Microsoft 2007 compatibility issues

Yesterday, a student tried to open a doc on his USB key created with Microsoft Word 2007. Because our version is earlier -- 2002(?) -- the file was inaccessible.

A free patch is available for downloading and we tried this fix, but since our machines are locked down, the patch -- alas -- wouldn't take.

In a follow-up phone call to ITS, I learned that the patch is supposed to be sent out to all machines, although the date for deployment was uncertain. Steve will contact Al on our behalf to get a better sense of timeframe.

Should you have patrons using MS Word 2007 in the meantime, there are two workarounds:

1. for users who don't have their own laptops with them: suggest a trip to the computer labs in the Science Center. The HASCS desk confirmed that staff will be able to get the files open.

2. for users who do have their laptops: suggest that they save a copy of the document in a compatible format from the list of options they're offered. That should do the trick.

Buzzword

Several companies have introduced web-based word processors, such as Google Docs. The newest program, Buzzword, was presented today at a meeting of Harvard's Flash User Group. Buzzword is the product of a Boston area startup company called Virtual Ubiquity; it runs in the Flash Player (version 9), whereas other web-based word processors are written in versions of HTML. Two of the founders of Virtual Ubiquity demonstrated Buzzword, and I was very impressed by the apparent ease of editing, formatting, inserting images and comments, and sharing a document with other users for collaborative projects. The design of the interface is clean, beautiful, and innovative -- for example, the familiar righthand scroll bar in a document window was segmented into clickable sections, based on the number of pages in the document. And, like other web-based applications, Buzzword makes your documents available from any web connection. No more emailing documents back and forth! Buzzword, which will be free of charge, will be available in a beta 1.0 version in the fall; until then, you can arrange a preview by emailing info@virtub.com.