RGdot

Tag: Microsoft

  • OneNote Comparisons

    OneNote is and feels different than virtually all note takers

    Broadly speaking note taking includes creating shopping lists, keeping journals, taking class notes, organizing text and anything else a user wishes and can imagine.

    The web features many software review articles. There are also many sites specifically for comparing software with each other and one of the bigger categories is those that review and compare note taking software.

    OneNote, being part of Microsoft’s Office suite of course, is widely used and is therefore mentioned often when note taking is reviewed. However OneNote has one unique characteristics that sets it apart from a very large number of others. This is that text can be placed anywhere as if on a board. This feature alone makes it vastly different than others and makes many comparison articles incomplete and arguably wrong. OneNote does not really belong in a comparison list when for example Evernote is mentioned or Apple Notes, Joplin, CherryTree or Simplenote. In some cases it may be possible to add text (or any media) in columns but even then the free form nature of OneNote is and feels different. Most articles concentrate on text styles, search features, image support, storage method, tagging or filtering, sync or encryption availability and others to compare but fail to mention the board feature as something that sets OneNote apart.

    KDE libraries based BasKet Note Pads is one of few – perhaps only – software that emulates a note board very well and can be a true comparable to OneNote.

  • Microsoft Edge Bloat

    For years Microsoft’s Internet Explorer was one of the biggest running tech jokes. Slow, insecure and all kinds of problematic stories were synonymous with the browser. Then Microsoft scored a hit with a switch a new browser that later came to use the Chromium based Blink engine.

    Many users found it faster and better and somewhat shockingly less resource heavy. That advantage is being eroded by various so called features and extensions.

    Among these features were shopping integrations that allowed users to find coupons and discounts and in some jurisdiction even offering buy now pay later features in the default download of a browser. Gaming features or a so called gaming panel is coming as well, with little regard to how many percentage of any browsers users would care about any, even simple, simple games being part of a browser. Other features like Collections are perhaps useful for those who collect info and would use syncing the said info across Microsoft’s ecosystem.

    The latest bloat is a Skype Meet Now extension. Skype has a poor track record in terms of reliability and perhaps just as importantly being resource heavy on its own. Launching it from and using it within a browser can and will add do this resource hog. Skype is also notorious for new versions breaking things.

    With a desktop market share of nearly 10% Edge has done better than many thought it would but it may plateau at these levels that it has achieved if it does not focus on speed and security.

  • Microsoft Edge Chromium

    Microsoft Edge Chromium

    Microsoft Edge launched in 2015 as a replacement for the fading Internet Explorer. It initially used EdgeHTML which is a proprietary browser engine made by Microsoft. In 2019 the decision was made to the Blink engine which runs Chromium based browsers such as Chrome and Opera.

    The switch over of regular Windows 7 and above users to the new Chromium version will now happen as part of the January updates (due to happen on January 15). This new version will support Chrome extensions that are ported over to the Microsoft Store and have some features exclusive to Microsoft such as access to Microsoft account access built in and PDF notes within the browser, among others.

  • StickySorter From Microsoft Office Labs Does Notes Differently

    StickySorter From Microsoft Office Labs Does Notes Differently

    StickySorter is another rather pretty innovative idea from Microsoft’s Office Labs, the site with ‘grassroots’ projects coming via ’employee initiative and ingenuity’. StickySorter is akin to mind mapping or brainstorming software but with a twist. The twist is that, as the name of the program implies, brainstorms take the form of sticky notes. Many a number of sticky notes can be added to the program’s interface and arranged in several different ways.

    StickySorter
    Each note can belong to a group to make sorting and arranging easier. Clicking customize under the note menu one can also create separate fields so that the text on the notes themselves can be categorized. The view menu includes several ways to arrange all notes such as piling notes on top of each other or aligning notes to grid. The search box works well as a text filter and does a good job with large collection of notes as well. The interface can be zoomed in and out or panned to bring into legible view as many or as few notes as needed. There is no networking or sharing feature built-in but separate *.csv files can be inserted into existing ones as a way to merge notes.
    The program’s FAQ page has a few more hints on usability. For example creating a field, using the aforementioned customize menu, and placing an ! in front of it will make the field appear only on the back of the note and selected notes can be flipped by pressing Ctrl+t.
    Perhaps the best attraction of StickySorter is that it saves everything in *.csv format. It is therefore usable even if the program is discarded for another similar software. StickySorter works on Windows XP or Windows Vista with .Net Framework 2.0

  • Speed Launch From Microsoft Office Labs Is An Interesting Launcher

    Speed Launch From Microsoft Office Labs Is An Interesting Launcher

    Speed Launch is created by Microsoft’s Office Labs. The office labs is one experimental arm of Microsoft that is sometimes not too busy on the public side and develops products that one may not necessarily associate with the company. Speed Launch is perhaps one such example and is a program that has many other freeware equivalents.
    Speed Launch
    Upon installation Speed Launch places a bulls eye looking icon on the desktop that stays on top of all windows but dims to stay as unobtrusive as possible. Using the win + c keys the program pops up a set of what it calls functions. The set of built-in functions can be activated by clicking on them. They allow for such things as searching for weather forecasts and wikipedia pages.
    Being a launcher Speed Launch has an interesting way to make routine tasks easier. Dragging and dropping any shortcut, file or site favicon into the bulls eye allows the user to associate an intuitive keyword with it and to later use it to open the same program, document or website. Keywords can also be added manually via the program’s ‘Add Shortcuts’ menu (by right clicking on the bulls eye).
    Speed Launch also supports more advanced functions. These are the equivalent of launching a program or website – that has a shortcut created in Speed Launch – with parameters. One example used in the video on the program’s website shows how by choosing a keyword followed by “.” (dot without quotes) one can make a function that loads a map of a certain location without the need to enter the map’s homepage and then typing the desired location. It is therefore and like any other program launcher a way to save time and key strokes. Another interesting feature built-in is what is called the MegaSearch. Typing megaseach. and a search term launches the query in bing.com, yahoo.com and google.com. Again something not readily associated with Microsoft of the past.
    Office Labs calls Speed Launch a ‘prototype’ and requires the user to allow anonymous usage feedback, however I am not certain if this program is being very actively developed as it is termed a grassroots project that is a ‘direct result of employee initiative’.