Office Casual, and the Inside Office Online blog has been moved to our new blog, The Office Blog. Go to The Office Blog . Go to Office Casual blog .  --Doug Thomas

Today, Windows 7 goes on sale . There have been many excellent reviews (including CNET , PCWorld , and the New York Times ), but as an employee, I just gotta say I’m standing a bit taller today (full disclosure: I know people working on the product). We’ve been able to work on W7 (as we write it) for...

If a picture says 1000 words, why are we still using loads of them in our presentations? Here are some advantages of using images and a new add-in from Fotolia so you can search for great images without leaving PowerPoint or Word. Office Casual: Why pictures make great PowerPoint (with Fotolia) ...

Is your PowerPoint looking a bit ho-hum, boring, or just plain dead-on-arrival? Jazz your slides up --and deliver your information better--with SmartArt. Doug Thomas shows you how-to preview and create better slides in seconds with PowerPoint 2007. Office Casual: How to improve your PowerPoint with SmartArt...

The first public look at the online version of Office Suite is now in Technical Preview. Online versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint can be used and tested by several thousand users. If you have used Windows Live SkyDrive (a free 25MB online storage tool) you might be able to give a test drive (or...

Doug Thomas shows you how the powerful new Microsoft Translator raises the bar for translating three ways: on the Web, for Office 2007 & 2003, and a unique translation widget for your site. See the links below to get the particular tool you want. Office Casual: How you can translate better with...

Office Casual and Office Intervention just won honors at the 30th annual Telly Awards . With nearly 11,000 entries from all 50 states and around the world, winners were selected in several categories honored for “outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs, the finest video and...

I was in your shoes: two years ago in another company, SharePoint was installed. Now what? Here's what I wish I knew then: easy ways to share information with SharePoint. Below are some other references to help you dive in. --Doug Thomas Office Casual: How to put the share into SharePoint SharePoint...

If you don't deal with flowcharts, chances are you haven't opened the Visio program. Let me show some other uses for this diagramming, visual-based program--that's just sitting idle on many business computers—for moving your office, or setting up a meeting space. Office Casual: How to move your Office...

There are more than a dozen ways to follow Twitter, but TwInbox (formally known as OutTwit in its beta stages) places some powerful Outlook capabilities in the hands of us Twitters. Here's a short video on TwInbox . Office Casual: How to Twitter in Outlook (with TwInbox) You can find the free download...

Here's a challenge: can I make a business card in 90 seconds? Learn a thing or two about to work with the free templates at Office Online. Office Casual: How to make a business card in 90 seconds? Now, I don't know if you would want to make business card in 90 seconds, but I'm thinking if I can do...

How would like to make a quick call and do things in Outlook like send email, schedule meetings, and create notes? I made this Office Causal video about a service called Jott and a nifty free add-in from Office Online. You can learn more about Jott here and Outlook add-in here . Office Casual: How...

Did you know the interface used in Office programs before 2007 was designed way back in 1992? That's something I learned when researching the Office 2007 interface, the ribbon. Here's some cool tools to help you get the most out of it. The interactive guides mentioned in this video are here for Word...

The Internet and job engines have digitized everything and you need to fortify your resume the same way companies use search engines: by using keywords. Office Casual: How to get your resume noticed This video is part of our new Job Seeker site created in conjunction with Monster.com. Find lots of...

A teammate was wondering how to stop the flow of email from her business Outlook account over a long weekend. For a Windows Mobile 5.x or 6.x device, here's what you can do: Office Casual: How to separate work and home on your phone There is an alternate way to do this. If your mobile device (when...

There’s the “official line” (green means available) but here’s my take on working with those fuzzy green, yellow and red icons you find with Messenger, Communicator, and other Internet messaging and social tools. –DougThomas Office Casual: What IM status icons really mean Get the DVD Extra! Well...

Why do we still buy $12 calendars even though finding what day it is as simple as looking at your computer or phone? It's not new to create your own, but I wanted to show you how simply you can do it with a free template at Office Online. You can download the template mentioned here and the calendar...

A while ago we were talking around the office about ways to show off the features of Office Live Workspace. Instead of high concept campaign, I thought I would just show everyone how I use them. How I use Office Live Workspace Need an free Office Live Workspace? Start here . --Doug