Dear ${token1},

July has been busy and we are really getting ramped up for the fall by adding two new members to our staff who assist with webmaster outsourcing services. Our turnaround on website updates is still 24 to 48 hours and sometimes even less!

Are you looking for an easy way to pay us every month automatically? Just download our PDF authorization, complete it, and fax it back for our files. At the end of every month we'll mail you a statement and bill your credit card without intervention from you.

Best Regards,

Nancy McCord

Moving to Vista | Office 2007 Compatibility | Microsoft PowerToys Alt-Tab

Moving to Microsoft's Windows Vista

You've heard the horror stories and now let me share my experience in moving to Windows Vista, it's not as bad as you may think.

My Tech Director/husband has been pushing me to move to Vista for months and due to the horror stories that I have read, I was really resisting. Finally he decided to be our first guinea pig and install it on his new computer, built just for Vista. We had decided that if he liked it, he would build me a new computer for Vista next.

Last weekend I moved my files and applications to Vista. My reaction - Vista is silky smooth! There are many things to like about Microsoft's new operating system and here is my short list.

1. I love the Aero graphics - wow, they are way cool
2. Really I like the wizards and how computing is made very easy
3. I do not mind the user application boxes (known as nag boxes by some) - I find them a real security improvement
4. File navigation - the ability to add shortcuts in your file open menu is very welcome
5. Silky smooth page and application transitions - a real WOW factor

What problems did I experience with Vista? Well first, mine was a clean install on a brand new computer built just for Vista with a whopping 4 GB of RAM installed. All of my applications even those that were noted on the Web as not being Vista compatible or able to run with "known issues" have worked for me on Vista. The only exception, which was duly noted on the Web, was Acrobat 7 Professional. This is the only software that I HAD to upgrade for functionality and it was really for functionality with Office 2007 and not Vista.

I did have a crashing problem the first three days with Vista, but the crashes got less each day. Personally, I think that this is simply a new computer issue and one of breaking in a new system and taking it through its paces.

I did have to upgrade firmware for my external hard drive for backups and get new printer drivers, but everything else went smoothly. In fact so smoothly that I was surprised - really surprised.

Is my computer slower with Vista? No, in fact my system is faster than my old one, but I now have a Core 2 Duo processor and Intel DG33 motherboard with 4 GB of RAM. As many of my applications like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe GoLive are system hogs, I was worried about speed, but my new system is significantly faster using Vista.

So, if you like me, have read the horror stories about Vista and been afraid to change, don't be. My only advice is to make sure to have the latest technology and the largest amount of RAM that you can have. Vista recommends 2GB, but hey we're overachievers here, we installed 4GB and are having no startup or application processing speed issues.

Our Tech Director says "it's time to move, Vista is the way of the future"! I couldn't agree more.

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Microsoft Office 2007 Compatibility

As more and more people move into Office 2007, you may find that you'll be unable to view files that they may send you if you still have Office 2003 or earlier. To keep your level of frustration down, you should download Microsoft's Office 2007 Compatibility Pack just in case. This mini application will allow Office 2003, Office 2000, and XP Office users to open, view and change files sent to them in Office 2007's new Open XML format (.docx, .xlsx, etc.). Get the pack now.

If you know that your reader is not using Office 2007 within all Office 2007 applications, you can save your files to share as well in the previous Office formats (.doc, .xls, etc.). Even better you can download a small free Microsoft add-in for Office 2007 to save all of your files as PDFs from within your file save as menu. Get free PDF making capability from Microsoft now.

Microsoft Office 2007 is the biggest change to come "down the pike" in years for Office and sometimes change can be a very good thing. I feel that the change to the XML open format is a good one and very forward thinking, but problematic in the short term during the transition period. So, make it easy on yourself and others with these free compatiblity tools from Microsoft.

For more information on the Compatibility Pack visit Microsoft or download the new Office Compatibility Pack today.

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Our Bright Idea Tip: Microsoft PowerToys Using Alt-Tab

I just love the PowerToys that have been developed for Windows XP and have even found SynToy (my personal favorite) for Vista. In the meantime, if you have Windows XP, here's one that you can check out that I really like. It is a PowerToy that allows you to see an image of your document not just an icon of the application when you click alt-tab to cycle through your open applications. It's called "Alt-Tab Replacement".

This XP PowerToy gives you a cool "Vista-like" application image to help you navigate to the right item. This is a great tool if you have multiple document and applications open. The alt-tab window still shows the familiar software icon at the top, but also shows a larger image of the actual document that is open. This is particularly useful when you have lot of things open. Let's say you have five Word files open and want to navigate to a contract versus the price sheet. Just hold down the alt key and then tap the tab key to move to the next image of the document. What a time saver!

You can download Alt-Tab from Microsoft from the PowerToys page. You'll find the download link on the right hand sidebar six down from the first download item. While you're on the page, check out the other cool PowerToys that exist for XP. One of my personal favorites is SyncToy. I use it every week to keep a full backup on my laptop.

If you have Vista, you can now download my favorite PowerToy call SyncToy for Vista. You can read the full information and how to use SyncToy from a previous e-newsletter. Let me know if you find a PowerToy that you really like too, so I can check it out.

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