Office Newswire: Office + iPad – 12.16.2011

December has been a blur of activity. We (I am including you, dear reader, in the definition of “we”) are now in the throes of the Christmas party social junket. We work hard all day and then attend a Christmas party each night. I don’t know about you but I can’t keep this pace. The amount of cookies I have consumed thus far would make Santa blush. My mouth and belly are full… and that’s good because I am out of words. I’ll just keep stuffing my mouth with cookies and avoid conversation. I need a bit of introvert time. Really, I need to purchase some gifts!

When I returned home last night from (what else?) a Christmas Party, I spent the evening making a CD for (what else?) another Christmas Party… my daughter’s party at school. I take pride in preparing a good music mix and so I share the list with you here for you.

1. Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree (Brenda Lee)
2. Jingle Bell Rock (Bobby Helms)
3. Adeste Fideles (Bing Crosby)
4. Feliz Navidad (Jose Feliciano)… this song is a must in Texas
5. Jingle Bells (Diana Krall)… just to throw a curveball with a bit of jazz
6. It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Andy Williams)
7. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Frank Sinatra!)

I think the party lasts all of 20 minutes. This list contains 19.9 minutes of music… just enough.

For today’s Office Newswire, I’m choosing to play Song #1 from the playlist to play in the background. Can you hear it? Do you prefer something else? If so, make your selection because it’s time… the Office Newswire is upon us!

Office + iPad = lots of news about Office on the iPad!

I have an old tablet PC. I downloaded Windows 8 Developer Preview and installed it on the tablet. I like it but it is quirky. I’m looking forward to the next iteration of Windows 8 (and the next iteration of Office!). In the meantime, I’m wondering just how far behind Microsoft will be in the tablet wars when they release Windows 8 and the next generation of Office. I know I said I think Microsoft is finding their MOJO again. I think they are, but it doesn’t mean I don’t feel insecure about it.

So while we wait, we can play with the new Office iPad apps!

• OneNote for iPad :: Microsoft released a OneNote for iPhone version earlier this year. The first question I had after seeing it was, when will they have a version for the iPad? The answer to that question is “the week of 12/12/11”. And it’s about time. I downloaded it and I like it. The key feature it needs is integration with email, InstaPaper, and Safari. I want to the ability to send anything to OneNote from any application. Evernote does a good job here. Microsoft needs to catch up. I live in OneNote on my PC and want to depend on it when using the iPad. The comments on this article are more interesting than the article.
• Microsoft iPad mania :: Oh, Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet… we are meant to meet here, at the Office Newswire, at least once a week. I don’t know how she does it but she seems to know everything that goes on in Redmond. Ms. Foley says Lync for iPad is coming soon. How does she know? I dunno… but don’t doubt her. I definitely now believe there will be an Office Suite for the iPad. The comments on this article are very entertaining. There are tons of silly people in the world. I use the term silly loosely.
• Microsoft takes on evernote with Office OneNote on iPad :: This article states that few people use OneNote. I guess I’m not too surprised but man… people are missing out. Anyways, the title mentions Evernote but the article doesn’t. I’ve included this article for the comments… do you sense a theme? Microsoft is on the right track but there is work to do.
• Can Microsoft really pull off Office for iPad? :: If the author is asking me, the answer is yes! I’m not sure the author would agree me. He makes some valid criticisms of both Microsoft and Apple’s iWork Suite for iOS. Okay. That’s enough Office  + iPad news.

SharePoint is part of Office too

This section is for SharePoint related news items and tidbits. The headline reminds me of a TV show I used to watch when I was a kid. I know… terrible… but that qualified as entertainment back then.

Anyways… SharePoint is a big part of Office and these next items are for you SharePoint, server-side cornerstone of the Information Worker. Keep doing what you do big guy.

• Ribbon Designer for SharePoint and Office 365 :: If you missed the news yesterday, we released a new development tool that will change your life as a SharePoint developer. The Ribbon Designer simplifies the task of developing SharePoint ribbon customizations. You can read a great tutorial from Pieter here.
• URL Shortening for SharePoint 2010 :: SharePoint MVP Jan Tielens created a SharePoint solution that will shorten links to documents within SharePoint via a call to bit.ly. The code is available on CodePlex free of charge.

Office stuff

I saw a few items related to the holidays that caught my eye.

• Make a holiday newsletter using Word :: If you haven’t sent off for super-creative Christmas cards by now, you might want to check out this template. You can forget the cute photo cards and send a cheesy newsletter instead. It’s cheaper and the recipients will make fun of your poor formatting and design skills… but… at least you’ll be done.
• Top 10 Office 2010 holiday helpers :: I thought for sure this was going to be last year’s rankings of Santa’s elves. You know… their performance reviews? I was wrong. Instead, it’s a nice list of how to stay organized during the holidays using Office.
• Free holiday e-card from a PowerPoint wizard :: I didn’t know this, but PowerPoint MVP Sandra Johnson releases animated e-card templates built with PowerPoint every December. And, unlike the Holiday Newsletter template for Word, this template looks really nice. So if you are really behind sending cards and are above sending a cheesy newsletter, then you need this. It also has the advantage of being an e-card… so you’ll save on postage.

Folks, I’m going to stop here. I need to get to work and mentally prepare myself for the next round of Christmas cheer.

I trust you’ll have a greet weekend.