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Live Writer

Live Writer supports many different types of blogs including SharePoint blogs. So this post came via Live Writer
Just use the drop down Weblog menu to add a new blog and point it at your SharePoint blog, in my case MySite. The wizard will then download the templates and graphics needs for the site automatically

You can add pictures, videos, Silverlight applications, maps etc. Just go visit the live.com site for more add-ins

-- Rob Atkinson
-- MSIT Ireland

Outlook Voice Access—No Computer Required

What would you say if I told you that you could check your Outlook e-mail without a computer or mobile device? Now try saying it without profanity.

Outlook Voice Access allows you to dial-in to your Exchange Server 2007 mailbox from any telephone and listen to your e-mail using text-to-speech technology. And Outlook Voice Access doesn't just read you your e-mail. It can also play back calendar items, contacts, and tasks.

Hear something that deserves a reply? Don't go running to your laptop. Use Outlook Voice Access to reply to or forward messages, as well as send a pre-configured "I'll be late" notice.

Need to call someone at the office but don't remember their extension? Use Outlook Voice Access to search the company directory for a person to call or initiate a phone call from one of your Outlook contacts.

You can navigate Outlook Voice Access with your telephone keypad or, better yet, by using the built-in speech recognition. Let your fingers do the walking some other time.

For more information on Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, visit http://www.microsoft.com/exchange.

For more tips and tricks for the 2007 Microsoft Office System, pick up a copy of Evan Archilla's new book, So That's How! Timesavers, Breakthroughs, and Everyday Genius, available now wherever books are sold.

Office in Your Pocket

Microsoft Windows Mobile is the power behind handheld devices like the Pocket PC and Smartphone. With a Windows Mobile device in your hand and Exchange Server 2007 in your office, the information you need most is always at your fingertips.

Every Windows Mobile device comes complete with Outlook Mobile, ensuring you have access to your e-mail, Calendar, contacts, and tasks wherever you are. Outlook Mobile also supports Exchange Server 2007's Unified Messaging, a capability that, when configured by IT, delivers voice mail and faxes directly to your Outlook and Outlook Mobile inboxes.

Exchange Server 2007's ActiveSync technology ensures your device is connected to the server and ready to receive new Outlook items as they arrive. This "push" technology makes manual synchronization a thing of the past, ensuring your device always has the latest and greatest information. Over-the-Air Search functionality allows you to search your entire mailbox from your device, whether or not the items you're looking for have been downloaded to the local store.

But wait, there's more! Windows Mobile Pocket PC devices may also include Office Mobile, powerful pocket-sized versions of the applications you know and love. With Office Mobile, you can create, edit, and open Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents on your device. Combine Office Mobile with Exchange Server 2007's LinkAccess, and you can even open linked documents stored on internal shares or Windows SharePoint Services sites right from your device. If OneNote Mobile is installed on your device, you can take notes on your device and synchronize them to Office OneNote 2007.

We hear what you're saying. "All this information in my pocket is great, but what if my pocket gets picked?" Not to worry. You can use Outlook Web Access 2007 (a feature of Exchange Server 2007) to remotely wipe your device. The Artful Dodger will have your device, but not your data. You can even use Outlook Web Access to reset your device password. So, go ahead. Put a Windows Mobile device in your pocket. Just make sure you pay for it first.

For more information on Microsoft Windows Mobile, visit http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile.

Managing E-Mail and Records

Do you work in an industry where every piece of e-mail you send (or sometimes even think about sending) has to be archived for legal purposes? In today's regulation-heavy environment, if you're not careful, cleaning out your Mailbox can lead to cleaning out your desk. To make the process of archiving e-mail easier, you can use Managed E-Mail Folders in Microsoft Exchange Server 2007.

Once set up by the administrator, Managed E-Mail Folders are accessible in Outlook 2007 and Outlook Web Access 2007. You can drag messages required for archival to these folders where they will be governed by administrator-defined retention and expiration policies.

Likewise, an Office SharePoint Server 2007 Records Repository can help you archive and manage important documents of record. IT personnel, lawyers, and records managers can use the Records Repository site template to quickly create an online records vault and apply information management policies to govern record labeling, auditing, and expiration. Documents can be uploaded to the repository directly from your favorite Microsoft Office 2007 applications.

Managed E-Mail Folders and SharePoint Records Repositories are easy ways to stay compliant with external regulations and internal policies.

For more information on Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, visit http://www.microsoft.com/exchange.

Gettin' Groovy

How do you work with people in other organizations? These could be partners, vendors, or even customers. Sharing documents and information across multiple network boundaries is often a cumbersome process, with participants almost solely dependent on sending and receiving e-mail attachments.

The problem with e-mail attachments, apart from server space issues, is the existence of multiple versions of the same document floating around the organization. Sending e-mail attachments between organizations further complicates matters because now these multiple versions have the potential to take on lives of their own within multiple locales.

Microsoft Office Groove 2007 makes it easy to work across network boundaries by bringing people together in decentralized workspaces. Decentralized workspaces securely operate outside the network firewall, allowing people from multiple companies to share documents and information with each other in a controlled environment.

Office Groove 2007 is installed locally on each participant's computer. Only people running Groove can access Groove workspaces, and they can only access the workspaces to which they've been invited. Each workspace member receives a local copy of the workspace documents and discussions. You can even add and synchronize documents stored in a Windows SharePoint Services document library.

When changes are made, the changes—and only the changes—are synchronized between each member's computer. This means you can work seamlessly with documents online or offline, updating your virtual team when you happen to have an Internet connection. Groovy.

For more information on Microsoft Office Groove 2007, visit http://office.microsoft.com/groove.

Microsoft Videos—a new way to view what's new at Microsoft

Launched today, Microsoft Videos is a brand-new video portal that gives you an easy-to-use location for viewing all of the most recent Microsoft-produced videos. The portal has a wide variety of videos, keynote speeches, how-to instructions, and demo videos.

Featured videos will change daily and you can watch them using a new custom Silverlight video player. Try out new features, like how to create a party playlist in Windows Vista by watching the video at the same time you're setting up your playlist, or view the newest Microsoft Office 2007 video featuring Amy Sedaris.

Some of the coolest aspects of this portal are the community features. After viewing videos, you can not only rate and comment on what you've seen, but also share videos with friends via e-mail or the embed link. (You can post the video and player for sharing by embedding the link—and it's easy. Just copy and paste the embed URL onto your personal blog.)

Check out the new portal at http://preview.microsoft.com/video and send the Microsoft Videos team feedback at msvideos@microsoft.com.

Team Sites and My Sites and More, Oh My!

Meeting Workspaces and Document Workspaces are two examples of the different sites and workspaces you can create with Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and Office SharePoint Server 2007. To see the full list of Windows SharePoint Services default site templates, click the Site Actions button on your site, workspace, or portal home page, then select Create Site. You may need to click the Sites and Workspaces link under Web Pages. Scroll to the bottom of the New SharePoint Site page to the Template Selection box.

On the Collaboration tab, you'll find easy-to-use site templates for creating your own Team Sites, Blogs, Wikis, News and Publishing Sites, and Records Repositories. Click the Meetings tab for five different Meeting Workspace templates (you can also access these templates from the Meeting Workspace Task Pane in an Outlook meeting request). The Enterprise tab includes enterprise-ready templates for Document Centers, Report Centers, and Search Centers. Select the template you want to use and click Create.

With an Office SharePoint Server 2007 portal deployed in your organization, each individual employee can create and manage their own personal My Site. Your My Site is the place to store and edit personal documents, manage shared documents and tasks, and keep track of colleagues. Each My Site contains personal and public views of your information, allowing you to share information about yourself and your role while keeping private information private. To automatically create and configure your own My Site, simply click the My Site link from your Office SharePoint Server portal home page. Then repeat after me, "There's no place like my home page. There's no place like my home page." Ruby slippers are optional.

For more information of Microsoft SharePoint Products & Technologies, visit www.microsoft.com/sharepoint.

Open XML Formats in the 2007 Microsoft Office system

Microsoft Office Open XML is the new default file format for Excel 2007, PowerPoint 2007, and Word 2007. Why would Microsoft introduce a new file format with this release? No, not to make your life miserable. In fact, Microsoft Office Open XML is designed to make working with documents easier than ever before.

Imagine two versions of the same Excel spreadsheet—one is saved using the old .xls format and the other is saved using the new .xlsm format. Two spreadsheets identical in every way, except the .xlsm file is up to 75 percent smaller than its counterpart, it comes equipped with improved damage-recovery, and the "m" in the file extension lets you know that this spreadsheet contains macros before you open it. Throw in the inherent developer and data integration benefits of XML and you have a file format for the 21st century.

Standard Open XML file extensions end with an "x"—.docx, .xlsx, and .pptx. Open XML files containing macros, like the example above, end with an "m"—.docm, .xlsm, and .pptm. And don't worry; you can still save files in their original binary .doc, .xls, and .ppt formats for sharing with older versions of Office. However, a better option for users of Office 2000 SP3, Office XP SP3, and Office 2003 SP1 is to download the appropriate Open XML file converter from http://office.microsoft.com. With the file converter installed, users can open and edit the new Open XML formats in their existing version of Microsoft Office. Keep in mind, new features of Office 2007 used in the original document creation will remain unavailable when working in these older versions.

If you can't see your file extensions in Windows Explorer, click Organize, then Folder and Search Options. Click the View tab and uncheck Hide extensions for known file types.

For more information on the Open XML file formats, visit the FAQ at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/HA101723691033.aspx.

The Great Communicator

Do you spend more time talking to voicemail than people? Is sending e-mail like tossing pennies down a black hole? Take a look around—the lights may be on in the cubicle next door but nobody's home. Where is everyone? Chances are they're in a meeting. Or between meetings. Or working from home to avoid meetings. Wherever they are, you need to talk to somebody. And you can't wait three weeks until the stars and the gaps in your calendars align.

Microsoft Office Communicator 2007, the desktop client for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, integrates real-time presence information into your favorite Microsoft Office system applications. With Communicator, you can tell if a contact is online and available to communicate with you. Just hover over a person's name in the To: line of an Outlook 2007 e-mail message and click the dropdown menu for a list of communication options. You'll also find presence information for contacts in the Office 2007 Document Information Task Pane and on Windows SharePoint Services sites and workspaces.

If your coworker is online and available to work with you, you can use Communicator to send her an instant message, place a PC-to-PC voice and video call using your computer microphone and speakers, or, if Communicator is integrated with your company's phone system, you can use Communicator to place and receive phone calls using your desktop phone. You can even configure Communicator to auto-forward incoming calls to your mobile phone, home phone, or other location where you happen to be online. Throw in the ability to participate in real-time application sharing sessions, conference calls, and Microsoft Office Live Meeting online meetings, and you have one tool that can do the work of many. If only that basket of remote controls next to the recliner was this organized.

For more information on Microsoft Office Communicator 2007, visit http://office.microsoft.com/communicator.

Feed Me

All I want for Christmas are my two blog feeds. And my industry and news subscriptions. And my Hollywood celebrity baby updates. And I want to manage all of these Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds from one place—the same place I manage the rest of my e-mail communication. Fortunately, I don't have to wait until Christmas to take advantage of this functionality. And neither do you.

You can now fully subscribe to and interact with RSS feeds from within Outlook 2007, the most natural place to manage this kind of information. To add an RSS feed, right-click the RSS Feeds folder in the Navigation Pane and select Add a New RSS Feed. Enter the URL for the RSS feed you want to manage. For more detailed management options, click Tools, then Account Settings, and select the RSS Feeds tab.

For more information on Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, visit http://office.microsoft.com/outlook.

Urban Legend Alert

In the past, some companies encouraged their users to turn off the Reading Pane in Outlook to safeguard against virus infections. That memo probably went out in your office about the same time they started casual Fridays. While this may have been a concern in the early days of HTML e-mail content, today's Reading Pane isn't any more of a threat to the organization than khaki pants.

Why the fuss over HTML content? HTML is a Web format. If you've ever visited a Web page with some type of interactive content, chances are you've knowingly or unknowingly downloaded something to your local computer. HTML e-mails can work the same way—and therein lies the rub. Prior to Outlook 2003, previewing an HTML email in the Reading Pane would instruct the message to retrieve any necessary components, like graphics, from a Web server. Any time you download information from an untrusted source, you run the risk of infection or, at the very least, confirming for a junk e-mailer that your e-mail address is valid.

In Outlook 2007, images and other linked content in HTML messages are blocked by default, giving you the choice of whether or not to download them. If you wish to view the content, click the InfoBar at the top of the message and select Download Pictures. If you prefer a deeper level of protection, open the Trust Center from the Tools menu, then check the Read all standard mail in plain text box on the E-mail Security tab. This will display all messages in plain text along with an option in the InfoBar to revert back to the original HTML or Rich Text format.

For more information on Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, visit http://office.microsoft.com/outlook.

We've Got to Start Meeting Like This

Congratulations, the meeting was a huge success. Your boss is pleased, your client impressed, and the finance department is practically counting the money. And to think, you did it all in your underwear. Or bathrobe. Or shorts, flip-flops, and that Def Leppard t-shirt you bought during the Hysteria tour of '88. Now, that was a show.

Of course, nobody actually saw you dressed in your Saturday morning best. Your client is based in another state. Your boss lives in another city. And recent cuts in the travel budget made sure you won't be seeing either of them in person until the next fiscal year. Thankfully, Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007 was there to help.

Live Meeting is an online meeting service that lets you host and participate in meetings from any computer with Internet access. With Live Meeting, you can brief Bob in Baltimore without packing a bag. You can plan with Pauline in Paris without purchasing a plane ticket. You can even find funding in Fargo in February without freezing your fanny off.

And because Live Meeting is tightly integrated with the Microsoft Office applications you use every day, you're never more than a few clicks away from a great meeting. For example, with the free downloadable Conferencing Add-in for Microsoft Office Outlook (available on Microsoft Office Online at http://office.microsoft.com), you can turn any Outlook 2007 meeting request into a Live Meeting. Once in your meeting, you can upload a Microsoft Office PowerPoint presentation or other files you wish to present to meeting attendees. You can engage in real-time application sharing with another person, or create interactive slides for whiteboarding, Web browsing, and audience polling. Meeting audio can be integrated with your phone conferencing service or broadcast over the Internet to attendees' computer speakers. And the whole thing can be recorded and saved for future playback.

Kind of like that mini tape recorder you used to capture Rock of Ages.

For more information on Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007, visit http://office.microsoft.com/livemeeting.

It's one of the most frequently asked questions on any frequently asked questions list (right after "How much will this cost?" and "Will it run on my Commodore 64?"). The question that’s keeping everyone up at night is this: What the heck is the difference between Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007? Allow me to explain…

Windows SharePoint Services is the technology in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and 2008 that makes it easy to create collaborative Web sites like Meeting Workspaces, Document Workspaces, Team Sites, and more. It's so easy, in fact, that sites and workspaces tend to proliferate fairly rapidly throughout the organization. When a company reaches "critical mass," Office SharePoint Server 2007 (the successor to Office SharePoint Portal Server2003) rides to the rescue.

SharePoint Server 2007 is a standalone product that aggregates Windows SharePoint Services sites and workspaces under a single corporate Web portal. It offers enterprise search functionality, allowing users to search for people or information across the portal. It also extends Windows SharePoint Services functionality with tools for document, content, and records management.

SharePoint Server 2007 also includes an integrated version of Office Forms Server 2007 (also available as a standalone product) for streamlining forms-based business processes, as well as Excel Services for real-time browser access to Excel 2007 spreadsheets. With all of this great functionality built right in, SharePoint Server 2007 not only rides to the rescue, it brings the whole darn collaboration cavalry with it. Heigh-ho, SharePoint, away!

For more information of Microsoft SharePoint Products & Technologies, visit www.microsoft.com/sharepoint.

For more tips and tricks for the 2007 Microsoft Office System, pick up a copy of Evan Archilla's new book, So That’s How! Timesavers, Breakthroughs, and Everyday Genius, available now wherever books are sold.

Tracking what auto-starts with AutoRuns for Windows

This neat little utility from Sysinternals helps you keep track of what is running in Windows Vista. It's a bit like the MSCONFIG utility, only better in that it classifies everything and helps you gain insight into what is clogging up the works.

Download
(490 KB)

AutoRuns for Windows

Automatically reply to messages - Outlook - Microsoft Office Online

Ever wanted to auto respond to a specific e-mail from a group alias or a person? OOF is OK for general Out Of Office, but here is a neat way to do it with a custom .OFT template
This only works while your PC is switched on, as it is client-based, unlike OOF, which is Exchange server-based.

Automatically reply to messages - Outlook - Microsoft Office Online