Microsoft

I am not sure whether it is me getting older, or Microsoft being past its peak, but it really feels that every new piece of software which Microsoft brings out is "almost as good as the thing it replaced". I thought I would share a few frustrations with readers, in the hope that it will be of use.

I have recently bought a Windows 7 laptop, running IE8 and installed Office 2010 finally replacing my Windows XP machine running IE6 and Office 2003. Well obviously the graphics are better, and maybe it loads faster (though that could be just the effect of a new machine).

But I quickly discovered that so many pieces of software didn't actually work, and far from being "simpler" as the adverts claim, almost everything is more complex due to an added security layer.

Two really vital tips which should come with the instruction manual

1. If you want all of your Office programmes to run as they did before, you must run them as "Administrator". This is not always obvious - click on Properties for the Office Application and select "Compatibility" as in this picture and tick the box for "run this programme as an administrator". Macros / vb code may not run normally otherwise.

2. If you want to run software not intended for Windows 7 - particularly establishing VPN links - you must run the "Virtual XP software" which, amazingly, brings back your Windows XP and IE6 as a window on your machine. The download link is
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx

If you are using Office 2007 or 2010 for the first time, you won't know where any of your tools are - just put your problem into Google - loads of other people have had the same problem, and it is much quicker than the Microsoft help.

ALSO, remember that some of the people you send emails to may still have Office 2003 and they wont be able to read your Office 2007 or 2010 documents. Always use Save As and save as 2000-2003 version if you are emailing out.

Office 2010 is more impressive, but from my point of view, all of the gains are wiped out by the fact that auto-complete of email addresses isn't working on Outlook. Also, there is still no indexed search facility on Outlook, making text searches of emails painfully slow and the Contacts section is still a load of rubbish, giving no way of easily copying and pasting full contact details out of Outlook.

AND FINALLY, and actually what has prompted this Blog, is that I received a phone call today from an acquaintance who has recently purchased a Windows 7 Mobile, and discovered, that as a matter of policy, there is no Active Sync and no way to synchronise with Outlook and other documents on your PC. You are intended to use "Zume" for media, and hot mail for emails / contacts etc. We now have a situation where you would be better off buying an iPhone or Android phone if you want to synchronise with a Windows application - but Windows 7 does sync with XBox!

Overall, there is a common thread to all of this, and that is that since Bill Gates' departure, Microsoft has been taken over by the Media department and the Finance Department and is no longer the technology driven company it once was.

In these difficult financial times, all of us, especially Local Authorities should be looking to migrate to Open Source software - Open Office and Android -rather than paying more money to US corporations.