Software : Office on Windows RT almost identical to Office 2013 |
- Office on Windows RT almost identical to Office 2013
- In Depth: 10 best free lightweight security tools
- Apple removes privacy utility app Clueful
- iOS users flock to Chrome as it hits 1.5% adoption
- Week in Tech: Microsoft has a good week at the Office
- Apple's iTunes Movies in the Cloud service comes to UK users
- Google releases the full Android 4.1: Jelly Bean SDK
| Office on Windows RT almost identical to Office 2013 Posted:  We've seen glimpses of the desktop Office apps that will come with Windows RT, but they weren't part of the demos as the Office 2013 launch this week and we didn't get a list of features. But if we had seen them in action, Office vice president P J Hough told TechRadar, we probably wouldn't have noticed. "For the apps that are on Windows RT – Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote - you would not have seen any perceivable difference. It is the modern version of Office that we're putting on that device, it is touch enabled in all the same ways, it supports all the same app model." That's the desktop apps; don't expect Metro apps to have all the same features as desktop Office. As we already noted, OneNote for Windows 8 lets you play back audio recordings but not make them, and you can only open OneNote notebooks saved on SkyDrive, not notebooks that live on a file server your PC connects to in the Office. For those, you have to stick with desktop OneNote. Hough also confirmed what Chris Pratley told TechRadar recently; that there will be more Office apps running in Metro in the future, which means they'll be available on ARM-based Windows RT devices like the Microsoft Surface. There aren't any technical issues, just a question of development time. "We're working on lots of things. We though the first priority was to get the core document apps onto the ARM devices; that's [just] the first step for us." Security and Office appsThe question of the 'app model' is particularly interesting. You can't install third-party code like browser plugins on Windows RT, so add-ins for Excel, Word, Outlook and OneNote are probably out. But the new 'apps for Office' announced for Office 2013 are written in HTML and JavaScript, so an app is basically a webpage that is hosted inside an Office application (Word, Excel, Outlook or Project). If you're not installing code on the desktop, that will still run on Word and Excel on Windows RT as well as in the Office Web apps.
If you're using them with the Office Web Apps, Office companion apps aren't tied to Internet Explorer; if you're using them with the Windows version of Office, they need IE 9 or later, so they can take advantage of Chakra – the JavaScript rendering engine that makes IE 9 and 10 so fast and powers HTML/JavaScript apps in Metro. Isn't putting Web pages inside Office a potential security threat? They don't use ActiveX controls and they run in a sandbox, Hough told us, and Microsoft has deliberately limited what the new apps can do. "The API is much smaller than the APIs we've exposed in the past. The hosting of the web control inside the applications [is done] in a secure way such that the only thing that the HTML and JavaScript code you download can talk to is the Office API that's approved. "Rather than opening up a surface for security we've been quite careful about making the API be quite narrow and specific. We will add capability to it over time but it starts out quite small with that intent in mind." And narrow doesn't mean too basic to be useful, he claims. "We've been surprised at how much power we've been able to derive from the applications we've built." |
| In Depth: 10 best free lightweight security tools Posted:  10 best free lightweight security toolsGo shopping for security software right now and you'll be bombarded with companies telling you their suite offers the total solution to all your security needs - but the reality is a little different. Installing a good security suite will make you safer, but no matter how bulky it is, how lengthy the feature list, you can always benefit from adding a few extra tools. If your antivirus engine misses some malware, for instance - and this will happen, as nothing is 100% accurate - it could be very useful to have a second antivirus option to hand, just in case. What to choose, though? Adding another heavyweight security package is usually a bad idea. It'll probably conflict with the first, maybe cause crashes and slow your system down. What you really need is one of our tiny tools. We have programs to find malware, encrypt confidential files, track PC usage and more; they include some useful functions you won't find in even the largest security suite; and yet they're all free, super-lightweight and very easy to use. 1. System Security Guard 3.1.0 portable - 3.33 MB
If you think your PC is infected by malware then you could use Task Manager to check what's running - but there's no way to tell which processes are safe, and which could be risky. Unless, that is, you run System Security Guard. Just click "Security Check" and the program will check all your running programs against its online security database, and highlighting any potential dangers. It's not a complete solution - find something bad and you'll still have to remove it yourself - but this is still a useful way to at least identify malicious programs. 2. Encryption Wizard 3.3.4 - 1.24 MB
File encryption is a great way to protect confidential files from snoopers. If you're working on someone else's PC, though, you may not have an encryption tool available - and that's where Encryption Wizard comes in. Designed for the US military, but free for anyone to use, Encryption Wizard is Java-based. So copy the EW-Public-3.3.4.jar file from the download file onto a USB key, and you'll be able to run it on any computer where Java is available: Windows, Mac, or Linux. Once launched, just drag and drop files onto the program and enter a passphrase to encrypt them. Decrypting the files is just as easy, but a PDF manual is available if you need it. 3. Free USB Guard 1.30 - 248KB
USB drives are small, convenient, easy to carry around. Unfortunately they're also easy to forget, and if you leave one behind somewhere then you're giving any passer-by free access to all your data. Free USB Guard may be able to help, though. Set the program running and it'll automatically monitor your PC. And if you try to shut down with a USB key connected (or a disc in the DVD drive) then the program will pop up to warn you. Which of course won't help you at all if you're leaving the PC running, not closing it down, but Free USB Guard is probably still useful enough to justify adding to your portable security toolkit. 4. ESET Rogue Applications Remover 1.0.2.0 - 2.57 MB
If you're stuck with stubborn malware which just won't go away, then don't immediately look to install a complete new antivirus package. Most antivirus vendors produce a host of tiny portable tools which will scan your PC and try to remove any dangers. The ESET Rogue Applications Remover, for instance, specialises in exterminating rogue antivirus programs and similar menaces. It's a command-line tool, but very simple to use - just double-click the download file and watch as it checks your system for dangers. 5. FolderChangesView 1.0.0.0 - 92KB
If your PC's hard drive is being accessed regularly and you don't know why, then you might wonder if a virus is to blame - but FolderChangesView can give you more information. Launch the program, and choose the drive and base folder to monitor (the default C:\ is a good place to start). Click OK, then keep watching. The next time a file is created, changed or modified, anywhere under your base folder, FolderChangesView will tell you all about it. And just looking at the names of the files and folders involved will probably reveal which of your applications is responsible for all the excess activity. 6. KeyScrambler Personal 2.9.2 - 3.39 MB
Keyloggers are a particularly dangerous type of malware, which burrow into your PC and then record everything you type: user names, passwords, everything. KeyScrambler Personal can offer at least a little protection, though. The program encrypts everything you type in IE and Firefox, so even if you are hit by a keylogger, it won't be able to steal your web logons. What about Chrome, Safari, other applications? The author also produces commercial versions of KeyScrambler which offer extra protection. Check the QFX Software site if you're interested. 7. PC On/Off Time 3.0.0.0 - 540 KB
Has someone been using your PC without your knowledge? PC On/Off Time may be able to help you find out. Just launch the program on your system and it'll immediately show you a daily timeline of when the computer was running for the last three weeks, so if someone has been firing it up at an odd time then this will be very obvious. Better still, there's no need to install any monitoring tool to make this happen. PC On/Off Time pulls all its information from the Windows Event Logs, which makes it super-lightweight: everything you need is in a single portable 490KB file. 8. FreeFixer 0.62 - 3.37MB
Your PC is infected by something nasty, but your regular antivirus tool hasn't raised an alert? Then FreeFixer may be able to help. Essentially the program produces a lengthy report detailing all the common places where malware might hide: drivers, startup programs, browser toolbars, Windows services, Explorer addons and the list goes on. Known safe files aren't displayed, so FreeFixer quickly draws your attention to potential problems, and if you're sure you've found something dangerous then the program can try to remove it in a click. This can be a very effective program, but be careful - delete the wrong thing and you could trash your system. FreeFixer is really only for experienced PC users, and even then you shouldn't run it unless you have a full backup available. 9. TinyWall 2.0 - 1.05 MB
The Windows firewall gets a lot of criticism, but this is often unfair: the underlying technology is fine, it's just that the interface and configuration are poor. And that's where TinyWall comes in. This smart security tool takes the Windows firewall and extends it, allowing the program to learn which programs should go online, and then automatically blocking everything else (no annoying pop-ups here). And TinyWall does a good job of preventing malicious files from tampering with your settings, too (there's HOSTS file protection, for instance). The only problem is that security is so tight that the program may occasionally block legitimate programs, which can be worrying as you won't get a prompt warning you about this. And so TinyWall probably works best for experienced Windows users, who'll take the time to understand exactly what it's doing. 10. F-Secure Easy Clean 1.2 - 3.97 MB
No one antivirus tool will detect 100% of threats, so it pays to have one or two alternatives scanners around, just in case - and F-Secure Easy Clean 1.2 could be the ideal choice. The program is small and portable, for instance, so there's nothing to install. Keep the program on a USB key and you can run it on any Windows system you use. It's very simple, too. There's nothing to configure, no complex decisions to make, just click the Scan button and leave Easy Clean to check your system. (It will want to reboot your system, but you'll be warned before this happens.) And yet, despite all this, the program still does a good job of removing many of the most common threats. And it can even contact F-Secure's servers for information on the very latest dangers. If you need a little extra antivirus help then grab a copy for yourself, see what Easy Clean can do on your own system. |
| Apple removes privacy utility app Clueful Posted:  Clueful, an application designed to identify how iOS apps use private data and treat privacy has been removed by Apple. However, iPhone owners who already use Clueful privacy may continue to do so, according to a press release. BitDefender, the company behind the app, says it is studying the reasons for removal put forth by Apple. DefenderThe statement from the company further added that it remains committed to "continued development of Clueful and will resubmit to Apple" once it's worked out what it needs to change. From its study of more than 60,000 popular iOS apps, Clueful found 42.5 per cent were not encrypting users' personal data, even when sending it over public Wi-Fi. Clueful's data also revealed that 41.4 per cent of the analysed apps can track a user's location "While most app developers use this information for legitimate purposes, others might not," said Catalin Cosoi, Bitdefender's chief security researcher. "Clueful was the best way for iPhone owners to know the difference. While Clueful remains off the App Store, we are working hard toward understanding why our app was removed and to develop the app to improve its chances of staying there." |
| iOS users flock to Chrome as it hits 1.5% adoption Posted:  Google Chrome for iOS is already cutting into Safari's lead as it hit 1.5 per cent of all US and Canadian iOS traffic within three weeks of launching. Online advertising network Chitika released its findings after it launched a Chrome iOS adoption tracker. Chrome's share of traffic shot to over 1 per cent only between July 2 and 3, when it showed up on Chitika's network for the first time. This is speculated to have been brought about by word of mouth referrals and aided by the app's position on the App Store charts, according to the network. Dip dip diveChrome's share has since dipped to 1.2 per cent of iOS web traffic over the past 24 hours but when Chrome reached its high mark on iOS browser share, 14.5 per cent of users were using a platform other than Safari. This number has risen to 18.2 per cent on Friday. Users flocking to another browser is telling "of how consumers interact, share, and navigate the Web using smartphones and the constantly increasing number of applications available to them," Chitika said. Google unveiled the iOS version of Chrome at last month's Google I/O developer conference. |
| Week in Tech: Microsoft has a good week at the Office Posted: The words "office" and "exciting" usually go together like "underpants" and "blancmange", but Microsoft has changed all that: the new version of Office, Microsoft's 15th, is a big leap forwards. Office 2013 is to its predecessors what Windows 8 is to earlier Windows: better looking, more useful and quite different - and like Windows 8, you can download it for free to put it through its paces. There are three big changes to Office: the interface, its use of the cloud, and the ways in which you can buy it. As Mary Branscombe explains, "One major difference with Office 2013 is that there's a new way of buying it. Although boxed copies and online downloads are still available, you can also get an Office 365 subscription that gets you all Office core apps for all the platforms you use (there are Home, Small Business, ProPlus and Enterprise plans to choose from). Instead of having to pay again for Mac Office or the iPhone OneNote app, you just get them all." The most obvious change is the "metrified" interface, which is particularly good on OneNote: as Branscombe says, it "really shines in Metro, taking advantage of touchscreens to make it easy to navigate between pages and notebooks or to have the whole page for taking notes on. "Even if you don't use a pen to take notes, touch comes in handy for editing; when you select text with your finger a radial menu opens with contextual tools for formatting text, undoing edits, applying tags or snapping pictures with the camera on your tablet." The rest of the "metrification" is more subtle, Microsoft general manager Chris Pratley says: Office 2013 is the Office you know, in fancy new trousers. "We didn't mess around with the ribbon; we Metrified it but we didn't change a lot of stuff. Instead it's all about connecting to the cloud, making it your Office regardless of device. Making it Metro and smooth and live and digital." Key new features include "the in-place email replies in Outlook, Excel's Quick Analysis lens for suggesting chart and pivot table layouts and the Flash Fill tool that makes it easy to get information out of badly formatted data". So is it any good? In her typically exhaustive Office 2013 review, Mary Branscombe says Office 2013 isn't just a pretty face. "This is another big advance in usability, combined with some extremely clever new tools. There are features for power users, especially in Excel and PowerPoint, and there are far more features that either make it easier to use the power of existing tools or give you whole new ways to achieve what you're trying to do without having to be an expert." It's not perfect - there are still some rough edges to be tidied up, and the Metro interface makes some features, such as Autocorrect, harder to use, but "mostly Office 2013 gets the right balance between streamlining and oversimplifying" - and as it's available as a subscription service, "you won't have to wait as long to get updates and improvements". The price and UK release date haven't been announced yet, and Office 2013 might not ship until well after Windows 8 does: the Windows 8 launch date has been confirmed as 26 October. Sadly Windows XP and Windows Vista users won't be able to join this Office party. Call or text? TEXTWhen did you last call your mother? According to Ofcom, you probably texted her instead: Ofcom's latest research found that texting is now more popular than making calls. Kate Solomon was quick to sing the praises of the humble SMS. "I'm talking about the post-date afterglow, the short late-night note that lets you know someone's thinking about you, the in-jokes and even the outlandish ones that make your throw your phone across the room in frustration... you can say things in a text message that you can't say out loud, especially when you're caught up in that heady cocktail of hormones and boredom." The phone call is heading into history, Solomon suggests, and that's okay: mobiles replaced landlines, and landlines replaced letters. "Before long," she says, "something new will come along and we'll do the whole dance all over again." |
| Apple's iTunes Movies in the Cloud service comes to UK users Posted:  Apple has extended the iTunes in the Cloud functionality for UK users to movies bought from its store. Thursday's roll-out means that iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac users will be able to, on command, access their movie purchases on the go, through the iCloud online storage portal. iTunes in the Cloud was initially opened up to iTunes Music purchases, books and apps but was extended to TV shows. Now UK users have access to their digital full-length movie purchases also. The new functionality means it's less necessary for users with limited hard-drive space to carry these large files around on their iOS device or MacBook laptop. They can now be downloaded at will by hitting the Cloud icon on the 'Purchased' tab within the iTunes Store and deleted when done, saving valuable space. New countriesThe roll-out extends to 37 countries in total, with Australia, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and a whole host of countries in South and Central America and throughout the Pacific region among the welcome recipients. Apple has now updated its 'by country' availability pages and UK fans now have access to the full range of services offered by iTunes in the Cloud. Music, Music Videos, Movies, TV Shows, Apps and Books can now stored in the cloud to redownload whenever the user desires. There's also iTunes Match, which scans a user's digital music collection and makes it easily accessible over iCloud for a subscription fee of £21.99 a year. |
| Google releases the full Android 4.1: Jelly Bean SDK Posted:  Google announced in a blog post Wednesday that the Android 4.1: Jelly Bean software development kit (SDK) has been released in full to developers. "We are pleased to announce that the full SDK for Android 4.1 is now available to developers and can be downloaded through your SDK Manager," Android engineer Nick Butcher wrote on the Android Developers Blog. Android developers can now create and publish apps against API level 16 using the new Jelly Bean APIs, the post says, adding that Google is also releasing SDK Tools revision 20.0.1 and native development kit (NDK) revision 8b with bug fixes. Another sweet update"For many people, their first taste of Jelly Bean will be on the beautiful Nexus 7," says the post, noting that "most applications will run just fine on Nexus 7." Nevertheless, Google is encouraging developers to "make sure that [they're] keeping up" by updating their apps for the new OS version. With the correct tools in every Android developer's hands, Jelly Bean could launch with more up-to-date apps than any previous Android update yet. The Nexus 7, Google's flagship Jelly Bean device, is set to ship this month, with pre-orders reportedly going out in the next week or so. Google previously announced that the Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Google Nexus S will be getting the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update this month as well, though the update's wider release was still on the hush earlier this month. At the Google IO 2012 summit, the search giant made a promise to help Android device manufacturers "create new guidelines for how quickly devices will get updated after new Android platform releases." More recently, Google announced plans to start releasing Platform Development Kits (PDK) before any major OS release. The PDK is "like the SDK, but for Android hardware developers," said Android director Hugo Barra. But Google hasn't yet announced plans to release the Jelly Bean PDK, which would aid further in getting the Jelly Bean update onto as many devices as quickly as possible. Update: a Google spokesperson responded to TechRadar's query, saying that Google has yet to make another announcement regarding the availability of a PDK. "A lot of work has gone into making Jelly Bean buttery smooth," Butcher wrote in yesterday's blog post. "Make sure your app is as well." |
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