With the ballot resolution later this month, the temperature is high around the issues on Open XML.  On our side we believe that Open XML is solving a different problem to ODF and so we supported it through fast track.  IBM and others have decided to see this as a "war on standards"...

Three stories about small businesses using Office Live to get their businesses up and running.  Algarvesol - how a couple made renting out their apartment in Algarve a lot more professional with an online site with Office Live . Sublime - an enterprising pair who set up a mobile juice bar company...

Office Quiz I'm liking Ian Moulster's quiz on Office 2007 .  How many can you get - even I struggled with some of them.  He's going to publish the answers next week.. Progress of Office Open XML We are busy preparing for the Ballot Resolution Meeting on the ISO Office Open XML ratification...

I've spoken about IT Workplace before .  If you are interested in seeing an Office Business Application in action, have a look at Intelligencia - they allow people to do data analysis from Word.  This relies on Open XML to store the settings in the document. They have some new demo and video...

Construction consultants at Davis Langdon are renowned for delivering high-profile, high-value projects. They are involved in a number of well-known projects such as the London Olympics in 2012. The company’s United Kingdom operation provides consultancy advice on thousands of projects—each involving...

This afternoon I was presenting at the Office Business Applications architects council with the good looking chaps on the right here. I was talking about some of the stories I've come across from our customers and partners who are using Ecma Open XML in their solutions. I have 4 stories published recently...

Have you ever read a case study from Microsoft? I bet you haven't. More likely, you've been sent one (it got shifted about on your desk for a bit and then filed in the bin), you've sent one to a customer (but didn't really read it yourself) or you've never thought about it at all. I'm not having a go...

Its fair to say we've had rather a lot of cynicism from the readers of accounting web as to the value of Office 2007 to an accountant so it's great to see John Stokdyk profile this interview with Richard Abel from Aggrawaal & Co. Good quotes: "Our Excel users understand the basics and the problems...

"Open battle will boost compatibility" writes the Guardian computer editor, Jack Schofield in a computer weekly article . Open XML will never win over ODF proponents: nothing would. However, the new formats are more open, more accessible and more standardised than the old binary ones. Pragmatists, at...

I was chatting with my friend Colin Ashurst from Durham Business School this morning about the world of the information worker. He was saying he still thinks there needs to be more focus on helping get the technology deployed and getting people to use it. I think he's right, especially with all the new...

The upcoming version 7 of MindJet MindManager, the popular visualisation tool releases on 31 st May. One of its key selling points is the use of the new Microsoft Office Fluent user interface. I caught up with Rob Furnivall from MindJet (above and left) to get the inside track. Welcome, Rob, please...

It was my pleasure to get to know Ian McNeice from Kingston University over the last few months. Ian is a very passionate visionary in academic IT and was one of our early adopters. He kindly agreed to an IM interview about how they are using SharePoint Server 2007 and other Microsoft technologies to...