Office 12 floats Paul Thurrott’s boat

Uncategorized 0 Minutes

I ran into Paul Thurrott tonight at one of those stick-50-companies-into-a-room-with-beer-and-finger-food-and-pour-press-people-in parties and we got to talking about Office 12. He says Office 12 is both shocking and exciting. And a few other things in his part 1 of “Inside Office 12.”

Advertisements

Published by Robert Scoble

I give you a front-row seat on the future. Focusing most of my efforts now on next-generation augmented reality and artificial intelligence, AKA "mixed reality." SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER: http://clevermoe.com/scobleizer-news/ BUY OUR NEW BOOK: https://www.amazon.com/Fourth-Transformation-Robert-Scoble/dp/1539894444 "The Fourth Transformation: How augmented reality and artificial intelligence will change everything." WATCH MY LATEST SPEECHES: State of VR with Philip Rosedale (done in VR itself, very cool): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zAA1EVGUZU At GEOINT, June 2017: http://trajectorymagazine.com/glimpse-new-world/ Augmented World Expo, June 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4xHILvLD8E At Leade.rs, April 2017: https://youtu.be/52_0JshgjXI +++++++++++ BIO: Scoble gives you a front-row seat on the future. Literally. He had the first ride in the first Tesla. Siri was launched in his house. He's been the first to share all sorts of technologies and companies with you, from Flipboard to Pandora to Instagram. Today he's focusing on mixed reality, AKA "next-generation augmented reality" which will include a new user interface for EVERYTHING in your life (IoT, Smart Cities, driverless cars, robots, drones, etc). That's based on his view thanks to his past experience as futurist at Rackspace. Best place to find Scoble? On his Facebook profile at https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble He has been a technology blogger since 2000, was one of five people who built Microsoft's Channel 9 video blog/community, worked at Fast Company Magazine running its TV efforts, and has been part of technology media businesses since 1993. ++++++++ SPEAKER PITCH: Apple and Facebook now have revealed their Augmented Reality strategies, which means your business needs one too. Rely on Robert Scoble, the world's top authority on AR, to bring to your conference what businesses should do next. SPEECH ABSTRACT #1: TITLE: The Fourth Transformation: What's next in mixed reality (AR and AI) and the future of technology? Here's an example of this talk at Leade.rs in Paris in April, 2017: https://youtu.be/52_0JshgjXI Why "the Fourth Transformation?" Soon we will have phones and glasses that do full on augmented reality. Everything you look at will potentially be augmented. This world is coming in late 2017 with a new iPhone from Apple, amongst other products. Microsoft is betting everything on its HoloLens glasses that do mixed reality and the industry is spending many billions of dollars in R&D and funding new companies like Magic Leap. This future will be the user interface for IoT, Smart Cities, autonomous cars, robots, drones, and your TV. This is a big deal and Robert will take you through what mixed reality is and how it will change every business. Learn more about Robert's speaking style and contact his agent at http://odemanagement.com/robert-scoble/Robert-Scoble.html ++++++++ SPEECH ABSTRACT #2: "The Next Two Clicks of Moore's Law." Over the next four years, or two clicks of Moore's Law, a ton about our technology world will change. Scoble will bring you the best from his travels visiting R&D labs, startups, and innovators around the world. He views the world through his rose-colored-mixed-reality glasses, which will be the new user interface for self driving cars, Smart Cities, IoT, and many other things in our world. He'll send you off with some lessons for companies both large and small. ++++++++ SPEECH ABSTRACT #3: "Personalized Meaning: What is Augmented Reality For?" As we enter a far more technological world where even cars drive themselves, I predict we'll see a blowback toward the analog, more authentic world. What role does augmented reality play in both worlds? Get Scoble's insight into where augmented reality is going, see tons of real-world demos, and understand what he means by 'personalized meaning.' CONTACT: If you are looking to contact me, email is best: scobleizer@gmail.com. ++++++++ ENDORSEMENTS: IZEA Top 25 Tech Influencers: https://izea.com/2017/07/07/25-top-tech-influencers/ Time: One of the top 140 Twitterers! FT: One of the five most influential Twitterers! Inc. Top 5 on list of Tech Power Players You Need to Know: http://www.inc.com/john-rampton/30-power-players-in-tech-you-need-to-know.html Next Reality: #4 on top 50 AR influencer list: https://next.reality.news/news/nr50-next-realitys-50-people-watch-augmented-mixed-reality-0177454/

Published

52 thoughts on “Office 12 floats Paul Thurrott’s boat”

  1. Thurrott?

    Jeez, that guy has been so wrong the last couple a years about apple, it’s hilarious (actually, pathetic is a better term).

    Hope he’s a bit more accurate on the Office front.

    Like

  2. Thurrott?

    Jeez, that guy has been so wrong the last couple a years about apple, it’s hilarious (actually, pathetic is a better term).

    Hope he’s a bit more accurate on the Office front.

    Like

  3. Apple’s biggest problem is it’s lunatic fringe (it’s fans), Microsoft should be grateful it only has Paul.

    Like

  7. “shocking and exciting”?? Isn’t office “productivity” software? office is as exciting as an IBM mainframe.

    Like

  8. “shocking and exciting”?? Isn’t office “productivity” software? office is as exciting as an IBM mainframe.

    Like

  9. Let’s hope that Office 12 teaches Gerry the difference between “its” and “it’s”. Now that would be really cool.

    Like

  10. Let’s hope that Office 12 teaches Gerry the difference between “its” and “it’s”. Now that would be really cool.

    Like

  13. Ron: I totally disagree. This version of Office is quite different and quite better than what we’ve seen before.

    Like

  14. Ron: I totally disagree. This version of Office is quite different and quite better than what we’ve seen before.

    Like

  19. Thurott is a technologist, not a user.

    Task-oriented interfaces were “invented” back in Office XP (perhaps that explains the XP in the name) with smart tags and task panes. This is getting fixed somewhat. Unfortunately a whole new class of problems are making their way. Example : it’s harder to know what is the actual selection between the highlights in the ribbon, chunk, actual content, and floatie. To me it’s a mess. Your mileage may vary, however.

    Of course, the question is : what’s new? If people found out that they would better off simply sticking to Wordpad for most of their needs, which is the best way to ensure their documents can be read decades from now, I wonder what they should think about MS initiatives anyway…

    And of course, as a user, the UI being reshuffled, it means the IT department must provision big retraining budgets. Of course, as file formats are now incompatible, it means IT must also provision for the equivalent of the Office95 / Office97 file format mess (even if MS is backing their ass saying a converter will be made available).

    Will be interesting to see how it comes out. Especially when there are so much thiner, better (even free) offerings out there.

    Like

  20. Thurott is a technologist, not a user.

    Task-oriented interfaces were “invented” back in Office XP (perhaps that explains the XP in the name) with smart tags and task panes. This is getting fixed somewhat. Unfortunately a whole new class of problems are making their way. Example : it’s harder to know what is the actual selection between the highlights in the ribbon, chunk, actual content, and floatie. To me it’s a mess. Your mileage may vary, however.

    Of course, the question is : what’s new? If people found out that they would better off simply sticking to Wordpad for most of their needs, which is the best way to ensure their documents can be read decades from now, I wonder what they should think about MS initiatives anyway…

    And of course, as a user, the UI being reshuffled, it means the IT department must provision big retraining budgets. Of course, as file formats are now incompatible, it means IT must also provision for the equivalent of the Office95 / Office97 file format mess (even if MS is backing their ass saying a converter will be made available).

    Will be interesting to see how it comes out. Especially when there are so much thiner, better (even free) offerings out there.

    Like

  21. anon: what’s new? The real question about Office 12 is “what’s old?”

    Watch for more videos on Channel 9. My favorites? PowerPoint’s new charting tool. Excel’s new Pivottable functionality. Word’s new Table and style functions. Outlook’s new meeting scheduler.

    Like

  22. anon: what’s new? The real question about Office 12 is “what’s old?”

    Watch for more videos on Channel 9. My favorites? PowerPoint’s new charting tool. Excel’s new Pivottable functionality. Word’s new Table and style functions. Outlook’s new meeting scheduler.

    Like

  23. Also I believe Office 12 is more setting the stage for future “more data centric” applications, and that will happen in future releases. Excel 12 seems headed towards this, and there is a likelihood some of the underlying libraries get shared among other Office apps. Not that there is anything wrong about it, just that people upgrading their Word/Spreadsheet apps should perhaps be told that they are moving towards what’s poised to become a BI tool instead. And a Windows-only tool, for that matter.

    Like

  24. Also I believe Office 12 is more setting the stage for future “more data centric” applications, and that will happen in future releases. Excel 12 seems headed towards this, and there is a likelihood some of the underlying libraries get shared among other Office apps. Not that there is anything wrong about it, just that people upgrading their Word/Spreadsheet apps should perhaps be told that they are moving towards what’s poised to become a BI tool instead. And a Windows-only tool, for that matter.

    Like

  27. Charting? Humm, Scoble watch people crying at their UI become a pig. You’d surprised about what’s not changed for almost two decades in the charting engine area. Except default translucency, and bevel. Gotta love that, heh!

    Like

  28. Charting? Humm, Scoble watch people crying at their UI become a pig. You’d surprised about what’s not changed for almost two decades in the charting engine area. Except default translucency, and bevel. Gotta love that, heh!

    Like

  35. Christopher: I’m an evangelist. Shoot me.
    An evangelist is paid to get developers to build software for the next version of the platform. So, thank you for saying I’m doing my job.

    Like

  36. Christopher: I’m an evangelist. Shoot me.
    An evangelist is paid to get developers to build software for the next version of the platform. So, thank you for saying I’m doing my job.

    Like

  37. Robert, can you clarify how the Office 12 NDA works?

    I had to sign an NDA to get the O12 Beta. The NDA states that I cannot write about the product. It seems to me that Paul Thurrott is either violating his NDA, or he’s working with an unauthorized copy of the beta.

    Like

  38. Robert, can you clarify how the Office 12 NDA works?

    I had to sign an NDA to get the O12 Beta. The NDA states that I cannot write about the product. It seems to me that Paul Thurrott is either violating his NDA, or he’s working with an unauthorized copy of the beta.

    Like

  39. Robert…it may be easier for you and other geeks to use untrained.

    In the real world, where people have almost-strokes because a button on a toolbar moved?

    Office 12 will, not may, but will require at least a six month period so you can roll it out in rather large chunks, and train people as you do so. I’m not saying the new UI wasn’t needed, but the idea you won’t need training is a PR fantasy.

    Like

  40. Robert…it may be easier for you and other geeks to use untrained.

    In the real world, where people have almost-strokes because a button on a toolbar moved?

    Office 12 will, not may, but will require at least a six month period so you can roll it out in rather large chunks, and train people as you do so. I’m not saying the new UI wasn’t needed, but the idea you won’t need training is a PR fantasy.

    Like

  41. Where’s compatibility with Open Office?

    Stuff like an office suite needs to be rolled up and bundled with the OS. In today’s market, it doesn’t make sense to charge customers extra for this kind of functionality.

    Like

  42. Where’s compatibility with Open Office?

    Stuff like an office suite needs to be rolled up and bundled with the OS. In today’s market, it doesn’t make sense to charge customers extra for this kind of functionality.

    Like

  43. I think the training need point is moot, to a certain extent. People in organisations that run training courses for employees such as “How to use Word”, see running training courses for things like this as a positive. So, for example, rolling out Office 12 will be a nice “project” for IT Support and Human Resources departments to collaborate on for a year or two.

    Organisations that don’t need to run training courses for things like this, will find that their employees will figure things out in Office 12 pretty quickly, I suspect.

    Like

  44. I think the training need point is moot, to a certain extent. People in organisations that run training courses for employees such as “How to use Word”, see running training courses for things like this as a positive. So, for example, rolling out Office 12 will be a nice “project” for IT Support and Human Resources departments to collaborate on for a year or two.

    Organisations that don’t need to run training courses for things like this, will find that their employees will figure things out in Office 12 pretty quickly, I suspect.

    Like

  47. Really? Shocking! When has Paul NOT liked something Microsoft made? That would be news.

    ” It seems to me that Paul Thurrott is either violating his NDA, or he’s working with an unauthorized copy of the beta.”

    Or Microsoft lets a few “select” windows bigots trumpet their horn for pr and to create a buzz.

    Marketers! Marketers! Marketers!…

    Like

  48. Really? Shocking! When has Paul NOT liked something Microsoft made? That would be news.

    ” It seems to me that Paul Thurrott is either violating his NDA, or he’s working with an unauthorized copy of the beta.”

    Or Microsoft lets a few “select” windows bigots trumpet their horn for pr and to create a buzz.

    Marketers! Marketers! Marketers!…

    Like

  49. Things MS Office hasn’t fixed in 10+ years:
    1. text import in Excel is great, really, really great. Try bringing in unformatted data in OpenOffice 1 and you’ll see what I mean. But Office doesn’t like text documents and won’t let you work with them. This is backwards for most people who work with data in a mixed environment (like everybody outside Redmond). I don’t expect OpenOffice support, but come on. Everybody uses data in text format. I don’t need error messages constantly while saving. Just give me one when I do something in Excel that can’t be saved to text format.
    2. Save dialog is inconsistent with extensions – if I save as text.csv, but I don’t use quotation marks, I get text.csv.txt, etc.
    3. Can I have post-it notes, Calendar and tasks enabled for home use without needing to setup up Outlook? Shouldn’t these things be in the OS?
    4. I’d like a vi-compatible mode for the editors in your IDEs.
    5. Actually, I’m not sure about this one, is VBA getting updated? Is there a plan? Can we know this upfront?
    6. It’s time for some housekeeping. Start with the ridiculous WordPerfect 5.1 compatibility options in Word. End with cleaning up the gi-normous Outlook options dialog box.

    Like

  50. Things MS Office hasn’t fixed in 10+ years:
    1. text import in Excel is great, really, really great. Try bringing in unformatted data in OpenOffice 1 and you’ll see what I mean. But Office doesn’t like text documents and won’t let you work with them. This is backwards for most people who work with data in a mixed environment (like everybody outside Redmond). I don’t expect OpenOffice support, but come on. Everybody uses data in text format. I don’t need error messages constantly while saving. Just give me one when I do something in Excel that can’t be saved to text format.
    2. Save dialog is inconsistent with extensions – if I save as text.csv, but I don’t use quotation marks, I get text.csv.txt, etc.
    3. Can I have post-it notes, Calendar and tasks enabled for home use without needing to setup up Outlook? Shouldn’t these things be in the OS?
    4. I’d like a vi-compatible mode for the editors in your IDEs.
    5. Actually, I’m not sure about this one, is VBA getting updated? Is there a plan? Can we know this upfront?
    6. It’s time for some housekeeping. Start with the ridiculous WordPerfect 5.1 compatibility options in Word. End with cleaning up the gi-normous Outlook options dialog box.

    Like

  51. I’d prefer a cheaper version of Office 12 where I can remove the functions I don’t want in it. I’d hate to pay big bucks for useless features. Let’s hope it can also sync well enough with PDAs like my Eten M600. I’m just sick of it hanging like a dead rat during the syncing process

    Like

  52. I’d prefer a cheaper version of Office 12 where I can remove the functions I don’t want in it. I’d hate to pay big bucks for useless features. Let’s hope it can also sync well enough with PDAs like my Eten M600. I’m just sick of it hanging like a dead rat during the syncing process

    Like

Comments are closed.