Office Newswire: What CloudOn offers for Office on iPad – 3.14.2012

Somehow it is Spring here in my location of Dallas, TX. I think we skipped winter entirely. I like the cold and I miss it when we don’t have at least one week of winter.

Last year we had 2 consecutive weeks of winter. It was great. I wore my winter coat every day because I could and I feared it would be a few years before I needed it again. Around here, we have coats and most everyone breaks them out if the temperature dips below 65 degrees Fahrenheit.

It’s silly but not if you know why we do it.

We spend some hard-earned cash on our winter coats and we want to wear them! So if there is even the slightest hint of a cool breeze, we pull our coats out of the closets and strut around town. We might even wear gloves and scarves too.

Now, knowing context is relative, please understand that last year Dallas, TX experienced a total of 66 days in which the temperature reached 100 degrees Fahrenheit or above! We experienced 40 consecutive days of 100 degree weather. We reached 110 on 8/2/11… the hottest day in 11 years!!! Last summer was abnormal to the extreme. But know that we are accustomed to heat here in Texas. So when it drops below 80, we wear sweaters. When it drops below 65, it’s time for the winter coats.

I’ve heard rumors that the Add-in Express HQ team doesn’t even think about wearing a sweater until the temperatures dip to 10 degrees. I don’t know what’s worse, a Texas summer or a Russian winter. At least with a winter, you can put on another layer of clothing.

Office news & editorials!

• Dear Microsoft, You’re doing it right :: I’m leading off with an article that is not about Office but is about Windows and tablets. I believe this topic is important to Office so I include it here. It’s also nice to see someone state their opinion that Microsoft’s strategy is the right one. The only problem I see is he compares Microsoft’s strategy to Android’s. This is an easy read and makes some good points. The best part of MSFT’s strategy? They are not trying to beat the iPad by creating another iPad. (est. reading time: 3 mins)
• Office on iPad? How about CloudOn? :: Speaking of Office and of iPads, here is more information on the continuing saga that is Office on the iPad. Now that MSFT is checking into OnLive’s licensing of Windows and Office, it might be time to see what CloudOn offers. (est. reading time: < 1 min)
• Nivio brings Office to the iPad :: And here is another “solution” for using Office on the iPad. I have just now decided to stop referring to these types of apps or solutions as Office for the iPad. This solution allows you to run a Windows 7 desktop with Office 2010 via the browser… using the magic of HTML5 and Remote Desktop Protocol. I think I’ll pass because it will only frustrate me. Plus, the lack of a true touch-enabled user interface makes any of these “solutions” a bit of a hack. C’mon Mr. Ballmer! Release a true Office for iPad upon us! (est. reading time: 2 mins)

Office tips, tricks & tools (for users)

• Pasting Gmail and Outlook together :: Only one tip today. This article discusses how to use Outlook with Gmail. From the sounds of it, the business ins question uses Gmail for their business. I think they should move to Office 365. Barring that, they should at least move to the free version of Google Apps and use the Outlook Sync tool. (est. reading time: 2 mins)

Office developer & IT admin items of note

• Microsoft Office developer happiness: Add-in Express vs. VSTO :: Pieter completes our series comparing Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO) with our Add-in Express for Office and .NET toolset. The series is very compelling and does a great job of illustrating the differences. Both VSTO and ADX use the IDTExtensibility2 interface (COM Add-ins). This means their foundation is the same. After that, I think Add-in Express wins this showdown. (est. reading time: 3 mins)
• Checklist for designing and implementing SharePoint 2010 extranets :: This is a brain dump and meant as a reference for anyone looking to tackle the same task. Bookmark it, place a Post It on your monitor, or make a note in OneNote. (est. reading time: 1 min if you scan it, more if you read it all).
• Office development site map :: I stumbled upon this site last night while doing some research concerning Microsoft Word development topics. I bookmarked it… I placed a Post It on my monitor… I made a note in OneNote… AND… I wrote about it here in the Office Newswire. (est. reading time < 1 min)
• Do you know what’s going to happen when you enable the SharePoint BLOB cache? :: Run! Run for your life! It isn’t pretty when BLOB’s cache. I hear about BLOB storage all the time from my local MSFT sales team. They say it’s easy to implement (which is true). BUT… what do you do after turning it on? What are the repercussions? What are the larger considerations? Read this and you will be better informed. (est. reading time: 5 mins, 7 mins if you read the comments)
• Silverlight and SharePoint working together: event receivers in Silverlight :: They had me with event receivers. SharePoint+Silverlight+Event Receivers = Some Coding Goodness. (est. reading time: 10 mins)
• SmartArt graphic index numbers in Word 2010 :: If you need to work with SmartArt in your code, this article is a good reference (at least for Word). (est. reading time: 1 min)

Cutting Room Floor

• Microsoft: is this dow stock built to last?
• Microsoft hints that Windows 8 will run Windows Phone 7 apps
• Former top Microsoft exec Ozzie: World is over the PC
• Every Windows 8 keyboard shortcut you need
• Stache Act [Infographic]