Fordham University will be switching from Microsoft Office 2003 to 2007 over the next few months.  For more details about when computers in the labs will be upgraded and how to get a copy for your home/office computer, see the previous blog entry.

So what’s new in MS Office 2007?

The biggest change that you will notice as soon as you open a MS Office 2007 product is “The Ribbon”.  Instead of having choices that open up a drop-down menu, the new interface organizes tabs into “Tasks” that will display options on the ribbon.

Mini Tool bar

When text is selected the mini text toolbar will appear allowing you to edit such things as the font size or color without having to make a selection from the Home tab.  Right clicking will also open the floating mini toolbar.  For those of you who find the tool bar distracting and would like to turn off that feature, simply click on the Office button and select “Word Options”.  On the “Popular” menu, you can check or uncheck the box for “Show Mini Toolbar on Selection”.

Live Preview

This is another new feature in Office 2007 products.  When you mouse-over any formatting option, you will see a live preview without actually applying the new format.  For example, if you highlight a portion of text and scroll through the font choices, you will see how your selected text looks with that font applied to it.  This lets you quickly view different options without having to actually change the text.

File format issues

There are several things to keep in mind when saving documents in Office 2007 products.  If you save a document in the 2007 file format and send it to someone who has Office 2003, they will be unable to open the document unless they download the Compatibility Pack from Microsoft (see below).  To save a file in the 97 – 2003 format, select “Save As” from the Office button and choose that format from the selections offered.  For people who want to save the majority of their files in this format, it is possible to set the default for saving documents as a 97 – 2003 file.  To do this, click the Office button and select “Word Options” at the bottom.  Select the “Save” menu and choose the desired file format from the drop down menu.

What is compatibility mode?

Compatibility mode will allow you to open, edit, and save documents in the 2003 format, however; in doing so you will lose the ability to use the new features available in MS Office 2007 such as SmartArt.  It is also possible to convert a 2003 to a 2007 file format.  To do this, simply click the Office Button and select “Convert”.  To read more about compatibility mode in MS Office 2007 products, visit the Microsoft TechNet Website.

Can I still use shortcut keys?

Yes, to view the shortcut keys, press the “ALT” key at any time to display the shortcut keys next to their corresponding functions.  For example if you press the “ALT” key, the H that appears shows you that you can press “ALT + H” to move to the Home tab.  The shortcut keys can be toggled on and off at anytime by pressing the “ALT” key.

In the next several weeks, we will take a close look at Word 2007, Excel 2007, and PowerPoint 2007 by sharing tips, tutorials, and resources.  In the meantime, for more information:

Comparison of MS Office 2003 and 2007 via CNET (21 slides with text)
What’s New in Office 2007 via Microsoft
Sign up to receive MS Office tips daily, weekly, or monthly in a newsletter (via email)

Overview of MS Office 2007 via CNET (3:07)

DOWNLOADS:

Compatibility pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats:  If you are still using MS Office 2003 and receive a file in the 2007 format, this download will allow you to open, edit, and save the file (via Microsoft).  Please note, you need to make sure you have downloaded all critical updates first.

Microsoft Mac Downloads

Download classic menu and toolbar for MS Office 2007 (fee download)

Media Credit
Microsoft by Kristen Treglia
Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

FAQs about the change-over to Office 2007:

When will the computer labs have MS Office 2007?
The computer labs on the Rose Hill, Lincoln Center, and Westchester campuses will begin installing MS Office 2007 this summer.

How do I get MS Office 2007 installed on my office computer?

Contact the University Help Desk to put in a request by phone (718-817-3999) or email (helpdesk@fordham.edu).  User Support will be notified and will schedule a mutually convenient appointment at the client’s location to install the software.
Can I get a copy of MS Office 2007 for my home computer?
If you are a full time faculty member, then you are eligible to download Microsoft Office 2007 for $9.95.
Stop by the Faculty Technology Center or Walk-In Technology Center on your campus and present a valid Fordham Faculty ID to have your license approved.  An email will then be sent to your fordham email address with a link to download Office 2007.  Payment via major credit card will be required at the time you download the software.

What if I need help using Office 2007?

Fordham IT Training is offering training classes this summer and fall semesters.  Visit the Fordham IT Training website or email training@fordham.edu.   We will also be posting tips, tutorials, and resources for the next several weeks on the ITAC blog.

Additional Information:
On July 15, 2009 Fordham IT began distributing to the University community Microsoft Office 2007 for PC users and Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac users.  The new Office Suite will be delivered with new and replacement equipment or upon request.  Prior versions will no longer be distributed at the University, however support will continue until July 1, 2012.

New or Replaced Equipment:  All new and lease-replacement desktop computers will be distributed with Office 2007/2008.  Any existing computers that must have the operating system reinstalled will be returned to the client with Office 2007/2008.

Most people don’t give much thought to what browser they use to surf the internet; in fact they might not even realize how many different kinds there are to choose from.

Why should you make the switch from using Internet Explorer to another browser such as Firefox?  There are several good reasons:  security, customization, and speed.  Firefox is not only a more secure browser and faster than Internet Explorer, but it also allows you to customize your browser experience with add-ons to make your browsing experience easy and save you time.

The following are the Firefox add-ons I use at work and why I like them.  You can also download them all from the Firefox Collection that I created.

---

Delicious Bookmarks integrates delicious into the browser.  For all readers who are new to social bookmarking or have not yet signed up for a Delicious account, take a look at my previous post on “What’s so Delicious About Social Bookmarking?” for more information and resources on using Delicious.

Twitterfox: I primarily use Twitter to keep in touch and share resources with other educators.  At work I use Twitterfox and Twhirl to keep up with the latest tweets (at home I prefer to use Tweetdeck). I’m planning a future blog post on the benefits of educators using Twitter, but in the meantime if you are interested in learning more then take a look at the Twitter tab on my Pageflake for some helpful links.  If you are a Twitterer, please feel free to follow me (kris10_), I primarily tweet about education, technology, and math.

Download Statusbar: Instead of getting an annoying little pop-up every time you download something from the web, you’ll see a notification on the status bar of your browser.  There are also many other features available to customize your downloads.

Session Manager: I like this add-on because it’s an easy way to restore previous browsing sessions.  This is especially helpful after a crash occurs when I’ve got multiple tabs open!

Multirow Bookmarks Toolbar: I’m a big fan of being organized and this add-on lets me further customize the bookmarks toolbar so that I can not only use folders to organize my bookmarks by groups, but I can also add multiple rows.

Evernote Web Clipper: Now that Evernote has a mobile app for blackberry, I’ve installed the add-on for Firefox.  Evernote is a neat way of saving and organizing notes and features synchronization between web, desktop, and mobile platforms.  You can also send tweets directly into Evernote!

Coral IE Tab: While most web pages that are created now are compatible with various browsers, sometimes websites need to be viewed in Internet Explorer.  This add-on is a great way of viewing a page in Internet Explorer in a tab which avoids having to open up a new window.

Colorzilla: This handy add-on lets you get a color reading from anywhere inside the browser.  If you are into graphic design or frequently use products like Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, this add-on can save you valuable time when you need to match a particular color on a website.

FireFTP: If you are looking for a free and secure FTP client, this is an easy and intuitive option.

FoxyMeter: An unobtrusive way to keep track of the number of web pages you surf.

---

Additional Ways to customize Firefox:

Browse for Firefox add-ons by catagory or collection.  There is even a collection add-on that will notify you when there are updates made to the collection.  In addition to add-ons, you can further customize your Firefox browser by changing the theme, which is the way the buttons, icons, and browser looks.   Personas are a new Firefox feature that adds an image to the top and bottom (status bar) of the browser.

Links to other Browsers:

Google Chrome
Safari
Camino
Opera (Windows) (Mac)
Opera Mini for mobile devices
Introduction to Opera Unite (an introduction to the alpha release that turns any computer into both a client and a server)
Fennec for Windows mobile devices
Flock

Browser Reviews:

Firefox 3 (CNETeditor’s choice)
Chrome
Safari 4
Opera
Flock 2.5
Links to more browser reviews
About “The browser wars”, reviews, and download links

Additional Links of Interest:

How to clear your browser’s cache and surf securely

Photo Credit:
Browser by technovore
Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

As you know, in the Faculty Technology Centers, you have access to
Adobe Acrobat Professional and can create/edit PDFs. Some of you might also have the software on your office computer, but many of us do not have this product at home. In this week’s screencast, Jim will show us some of the free tools you can find on the web when you find yourself on a computer without Acrobat Pro.

View the screencast on “Free PDF Conversion Tools”

Here are some links to the program used in the screencast as well as other PDF software/tools:

Primo PDF Converter
6 Power PDF tools for the Firefox browser
PDF Creator
Links to other Mac/Win alternatives to the Adobe Acrobat Suite

A common misconception we encounter in the FTC is that one needs Acrobat Professional to comment on or review a PDF. That is simply not the case. If someone sends you a PDF that has been properly review-enabled, you can add your comments and edits using any recent version (7 or of the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

One of our most frequently asked questions in the FTC is “how can I save a YouTube video,” for offline use, to insert into a presentation, or just to save for later in case it gets taken down. The answer, as long as you feel you have rights to save the video, either explicitly or through Fair Use, is http://vixy.net. Just paste the url of a YouTube (or Google Videos, or other video service) video into the input box on vixy.net, and in a few minutes you’ll have a downloadable video to take with you, in the file format of your choice.

During the break, Apple released a production version of its popular Safari web browser for Microsoft Windows. Early benchmarks indicate that Safari is the fastest-loading web browser on the PC, and the first to correctly render images with embedded color profiles. In other words, if you routinely view professionally-produced images on the PC, you’ll probably want to download Safari, because Internet Explorer hasn’t been showing you what photographers and artists want you to see. (You can see an example of the difference here; Safari is in the background, Firefox, which renders images in the same way as Internet Explorer, is in the foreground.)

Most importantly, though, Safari for PC gives PC users a chance to see what the world looks like for their Mac-using colleagues, and gives us all a much-needed second cross-platform browser, now that Internet Explorer no longer supports the Mac.

If you use iTunes or QuickTime on Windows, you should see Safari in Software Update, otherwise, you can download it directly at http://www.apple.com/safari.

Received today from SPSS:  

SPSS Technical Support has recently detected a problem in SPSS 16.0.x whereby modifications are made to an existing data file and the file appears to save, yet the file is missing from the system. This problem canoccur if you exit the application without explicitly saving your file first. This problem has been observed when working with larger size data files or saving to a slower device (such as over the network) such that the saving process takes longer than 3 seconds. It is strongly advised that you do not save your files in this manner until the issue is addressed which isslated for the next maintenance release.  

SPSS is evaluating the most appropriate solution but until it is available, always save your file explicitly via File->Save or the save toolbar button prior to exiting the application. 

 If you have any questions or problems, please contact your local SPSS support team (http://support.spss.com/contactus.asp ). 

SPSS apologizes for any inconvenience this has caused. 

Please pass this along to any of your colleagues who may also use SPSS. 

For faculty interested in using Wolfram Mathematica at home, the process for obtaining a home use license is now as simple as 1-2-3:

1. go to http://www.wolfram.com/siteinfo/homeuse/
2. enter Fordham’s site license number (L3144-0453)
3. choose “A New Home-use License,” enter the requested information,* and tell us how you want to receive the software.

Once your employment status is verified, you will receive an email with information on downloading the software or obtaining a CD.

* To speed the process of employment verification, please use your Fordham faculty email address when filling out the form.

SPSS 16 is now available to members of the Fordham community. Version 16 represents a major upgrade to the SPSS platform and, for the first time, introduces an SPSS version for Intel Macs.

For installation on faculty office machines, please contact User Support at 718-817-3999. For home use or other needs, please contact the Faculty Technology Center on your campus: http://www.fordham.edu/FTC.