PowerPoint and Presenting Stuff

Mac Office File Converters Delayed at Expense of Mac Office Update

Mac users will have to wait four more months to work with documents produced by Office 2007 on Windows and Office 2008 on the Mac. The delay-plagued Open XML converters were slated to show up six to eight weeks after the debut of Office 2008, a schedule that would have put their release by the end of February at the earliest and mid-March at the latest. As recently as last month, Microsoft had confirmed that the converters were on track. Today, however, Microsoft said it would not appear for months.

Read more on the Computerworld site.

Microsoft’s Macintosh Business Unit on Thursday said the first update for Office 2008 should be available in mid-March. However, getting the update out will push back the release of the final Open XML File Format Converter Update to Office 2004 for Mac. “The final converter was previously scheduled for delivery 6-8 weeks after U.S. availability of Office 2008; instead, the final converter will be available to customers by late June 2008,” the company wrote on its Mac Mojo Web site.

Read more on the MacWorld site.

Geoff Price, product unit manager for Microsoft’s Macintosh Business Unit, posted information about an upcoming update for Office 2008 for Mac on the Mac Mojo blog. The good news is that the developers are working feverishly on the new update, which reportedly “contains fixes for high-priority issues we’ve identified.” What the high-priority issues are no one will say, but a spokesperson assured us that the team “will provide further details prior to the release,” scheduled for March 11.

Read more on the Ars Technica site.

Filed Under: Microsoft Office
Tagged as: Microsoft Office, Office for Mac, PowerPoint, PowerPoint 2008

Open XML Standards: An Update

A standards committee will next week begin the next stage of the process that could see Microsoft’s new Open XML formats formally adopted as a global standard – or not. A vote by standards bodies from 87 countries last September went against the immediate adoption of Open XML as an ISO standard. This gave an immediate boost to the Open Document Format (ODF), which is already an ISO standard, but it did not rule out the Microsoft formats.

Read more on Personal Computer World.

Microsoft Corp. on Thursday responded to continued regulatory scrutiny by reiterating promises to make information about its products more easily available to software programmers, while vowing not to sue those who use such information for noncommercial purposes. The move underscores an ongoing shift for the tech behemoth, as it has sought recently to present its technology as increasingly open to outside developers and compatible with competing products. It also comes only days before delegates from an international standards body are scheduled to convene in Geneva to discuss Microsoft’s Open XML file format, which has been derided by critics as insufficiently accessible.

Read more on MarketWatch.

Filed Under: Microsoft Office
Tagged as: Microsoft Office, ODF, OpenXML

Working with Slide Numbers

Most of the time, slide numbers are not visible on the slide although many users like to enable them. To do so, choose the View | Header and Footer option, and within the resultant dialog box, make sure that the Slide number option is checked.

Learn how to add Slide Numbers on slides and Masters in PowerPoint 2003 and 2002 for Windows.

Filed Under: Microsoft Office
Tagged as: Microsoft Office, PowerPoint, PowerPoint 2002, PowerPoint 2003, Tutorials

Animated Photo Album

While PowerPoint includes a very capable Photo Album feature that lets you quickly insert multiple photos in a presentation, you still need to add the animations yourself. Also, there’s no navigation between viewing pictures and slides. Our review product is a PowerPoint add-in that simplifies the process of inserting pictures with animation and navigation.

Read the Indezine review of Animated Photo Album.

Filed Under: Add-ins
Tagged as: Add-in, PowerPoint, Review

Visual Aids for Better Presentations

Besides good public speaking skills, visual aids are key to keeping your audience interested. This can include PowerPoint if you make it an accessory instead of a crutch to your speech. Fellow financial advisors share their eye-catching accessories below.

Vanessa Richardson tells more on OnWallStreet.

Filed Under: Companion Programs
Tagged as: Companion Programs, Delivery, PowerPoint