Articles about Productivity App

Diagram creation software can be on the expensive side, just take a look at Visio, for instance, but if that’s a problem for you then there are some great free tools around. And Dia is one of the best.

The program may open with a standard list of flowcharting shapes, for instance, but it also provides plenty of other symbol libraries. Just choose the one you need and you’ll be able to draw logic diagrams, electrical circuits, networks, databases, simple maps and much more.

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Bare Bones Software has released TextWrangler 4.0, a major new version of its free OS X text-editing tool. TextWrangler offers both basic text-editing capabilities for general users as well as a number of powerful tools for programmers and system administrators.

TextWrangler 4.0 introduces a major new streamlined editing window for simplifying access to all open documents, plus automatically reloads all previously open documents when relaunched. It also introduces switchable syntax color schemes.

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The PC world has so many image viewers already that downloading another probably isn’t high on your list of priorities. GonVisor is a little different, though, and just might be good enough to justify your giving it a closer look.

The program works well as a comic viewer, for instance, and is able to open all the usual CB formats (CBR, CBZ, CBA, CB7). You’ve no interest in digital comics? No problem, GonVisor can also open and view the images in folders and archives (ZIP, RAR, ACE, 7Z), as well as display individual image files.

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When you need to build a website quickly and easily, then there are plenty of tools that promise they can help. But their reality is often disappointment: low quality templates, inflexible layouts and a general lack of customization options can make it very difficult to build anything credible at all.

Xara Web Designer, fortunately, has always been very different.

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We gave you the weekend to ponder the significance to your business. Now it's time to ask: Will you deploy Office 365 (or additional seats), following last week's price cuts? Are you now more likely to adopt cloud-based productivity apps?

Four days ago, Microsoft cut Office 365 prices by up to 20 percent, depending on the plan and number of seats. It's a hefty cut coming at a time of increased Google Apps acceptance among enterprises. Microsoft's calling card is familiarity -- cloud apps connecting to Office on the desktop while providing anytime, anywhere access.

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Today, Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft reaffirmed its commitment to bring business process software to Azure. Kirill Tatarinov, president of the company's Business Solutions group, promises that Dynamics NAV 2013 and Dynamics GP 2013, which are separately set to be available in calendar fourth quarter, "will run on Windows Azure in an elastic Microsoft cloud". Dynamics AX 2012 R2 is on track for similar release.

Dynamics NAV and GP are designed for small-to-midsize organizations. SMBs looking for an early taste of NAV 2013 will get their chance when a beta becomes available in May, says Tatarinov, during Microsoft Convergence 2012. The next AX version, which looks to be v2014, will evolve into an enterprise cloud service.

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Nitro PDF has updated its free PDF reader and creator, Nitro Reader, to version 2.3. The latest version, which is also available as a 64-bit app promises improved performance through reduced memory usage, plus revamps its QuickSign signature tool and adds a smattering of new features in addition to various bug fixes.

Nitro Reader has carved itself a niche in the PDF reader market by providing a feature-rich application that includes powerful PDF creation tools as well as viewing ones, all without delivering ads or nags to upgrade to a paid-for version. Version 2.3 aims to maintain its lead in the feature stakes while significantly cutting back on its system demands.

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Codeweavers has announced the launch of CrossOver XI, its commercial port of the open-source Wine application that allows Linux and Mac users to run Windows applications without having to install Windows itself.

CrossOver XI sees the two previously available separate editions of CrossOver, Games and Pro, incorporated into a single application, and includes numerous platform updates and improvements. It also promises support for a wider range of applications than before, including Microsoft Office 2010.

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There is some truth to Microsoft's "Googlighting" video -- that somehow every Google product feels like a work unfinished. Good Example: Google Docs for Android, which today got some features that should have been there in the first place. Collaboration is one of Google Docs headline features. But that feature lacked for something on Android phones or tablets. Today's update essentially brings more parity between the desktop and mobile clients.

"We want to give everyone the chance to be productive no matter where they are, so today we’re releasing a new update to the Google Docs app for Android", Vadim Gerasimov, Google software engineer explains. "We've brought the collaborative experience from Google Docs on the desktop to your Android device. You'll see updates in real time as others type on their computers, tablets and phones, and you can just tap the document to join in". Well it's about time.

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There aren’t many things in life that you can say are completely free. In the case of free software, you often find that you must make some sort of compromise, whether it be putting up with a limited version of a commercial application, enduring advertisements, or simply having to work with something that is less than impressive in terms of standards. Almost every computer user has need for an office suite, or at least some component of it, at some point, if not every day of their lives.

Microsoft Office may be the most widely-installed suite, but for the average user it is expensive and unless a copy came pre-installed on your computer, you may not feel inclined to part with that amount of money. This explains the increased interest in free alternatives, and one such suite is LibreOffice Productivity Suite, which has just hit the milestone release number of 3.5.0.

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That's my question for you this Tuesday morning, following new rumors about Office for iPad and its imminent release. Over at The Daily, Matt Hickey insists Microsoft has nearly finished development and "the app will soon be submitted to Apple for approval". The software supposedly has capabilities from Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint and Word and inherits characteristics from Windows 8's Metro UI.

Whoa, can this really be a good idea, Office on iPad?

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Microsoft Outlook is a large and complex application, so if your copy starts misbehaving then it may not always be obvious where to start looking for a solution. But don’t worry, help is finally at hand. Two Microsoft engineers with more than 30 years of combined experience in supporting Office, Outlook and Exchange Server have produced the Outlook Configuration Analyzer Tool (OCAT), a useful program that will scan your Outlook 2007/ 2010 profile for common issues and report on anything it finds.

OCAT isn’t portable, unfortunately, so you’ll need to install it first. But with that done, it’s easy enough to use: make sure Outlook is running, launch the program, click Start a scan > Start scanning, and around 20 seconds later (if our test PC is typical) you’ll be looking at a detailed report.

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The Document Foundation has announced the release of LibreOffice 3.5.0 FINAL, its cross-platform, open-source office suite. Version 3.5.0 introduces a number of new features, including faster grammar checking, multi-line input bar in Calc, and a better user interface for headers and footers in Writer.

LibreOffice is a spin-off of OpenOffice, and comprises word processor (Writer), spreadsheet (Calc), presentations package (Impress), database (Base), graphics editor (Draw) and equations tool (Math). This is LibreOffice’s third major release since the project launched back in September 2010.

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Nitro PDF has updated its free PDF reading and creation tool with a selection of new features, plus performance improvements and bug fixes. Nitro PDF Reader 2.2 builds on previous releases with minor additions including a new Print option for PDFs in the context menu, automatic keyboard language detection in text insertion tools and support for rich text in both annotation and form fields.

Nitro PDF Reader stands out from other free PDF viewers with its creation and editing tools, which include the ability to convert documents from over 300 file types into PDF without having to invoke the built-in virtual PDF print driver.

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For years, OneNote seemed like a promise without purpose. Microsoft developed a fresh, flexible application capable of pulling together content from many sources and in a way that made creative sense. Sure the Office family member imitated note-taking software already available for the Mac, but with surprising approachability for Microsoft-developed Windows software. But who really used OneNote?

Then during the Office 2007 release cycle, Microsoft swapped out Outlook for OneNote in the low-cost consumer edition and millions of users discovered the promise. But not the purpose. Microsoft would later imbue that quality quite unexpectedly by connecting OneNote to SkyDrive. Sync is the software's killer capability -- that gives purpose to promise behind great usability and remarkable flexibility. Where OneNote and SkyDrive really, well, sync is on mobile devices. Windows Phone, then iPhone, iPad and, today, Android. Yeah, if you use OneNote on the PC and are a two-timing Android user, grab the phone. Microsoft has got a treat for you.

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