Microsoft's new product showcase worldwide

Microsoft has licensing options for partners who want to provide Windows in virtual desktop settings, but those options apparently don't cover the OnLive service as it exists today. Hosted instances of Windows 7 can be provided in a virtual desktop infrastructure setting when the end users—the people using the desktops—have licenses from Microsoft, Matz writes.

Additionally, hosting vendors with Microsoft's Service Provider License Agreement (SPLA) "may bring some desktop-like functionality as a service by using Windows Server and Remote Desktop Services." Using the SPLA lets vendors offer the desktop-like service to any customers, even if they don't have licenses to Windows. But OnLive's service doesn't qualify, Microsoft said. "SPLA does not support delivery of Windows 7 as a hosted client or provide the ability to access Office as a service through Windows 7. Office may only be provided as a service if it is hosted on Windows Server and Remote Desktop Services."

The Windows 7 instance provided by OnLive includes Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2010, in an almost-complete Windows 7 desktop. One thing it seems to be missing is the ability to check the Windows 7 license status. However, users can check the office 2010 download license. That has a product key and states that the software is licensed to "OnLive Desktop User" and "OnLive Desktop Service."

Gaming company OnLive (see our 2010 review of their streaming games service) recently launched a service bringing a Windows 7 desktop, complete with Microsoft Office 2010, to iPad and Android tablets. The free app, which also has a subscription service with features designed for both consumers and enterprises, gives iPad users access to the real version of Microsoft office 2010—not just to a program compatible with Office files. It also has the ability to run Adobe Flash content in Internet Explorer.

There's just one problem: Microsoft says it's not properly licensed. The software giant is apparently asking OnLive for some cash in exchange for the right to continue the service, which is still working today.

"We are actively engaged with OnLive with the hope of bringing them into a properly licensed scenario, and we are committed to seeing this issue is resolved," said Microsoft's Joe Matz, VP of worldwide licensing and pricing, in a blog post today. OnLive Desktop launched for the iPad on January 10 of this year. An Android tablet version was released a week ago.

Some of the problems encountered in the operation of Office 2010

Q. Windows keeps giving me a message about an error in my Outlook file and that I should use an “Inbox Repair Tool” to fix it. Is this for real, and if so, what do I do?

A. Microsoft office 2010 stores your messages and other information in the Personal Folders file (.pst) on your computer, so if the file becomes damaged or corrupted, the program usually pops up an error message. Problems with the .pst file are not uncommon, and Microsoft actually includes a piece of software called the Inbox Repair Tool with Outlook to scan and fix problems.

The Inbox Repair tool, also known as scanpst.exe, comes with most recent versions of Outlook when you install the software on your computer. (Before you get started, be sure to quit the Outlook program before attempting repairs to its data files.)

To find the scanpst.exe file in its default location in Outlook 2010, go to the Program Files folder, then into the Microsoft office 2007 download folder and look in the OFFICE14 folder. Microsoft has instructions for finding the scanpst.exe program in earlier versions of Outlook on its site.

Once you find it, double-click on the scanpst.exe file and point it to the location of the Personal Folder file. In most cases, the file can be found at C:\Users\[Windows Username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\[YourName].pst. Once you have located and selected the .pst file, click the Start button in the Inbox Repair Tool box to begin scanning the file for errors.

If the Inbox Repair Tool finds problems, it presents an alert after it finishes scanning. Click the Repair button in the box to fix the errors. The box also includes an option for making a backup copy of the .pst file before you start repairs, so make sure that checkbox is turned on.

When the program finishes the repair job, start Outlook and see of it behaves normally — and displays your mailboxes and other information properly. Microsoft’s site has more on repairing Outlook 2010 data files, as well as information for people having crashing problems with Outlook 2011 for the Mac.

The wealth of Microsoft's most high-end office suite

The list price for Microsoft office 2010 Ultimate is a whopping $679.95. The upgrade price? An equally whopping $539.99. For that kind of money, it better come with Megan Fox's phone number.

Believe it or not, you can score a legal and totally legitimate copy of office 2007 download  for just $59.95. What's the catch? You need to shanghai a college student (or, you know, be one).
Microsoft's "Ultimate Steal" deal is for currently enrolled students who have an e-mail address ending in ".edu" or who attend one of several dozen approved institutions. (Mouse over the "Am I Eligible" link for more details.)

Assuming that you qualify, this is a pretty incredible deal. In addition to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, Office Ultimate comes with OneNote, Access, Publisher, Groove, and other goodies.
There's one other small catch: Your 60 bucks buys you the download version of the suite. If you want discs (which I highly recommend), it'll cost you another $13. Still a steal.

Of course, some would argue that most students (and other users) can get everything they need from OpenOffice 3.0, a full-featured office suite that costs nada. Let me know if you're in that camp, or if you think Microsoft's offer is too good to pass up.

Interestingly, each student can purchase up to four licenses, so anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit can...well, I've said too much.

Millions of Office 2010 public beta for people to use.

Microsoft launched an invitation-only Technical Preview of Office 2010 last July, and used its new Click-To-Run technology to deliver that build to testers. Click-To-Run "streams" pieces of the suite to users who begin a download, letting them start using the suite within minutes. While users work with the suite, the remainder of the code is downloaded in the background.

It's unclear whether Microsoft will use Click-To-Run to provide the public beta later this month. The company has said, however, that it would rely on the technology when it ships the final version next year and offers a limited-time trial at the same time.

In an e-mail sent to Technical Preview testers Tuesday, Microsoft announced it had shut off the Click-To-Run downloads and was preparing for the public beta.

"We are starting to prepare the Microsoft Connect site for the next Office 2010 release that we will also be asking for you to provide feedback on to us," read the message, which Computerworld has obtained. "You will receive an email next week with more information about the new release."

Microsoft also told testers that they needed to uninstall the Technical Preview before they grabbed the public beta. "We strongly advise that you backup [sic] all of your data files, before you uninstall the office 2010 download Click-to-Run Technical Preview release," the company said.

Microsoft again declined to spell out when the public beta would be available. "As we have said in the past, Office 2010 will enter a public beta this month and we are still on track to meet that goal," a spokeswoman said in an e-mail reply to queries today. "We have nothing further to share as far as a specific date."

One of the questions still unanswered is whether Microsoft will charge users to download the Office 2010 public beta, a tactic it used with the second beta of Office 2007, when it let customers try out the suite from within their browsers for free, but charged them $1.50 to download the preview.

Microsoft is also testing the online edition of Office 2010 , dubbed Office Web Apps, which will be available free-of-charge to millions next year. Office Web Apps offers lightweight versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint that are intended to compete with Google Docs and Zoho's online applications.

The interrupted on Microsoft's online Office story

Microsoft office 2010  has kicked off its challenge to Google Docs with a limited and now closed test trial edition of Office Web apps

And yes, Microsoft has promised to fix gaps in the tools by mid-2010, when Office Web apps are officially released. With the trial edition, you can't actually create a Word or a PowerPoint document, and the note-taking OneNote application is missing from the line up. Redmond insists it will eventually deliver a "consistent and familiar Office experience" with documents retaining their fidelity while working in the cloud or offline.


But be prepared. Don't expect Office Web apps to be a substitute for Office. Even at this early stage, nearly a year before completion, the line from Microsoft is that Office Web apps will "complement" Office on the desktop or smart phone, rather than match its functionality.


Microsoft has promised integration between Office Web apps and the forthcoming Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010. At this early stage, it sounds like you'll be able to create and edit documents in both the online and the desktop and server products.

Also, office 2007 download apps will serve up existing content in SharePoint - the point being that users can access their old documents and not be confronted by a startlingly new look and feel.

You'll be able to view and edit Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote documents in SharePoint 2010 by clicking on a file and opening it in a browser or downloading it.

On Office 2010, you'll be able to save documents to different desktop or SharePoint hosted locations, although - for consumers - this will be supplemented with the addition of online storage to the Windows Live service.

"You don't have to worry about uploading files or creating multiple copies of files," Office director Chris Bryant told The Reg.

So, if you can create and edit all documents and store documents in all the same desktop and server repositories as before, what's changed? Besides it being online?

The point seems to be collaboration: You'll have the power to invite people to collaborate on documents and share folders, whether you're using the version of Office Web apps designated for consumers that dovetail with Windows Live or the versions designated for businesses that will tap SharePoint. Also, there's control: Using SharePoint 2010, you'll be able to control identities, storage and grant rights, and permissions with what Bryant called "much more concrete oversight."

But will this experience be a consistent and familiar Office user experience?

Mobile remains the key stumbling block, and it's something Microsoft is working hard to simply get the basics right on - never mind advanced collaboration and editing. Keyboard, screen size, and what you can do using a touch screen will make Office Web apps on mobile different from Office or Office Web apps on the PC or through the browser.

At its recent Worldwide Partner conference, Microsoft demonstrated Office Web apps running on the iPhone. The company has also signed a deal with Nokia that could see Office arrive on Symbian-powered Nokia phones next year.

Bryant said, however, that a lot of work remains on reaching the future goal of making Office Web apps on mobile a "better editing experience."

"The primary effort is to make sure rendering translates down to the mobile form factor quite well," Bryant said.

Microsoft is also evaluating whether it's worth making the applications available for Apple's iPhone through the Safari browser. Today, Office Web apps work in Safari 4 for the Mac, in addition to Internet Explorer 7.0 or higher and Firefox 3.5 or higher.

"We're still playing with whether or not that can be a good user experience," Bryant said of Office Web apps on the iPhone. "It's pretty hard to make the solely touched based experience work on editing."

Some disagree. Quickoffice Mobile Office Suite 1.4.1 lets you edit Word and Excel using .docx and .xlsx on Apple's phone. Microsoft left it to others to put Silverlight on Linux, and it might do the same with Office on the iPhone, blaming the lack of official support on a lack of resources and a need to prioritize.

Microsoft Office 2010: a new outlook

For nearly two decades, the twin giants of Windows and Office have been the products with which Microsoft office 2010 has bid for global domination – and it’s a mission that has, in essence, been accomplished. Most computers run Windows – some 90 per cent – and most businesses are built around Office documents. But in 2010, however, the landscape where the company will launch its new versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and more will look radically different.

Previously, the PC was where programs, documents and information lived; now, many are simply a gateway to the internet. Microsoft realises that its Office 2010 products must work better and work anywhere. So-called cloud computing, where data is stored in centralised servers to be accessed online, is key to that, and it means that, for the first time since it was struggling to break out of Bill Gates’s garage, Microsoft is the underdog.

Google Apps is the increasingly popular suite of business products that Microsoft is battling with its new version of office 2010 download– as Google’s adverts have recently trumpeted, this newspaper is among one of the growing number of businesses that have switched over. The key, also available in similar products such as Huddle, is web-based software for spreadsheets, documents and presentations that enables many users to collaborate online, using the internet to edit and view documents from anywhere in the world.

There’s no suggestion that Google Docs – the challenger to Microsoft Word – can compete on features, but the search giant is banking on the reality that the vast majority of Microsoft customers use hardly a tenth of the word processor’s power. As broadband speeds creep up and software developers build more features, Docs will gradually improve, but for now its appeal is in storing, accessing and editing documents anywhere an internet connection is available. Docs is also free to individual users and far cheaper than Office for business customers. Microsoft calls it, off the record, lightweight, but Google says it’s built for what users need.

The other battleground is in email, where many companies have switched from Outlook to Google’s Gmail product. Global access and almost infinitely large in boxes, it is hoped, will make up for a lack of, for instance, a viewing pane to read emails without having to open them properly, and Gmail’s peculiar tendency to file Google calendar alerts as spam.