows Vista or Windows 7 computer when the user is away from their primary computer. Word and Excel documents can be created and edited on that computer, whether or not it had Microsoft Office already installed on it.

To set up the installation of Office Starter To-Go to a USB flash drive, take the following steps:

1. From the Start menu, under Microsoft Office Starter - Office 2010 Tools, Click on Microsoft Office Starter To-Go Device Manager.
   • It is necessary to have a USB flash drive connected with at least 393 MB of available storage space. The computer also needs to be connected to the Internet to download the necessary files.
   
2. Click on the Start button at the bottom of the Starter To-Go Device Manger window.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Select the device you wish to install the files on and click on the Install button. When the installation is complete, you can select Create another device or Close.
   
   
   
   
   
4. To launch the application from the USB Flash Drive, double-click on the Microsoft Office Starter 2010 icon from the flash drive. (Alternatively, you can click on Microsoft Office starter from the auto-run option list when you plug in the drive). This will open a window from which you can select Excel or Word.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Opening it for the first time, you will see a message installing prerequisites after which the selected program should open with the message Starting Microsoft Office Click to Run. Accept the license agreement.
   
6. You can then begin to use the application.
   
7. When you are finished using Office 2010 Starter To-Go on the other computer , you can close the To-Go application by right clicking on the Office icon in the system tray and clicking Close.
   
   
   
   
   

System Requirements:

• Operating system: The computer the flash drive is connected to must be running Windows Vista Service Pack 1 or Windows 7, 32-bit or 64-bit version. If installed on an earlier version of Windows, the following error message will appear: “The application package on this device is corrupt. Repair your device using the Microsoft Office Starter To-Go Device Manager”
• A network connection is required during the process of setting up the To-Go device. If no network connection is available, the following error will appear: “The application package on this device is corrupt. Repair your device using the Microsoft Office Starter To-Go Device Manger”.
• A minimum of 393 MB of storage space is required on the flash drive, but more is recommended to allow for updates.

The device will have the Office 2010 logo when viewed in Computer. It will also be listed in the Auto-run window.

How to Change Margins in Microsoft Word 2010

This guide will walk you through how to change the page margins in Microsoft Word 2010. By default, Word has page margins set to 1" on each side and can be changed for document requirements. Follow these steps to modify the margins:

1. Open Microsoft Word 2010 by clicking Start » All Programs » Microsoft Office » Microsoft Word 2010.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Click the Page Layout tab across the top.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Click the Margins button.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Select Custom Margins.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Set the margins to the desired value and click OK.
   
   
   
   
   
6. Proceed to create and save the document.

Using Help in Office 2010

This document is a guide on how to find additional help within Microsoft Office. Microsoft offers many great tutorials and support options through the help feature within their programs.

1. Click File.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Click Help.
3. Click on the Getting Started option.
   
   
   
   
   This will take you to the Microsoft web site which offers many different support features to get you started with Office 2010. The first option Microsoft Office Help offers a little more advanced help once you’re familiar with the program and working with data.
   

Using Microsoft Office Starter Edition

Microsoft Office Starter Edition replaces Microsoft Works as a base productivity suite. It also replaces the Microsoft Office limited time trial versions that manufacturers pre-installed on some of their models. Office Starter includes limited functionality versions of Word and Excel but does not include Outlook or PowerPoint. It also includes advertising that appears in an area to the right of the document that is non-removable.

To use Microsoft Office starter, take the following steps:

1. In the start menu, click on Microsoft Office 2010.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Click on the Use button to the right of Use Office Starter 2010.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Click on the Open button – An installation progress window will appear.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Enter a User Name when prompted.
5. Accept the License Agreement.
6. Choose the Software Update option desired.
   
   
   
   
   
7. Begin using Word Starter or Excel Starter by selecting from the Programs Menu under Microsoft Office Starter.
   
   
   
   
   

Notebook FAQs

Q: What is a Recovery Disc or an Operating System Disc?
A: The Recovery Disc or Operating System Disc is used when the Operating System has become unusable, due to file corruption, virus or hardware malfunction.

Q: Are any of the pre-installed applications removable?
A: Yes, any software is removable by accessing the Add or Remove Programs control in Windows XP, or Programs and Features control in Windows 7.

Q: Is Up-To-Date Security Software Necessary?
A: Security software is recommended to prevent data loss, as well as theft of personal information. If this security is not kept up to date, newly created Viruses, Worms, Trojans and other threats will have easy access to the system. We recommend ESET NOD32 or ESET Smart Security to keep your computer secure.

Q: What is DVD-RAM?
A: DVD-RAM is a re-writable DVD that can be rewritten hundreds of thousands of times. Typically DVD-RAM discs will not play in standard DVD Players. It is often used in Video Cameras.

Q: Why are Back-Ups necessary?
A: Keeping an up-to-date back-up of your computer is critical if you have files on the system that you do not want to lose. If your computer gets hit by a bad virus or the hard drive crashes, you may lose all information on the computer. Keeping information saved on an external hard drive using backup software ensures that it will always be available.

Q: What is a HomeGroup?
A: A HomeGroup is an easy way to share files, printers and other resources when multiple Windows 7 computers are connected to one router.

Q: Where is the Microsoft Office product key?
A: To obtain the Microsoft Office product key, activate the trial by clicking the 60-day trial icon located on the desktop, or Activation Assistant icon in the Microsoft Office folder found in the Start Menu.

Q: Where can I see how much battery life is left?
A: In the system tray in the bottom right corner of the screen there is a battery or power icon that will show how much charge is left in the battery, as well as whether or not it is currently charging.