Microsoft Office Web Apps Now Officially Office Online

It’s re branding time at Microsoft, it seems. The official statement about SkyDrive being re branded to OneDrive has barely made the rounds, and we’re now seeing another change. This time, it’s Office Web Apps, which is now called Office Online. It’s not that this move has been kept a secret, as there were hints in the past weeks, but now, it’s the real deal.

Office Online is basically the web-based versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. I think all of us can agree that Microsoft Office is one of the strongest – if not the strongest           – suite of software for its niche, and the web-based version can carry its own weight as well.

Why the re branding?

Perhaps it’a all a part of spreading more awareness for the product. As you may have surmised, Office Online (even back when it had a different name) led a quiet existence. Microsoft didn’t really promote it much, although the service is free. Or maybe, it is exactly because of that that Office Online was not highlighted.

One very noticeable thing about the new look is how the most popular software is highlighted from the get go. You’ll also notice the inclusion of OneDrive.

In any case, the re branding can only serve to make users aware of this alternative online collaboration, especially those who want no issues with compatibility. Additionally, humans are creatures of habit, and I am willing to bet that the average Microsoft Office user will want to see the exact same thing (layout, etc.) if they use an online version of a piece of software. And yes, Office Online does look nice, too.

With Office Online now live, I wonder how this will affect usage statistics of Google Drive? If you’re a user of the latter, and you regularly use Microsoft Office, would you consider switching to Office Online now?

EnjOy..:)

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OneDrive for iOS and Android devices reward users

Microsoft’s SkyDrive is about to get a new name and with it will come some deals that are likely to make you think about signing up for the cloud storage service if you have not done so already.  The OneDrive service is going to replace the well known SkyDrive cloud storage and if the new reports are right, the service is going to reward users with more storage simply by offering the chance to sign up to your online contacts.  Another way to get rewarded comes from the use of the Camera Roll backup feature for all iPhone users and those with devices running Android.

Microsoft is reportedly adding a storage earnings system and all you have to do is complete a task here or there and you could be rewarded with even more space.  Screenshots showed up online showing the service called OneDrive and the rewards that will be handed out if you complete tasks like syncing up with your PC or Mac, back up your devices and invite your friends to join.  When all is said and done it looks like you could earn up to 8GB more free storage if you are able to complete the simple tasks.

There are other services online right now that offer the same thing, including DropBox, which allows you to refer friends and gain rewards that way.  One of the first questions that you might have is that if you earn the extra storage, will it be permanent?  The answer, according to news reports is yes.  Microsoft has been adding promotions for users and that included one from last month that allowed users to get 20GB of cloud storage for backing up photos, music and videos.  The current SkyDrive gives user 7GB of free storage when they sign up and there are still options to buy more storage if needed.

Microsoft’s SkyDrive will be converted to OneDrive very soon, but the website still reads “coming soon” and once that process is complete users will be able to enjoy more storage.  A move like this could give Microsoft some push in a very crowded online storage market and that will only help the sales of smartphones, which typically need to have more storage right out of the box.  If you are not using SkyDrive right now, it can be downloaded for iOS and Android devices from the app store.

EnjOy..:)

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Microsoft’s OneDrive goes online, offers 100GB of free storage

Microsoft’s rebranding of SkyDrive has gone into effect worldwide, along with new features and extra storage options for both existing and new users.

The Redmond giant announced OneDrive as the new title for its cloud storage service last month and has now made it the default for users worldwide.

The rebranding will go into effect across Microsoft’s Windows 8, Windows Vista and Mac apps today, and also on the mobile and Xbox versions. Existing and new users will be able to access OneDrive at its redesigned website, and will also be able to gather an additional 5GB of storage by referring up to ten friends that sign up for the service, for a total of 12GB of free storage.

Additionally, Microsoft is launching monthly plans for those that want extra storage and more flexibility over how they use that storage. If that wasn’t enough, 100,000 people selected randomly will be given 100 GB of free storage that’s valid for one year, which is considerably more than the temporary storage boosts offered by competing services like Dropbox, Google Drive, or Box (though a full year less in duration.)

For Android users, the company has upgraded its official client to include a camera backup feature for automatically backing up both photos and videos, which was recently introduced in the iOS version of the app. Enabling the camera backup option will grant users an additional 3GB of storage, which will be permanent even if one turns off the auto upload feature after enabling it, and is applicable to the iOS and Windows Phone apps as well.

EnjOy..:)

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7 Great Outlook.com Tricks You May Not Know About Yet

inEarlier this year Microsoft replaced Hotmail and all accounts were transferred to Outlook.com. Microsoft included a host of new features such as integration with SkyDrive and instant search. If you are still finding your way around, then take a look at seven of the features we picked out that you may not have discovered yet.

Outlook Alias

In order to keep different kinds of mail seperate, many of us end up using various email address accounts but it often ends up being a nuisance. Microsoft have included a feature in Outlook.com that allows you to add aliases to your existing account.

To set up an alias then all you need to do is:

• Click the settings icon at the top right of the screen
• Click on “More email settings”
• Click “Create an Outlook alias’ link under “Managing your account
• Enter the user name part of the new email address lias under “Email address”
• Pick a domain name following @
• Finally click “Create an alias”.

If you want to set up a rule for automatically filing messages received to the new alias address to a special Outlook.com folder, then type the desired name under “A new folder”, then click “Done”.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are fantastic at saving us time. Here are our top five for Outlook.com:

• N: Start a new message
• Ctrl-Y: Insert an emoticon or emoji
• Insert: Flag the email for follow-up
• Ctrl-3: Go to People (Outlook.com address book)
• Shift+E: New Folder

For more keyboard shortcuts, click here.

Facebook and Twitter Content

Outlook.com enables you to add your contacts from social networks and manage content from Facebook and Twitter accounts. It even allows you to post comments and accept friend requests directly from the Outlook.com inbox.

To manage privacy settings and view which social media accounts you have linked with Outlook.com then:

• Select the settings icon at the top right of the screen and then Click “More email settings”
• Click “Content from third-party networks” link under “Reading email”
• At the bottom of the page, under “Showing additional content, click “Manage connections”

Sweep Emails

This feature allows you to give your inbox a good spring clean but quickly and easily (not like my housework then!). If you want to set-up an automatic clean-up of emails from a particular sender or entire category:

• Open a message from the sender or newsletter you want removing
• Click “Sweep” in the Outlook.com toolbar
• Select “Schedule cleanup” from the menu

You have various options with this feature, so you can “Only keep the latest message from this sender”, or “Delete all messages older than _ days”, and even “Move all messages older than _ days to <select>.

Revoke Easy Access Feature

If you have a device that only you use, Microsoft has created a feature whereby you can login quickly to this device by just using a password. Should you happen to lose this device however and want to revoke this one-step access quickly, follow these steps:

• Click your name or profile image in Outlook.com’s navigation bar
• Select “Account settings” from the menu that pops up
• Open the “Security info” category under “Overview”
• Click “Remove all the trusted devices associated with my account” under “Trusted devices”
• Click “Remove all trusted devices”.

One-Click Actions

The one-click acttion feature allows you to deal with emails instantly. So for example if you see that an email is spam before you even open it, then with one-click you can deal with it.

To configure these quick actions then click on the settings icon in the toolbar and select “More email settings” from the menu.  Select “Instant actions” under “Customising Outlook” and make sure “Show instant actions” is ticked.

It is possible to add your own instant action buttons by clicking “Add actions” and selecting other options from the menu. If you want this button to be constantly visible then highlight the button under “Show on mouse over” and click “Move down” until the button is under “Show always”.

Outlook.com Service Status

If you are having problems with Outlook.com, then you can find out if Microsoft is aware of it and whether anything is being done about it.

Visit the Outlook Service Status page. If you want to see issues that have been recently resolved then visit the Microsoft Services Status History page.

EnjOy..:)

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Source:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/microsoft/10444045/7-hidden-features-in-Microsoft-Outlook.com.html

How to Manage Dropbox, Google Drive, SkyDrive & More From One Place With MultCloud

Using a large number of cloud storage services can lead to the nuisance of not being able to manage each of them efficiently. That’s where services like MultCloud aim to offer a handy solution by letting your control and manage your cloud accounts from one unified interface. Based entirely online, it lets you create a MultCloud profile, to which you can connect your other cloud storag services for easy access and management. The service currently supports most major cloud storage providers including Dropbox, SugarSync, Google Drive, SkyDrive, Box and Amazon S3.

MultCloud is quite easy to configure, and takes only a couple of minutes  for setting things up. It doesn’t require you to enter a lot of details – just your email address, name and password would do. Once you visit the website (via the link provided at the end of this post), you can click the ‘Create An Account’ button to get started. Once an account has been created, just make sure to verify your email address with the service from the link provided in the confirmation email that’s sent to your inbox.

Next, you just need to enter your email address and password at the login screen after the verification to finally log in to your account – it’s simple as that.

While design isn’t the main focus of the app, but it’s still pretty well crafted. The fine-looking interface of the dashboard makes the service fairly intuitive to use. From the dashboard, you can add the cloud drives of your choice to the service. To do that, simply choose one of the services from the available options, specify a display name for it, and click Add. After that, you will need to sign in to the service with your account (if you aren’t signed in already) and authorize MultCloud with the appropriate permissions when prompted.

Once a cloud service account has been added, you can do pretty much everything from it that could possibly be done from a dedicated client or web interface of that service. For example, you can easily view contents of your cloud storage, upload files to it, download existing cloud files to your local storage, and create new folders. MultCloud also offers a preview feature for some files such as images. Other than that, you can rename your files and copy and move them between different cloud folders.

Overall, MultCloud is a great service that keeps things simple while taking the hassle of controlling all your cloud accounts from different browser tabs or desktop clients out of the way. The service is currently available for free.

EnjOy..:)

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