PowerPoint and Presenting Blog: March 2006
Thoughts and impressions of whatever is happening in the world of PowerPoint.
See Also:
PowerPoint and Presenting Notes
PowerPoint and Presenting Glossary
Today's free template is Swirls - download here...
The PowerPoint and OfficeArt blog at MSDN is now live! It's got to a great start with Ric Bretschneider's thoughts and experiences.
Ric (see picture) is an amazing person who's also a Program Manager for PowerPoint - make sure you read and bookmark this page!
Read the blog here...
If a picture is worth so many words, a video is probably worth even more. And you'll agree when you see the new streamlined Microsoft Office user interface in action. This video gives you a detailed look at how this new interface will make it easier to find and use the features you need to get the results you want. More on the Microsoft site...
Buy any Dummies book including my Cutting Edge PowerPoint for Dummies and you'll get $5 back as a mail-in rebate! But this offer is available for only two more days: today and tomorrow! Find out more at the Dummies site...
March is Dummies Month!
Tuval Software Industries has announced the launch of Version 1.1 of Speech-Over Studio, a software application that enables Microsoft PowerPoint slides to include narration without any need for recording. It has a wide variety of applications in business, marketing, education, training and corporate communications. A good voice narration in a PowerPoint presentation delivers the message almost as well as a presenter can. More on the PRWeb site...
Today's free template is Blooms 04 - download here...
I just read this fascinating thread on stolen projectors - it all started with why Hitachi's orange projector won't get stolen! But it moved on to more interesting conversations. More on the Ars Technica site...
Today's free template is Snowflake Gel - download here...
Do you get frustrated working with Microsoft's presentation program, and can't find the answers anywhere? Then you'll love this book. You can't buy this book and expect to learn how to create PowerPoints - this one is to keep on your bookshelf and refer to when you hit a roadblock. And of course, it's so much fun to read even when you are just creating nice presentations - at least you'll know exactly what to do when disaster strikes - and you might be even able to do something about it - after all, prevention is better than cure. Yes, this is first aid for PowerPoint - keep it handy!
Today's free template is Pixelmint - download here...
Indezine has negotiated an amazing deal with our friends at Impatica. From now until March 31st, Indezine customers can purchase a license of Impatica for PowerPoint for the incredible price of $149. That's $350 off the regular price! So now you know why we call it a happiness offer.
You can also view a real demo of the product, and download a trial version..
And if you have any questions about the promotion, feel free to get in touch with me...
More about Impatica Happiness...
Office 2007 to be late, too
Fresh on the heels of a delay in broad availability of Windows Vista, Microsoft confirmed late Thursday that it is also pushing the mainstream launch of Office 2007 to next year. As with Vista, Microsoft hopes to finish the code for Office 2007 this year. The company said work will be completed by October, when it will make Office 2007 available to business customers that have signed up for Microsoft's volume-licensing program. More on the ZDNet site...
Office Delayed, Along with Vista
Just after announcing a four-month delay on its Vista operating system, Microsoft said Friday it will also push back the launch of the consumer version of Office to next year, the second embarrassing delay this week for the software giant. The Redmond-based company said the new version of Office will be available to business customers through a volume-licensing program in October of this year, but retail availability for the software will be pushed back to January 2007 to coincide with the release of Vista. More on the Red Herring site...
Microsoft delays Office software to 2007
The 2007 Microsoft Office package, which includes the Word processor, Excel spreadsheet, and PowerPoint presentation software, will be made available to business customers in October 2006, the world biggest software maker said. Earlier this week, Microsoft delayed the consumer launch of its much-anticipated Windows Vista software until January 2007 from an earlier target of the second half of 2006 and pledged to ship the next version of its operating system to business customers in November. More on the Reuters UK site...
Exec says new Windows head will change culture
Last week, the world's largest software maker tapped Steven Sinofsky, a veteran executive from its Office business software segment, to lead its Windows group only days after Microsoft delayed the consumer launch of the much-anticipated upgrade to its mainstay operating system. Sinofsky comes to the Windows group, which has not shipped a new product in nearly five years, with a reputation within Microsoft as an effective taskmaster and a track record of on-time new software releases delivered in regular intervals. More on CNET News.com...
Today's free template is Fisheye Gold - download here...
Today's free template is Brocade - download here...
Today's free template is Water Sponge - download here...
Today's free template is Blooming 03 - download here...
How Do You Compare with Your Peers...
- What types of organizations do Presentation Professionals work in?
- What areas of expertise and background do Presentation Professionals have?
- Do you outsource your content development/delivery/overall communication strategy/technology/visual/graphic development, or do you do it in-house? How often does your organization contract with outside production firms for presentation development?
- What types of challenges do Presentation Professionals experience today, and how concerned are they about these challenges?
To thank you for your participation, you will receive the results of this survey by e-mail, once compiled. You will also get three Microsoft PowerPoint or one Corel Presentations master, or one Apple Keynote, all free of charge. In addition, you will have a chance to win one of five $50 Amazon gift certificates.
To be sure your responses are included; please complete this survey by April 28, 2006. This survey is completely confidential and anonymous. All data will be consolidated with other participants and will not be available to anyone as individual responses.
To participate, click here...
Today's free template is Spotlight 05 - download here...
Color Schemer Studio is an intuitive application that lets you play with all sorts of color combinations - as long as you choose from any of the color choices that this product offers, you can be reasonably sure that your finished color scheme will be based on scientific color principles. Read this Indezine review...
Today's free template is Blooming 02 - download here...
Today's free template is Textured 03 - download here...
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