Comparison Chart for Office 2007 Suites

Find out which flavor meets your needs. Click on the Chart to zoom in:

Full details from the Office 2007 Portal.

Managing Task Panes in Word 2007 and InfoPath 2007 Using Visual Studio Tools for Office

Visual Studio Tools for Office 2005 Second Edition Sample: Managing Task Panes in Word 2007 and InfoPath 2007 Using Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO) 2005 SE VSTO 2005 SE samples that provide code examples for the management of task panes in Microsoft Word 2007 and InfoPath 2007.

Get Started Tabs for Office 2007

Again nothing for Access 2007 :(

Excel 2007 Add-in: Get Started Tab for Excel 2007 Adds a Get Started tab to the Microsoft Office Excel 2007 Ribbon. Commands on this tab give you easy access to free content on Office Online that helps you learn Excel 2007 quickly.

PowerPoint 2007 Add-in: Get Started Tab for PowerPoint 2007 Adds a Get Started tab to the Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 Ribbon. Commands on this tab give you easy access to free content on Office Online that helps you learn PowerPoint 2007 quickly.

Word 2007 Add-in: Get Started Tab for Word 2007 Adds a Get Started tab to the Microsoft Office Word 2007 Ribbon. Commands on this tab give you easy access to free content on Office Online that helps you learn Word 2007 quickly.

Advanced Security Features in SQL Server 2005

Advanced Security Features in SQL Server 2005 This updated MSDN article discusses:

• Granular permissions and the principle of least privilege
• Controling metadata visibility
• Separation of users and schemas
• Execution context and encryption in the database

18 New Templates for SharePoint!

Something for every one here:

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Application Template: Disputed Invoice Management The Disputed Invoice Management application template for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 helps accounts payable departments track open invoices including the potential savings associated with paying the invoice early.

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Application Template: Sports League The Sports League application template for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 helps an intra-company league administrator manage a baseball league.

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Application Templates: All Site Admin Templates This download package includes all twenty site admininstration Application Templates for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0.

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Application Template: Board of Directors The Board of Directors application template for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 provides a single location for an external group of members to store and locate common documents such as quarterly reviews, shareholder meeting notes and annual strategy documents.

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Application Template: Equity Research The Equity Research application template for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 helps teams collaborate on researching stocks and other equities.

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Application Template: Classroom Management The Classroom Management application template for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 helps instructors and students organize and store information related to a particular class.

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Application Template: Employee Training Scheduling And Materials The Employee Training Scheduling and Materials application template for Microsoft Office SharePoint Services 3.0 helps instructors and employees manage courses and related materials.

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Application Template: New Store Opening The New Store Opening application template for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 helps a team manage the opening of new store locations or remodeling of existing store location.

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Application Template: Employee Activities Site The Employee Activities Site application template for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 helps manage the creation and attendance of events for employees.

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Application Template: Manufacturing Process Management The Manufacturing Process Management application template for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 helps teams to model and track manufacturing processes as well as tasks and issues that arise in the upkeep of these processes.

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Application Template: Competitive Analysis Site The Competitive Analysis Site application template for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 helps teams organize information about competitors and their products.

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Application Template: Discussion Database The Discussion Database application template for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 provides a location where team members can create and reply to discussion topics.

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Application Template: Request for Proposal The Request for Proposal application template for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 helps manage the process of creating and releasing an initial RFP, collecting submissions of proposals and formally accepting the selected proposal from amongst those submitted.

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Application Template: Product and Marketing Requirements Planning The Product and Marketing Requirements Planning application template for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 enables teams to manage the process of collecting and documenting requirements for new products.

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Application Template: Business Performance Reporting The Business Performance Reporting application template for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 helps organization managers track the satisfaction of customers through a combination of surveys and discussions.

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Application Template: Timecard Management The Timecard Management application template for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 helps teams track hours spent working on various projects.

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Application Template: Employee Self-Service Benefits The Employee Self-Service Benefits application template for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 provides tools for an organization to inform employees about available benefits as well as enabling them to enroll for each benefit.

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Application Template: Case Management for Government Agencies The Case Management for Government Agencies application template for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 helps case managers track the status and tasks required to complete their work.

Sharepoint Services 3.0 Get Up to Speed

These new guides from MS provide a valuable introduction to Sharepoint technology:

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Document: Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services Quick Reference Guide This quick reference guide provides helpful tips and tricks for using Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services while highlighting new features in Version 3.0.

Windows SharePoint Services Document: Collaboration on the Go This article introduces some of the new features in Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 that provide added flexibility, enabling teams to take full advantage of workspace-based collaboration—even on the go.

New Video Series: SQL Server 2005 Express Edition for Beginners

Getting Started with SQL Server Express Learn the basics of how to create, manage, and connect to SQL Server Express databases with this series of 9 hours of video-based instruction that walks SQL Server beginners through the steps of learning about SQL Server databases to actually connecting a SQL Server database to a Web application. From MSDN.

Introduction
Learning Video 1: What is a database?

Designing Tables
Learning Video 2: Understanding Database Tables and Records
Learning Video 3: More about Column Data Types and Other Properties
Learning Video 4: Designing Relational Database Tables

Database Functions
Learning Video 5: Manipulating Database Data
Learning Video 6: More Structured Query Language
Learning Video 12: Creating and Using Stored Procedures
Learning Video 13: Enabling Full-Text Search in your Text Data

Creating and Using Reports
Learning Video 10: Getting Started with Reporting Services
Learning Video 11: Embedding, Packaging and Deploying SQL Server Express Reporting Services

Database Security
Learning Video 7: Understanding Security and Network Connectivity

Database Management
Learning Video 9: Using SQL Server Management Studio Express

Publishing to the Web
Learning Video 8: Connecting your Web Application to SQL Server 2005 Express Edition

Office 2007 Interactive Command Reference Guides

Nothing for Access 2007 yet :(

Word 2007 Guide: Word 2003 to Word 2007 interactive command reference guide
Excel 2007 Guide: Excel 2003 to Excel 2007 interactive command reference guide
PowerPoint 2007 Guide: PowerPoint 2003 to PowerPoint 2007 interactive command reference guide

Office 2007 Ribbon Customization: Update

On the OpenXML.org site there is a link to an applet created by Trang Luu for working with Office 2007 Ribbon customizations stored in Office Open XML documents: Office Custom UI Editor.

The Editor simplifies the process of extending an Office ribbon by adding new groups and controls, hiding existing ribbon elements, and defining callbacks to handlers in managed code. Other features include inserting custom control icons, generating callbacks, and validating custom XML.

SharePoint 2007 Development Guide

Seven Development Projects with the 2007 Microsoft Office System and Windows SharePoint Services 2007 (PDF) This guide highlights architectural underpinnings, the latest enhancements for developers, and code samples for building custom applications and solutions.

Latest MS Office Resources from Microsoft

Office Business Applications This book is about composite applications and how they can be developed as OBAs using the 2007 Microsoft Office System.

Word 2007: Rich Text Format (RTF) Specification, version 1.9 The Rich Text Format (RTF) Specification provides a format for text and graphics interchange that can be used with different output devices, operating environments, and operating systems.

SharePoint Server 2007 Code Sample: Item-Level Auditing This code sample shows you how to create an item-level auditing view programmatically in three different ways: using a custom SharePoint list, through the Excel client, and by manipulating the open XML file format to display auditing history.

Microsoft Office Live Code Sample: Contact Map This download will install a sample code mashup for Microsoft Office Live which is designed to map the addresses of all contacts included in an Office Live Business Contact Manager application.

Conditional Formatting: Adding Custom Conditional Formatting to Excel 2007 Learn about enhancements to conditional formatting and how you can create custom conditional formatting options by using the Ribbon in Microsoft Office Excel 2007.

Office Space: Building Office Open XML Files This new MSDN column explores how you can extend and customize Microsoft Office System applications and file formats.

Office 2007 Blogs

2007 Office System Sample: Office Development Bloggers OPML Download this OPML for use in RSS feeds to get a list of over 60 MSDN Office-related blogs.

Download ServicePack 1 for Visual Studio Express Editions

Visual Studio® 2005 Express Editions SP1 This download installs Service Pack 1 for Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2005 Express Editions.

Is Your PC Secure: Free On-Line Analysis

Secunia Software Inspector detects insecure versions of applications installed on your PC, verifies that all Microsoft patches are applied, and assists in updating your system and applications. Runs through your browser. No installation or download required. I have found it an excellent update tool, which also identifies obsolete installations. You can subscribe to receive an email alert each time a security signature is updated.

All About SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition: 5 New Article Links

Rapid Application Development Using SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition and Visual Basic.NET Leverage the design capabilities integrated into Visual Studio 2005 in order to rapidly develop applications that use data stored in a SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition database.

SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition Data Access with the SqlCeResultSet and Visual Basic.NET Use the SqlCeResultSet, a powerful cursor-based data-access implementation, to access data from SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition.

Configuring Internet Information Services for SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition Remote Data Access and Merge Replication Configuring IIS for both remote data access & merge replication, two technologies you can use to synchronize data between a SQL Server 2005 back-end DB & a local SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition DB. Configuring a server for data synchronization using RDA.

Configuring Internet Information Server for SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition Remote Data Access and Merge Replication Configure IIS for remote data access (RDA) to synchronize data between a SQL Server 2005 backend database and a local SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition database.

Remote Data Access Synchronization with SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition and Visual Basic.NET How to create a Windows Forms app using Visual Basic.NET that synchronizes data between a SQL Server 2005 database and a SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition database using Remote Data Access (RDA).

Customizing the Office 2007 Ribbon: Easier Said Than Done

I am not a fan of the new Ribbon paradigm in Office 2007, but I have seen how it can be integrated into the new Access 2007 gui with good effect: the sample Access 2007 Marketing Application from Microsoft is an excellent example of how to use the Ribbon and the new Navigation Bar.

The trouble is that creating custom Ribbons is messy and not a native Access feature. You must use tools outside Office/VBA. The Ribbon process in Access 2007 is driven by a set of system tables, but there is no native interface for visually building or customizing a RibbonBar inside Access. A minimum tool-set would be an XML editor and a list of Office 2007 Control ID's currently available only as an Excel spreadsheet. Debugging is a nightmare.

When CommandBars were launched in Access 95, at least there was a way for even non-developers to visually build CommandBars with full drag'n'drop functionality.

MSDN articles on customizing the Ribbon:

Office RibbonX API: Extend The 2007 Office System With Your Own Ribbon Tabs And Controls An introduction to the Ribbon, RibbonX controls and features, upgrading add-ins to use RibbonX, and building add-ins for Word and Excel.

Ribbon Extensibility in Access 2007 Learn how you can create a custom Ribbon for an Access 2007 database by using only Ribbon extensibility markup XML and macros. Discover how to create a command space without writing any code and also learn about more advanced scenarios that require code.

How To Create MS Office Add-Ins Using Visual Studio For Office

Develop Add-Ins For PowerPoint And Visio Using VSTO This MSDN article discusses extensibility for Microsoft Office applications by reference to the PowerPoint Visio object models.

New Visual Studio Extension for Database Developers

A Security Overview of Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Database Professionals Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Database Professionals (DB Pro) is the most recent addition to the Microsoft Visual Studio Team Suite of products. The mission of this product is to bring developers of database application code (Transact-SQL for Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and Microsoft SQL Server 2005) into the application development life cycle. For more product information about Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Database Professionals, see the Database Professional Team Center for Visual Studio Team System.

Office Live Sample Code

Office Live Code Sample: Time Card This download installs the Time Card sample code for Microsoft Office Live, which is designed to track and record time spent on tasks included in an Office Live Project Manager application.

New SQL Server Publishing Tools

SQL Server Database Publishing Wizard 1.0 The SQL Server Database Publishing Wizard provides a way to publish databases to T-SQL scripts or directly to supporting hosting service providers.

SQL Server Database Publishing Services 1.0 SQL Server Database Publishing Services can be deployed by shared hosting providers to enable publishing of SQL Server databases over the Internet.

Best Practice White Papers for MS Office

These are simple, easy-to-use customizable job aids created by Microsoft IT:

• Work smarter using the 2007 Microsoft Office system and Windows Vista
• Work smarter using the 2003 Microsoft Office system and Windows XP
• Windows Vista and Microsoft Office Work Smarter Checklist

Get a FREE Copy of Office 2007 Professional

US residents only. Receive a FREE copy of Microsoft Office Professional 2007 when you attend a US launch event for Office 2007. Register for an event. Let's hope we outside the US are given the same opportunity...

Free 90 Day Sharepoint Server 2007 Trial

 Australia's largest web hosting provider, WebCentral, is offering  a no obligation 90 day trial of SharePoint Server 2007 technology from trialsharepoint.com.

WebCentral will host an intranet on their server for you. You can also use WebCentral’s Trial SharePoint service to experiment with SharePoint 2007 out-of-box custom templates.

This Offer also allows MS Access developers to fully investigate the new integrated Sharepoint technologies in Access 2007.

WebCentral's Trial SharePoint Offer ends 1 March, 2007.