update: New Zealand's biggest IT users seem in no rush to deploy Microsoft's Office 2007, adopting a wait and see attitude to the software suite.
The federal Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources (DITR) has flagged plans to migrate its 2,900-strong desktop fleet to Microsoft's latest Windows Vista and Office 2007 software. But the move could still be some time away.
Microsoft is hoping that social networking techniques will help win a few friends for its enterprise search technology.
No large Australian organisations are known to be planning an Office 2010 migration, and many have not even completed their move to Office 2007.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has completed a deployment of Microsoft's new Office 2007 suite to 38,000 desktops a year after giving Google Apps the thumbs down.
Office 2007 continues to be the focus of discussion here at Big Deal, but the most recent crop of reactions to my postings have shifted from the possible nuisance value of interface changes to the potential upside for OpenOffice, the open-source rival to the desktop suite crown.
Here's what you should know before you invite the new Office onto your hard drive.
Organisations considering a change of productivity suites may do well to follow the example of Queensland University of Technology, which has taken a cautious approach to Microsoft Office 2007 and instead focused on sprucing up its back-end messaging environment.
While it doesn't bring the same jaw-dropping interface changes that accompany other modules in the Office 2007 suite, Outlook 2007 does provide a number of new and very useful features, and the interface does change a bit to accommodate some of these new features.
As Microsoft unveils the next version of its flagship Office suite, we ask: is it revolution or evolution?
There appears to be no doubt that Windows 7 will be significantly more popular in Australia than Vista was, a reality that will help Microsoft entrench its wider software portfolio even further into the enterprise.
If you work with Microsoft Outlook on a daily basis, this upgrade can make scheduling simpler and e-mailing more interesting. Still, we wish Instant Search and e-mail rendering were better.
If you're shopping at the premium end of the business desktop market, you'll be hard-pressed to do better than the Dell OptiPlex 960.
The HP Compaq dc7900 is a solid business offering in the premium desktop space, but the competition is a small step ahead.
The Lenovo A57 is a well-priced office desktop with a strong performance. While very similar to its smaller sibling, the M57e, the A57 offers better performance and upgrade options for a small price increase.
The second generation TouchSmart as just a panel PC is gorgeous. The AU$1,999 price is fantastic as well " but we can't help but feel that there's so much more potential in the touchscreen aspect being left, ahem, untapped.
Do you Google Wave?
If you want attention online, then mention that you have a couple of Google Wave invites to giveaway and watch… Watch it now
Thunderbird 3 takes flight
Thunderbird 3 is finally here, after a gestation period measured in
years. The latest version of Mozilla's fr… Watch it now
Google Chrome beta for Mac
It's not fully baked yet, but Google Chrome for Mac reaches a major milestone with the release of an official … Watch it now
How do you build a smarter planet?
Having problems with complex data center? Simplify your data center now.
Welcome to National Censorship Day
That sinking Tcard feeling
The challenge of government 2.0
Best Servers
Want to find out what the best servers are?
Check out the top rated here!
Optus Deal
Broadband + home phone + PlayStation®3 in a single package price!
Click here for more!
Best Laptops
Check out the best laptops here!
Click here for more.
