Stand back – I’m about to sound like an advertorial.
I’ll admit I’m usually late to the technology dance. The newest gadgets or tools aren’t something I feel I have to have. But I just found some technology that makes my work easier by making it portable – Windows Workspace.
Sporting a whole lot of envy over Apple user Devon’s recent MobileMe connectivity, I went in search of Microsoft’s response – surely, I hoped, they had one. And did they ever. Windows Workspace answers one of my peeves about wanting to take my work outside the study. No more USB drive needed – Workspace lets me access the same document from my desktop or my laptop.
When it’s downloaded from the Office Live website (which I highly recommend you browsing – there’s more cool stuff, all free, that may be applicable to your work), the program puts this handy little “Save As” feature on your existing Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents. You just save it to the Workspace. You’ve got 5GB of storage space. The program is free. It’s also a fail safe should your hard drive die. My gawd, I’m becoming a Microsoft evangelist here. Those of you who know me, who’ve shared my frustration with Gates & company over the odd lack of shared formatting over some MS products, know that I’m not exactly Microsoft’s staunchest supporter. But I’ve drunk the Kool-Aid.
So far so good. I’m loving the ability to just save it and run out the door with the laptop – no worries. It’s there. No need to check my laptop bag six times for the USB stick. You can download the beta version of Workspace here.
If that’s not enough to make you happy, try the Windows Live Mail program, another freebie. Since working remotely means I don’t have emails handy, this one is a godsend of a different sort. You can collect all your emails in one place, addresses and all (those that are compatible – I have one that’s giving me fits, but I suspect it’s the provider). One note of caution – empty your delete and spam folders first. The program uploads everything.
The entire Windows Live section has tons of tools that allow you mobile IM, blogging, browsing, photos and movies. Mind you, unlike Apple that thought to package it all together, each Windows Live tool requires a separate download. But I like that it allows you to choose what you want without forcing the rest on you. Here’s the Windows Live site.
There’s other stuff (isn’t this just like Christmas?). Those of you with no professional website (shame on you!) will love the free website that comes with its own email addresses. I’m tempted to take my site there – my guess is I’d be able to get my email from my website finally forwarded to the central Windows Live Mail. Here’s that link.
All this took me a grand total of 30 minutes – from the initial Google search to complete installation. Mind you, Microsoft does NOT make it easy to find this stuff on their site. I had to locate it through Google’s search. But I can’t be too harsh with them now. I’m finally happy to own a PC.
What’s your favorite application or download?
So glad you've enjoyed using Office Live Workspace, Lori! Come visit the Office Live page on Facebook for more tips, tricks, and support: http://www.facebook.com/officelive
Cheers,
Kate
MSFT Office Live Outreach Team
Oh wow! An actual Office person! How cool is this? Guys, I swear to God I had no idea anyone from MS would be anywhere around this little blog. The power of Google search perhaps?
While I have you here Kate, is there something to be done about making Publisher, Word, and Excel commands the same across all programs? It's been my biggest gripe. I open Publisher and I go to the menu bar to do what I have done endlessly in Word, but the commands aren't there. It's frustrating. And that delay when my Outlook mail downloads and everything else freezes.
I bet she's not coming back. 🙁
Hi Lori,
I have not looked at Windows Live Workspace yet, but I will.
Here are a couple of other free options you might want to review:
Dropbox (https://www.getdropbox.com)allows you to have folders that synch between computers that you have access to as well as through the web.
G.ho.st (http://g.ho.st/) is a virtual desktop that you access from any computer.
Tony
I should have also mentioned that you can share a folder with others through Dropbox.
Love it, Tony! Thanks for sharing the links.
I heard from Sid Prince this week on a Google app – anyone tried that?
I sometimes use Google Docs the same way, Lori. By saving documents and spreadsheets there, I can access them anywhere.
I have also been known to email a file to myself on gmail. Again, can access it from anywhere and the generous mail limits means I rarely delete stuff.
I also now have mobile me & I'm getting used to it. I don't get out of the house as much as I used to, so I'm not sure how cost-effective it is for me. Especially since it only syncs Safari bookmarks, and not Firefox. (That I know of.)
Becky