The Download Blog

(Credit: CNET)

The Microsoft Office 2010 technical preview is available today through invite only and--though it's not in its final form--there are plenty of feature enhancements to be excited about, if Microsoft can pull it off. According to Microsoft, the focus of this update was on three things: to make work flows more efficient; to effectively use Web applications to make your work available anywhere; and to make collaboration with others much easier. In this CNET First Take, we'll take a look at some of the notable feature changes across many of the applications. Microsoft says Office 2010 will let you use your PC, phone, and the Web to make your projects come together more efficiently. From what we've seen, they might be right and the Web applications might also give Google Docs a run for their money.

The Ribbon (introduced in Office 2007) continues to keep frequently used features handy at the top of your work space. But in Office 2010, you'll have access to the Ribbon across all of the applications in the suite, with contextual tabs and features to help you get the most out of each program. In Outlook 2010, for example, a Quick Steps section of the Ribbon has options to let you quickly create team meetings, move threads to specific folders, or custom forward messages (with premade subjects) to specific recipients. In Excel, you can flip through the tabs to access formulas, insert diagrams and charts, and quickly import data from connected sources. Having an easy way to access the most-used functions of each of the Office applications is very handy, and it's clear Microsoft did its research to make the most of each application's Ribbon.

Microsoft Office 2010 technical preview (screenshots)

It's also clear that Microsoft has paid attention to patterns across all of the applications to come up with easier ways to get things done. The new Paste Preview lets you easily switch between paste options so you know your work will be formatted correctly in your document before you commit. In Outlook, it's now possible to turn long e-mail threads into conversations, so you can quickly find information from specific participants without having to scroll through long, confusing threads. Another new feature lets you ignore entire threads including future e-mails on a subject so you can eliminate noise and distractions in your workday. Office 2010 includes many new time-saving features like these across the entire suite, but there's more than just tweaks to existing work flow.

Some of the flashier feature additions will be good news to those who work with media in their documents and presentations. PowerPoint now has options for editing video right within the program. You'll be able to trim video so your audience sees only the video content you want them to see. You also can add video effects, fades, and even create video triggers to launch animations during your presentation. When it's a static presentation you're working on--such as a publication, newsletter, or pamphlet--Office 2010 will let you edit and add effects to images so you won't need a third-party image editor. Microsoft has also added easy access to Ligatures and Stylistic Alternates to fonts in Publisher so you can add your own personal touches to your publications. Like most of the new features in Office 2010, you can find most of these added options in the Ribbon for that particular application.

As more of our data moves into the cloud, sharing and collaboration have become a major part of project execution, and Office 2010 will offer several options to help people work together. Though the Web-based components of the Office suite are not available in the technical preview, adding these options will make sharing information easier--whether it's from your home computer, your phone, or when you're traveling for business. Lightweight Web browser versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote have been announced, and, according to Microsoft, they will preserve the look and feel of a document regardless of the device you're working on--even if it's your smartphone.

New coauthoring in Word, PowerPoint, and OneNote and advanced e-mail management and calendaring capabilities in Outlook will make collaboration much easier, reducing the time it takes to finish large projects with several contributors. Businesses will be required to use Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 or Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services to gain access, but private users will be able to access their work using Windows Live. Obviously, we can't predict how well the Web components of each program will be implemented or how they will translate to different hardware, but offering access to shared documents in key business applications from anywhere is something any international business or business traveler can appreciate.

One of our favorite improvements to Office 2010 is what Microsoft calls the Backstage view. Offered as a replacement for the File menu, Backstage gives you a launching point to share documents, print out your work, set permissions, and other program specific options to get your project ready for distribution. You'll find all of the usual document management features, like open and save, here as well, but you'll also get a nice layout of templates for new documents, several different ways to share your work, and print settings and page layouts all in one place. We think people might initially be resistant to a new way of doing things (as is often the case), but once you get used to using the Backstage view for all of your file management, we think you'll find it useful and efficient to have access to everything in one place.

Microsoft Office 2010 will be released early next year and it appears Microsoft has made extensive usability improvements across the entire Office suite. We're told the Web components of Office applications will become available for testing later this year, so check back as more information becomes available.

CopyTaste is a new service that lets you very quickly post text, photos, and videos to an anonymously hosted page. Think of it like blogging, but without a destination page, or any breadcrumbs that lead back to your identity.

The service features a WYSIWYG text editor, along with the option to insert videos and pictures into your post, the latter of which can be hosted on CopyTaste's servers. Heavy users can install a Firefox extension that lets you rip down the content from any page you're on and squirrel it away for viewing and sharing later on.

What makes CopyTaste really interesting is that you can in fact associate one or more of your posts with an existing profile. In this case it's your OpenID profile, where any posts you've made will be listed. You can also go and look at what other people have shared, which puts it in line with services like ClipMarks, Jeteye, Diigo, and others.

Still in need of some work are the social features though. You can see other users' CopyTaste posts if they'd made them public, but there's no way to follow that user or get in touch with them.

CopyTaste gives you a registration-free means of publishing blog posts or dumping text for sharing elsewhere.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Twhirl (download) and AlertThingy, two social-publishing tools that run exclusively on Adobe's AIR, have been freshly updated to support more services and come with some cool (and useful) new features:

As we blogged about a few weeks back, Twhirl was working on giving Seesmic users a way to record videos, not just view them. The new version lets you do that and also adds Ping.fm support across the board, letting you cross post to other accounts you may have.

Other new goodies include a spell checker, Bit.ly link shortener, and an option to have any search pop up with real-time results as they update. This is especially useful for Twitter since you can keep an eye on the velocity of a heavily tweeted event or keyword as it's happening.

AlertThingy (coverage), which launched its third version early Tuesday now includes support for Basecamp, Huddle, Ping.fm, TwitPic, Twitter's search engine, and Yammer. Three of those: Basebamp, Huddle, and Yammer, mark a decidedly business-centric movement of the app. Instead of open and public social networks, these three are for small (or large) teams or private organizations who are working on something. For those using one or more of these services, this update makes the tool a little more attractive.

Another change from the previous version is a new view that like Tweetdeck, lets you stretch out Twitter feeds into separate compartments. This lets you keep an eye on replies and private messages at the same time as you've got your main feed up.

Despite occasional oddities and a distinct lack of polish, Scribus offers up an open-source freeware desktop publisher robust with a full complement of useful features. Available for Windows, in a portable edition, and for Macs, too, they compare very favorably against more expensive competition.

The detailed Web site includes a wealth of documentation, tutorials, and notes on everything from installation problems to drawing a grid to creating a text frame. As with other similar open-source apps like Blender, the online resources for Scribus are nothing less than invaluable. The interface doesn't sing, but it does hit all the right notes: Buttons are laid out logically and grouped according to function, without any unusual placement.

Scribus' quirks are mostly related to the scaling of imported images, but there's something else about it that's far more interesting: It painlessly brings in documents from the OpenOffice.org suite and it uses The GIMP for image editing. By taking advantage of these other freeware apps to boost its own productivity, Scribus enhances its appeal by forming a virtual freeware suite.

Hot on the heels of my writeup of PDFMeNot yesterday, reader Bonexaw tipped us off about PDFescape, another Web based Adobe Acrobat replacement. This time around, PDFescape pulls double duty not only as a free PDF reader, but also as an editing tool and Web host for PDF files.

PDFescape lets users fill out forms--one of the most commonly used features (besides reading). Additionally, the authoring tools let users create their own forms and send them out to others to fill out and send back. The best part is that the entire system is set up to avoid recipients having to touch a piece of software.

PDFescape's editing tool feels a lot like a simple desktop application, with a toolbar up top, and a workspace that's set up with a file source list, and a tool pallet. The one major drawback is that there's no zoom toggle, making it a pain to use for general reading unless you're got a monitor with a large horizontal resolution, or don't mind panning with your mouse. Otherwise it's simple, intuitive, and definitely a step up from Adobe Reader if you need to change something on a PDF file and don't want to shell out for Acrobat, or use a third party editor.

Edit PDF files using PDFescape's editor that lets you get away with about as much as Adobe Acrobat for a lower price tag.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

To help keep the service afloat there are small ads on the side of the editing and reading environment. Small watermarks are also added to each published PDF form, which users can get rid of using credits that can be bought in increments ranging from $.50 to $1 each, depending on how many you're buying. The real money, however, is in publishing, which is a paid service. It's aimed mostly at employers or other businesses that need to host a PDF with forms online. Publishing credits are considerably more expensive than the "premium" credits, but offer a year of hosting, increased file sizes, and automated sending of completed forms.

I still think PDFMeNot is the go-to service for opening up the occasional PDF file you come across, but PDFescape's publishing tool offers a whole lot of features in a small package that make it much better for publishers trying to escape Acrobat's price tag. Of course if you end up shelling out for the publishing credits, you might be better off investing in a copy of Acrobat and a Web host instead.

(Credit: Primelabs AB)

There are countless blogs across the world, but you can't read them all, of course. With the screensaver application Twingly, however, you can at least see every new blog post as it gets published...sort of. While Twingly appears to be a fascinating application, you may soon be overwhelmed by the random collection of nonsense and trivia--the "Um ... what?" post referenced in my title is a good example.

Twingly, which runs as a Windows screensaver or a standalone application, displays a never-ending string of new blog posts mapped around the world on an interactive globe. Click on any of the scrolling posts on the left side, and a precis of the post and its geographical location (if mapped) are displayed in the main interface. Click on the link in the blog excerpt, and you'll be transported to that page in your default browser. ... Read more

Most desktop publishing types making posters, pamphlets, and newsletters will gravitate toward the largest, shiniest apple on the proverbial tree, most notably Adobe InDesign (there's a free trial of the $700 app for the curious).

However, the smaller, more muted Scribus (for Mac and Windows) or Portable Scribus (read review) could be a riper pick for you. Being able to tote a full program on a USB drive is especially beneficial for students, small businesses, and locale-shifters; amateur users will find more than enough features to create good-looking documents.... Read more

Inspiration for a blog can come from anywhere--at any time--so you'd best be prepared. Lighter than your Wi-Fi-enabled laptop and more immediate than jotting journal notes is TypePad Mobile (for Symbian, Palm, and Windows Mobile,) a blog-updating app offered by TypePad for its paid subscribers.

Blogging about mobile blogging from a mobile phone.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

I evaluated TypePad Mobile on a gleaming HTC Vox S710 (watch Bonnie Cha's video review) running Windows Mobile 6. The smart phone's nice slider QWERTY keyboard and motion-sensitive vertical-to-horizontal display made for favorable testing conditions.... Read more

(Credit: Gallery Project)

Taking digital pictures is simple; transforming them into a constructive project is a whole 'nother story. Web services like Flickr, Picasa, Shutterfly, Webshots, Snapfish, and countless others let you create photo galleries that are hosted on their servers, but what if you want to create a gallery for your own Web site?

Personally, I'm the sort of guy who wants to start with my raw images and my trusty NoteTab Light text editor, but I seem to have lost my patience for HTML and CSS (not to mention JavaScript and XML) over the last five years. ... Read more