The tech industry is always moving forward, it seems that a new concept or system is introduced on a near weekly basis. This often comes at the cost of older systems which are left behind when developers stop supporting them. Unfortunately, many businesses still use these older systems or programs and are often left without valuable support. Microsoft has announced that they will stop supporting some older, yet still popular software.

For businesses running Office 2003 or Microsoft XP SP3, you need to be aware that Microsoft has announced that they will stop supporting these products on April 8, 2014. This could have far reaching consequences for businesses that use these platforms.

What does this mean for my business?
When a company like Microsoft says they will ‘stop supporting’ what they mean is that they will usually stop providing updates, paid support, security updates and maybe even online based support.

The biggest problem with a move like this hinges on security. If a hacker finds a security exploit on an older system that a developer has stopped supporting, your systems could be open to attack. Beyond that, if you have paid for support, you will no longer have it if the software stops working. These two reasons alone will eventually lead to higher IT costs.

When it comes to programs like Office and XP, there is another downside to this withdrawal of support: It is highly likely that future versions of the software will be incompatible with what you are running. This means you likely won’t be able to open newer versions of Office documents, which could create problems especially if you have clients who use newer versions; you won’t be able to read/edit the documents.

What can we do?
The easiest thing to do is to upgrade your software. This may be easier said than done, especially if you have a tighter budget. Luckily, you have more or less one year to upgrade, and in this modern age you have more than one way to update. Possibly the best is to work with an IT partner who can help develop a solution that will fit your business and budget.

If you’re still using Office 2003 or XP SP3 in your office, contact us today to see how we can help.

Think back to the last PowerPoint presentation you saw. Did it have charts, graphs or other figures obviously from Excel spreadsheets? Were they good? It’s not uncommon to see presentations with weak graphs, which can lead to the audience losing attention. While it may seem hard to get a good-looking graph into PowerPoint, it actually isn’t.

Here’s how you can take data from spreadsheets in Excel and turn it into graphs and charts in PowerPoint.

Before you start

Before you can transfer data from Excel, you should take a look at the spreadsheet. If you have a ton of data and only want to take a certain chunk to make your graph, it would be best to copy and paste it into a new Excel workbook. This way, you can get the data from Excel to PowerPoint easily and turn into a graph or chart.

The key idea here is that you don’t want to do a data-dump – putting every single number, most of which could be useless – into a slide. You want to take only the most relevant information from the spreadsheet. It’s easiest to do this on a slide-by-slide basis, after you have setup the presentation outline. Copy the information only pertaining to that one slide. If you’re not sure whether it will be useful or not, it likely isn’t, so don’t take it.

Create the graph/chart

Once you have only the data you are going to need for the chart, you can switch over to PowerPoint and go to the slide where you will put the chart. This can be done by:

1. Clicking on the slide’s body field – where you enter the main text of the slide, below the title.
2. Selecting the Insert tab from the top of the screen and clicking on Insert Chart. Note: This will only work if the slide’s layout supports Content. To change the layout of the slide, right-click on it and select Layout, then pick one that says Content.
3. Choosing the type of graph that’s relevant to your data from the window that pops up and pressing OK.
4. Deleting the information in the dummy Excel spreadsheet that comes up by left-clicking and dragging over the content. It will be highlighted and pressing Delete will get rid of it.
5. Copying and pasting the information from the Excel spreadsheet you setup earlier into the window in PowerPoint. Be sure to click on A1 before you paste it.
6. Renaming the chart by double-clicking on the title above the cells.

You can click back to the slide to look at the chart. Often times the data will be opposite. For example, the date will show on the X axis, when it should be on the Y. If you click on the chart, and select Switch Row/Column in the ribbon above the slide, you will be able to re-arrange the information.

Time to format

It’s highly unlikely that the graph you placed into the slide is formatted the way you want, or even optimized for your audience. Here are four tips to help you format it so it not only looks good, but can be seen when you give your presentation.

1. Don’t get too flashy - Yes, there are a large number and variety of charts available. No, they are not all good for presentations. It’s best to pick a simple layout – stick with the classics: Pie, Bar and Line. Don’t pick 3-D charts as they are hard to read and can confuse the audience. Also pick colors that can be seen. For example, light green, yellow, grey, etc. can hardly be seen on most projectors.
2. Use big text - It may look big enough on your screen, but you can be sure it isn’t going to be big enough for your audience. Use the biggest font size possible, and limit any explanation text.
3. Remove Gridlines - But Gridlines make it easier to determine amounts don’t they? Yes, on reports. But this isn’t a report, it’s a presentation, so it’s ok to be general. Gridlines will just confuse your audience, and make graphs look cramped. Remove them by clicking on any grid line in the middle of the graph, and pressing Delete on your keyboard.
4. Test it - Before you give the presentation, it would be a good idea to test the presentation on a screen that is similar to the size you will be presenting on. If that’s not possible, get a colleague to look over it. They will likely be able to point some changes out – if need be.

Having attractive graphs in your presentations can go a long way in keeping your audience engaged, and it could increase the chances of your message sinking in. If you would like to learn more about how you can leverage PowerPoint or any of Microsoft’s other programs in your office, please contact us today.

Computers and the software we use have been instrumental in enabling businesses to reach previously unseen and unattainable levels of productivity. While many programs are a major part of any computer, only a handful have been integrated in nearly every business. One such program is Microsoft Office, and it's word processor Word. There are many productivity enhancing features of Word, including copy and paste.

Here's an overview of Word's copy and paste feature.

Simple copy and paste As you likely know already, you can copy by selecting/highlighting text, or pictures and either right-clicking and selecting copy; pressing Ctrl + C (Command + C on Mac) or selecting File followed by Copy.

You can paste by either right-clicking and selecting paste; pressing Ctrl + V (Command + V on Mac) or selecting File followed by Paste. When you copy and paste, the highlighted text or image will be placed where you have placed the cursor.

While simple copying and pasting works fine for most situations, there are times when you are copying from one word document to another and need something else. Many documents have different text and layout formats which can make copying a bit inefficient, as you will likely have to change some of the text or image settings. Word has four built-in features that can make this easier.

These settings can be found by first highlighting what you would like to copy. You should see a clipboard above the highlighted text when you hover your mouse over it. Pressing the down-facing black arrow will open the different copy functions.

• Keep Source Formatting - Pressing this will keep the formatting of the text/document you copied from. This is the default option.
• Merge Formatting - This will keep the text's format, without changing the format of the document you paste into. E.g., if the text you copied is a different font and size, it will be posted into the new document at the same format, but the next word typed will retain the previous format.
• Use Destination Style - This will change the text you copied to the same format as the document you copy into.
• Keep Text Only - This will copy only the text. All graphics, tables, charts and formatting will be discarded. When you paste into the new document, the text will be changed to that document's formatting.

This feature can help make it easier to copy and paste from one document to another. Office has many features that can assist in improving your productivity, or make your job easier. If you are interested in learning more Office tips and tricks, please contact us today.

It's been a long time coming, but Microsoft has finally released a new version of Office. The end of January release brought with it a completely new version of Office, one that is a little more modern, maybe even more exciting. In true Microsoft fashion however, there are numerous versions of Office 2013 making it slightly complicated to know which version will fit well with your business.

Here's a brief overview of the different versions of Office 2013 released last month.

A tale of three Offices There are three different types of Office: Standalone, Subscription and RT. The standalone versions are similar to older versions of Office, as you will be able to buy these in stores. You pay once, and have access to the software that comes in that bundle, as you would with older versions. The only difference is that older versions came on CDs or DVDs, while the newer versions are really a code that you enter on the Microsoft website to download Office.

Subscription based versions are referred to as Office 365 for home, and are sold on a per month/year basis. You will be able to buy a year subscription in stores, which will come with an activation code you can enter in the Office site to download the software. This option is heavily integrated with the cloud and users will be able to store and access documents by signing into their SkyDrive account. You can also store files on your computer.

The RT version of Office is a tablet specific version engineered for use with touchscreen devices. This version comes installed on all RT tablets like the Microsoft Surface. This will only work on tablets running ARM processors and will only be available to users who buy a specific tablet. You won't be able to buy the software in stores, or online.

Office 365 versions

• Office 365 Home Premium - This version has two pricing schemes: USD$9.99 a month or USD$99.99 a year. Users who chose this option will be able to install it on five different computers, and will be able to use: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Access and Publisher. You will also get 20GB free storage with SkyDrive and 60 Skype minutes a month. Office on Demand - a 'streaming' version of Office that you can access over the Internet is also included.
• Office 365 University - This version is the same as Home Premium but is for university students and staff. The subscription costs USD$79.99 for four years, and can be installed on two different machines. If you are doing a part-time course, you should also be eligible for this.

Office 2013 standalone versions

• Office Home & Student 2013 - This is the more traditional version of Office which costs USD$139.99 and can be installed on one computer. Users who purchase this version will get Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote, but won't have the cloud based Office 365 extras.
• Office Home & Business 2013 - At USD$219.99, this version comes with the same software as Office Home & Student, and also includes Outlook. It can be installed on one computer. This is the likely version small businesses will purchase if they don't want to pay for a subscription.
• Office Professional 2013 - Like other versions of Office 2013, this is a single install and costs USD$399.99. Primarily aimed at businesses, this version comes with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Access and Publisher.

It should be noted that the standalone versions of Office have a perpetual license which means that you can use them for as long as you like.

Is this Office 365 for business? The new versions of Office, including Office 365 Home Premium are technically for home use. While this new version contains the name 'Office 365' it is actually different from the Office 365 used in businesses. If you currently use the business offering in your company (email servers, instant messaging, SharePoint, etc), there are new versions coming February 27. If you don't use Office 365 in your business, and are just looking for a new version of Office, Home Premium could be a good option.

Looking to upgrade to a new version of Office, or would like to learn more about how they can help your business, contact us today.

When it comes to software, essential programs, like Microsoft's Outlook, are expected by its users to just work. Anyone who has used these programs knows that while it does perform 99% of the time, there is still that 1% where it doesn't work completely. One of the bigger issues tends to be emails that just sit in the outbox. Thankfully, there are some steps you can take to fix this problem.

Here's three tips on what to do if there is an email stuck in your outbox.

Re-send it From Outlook's main window, click on the Send/Receive tab (usually located beside Home), followed by Send All. This will tell the program to try and send any email in the inbox again. After you press this, check your outbox to see if the email is still there. If it isn't, you know it has been sent.

Check the attachment If you notice an email is still sitting in your outbox, check and see if you attached a file. As a general rule of thumb: Larger files will take longer to send. Is the attachment a big file? If yes, try waiting a few minutes (it could take upwards of 10 minutes depending on file size).

Another problem may be that the file size is above the attachment limit, which is ordinarily set by the email server. If the attachment is over the limit, Outlook will continuously try to send the message, but it won't be able to send it. You often won't be able to change the email once it's in the outbox. The easiest way to remedy this is by:

• Clicking on the Send/Receive tab.
• Selecting Work Offline from the ribbon.
• Opening the message and deleting the attachment.
• Making the attachment smaller.
• Re-attaching the file and sending the email again.

There are many ways you can make attachments smaller. One of the most popular is to zip it using a program like WinZip, or PeaZip. If the attachment is still too large, you may be better off trying one of a  number of cloud storage solutions which allow you to upload and share larger files. You will just have to let email recipients know the link of the file in the email.

You're offline If the email still isn't being sent take a look at the bottom of the window in Outlook. There should be a grey bar, called the Status Bar. If you see a yellow warning triangle with an '!' in it and the words Disconnected beside it, that  means either your Internet connection isn't working or the email server is offline.

To check if your Internet connection is working, try loading any webpage. If this doesn't load, most browsers will display an error message, telling you to check your Internet connection. If the Internet is working fine, it's probably a good chance your email service is offline. When the server comes back online, the warning triangle should be replaced with the Outlook logo and a note stating you are connected.

To learn more about how to ensure Office and all of the related products are helping make business easier, please contact us.

When it comes to software, Microsoft is one of the major tech juggernauts. Their software can be found on over 90% of computers, normally in the form of operating systems or office suites. In regards to the office systems, Microsoft will officially release a new version - 2013 - in the new year. With the release, users will likely have questions including how to change the default save location.

Here's how you can change the default save location, (where documents are saved), in Office 2013. By default, Office 2013 will save your documents to SkyDrive. Some users will want to change this so that documents are saved to their PC.

1. Open Microsoft Word and select a blank document.
2. Click File followed by Options.
3. Select Save.
4. Click the box that says Save to Computer by default.
5. Click Browse beside the Default local file location and select the file where you would like to save your documents. If you don't change the location, your files will be saved into your Documents folder.
6. Select Ok.

After you set the save location, you will notice that other Office programs will also be set to save in that location as well. If you're interested in upgrading to Office 2013 when it arrives please contact us.

Microsoft Office's Excel is an incredibly useful program for businesses, regardless of what industry they are in. While it is a helpful tool, spreadsheets often reach a point where there are so many rows and columns that you find yourself constantly scrolling up and down and left to right. The good news is that Excel has a feature that helps you keep track of the reference rows and columns more easily.

Here's how you can easily keep track of your place in spreadsheets through the use of freezing and splitting panes.

Freezing panes Freezing panes is often used when you want to keep a number of specific rows or columns in view whenever you scroll up/down/sideways. This often makes it easier to see important data without having to scroll up/down constantly.

You can freeze both rows and columns by:

1. Selecting the row/column below/beside the field you want to freeze, e.g., if you want to freeze rows A1-3, select A4. You can select the row/column by clicking on the row indicator on the side.
2. Clicking the View tab and pressing the arrow beside Freeze Panes which is located in the Window group.
3. Select either:
   1. Freeze Top Row - This will freeze the first row.
   2. Freeze First Column - This will freeze the first column.
   3. Freeze Panes - This will freeze the selected columns and rows.

After you've frozen panes, you will notice that the Freeze Panes option has been changed to Unfreeze Panes. Pressing this will unfreeze the rows or columns you have previously frozen. The only issue with this is that you can only freeze rows or columns on the outer edge of the workbook, you cannot freeze panes in the middle of the workbook.

Splitting panes If you need to work in the middle of a large spreadsheet, while still looking at existing information in the same sheet, you can split panes. Splitting panes will allow you to scroll in a selected area, while the rest of the worksheet will be frozen.

You can split panes by:

1. Mousing over the split box which is located above the vertical scroll bar on the right side of the screen. It's a little grey box just above the upward pointing black arrow.
2. Clicking and dragging the bar over to where you want the split to start. e.g., if you want the split to happen at C23, drag the split box to C23.

This will create a vertical split. If you want to create a horizontal split pane, you can drag the split bar located beside the horizontal scrollbar - located in the bottom right beside the right-hand facing black arrow - to the area you would like to split.

By either splitting or freezing panes, you can easily keep track of important cells while navigating to other parts of your spreadsheet. You should be aware however, that you can't split and freeze panes at the same time. If you have split a pane, and then click on Freeze Panes, Excel will turn off the split pane, and freeze all rows and columns above and to the left of the start of the split pane.

If you would like to learn more about how Excel and Microsoft's other products can help you and your employees, please contact us, we can help.

How many times has this happened: You're waiting for an important contract to be emailed to you, hear the ding of a new message in your inbox, only to find out it's a junk message. This can be irritating to say the least, and some of us can get upwards of 100 of these irritations each day. Fortunately, if you use Microsoft 365's Outlook, you can decrease the number of junk emails you receive.

Here's how you can create filters to reduce junk email.

1. Optimize Outlook's Junk Email Filter Did you know that Outlook has a filter which can help reduce junk email? It's usually turned on by default, and set at the lowest setting - Low. This will filter only the most obvious junk email and place it into the Junk Email folder (more on that below).

To change the filter's settings:

1. Navigate to the Mail tab and select Home.
2. Under the Delete group click Junk, followed by Junk Email Options.
3. Select which level of filtering you would like to apply.

Naturally, the higher the setting you choose, the more emails will be sent to the Junk Email folder junk or otherwise.

2. The Junk Email folder Any email that fails to get past the Junk Filter is sent to the Junk Email folder. It's a good idea to check this folder on a regular basis, especially if you have strict settings enabled, as there could be some important emails sent here, which you subsequently miss. If you find an email that isn't junk, you can drag it from the Junk folder and into the Inbox.

3. Establish Junk Email Filter lists While turning on filters and monitoring the Junk folder will reduce the number of junk emails, many will still get through. To minimize this even further, you can create lists of either trusted email addresses, or blocked email addresses. You can create these lists in a number of ways. The easiest is to simply select an email message from a sender and under the Home tab, in the Delete group select Junk followed by either: Never Block Sender; Email Group or Mailing List, or Block Sender.

You can also manually add addresses, groups and even websites to your lists. To do this:

1. Navigate to Junk Email Options located in the Delete group of the Home tab.
2. Select either:
   1. Safe Senders followed by Add;
   2. Safe Recipients followed by Add;
   3. Blocked Senders followed by Add.
3. Enter the email address, or group address you would like to allow emails from or to block. If you work with a company that has many different users that contact you, but all have the same @user.com address, just add the @user.com part of the address to the list, and Outlook will block or allow emails from any user with that address.
4. Select: Aslo trust email from Customers under the Safe Senders tab to automatically add all of your existing contacts to the Safe Senders list.

These three combined steps, should go a long way toward reducing the number of junk emails you receive. It's important to note that they will not eliminate junk email completely, and some will always get through. If this happens you can manually block them and should delete them without opening if possible. If you'd like to learn more about how Outlook and Office 365's other programs can fit into your business, please contact us.

The ability to work together on a project or document is not new, and has been business practice for about as long as there has been business. With the digital era, teamwork moved online and collaboration has really taken off. One of the major platforms that enables this is Microsoft's SharePoint - found in the Office 365 suite. SharePoint is a platform that enables employees to share files, collaborate and communicate, etc. One of the most popular features of SharePoint is the ability to post announcements that all employees can see.

Here's how you can set up an announcements page on SharePoint. Common uses of this page include sharing news, updates, status and any other important information that employees need to know. Think of it like the morning announcements our principal made over the PA in school, just more modern.

1. Select All Site Content - located in the left-hand navigation panel, in the lower left (usually below Recycle Bin.
2. Press Create.
3. Pick Announcements from the next page.
4. Pick your Announcements page and enter it into the box just above Create.
5. Select Create.

After pressing Create you will be taken to the new Announcements page. To add a new announcement or message, press Add new announcement Note: This will usually be found below existing announcements.

After pressing Add new announcement, a window that looks similar to an email in Outlook will open. Selecting the box beside Title will allow you to set the title of the announcement. You can enter your message in the Body box. If you would like the announcement to disappear after a certain date, selecting a date in the Expire box will set the date the announcement will be removed.

When you return to the main SharePoint page, you may notice that the page you just created isn't there. You can add the new announcements page to the homescreen by:

1. Navigating to SharePoint's home page.
2. Selecting Site Actions which is located in the top left of the page.
3. Clicking Edit Page.
4. Selecting Editing Tools and ensuring Insert is selected.
5. Pressing the downward facing arrow below Announcements and selecting the one you've just created.

The new announcements page should now be on your SharePoint home page, with the latest entry showing first. If you would like to learn more about how to use SharePoint in your company, we're here to help, so give us a shout.

How many times have you written a pithy reply to an email, hit send confidently only to realize you called the original sender something along the lines of a male donkey? Normally there would be a mad scramble to stop the email from being sent, only to realize that once you have hit the send button, you can’t take it back. If you use Microsoft Outlook, you can put a delay on your email, giving you a chance to cancel sending it.

Below are instructions on how to delay emails in Outlook.

7-second tape delay for emails It worked well for hockey commentator Don Cherry after a few unpopular comments landed his program, Coach's Corner, in hot water. For emails, seven seconds is a bit short, we recommend delaying potentially inflammatory emails for 10 minutes, to give you time to review and possibly cancel if you notice mistakes. You can add a delay on individual emails in Outlook by:

1. Clicking Options in the window you’re writing your email in and selecting More Options.
2. Select Delay Delivery followed by Message Options.
3. Clicking the box beside: Don’t deliver before and selecting the date and time to send the email.

You’ll be taken back to the message window after you’ve selected the delivery time, and pressing Send will put the email in the Outbox folder until the specified time. If you use a POP3 email account - if you’re unsure what you use, contact the administrator in charge of email - you will have to keep Outlook open.

There are many different reasons to use the delay function of Outlook, it’s especially useful if you often realize there are mistakes in your emails. You should still be sure to read over your emails and if it’s an angry reply or it contains negative information ensure that it carries a relevant tone and that you really want to send it. Has there ever been a time when you could have used this feature? Let us know.