Business Hacks

We’ve been hearing about Office 2010 for a while now, going all the way back to a post I made on my birthday earlier this year with a movie trailer-style tease about the new version of Office.

Well, Microsoft has come a long way in the last 6 months, and you can now install the public beta on your own work or home PC.

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Almost every day, I board a bus and relax for the 30 minutes it takes me to get to work. Along the way, I use my iPod to monitor the route using GPS (to make sure the bus driver doesn’t get lost), check e-mail, listen to podcasts, and watch the occasional video. On this lazy Friday morning, I thought I’d recommend four free apps you can use to get video on your own iPhone or iPod Touch.

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Glad you asked:

As for the why-you-should-care part, you probably shouldn’t — at least for now. Chrome OS is at least a year away, and there won’t even be a beta until well into 2010.

That said, envision a netbook that boots in seconds, connects you instantly to the kinds of apps you use most (e-mail, Web, word processing, etc.), and costs around $200 — because you didn’t have to pay an extra $100 for a Windows OS.

That’s a little pie-in-the-sky on my part, but I’ll meet you back here in a year and see where things stand. You heard it here first.

More on BNET:

• Google makes Chrome OS open source today
• Google Chrome OS: a last minute review
• Speed Up Your Web Browsing with Google Chrome

I don’t often agree with Dave, but he’s right about one thing: multiple monitors rock. Nothing, but nothing, beats having Outlook open on one screen and your browser on another. Or your browser and Excel. Or Excel and iTunes. You get the idea.

Just one problem: What if your desktop or laptop doesn’t support a second monitor? Or there’s no room in the budget to buy one?

Enter MaxiVista, which lets you use any PC on your network as a second monitor. That may sound a little kooky — until you remember that old laptop that’s collecting dust somewhere.

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The Word 2007 ribbon: You either love it or hate it. There’s apparently no middle ground. But even if you like the way the ribbon exposes Word features that were previously very hard to find, the fact remains that it’s sometimes frustratingly difficult to track down something that you used to know exactly how to find in Word 2003. Well, fret no more. You can now have the best of both worlds.

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I can honestly say I wouldn’t buy a smartphone if it didn’t offer at least one good e-book app. And by “good” I mean one that lets me read mainstream books purchased online.

Well, Android owners now have such an app: eReader. Available free from the eponymous bookseller, eReader for Android lets you read books right on your phone.

Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it. Many people suspect reading on a small, electronic screen will be unpleasant, but I’m here to tell you: Once you get used to it, you’ll love it.

Indeed, there’s nothing better than having a book to read everywhere you go. (Kindle owners know what I mean, but who wants to tote a Kindle everywhere? Your phone is always with you.)

Like other versions of the eReader app, the Android edition lets you read books purchased from eReader and Fictionwise. (Tip: Here’s how you can get a 100-percent rebate on New York Times bestsellers.) Just buy them on the site, then fire up the app to download them from your library.

Speaking of the app, you can get it by pointing your phone’s browser to www.ereader.com/android. Of course, this option isn’t limited to the Android crowd:

• eReader Brings E-Books to BlackBerrys
• Turn Your iPhone into the Ultimate E-Book Reader
• Read E-Books on Your Windows Mobile Device with eReader Pro

Microsoft Office 2010 is about to hit public beta (which I’m keenly interested in since I’m tech reviewing a new book on Office 2010). One of the more interesting developments is that Microsoft Works — that program that seemed to ship on every computer on the planet but no human being was ever known to have used — is discontinued. In its place will be a free, ad-supported version of Office, called Office Starter Edition. And Microsoft is looking for beta testers. Want to sign up?

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Sure, Windows 7 has some nice new eye candy, an overhauled taskbar, and those nifty Jump List thingies. But where are the features that’ll actually improve your productivity?

According to TechRepublic, Windows 7’s secret efficiency benefits can be found in its window-management tools: Aero Peek, Shake, and Snap. Here’s an excerpt from the author’s take on Snap, the tool that lets you rearrange windows just by dragging them to the edges of the screen:

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Bing keeps getting more interesting all the time. Sure, Google is still king of the search roost, but a recent update to Microsoft’s search engine makes it a strong choice for your search needs while on the go.

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Don’t be thrown by the name: Paint.NET is an image-editing program for Windows, not a Web app. And it’s a powerful one, too, with Photoshop-caliber features like layers, special effects, and plug-ins. Best of all, it costs nothing.

That makes it a no-brainer for any business user who needs to edit, enhance, and otherwise modify images without spending big bucks on Photoshop.

The just-released 3.5 version of Paint.NET adds an updated user interface, new effects, improved startup performance, and a long list of tweaks and fixes.

The program requires Windows XP, Vista, or 7, and Microsoft’s .NET Framework 3.5.

I use IrfanView for basic image-editing tasks like resizing and cropping photos, but turn to Paint.NET when I need drawing tools and other advanced capabilities. It’s yet another example of open-source software offering nearly all the benefits of its pricey commercial counterpart. Take Paint.NET for a spin, then hit the comments and tell us what you think!