Software Product Features

Earlier this week I attended 2 different seminars on how to get the most out of the software products I use daily in my job. I will confess that I didn't learn a lot but I discovered several new features that I didn't know about. It got me thinking about how to figure out what features are available in the many different software products we all use.

The first method of discovering new product features is when we do something new. This week I put together a Google Doc's document and needed one section to have 2 columns while the rest of the document just needed that standard single column. In Microsoft Word and other word processing software, there is a "Columns" icon. All you need to do is select the text you want to put into multiple columns, click the columns button, and select how many columns you want. In an effort to reduce screen clutter, Google decided it didn't need a column icon. Instead I just needed to select the text, click on the "Format" menu, and a drop-down menu showed a number of additional options, including columns. I correctly assumed the feature existed but didn't know how to use it until I had a document that required it.

The second method of discovering new product features is attending seminars outlining product features. This is what I did this week at work. We spend a lot of money with certain companies and they always want to make sure we are happy with our purchases and that generally includes taking advantage of all features. Unfortunately not everyone spends large amounts of money on software and don't have access to these seminars.

The third method of discovering new product features is through Internet searches and product videos. Perhaps you are trying to calculate something in a spreadsheet and the video you are watching shows you how to do the calculation but also shows some new features that you didn't know about. I find that very helpful.

Finally, there is the method of watching somebody doing something new that you have not seen before. Perhaps you are watching them edit a document and with a few keystrokes something amazing happens. Don't be afraid to ask them what they did. Then be sure to immediately give it a shot the next time you are working on a document. The best way to learn something new is to practice and so immediately trying something you have recently seen will reinforce the knowledge.

We all use quite a few different software products whether it is on our computers or on our phones. My personal estimate is that we really only use about a third of what the software can do. While we may not need all of those features on a daily basis, there are many more things we can do if we only know certain features exist.

Alternatives to Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

Ever since I gave back my work laptop I have been having to work without Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. This has forced me to look at alternatives to those 3 pillar applications. Fortunately there are a number of other solutions you can use. While you may have to fix a few issues due to missing features, these other solutions work well for most tasks.

My home desktop computer is actually a Mac Mini. The Mac comes with 3 alternatives to Microsoft's suite of office products. Pages is the replacement for MS Word, Numbers is the replacement for Excel, and Keynote is the replacement for PowerPoint. I have to be honest and say that Pages does a pretty good job of replacing Word but I prefer Word. I also have to say that I prefer Excel to Numbers. I have used both of the Microsoft products for years and am probably just used to them. However there are some differences that make me wish I still had access to MS Word and Excel. That being said, Keynote is much better than PowerPoint. This is one area where I prefer the Apple product. It has a much cleaner interface and just seems to do things better.

Don't worry, you don't need to have a Mac to replace Microsoft's Office software. There are a number of other alternatives. My favorite is probably LibreOffice. It used to be called OpenOffice and was owned by Sun Microsystems. OpenOffice was originally developed in Germany as a replacement for Microsoft Office when Sun purchased it. Sun then open sourced the software and it gathered quite the following. When Oracle bought Sun, the open-source contributors were afraid Oracle would ruin the product and so they created a fork of the project that became LibreOffice. Both are actually great replacements and work well.

I have done a lot of work helping both the LibreOffice and OpenOffice communities. I think they are very full-featured products and don't hesitate to recommend them as alternatives to Microsoft Office. Unfortunately I have been too lazy to load either of them on my Mac as the Apple alternatives also work and allow me to do anything I need related to my current job search. Perhaps when I have access to the Microsoft suite of products, I will continue to use the alternatives and save my next company some money.

Big in Japan

There is a song by Alphaville that was popular when I was in high school entitled "Big in Japan." I have been singing the song this morning as I am in Japan and I think I got a hotel room normally set up for the locals. I am used to the beds being low, but this trip it feels like the sink in my bathroom is set unusually low. In the United States, I am of average height. Here in Japan, I feel taller than normal.

My flight was unusually empty last night and that was nice because I could spread out on the plane. I was able to grab a couple of seats by the window and didn't have anyone in front of me or behind me. That kept someone from leaning back on me and I didn't have to worry about leaning back on someone else. Oh the luxuries of an empty plane. This allowed me to pull out my computer and work on an article I am writing for a game development magazine.

There is nothing quite like a 12-hour flight to test the battery power of your laptop. Tablets are known for long battery life, but they are best suited for tasks that don't involve typing unless you have an optional keyboard. I brought my tablet with me on this trip but opted to leave the keyboard at home for weight-saving reasons. I needed my laptop anyways and pulled it out after watching a relaxing movie. The nice thing about using word processing software like Microsoft Word is that it does not eat a lot of battery juice. I cranked out around 1000 words yet used only 10% of my battery power. I could have kept going but my own personally battery needed recharging and so I took a nap.

My oldest daughter recently replaced the battery in her MacBook and found a really great deal. It was probably too great as she only gets about 2 hours before it is time to recharge. I can get close to 10 hours on my factory MacBook Pro battery if I am power conscious. The 2 hours works fine for my daughter who rarely is away from a power source for more than an hour. However if you intend be away from a power outlet for more than that, I highly recommend investing in a quality long-life battery.