I can’t believe it has been two weeks already that I’ve used Ubuntu Linux exclusively. If I had to sum up the experience in one word, that word would be “satisfying.” And my regular readers/listeners know that I can’t sum anything up in one word, so I will use this format to provide a complete synopsis of my Ubuntu thoughts.
We are continuing to have problems with sending the newsletter out since our web host changed what they allow us to do. Rest assured we are working diligently to find a good solution for everyone. Remember that in the interim, we post the newsletter here on the site and you can read or print it from here. Please accept our apologies while we work on this problem.
I’m using the Ubuntu version of OpenOffice to work with our newsletter database to clean it up and find a new better solution for the newsletter. The spreadsheet in OpenOffice works great, but the database is pretty pokey compared to Windows based databases like File Maker Pro and Access.
I demonstrated today's tip in Microsoft Word, but it also works in all the Microsoft Office programs (Excel, Access, Publisher, Outlook, etc), WordPerfect, OpenOffice and others.
The tip is simple in its performance and gargantuan in its function. Format Painter copies formatting from one location and applies it to another. In the video example below, I formatted one line of text to have a particular look and it took 31 clicks of the mouse. Using Format Painter, I copied the look of that text to some plain text in just three steps. This technique comes in handy when formatting longer documents, spreadsheets, newsletters, etc and can save you a boat-load of time. Here's how to do it:
That's it!
Tip Within a Tip:
If you DOUBLE-CLICK the Format Painter button, you can apply the formatting changes to different parts of your document over and over until you unclick the Format Painter button.
In today's meetings, we downloaded, installed, and worked with Open Office. The FREE altnernative to Microsoft Office. To read why the software is free, read this information from their web site .
OpenOffice programs are completely compatible with Microsoft Office programs and allows you to read, edit, and create Office documents without owning the Microsoft Office suite. Here is a list of the programs and their functions in Open Office:
I wanted to give a quick update on a product that we started talking about on the show about four years ago. It's called OpenOffice . OpenOffice is considered an open source project which means that no one entity owns it (although Sun Microsystems pushed it hard in the early going), and anyone can use it for free. OpenOffice, as the name implies, is a productivity software. It contains a Microsoft Office compatible word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager and database. I installed it for my kids almost a year ago and have been rolling it out for more and more clients. I can honestly say that I'm impressed with the product.
Microsoft Office has dominated the office space (spreadsheet, word processor, presentation creation, etc). Over the recent few years, Open Office has made huge strides. Backed by Sun Microsystems and now Google as well among others, this suite of office products is poised to take off.
Open Office includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager, database program, and graphics program.
The download is huge and can take up to seven hours with dial-up Internet…so don’t attempt it unless you have a fast connection or a lot of time.