Digital Samurai

Office 2010 Coming in June

The current word [bad pun] from Microsoft is that the next version of Office will be available in June of 2010. The beta is currently available if you want to get a preview.

Office 2010 is a big bet for Microsoft. The landscape has changed over the years, especially when it comes to office productivity software. Many firms are rethinking their upgrade strategy, which could really hurt Microsoft in the pocketbook. In fact, recent Forrester data suggests that 6 of every 10 information workers don’t need a full-featured word processor to get their job done. The skies get even darker if you also consider the pressures from cloud computing and SaaS alternatives like Google Apps and Zoho.

What’s the big enhancement with the new version? In a word - collaboration. Time will tell if users will flock to the Office 2010 platform, especially since there are so many other alternatives available.

- John and Mike

(703) 359-0700
digitalsamurai@senseient.com
www.senseient.com

Did Microsoft Really Lose the Right to Sell Word?

Yesterday was not a good day for Microsoft. It lost the appeal in the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals and must cease selling copies of Office that include Custom XML functionality by January 11, 2010. On top of that, it has to pay i4i (the Plaintiff) more than $290 million. It may sound like a big number, but it probably won’t hurt Microsoft much. We joke that $290 million is a little more than a rounding error for Microsoft accountants.

So what is all this hype about Custom XML? According to Microsoft, Custom XML is the support for custom-defined schemas (yawn). According to Mary-Jo Foley, Microsoft has already figured out a way to disable the Custom XML feature, which could be addressed via patch deployment. The injunction only applies to purchases after the 1/11/2010 date. If you already have Word 2007 or Office 2007, then you’re good to go without any additional patches.

- John and Mike

(703) 359-0700
digitalsamurai@senseient.com
www.senseient.com

Screen Capture Utility For Macs

Techsmith, the maker of the popular screen-capture software for Windows-based computers, Snagit, has finally released a version for Macs.

Snagit for Mac is currently in a beta version, and has similar capabilities to the Windows version. The screen capture software allows a user to create an image of what you see on your computer screen, including scrolling windows. This is a piece of software that we use frequently (the Windows version) when putting together presentations because it's great for capturing graphics from web sites.

The beta software can be downloaded from Snagit's web site at www.techsmit.com/snagitmac.

-John and Mike

(703)359-0700
digitalsamurai@senseient.com
www.senseient.com

Add Another Service to Google’s List

Google Mail, Voice, Wave…. You get the point. What doesn’t Google have a service for? You can now cross URL-shortening off that list.

Google has launched their own URL-shortening service, Goo.gl. The “.gl” is the top-level domain for Greenland. How clever of them. This service works much like TinyURL, in that it takes long URL names and shortens them, making the links easier to “share, tweet or e-mail to friends.”  This service is currently integrated with Google’s FeedBurner and the Google Toolbar, and currently doesn’t allow third-parties like Twitter to access the site to use the service.

Right now, URL-shortening is hot. However, you don’t want to use a service that won’t be around in the future. That’s how you’ll end up with a lot of broken links, called link-rot. At this point it’s unclear just how successful this endeavor will be for Google, and whether this service is just their flavor of the month.

-John and Mike

(703)359-0700
digitalsamurai@senseient.com
www.senseient.com

TECHSHOW 2010 Program Announced

The program grid for TECHSHOW 2010 is now posted. This conference is full of great sessions and speakers. John and Sharon (our President) will be speaking this year and Mike has spoken at a prior show. The sessions are full of great information and developed by lawyers and legal technology consultants. As in past years, there are tracks dealing with Advanced IT, The Paperless Office, E-Discovery and Large Firm technology. This year has a full day of sessions devoted to the Mac, which is seeing increased usage in law firms.

Don’t forget to take advantage of early registration and save a few hundred dollars. Stop by and say hi to John and Sharon if you make it out to Chicago.

- John and Mike

(703) 359-0700
digitalsamurai@senseient.com
www.senseient.com

2009 Holiday Gift Guide

Our friend and colleague, Reid Trautz, has just updated his annual Holiday Gift Guide for Lawyers. Reid mentions some very unusual and some very practical gifts that are appropriate for lawyers or anybody else that has almost everything. It’s always great fun to read Reid’s list and this year is no exception.

- John and Mike

(703) 359-0700
digitalsamurai@senseient.com
www.senseient.com

Blue Still Remains The Color

It was reported earlier this week that Microsoft had introduced a new color to its “screen of death” arsenal, adding black to the mix. The statements were first reported by a UK-based security company, and the news spread like wildfire throughout the blogosphere.

The security company stated that Microsoft’s latest round of patches caused a number of computer systems to experience the “Black Screen of death,” but in fact the problem appears to be caused by a virus infection, and not through the installation of Microsoft's patches. The company has since apologized to Microsoft.

Sounds like someone was quick to jump the gun on this one, and now the company has backed down from their claims and apologized to Microsoft. The blogosphere really is the place where anything goes...even if it's wrong.

-John and Mike

(703) 359-0700
digitalsamurai@senseient.com
www.senseient.com