NEXT Generation Technology Support
February 2018
MICROSOFT DITCHES CLUTTER WITH NEW OFFICE 365 IMPROVEMENTS
LEADINGIT CULTURE: THE BIG REVEAL
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MICROSOFT DITCHES CLUTTER WITH NEW OFFICE 365 IMPROVEMENTS Microsoft is adding a few improvements to its Office applications and changing how Outlook prioritizes e-mails for end users.
OUTLOOK CLIENTS ARE GETTING TWO ENHANCEMENTS. ONE OF THEM IS A QUICKER WAY TO ADD RECIPIENTS TO E-MAIL CHAINS CALLED "@MENTIONS." THE OTHER IS A CLUTTER FEATURE REPLACEMENT CALLED "FOCUSED INBOX."
Clutter Be Gone Microsoft plans to get rid of its Clutter e-mail prioritization feature that works with Outlook client applications, replacing it with Focused Inbox. Focused Inbox isn't exactly new, as it's currently being used by Android and iOS Outlook users, according to the announcement. Focused Inbox takes a different approach to sorting low-priority e-mails compared with Clutter. Focused Inbox uses a tab system, with "Focused" and "Other" tabs. Low-priority e-mails get placed in the Other location. In contrast, Clutter sends low-priority e-mails to a completely separate "Clutter" folder. Microsoft is using the same machine-learning algorithms to power Focused Inbox's sorting behavior as it did with Clutter, but the user interface is different. Microsoft's announcement described Focused Inbox as a Clutter "refinement and improvement." Clutter users will see messages that are currently stored in the Clutter folder move over to the Other tab, Microsoft promised. IT pros will get some controls over Focused Inbox as well, according to the announcement:
Office 365 admins can manage the rollout of Focused Inbox for their users with tenant and mailbox level controls using PowerShell. More details for admins will become available in August via the Office 365 Message Center, prior to Office 365 First Release customers being enabled for Focused Inbox in September.
@Mentions Feature Outlook clients also have, or will be getting, the @mentions feature. It's a Twitter-like tagging capability to add users to an e-mail discussion. Users simply type the @ symbol in a message and they'll get a list of names with the next letter typed. Recipients that have been tagged in this way will see their e-mail name in a blue highlight color, so they'll know they've been added to a thread. The @mentions feature is currently available for Outlook on the Web (Outlook Web App) users. It's also available to Office Insider test program participants. It will be available "soon" for Android, iOS and Windows 10 Mobile Outlook users, Microsoft promised. Microsoft clarified that the @mentions feature will be available "regardless of the type of mailbox or email service you are using in Outlook." However the recipient experience (such as the blue highlight) will just be available for Outlook.com and Office 365 accounts. Other e-mail services, such as Gmail and Yahoo, will get the recipient capabilities "later this year," Microsoft indicated.
Office 365 App Improvements Microsoft also announced Office application improvements arriving for its Office 365 subscribers, including new Word and PowerPoint features. Microsoft is claiming that Word will be getting more sophisticated with its writing improvement suggestions. For instance, a new Editor "advanced proofing and editing service" will be coming this fall that will recommend replacement text. Users also will get new visual indicators in Word. For instance, the spell checker will flag questionable text with "red squiggles" in a document. Possible grammar issues will be highlighted in "blue squiggles." Style issues will get a "gold dotted line." There will be more verbose tips about why the text might not be the best.
The Big Reveal
Word also has a new Researcher citation tool for people writing footnoted research papers. Microsoft claims it will add a properly formatted citation "in one click." It uses the Bing Knowledge Graph to pull such content from the Web, using sources such as "national science and health centers, well-known encyclopedias, history databases and more." The Researcher capability is currently available for "Office 365 subscribers using Word 2016 on Windows desktops," Microsoft's announcement indicated. PowerPoint has a new slide navigation capability called "Zoom." It will create a "Summary Zoom" for presentations that have dedicated sections. Alternatively, it can make a "Slide Zoom" for presentations with just a few slides. These Zooms can be used by a presenter to jump around, enabling more "non-linear presentations" to audiences. The Zoom capability is at the test stage right now. It's available to "Office Insiders using PowerPoint 2016 on Windows desktops," Microsoft clarified.
Thank you for all those who attended and helped make the event a success!
LeadingIT Culture: Anniversaries and Birthdays
Josh Laemont
Andy Latos
Jason Jimenez
Feb 1 - 1st Anniversary
Feb 3 - 4th Anniversary
Feb 9 - Happy Birthday!
THE “NOT ME!” PROBLEM… AND WHY THIS IS ALMOST GUARANTEED TO HAPPEN TO YOU
Security this, password that – now they want a password with 14 characters with two symbols? And I have to change it every three months? As difficult as it is to remember 24 different passwords, four PIN numbers and a slew of new cyber security processes, we still manage to instantly recall most of the tangible things in our lives. The code for the company door and alarm system, the passcode to our phones, the garage code, the other garage code – you get the idea. But these numbers are based upon a time when the most “real” threat seemed to be someone busting in our door and threatening our families in the middle of the
night. In 2018, those kinds of physical threats are far less statistically prevalent than cybercrime. In fact, data breaches and identity theft are occurring at three times the rate that home burglaries occur in the U.S. according to a 2016 study by the University of Kentucky. Don’t succumb to the “Not me!” approach to the shift in crime. Understand that it can happen to you, and approach all aspects of physical and electronic security with the attention they deserve.
HOW TO SPOT A PHISHING E-MAIL BEFORE IT CAN DO ANY DAMAGE Phishing e-mails are bogus messages carefully designed to look like a legitimate message (or attached file) from a site or person you trust. Their goal is getting you to willingly give up your login info or unknowingly click a link to install a virus. The best of these e-mails look uncannily similar to their real-world counterparts, but there are ways to discern a phishing attempt from a legitimate e-mail. First, hover over —
but don’t click on — the URL in the e-mail to see the actual website you’ll be directed to. If there’s a mismatched or suspicious URL, delete the e-mail immediately. Other telltale signs are poor grammar or spelling errors. And if the e-mail asks you to verify or validate your login or personal information, get out of there.