Considering a transition to Vista or the new Microsoft Office suite and wondering if your current computer can handle it? Thinking of investing in a new computer and want to make sure it’s compatible with Vista and Office in six months? Wondering how long you can wait to make the switch, and what you’ll have to deal with if you stick with your current operating system and applications? These top ten tips are designed to give you an informed perspective on the current step in the technology transition.
1. Minimum system requirements for Vista
The minimum system requirements to be classified as Vista compatible are an 800 megahertz processor and 512 megabytes of system memory. However, you’ll probably want to use your computer for more than just running an operating system. If you plan to run multiple applications and don’t want to run out of coffee time while your computer opens email, your minimum requirements must meet the Vista Premium Ready designation requirements of a minimum 1 Gigahertz processor and 1 Gigabyte of system memory. Simply put, if you’re shopping for computer hardware in 2007, think “1 Gig x 1 Gig” at the very least. “More really is better.”
2. The difference between Vista Capable and Vista Premium Ready
Vista compatible computers have the absolute minimum system requirements. Unfortunately, 800 megahertz and 512 megabytes will not support the “Aero” interface with glass tabs and transparent windows. You might not think these nifty features are important right now, but after six months you’ll be experiencing computer envy when the person sitting next to you on the plane, train, or coffee shop is using the new features to browse the web or layered apps. Vista Premium Ready requires “1 Gig x 1 Gig” processor and system memory. Don’t be seduced by lower-cost systems that have less processor power or memory. It would be like putting bicycle tires on your new Mercedes, it may look good from the right angle, but you won’t get anywhere very fast. Look for the Premium logo and fill your tank with a double dose of Giga energy.
3. Safety View
Microsoft Vista is Microsoft’s most secure operating system to date. It includes restrictive firewalls, tools to block spyware and phishing, and blocks some email scams aimed at stealing personal data. Internet Explorer 7 has three levels of warnings about potential phishing sites. The IE7 browser also quarantines malicious viruses. You can count on Microsoft to release updates and patches to continually maximize security and protection against new worms and viruses.
4. Ease of use of Vista
We have more access to data, images, music, and files than ever before. As technology continues to advance, access to information is expanding exponentially. This creates new challenges in finding the data, pictures, music and files you have stored, and this is one of the benefits of Vista. Use your mouse to scroll through folders like you’re throwing cards in a game of poker, searching your hard drive, network, and the Internet quickly and efficiently. Vista is a very visually stimulating environment and as such also has special features for digital camera aficionados.
5. Mobility view
When Windows XP was released five years ago, most businesses used desktop computers. Now nearly two-thirds of US business workers use laptops, and nearly 750,000 laptops were lost or stolen last year. Mobility increases productivity and convenience, but it also requires greater security. Vista includes Windows Bit-Locker, which encrypts the data on your hard drive in a way that makes it extremely difficult for someone to access your valuable data if your laptop is lost or stolen. If you have customer contact details, sales forecasts, budget information, passwords, personnel files, or even your personal banking information stored on your laptop, you can imagine how valuable this encryption could be to you.
6. A note
This is the best less used app from Microsoft. This is the digital version of the notebooks and folders that most of us use to take notes at school. The program is organized into sections and tabbed notebook pages. Like other Office apps, you can type text, copy and paste from other apps, do calculations, and use Outlook contacts. What makes this more versatile is the option to take written notes and drawings from a pen-enabled device (tablet PC), treating your handwritten notes as normal files. You can even use your computer’s microphone to capture audio, and the notes you take are associated with the specific section of audio recorded at the time the note was made. Imagine being in a lecture and making brief notes like “this will be on the final exam”, then searching the audio and text files for all instances of that notation (wow!). Play on your computer speakers, share files with friends who skipped class, and check your notes at the end of the semester. This same concept could easily be applied to contract negotiations and other business applications. To get the most out of this app, you need a pen-enabled PC (tablet) with a microphone, speakers, and OneNote. Once you experience OneNote, it’s more versatile than you ever imagined, and it’s as easy as pen on paper.
7. Tape Replacement Toolbars
Get ready for a learning curve with the new Office apps. Familiar toolbars are replaced with smart ribbons. The good news is that the smart ribbons only display icons and options that apply to the application and embedded objects. For example, if you insert a chart, the chart functions will be visible. If you don’t have a chart, the chart options will not be visible. While this removes clutter, it will also initially create some confusion when learning the new buttons. Sometimes icons will appear and sometimes they won’t, depending on the objects in your document or file. This can create a “where did that go?” while learning the new Office suite of applications. The best advice is to “like what you’re used to”, so get used to the new Office Ribbons and you’ll like them just fine.
8. stand out
The new version of Excel is just what you’d expect from bean counters, it’s bigger and prettier. The revamped spreadsheet can now support over a million rows and 16,000 columns, as if budgeting and forecasting weren’t enough. Three-dimensional, shadow and transparent effects make the graphics more elegant. “Conditional Formatting” makes it easy to apply icons or colors to cells based on content or value, making it much easier to spot trends. These are important features for people who need to review and approve their budget for new hardware!
9. Word
If you were still not convinced to transition to the new Office Suite, consider this, the file extensions have changed again. You may remember the last significant Office transition when you had to save your Word documents in a format that your friends, colleagues, and clients could read with their earlier versions of Office. Well the happy days are here again. The new version of Word saves files as efficient and secure compressed XML files with a “.docx” extension. If you want to share your new “.docx” file with one of the magnitude of users who have the current version of Office, you will need to “Save As” a “.doc” file by selecting “Word 97-2003 Document” for each file you want to share. If you think this is an inconvenience, imagine being one of the “Word 97-2003 .doc” users when everyone else has started migrating to the new “docx” XML file format. If you don’t update, you’ll need to download a compatibility pack just to view and edit the new docx files. However, if you upgrade to the new version of Word, you can open and edit old and new file formats without any problems. This is quite important.
10.Perspective
Outlook also gets a facelift and more security under the hood. The new version includes revamped spam controls and anti-phishing technology. It also includes enhanced search features that search your files and emails. Enhanced tools for calendaring, marking tasks, and highlighting messages with assigned colors make Outlook a more powerful integrated tool for consolidating schedule and communication management. For example, use an email message to create a task, associate a priority level, and assign the task to resources. You can then associate the task with a calendar reminder for automated email alert reminders, meeting notices, and on-time or late-due tracking, if applicable. Spending ten minutes activating Outlook tools can improve collaborative performance hours, communication, and schedules in the long run.
With these top ten tips, you can be the 1 Gig guru. It is always a personal challenge to determine when to make the next technology investment in hardware or software. Staying on top of trends and being prepared for transitions can help you gain greater satisfaction from your hardware or software purchases. For more information on Vista and Office products, visit the Microsoft website.
______________________________________________________
words of wisdom
“Change your thoughts and you will change your world.”
-Norman Vincent Peale
“Engage, communicate, collaborate and change the course of the world around you, or just wait and your life will be assigned to you.”
-John Mehrmann
“If you want your life to be more rewarding, you have to change the way you think.”
-Oprah Winfrey
______________________________________________________
You may freely distribute, print, sell, or bundle this article as long as it is intact, unchanged, and delivered in the original format with acknowledgment to Executive Blueprints Inc.
