Most Favorite Business Softwares – Feb 2013

The latest releases & updates

When you keep on top of new and updated business software, you can learn about ways to enhance your business by upgrading or adding to your technology solutions. Our coverage of the latest releases and updates in the world of business soft­ware includes products that can help you collaborate, create, and main­tain security online. To help you zero in on what's new, here's our latest roundup of business software re­leases and updates.

Microsoft Office 2013 customer preview

The latest version of Microsoft's popular suite of productivity soft­ware, Office 2013, is currently avail­able as a free beta. The Customer Preview gives you access to not-quite- finished versions of Excel, OneNote, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Word, as well as business products that include Exchange, Lync, Office 365, Office ProPlus, Project, SharePoint, and Visio. And while all the Office applications have undergone cos­metic changes to fit in with Microsoft's colorful Windows 8 square design aesthetic, Microsoft has made some feature level changes, as well.

The latest version of Microsoft's popular suite of productivity soft­ware, Office 2013, is currently avail­able as a free beta.

Word 2013 - Microsoft added a few new features that should make reading documents more enjoyable. There is a new Read Mode that auto­matically formats text into columns, so you can change up your reading experience if you are tired of the tra­ditional Office reading layouts. The Resume Reading feature will book­mark a document so you can pick up where you left off. You can even resume reading the same document on a different device than where you started reading. The Object Zoom tool gives you a close up view of charts, tables, and other elements. Word 2013 also offers more col­laboration tools compared to earlier versions. For instance, the Present Online tool lets you share documents with others and the Reply Comment tools allows for commenting in real ­time, similar to instant messaging (as long as you have an active Inter­net connection).

PowerPoint 2013 - Like Word, Microsoft's presentation creator also has the Reply Comment tool for faster feedback, but PowerPoint 2013 has a few of its own new features, as well. The Start Screen has been redesigned to put the new themes and theme variants at your fingertips from the beginning. Alignment guides and merge shapes tools make it easier to line up your elements and pull them together in new and interesting ways. When giving your presentation, you can zoom in on important parts of specific slides, navigate more easily between non-sequential slides, and extend the presentation to a second screen in a snap.

Excel 2013 - Microsoft enhanced it’s already feature packed Excel program with new options for for­matting and sharing data. The new Flash Fill feature, for instance, re­formats data quickly and automati­cally based on whatever pattern you are using. Excel 2013 also includes Recommended Charts and Recommended Pivot Table tools to make it easier to transform raw data into visually appealing information. And the new Excel integrates saving and sharing options for SkyDrive, SharePoint, social networks, and on­line presenting.

The Microsoft Office 2013 Customer Preview gives you access to beta versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and other Office programs. Expect subtle design changes and new, helpful features that improve upon previous versions.

Outlook 2013 - The newest ver­sion of Microsoft's email program an improved Navigation Bar, social net­working tie-ins and other additions. Some of its most helpful new features are related to organizing and control­ling email and schedules. Peeks lets you view your schedule or information related to the person you're emailing without exiting the message. People Card lets you integrate multiple con­tacts to avoid redundancy. The Share Your Calendar feature lets others view your calendar, making it easier to schedule meetings and activities.

Office 365 - One of the most sig­nificant additions in Office 2013 is the integration of the Office 365 cloud service, which ties together Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, OneNote, and more to give your files life online. Office 365 brings your projects to almost any Windows 8 de­vice, lets you make documents avail­able in the cloud, brings your social networking connections and other contacts into the Office environment, among other capabilities. With Office 2013, Microsoft is pushing for more online functionality, and Office 365 is just one more example of that.

Symantec Norton Zone

With its new Norton Zone ser­vice, Symantec has applied its threat prevention expertise to cloud-based storage and file sharing. Norton Zone lets users securely store files on Symantec-run servers for safe ­keeping, collaboration, and sharing via the Internet. New users must sign up for a Norton account to use the service.

Symantec's Norton Zone makes file sharing safer with high-grade encryp­tion, virus scanning, and other security features. Plus, you can decide who has access to certain files and use the service on your computer or mobile device.

Customers can access the Norton Zone service through a Web brows­er or software installed on a desk­top or laptop computer, or through a mobile app installed on a smart­phone or tablet. Symantec strove for simplicity and familiarity when designing the various Norton Zone interfaces, so the service is intui­tive and easy to use across all sup­ported platforms.

Norton Zone encrypts all of your stored files and lets you determine who can access them. Norton Zone also scans all uploaded and down­loaded files for malware, viruses, and other threats before allowing them to pass. Another helpful fea­ture of Norton Zone lets you share a link with acquaintances; when they click the link, they can safely download the file, regardless of size, and then send file links to anyone, have them click a link, and then safely download the file, also regardless of size, and then allow the link to expire after a specific amount of time.

Norton Zone includes collabora­tion tools, so you can choose who can access and comment on a file in the cloud. Whenever you log on to view a given file, you'll see any comments from collaborators and have the opportunity to make neces­sary changes. Norton Zone is cur­rently available as a free beta service at www.nortonzone.com; the full version of the service will be up and running sometime this year.