The IT Thread-for those addicted to computing

[macpro622776]

Not sure why you have to make the text boxes...
If you're there and you see the "WordArt Styles" group then something's not quite right. BTW, the WordArt Styles group is where you can turn off the fanciness, with buttons to change the angle, reflection, shadow, outline colour, fill colour etc.

Here's a video that I found which should give you a walk through if you're still having trouble.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VmN3PuK3Jk

[boronia]

OK, I think I got it solved now. I'll have a play with it for a while and see what happens.

Thanks again for your help.

[Douglas]

I really think that was a step backwards as far as Word is concerned, having to go back to an old format to to get that facility.

The functionality is depreciated. It's simply there for legacy support - Word 2007 was the last version of Word, I believe, to support the old ghastly Wordart natively (2010 switched to the newer style, and 2013 continues with it). Keeping legacy code in along with modern code requires more debugging time, and there comes a point where the best option is simply to kill the legacy code and keep the new, fresh code (mainly why the Classic start menu was removed from Windows 7 and why there's no option for a 7-style start menu in 8 )

I have had some mixed results when I then take it back to the latest format of Word after making the changes.

If you know in advance you're going to need to save a Word 2007\2010\2013 document as a Legacy document, save it before you start work on it. That way it looks exactly as you intend. Also converting back and forth between the two isn't recommended as formatting weirdness can pop up. Ideally, pick a format and stick with it, preferably DOCX. If you're sending it someone who still uses Office 2003 (or, god forbid, XP or 2000), then they need this, or assuming they have access to a modern web browser (Firefox or Chrome, IE8 if you're desperate) save it to Skydrive and send them a link so they can see the document using the Word Web App.

To be perfectly honest I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft dropped support for, at the very least, saving to the older formats (DOC, XLS, PPT, etc etc) come Office 16: the only currently supported version of Office that still uses them is 2003, and that loses support from Microsoft along with Windows XP on April 4 next year (all I can say is thank god for that, I have no idea how people cope with XP and Office 2003 compared to Windows 7\8 [depending on preference] and Office 2010\2013). I imagine most 2003 users would have the aforementioned Compatibility Pack installed by now anyway should they be insistent upon using 10 year old software, so they can at least communicate with those of us who are using more modern, fully supported versions.

[boronia]

Here are the first results for my project - "City" (only) desto roll.

city roll (Small).jpg (53.68 KiB) Viewed 1945 times

[crazyturbo76]

It's been a while since someone posted here.

North Korea has launched its first ever smartphone, with leader Kim Jong-un himself giving the thumbs up. But we're unsure if it's just made in China and repackaged in North Korea...
http://www.news.com.au/technology/smart ... 6696018296

In more familiar territory there's rumours that Apple may launch its new iPhone range in September. Apparently there's going to be a budget-oriented iPhone called the 5C, which supposedly has a plastic case and will be sold alongside the updated iPhone 5S.
http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/ap ... 6695287092

[boronia]

I'm sure you IT buffs will get a laugh out of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dmhF1rqaZk

[macpro622776]

I got a good laugh out of that. Thanks boronia!

[Brendan03]

I got my Apple certification on Friday.

[Mercedes38]

Waiting for Apple to release the new Mac Pro which looks different from regular desktops and essentially looks like a trash can.

[crazyturbo76]

I see where you're coming from Mercedes38. Apple has always been known for its radical styles.
While the Macs look stylish and powerful, I still prefer my "el cheapo" DIY-built PC: Cooler Master case, Intel G2120 Pentium CPU, 500GB HDD and enough RAM to run OMSI comfortably without needing one of those fancy Radeon or GeForce graphics cards. All of that cost me less than about $700-800 (although I had a bit of help in getting the PC built).

[Mercedes38]

I see where you're coming from Mercedes38. Apple has always been known for its radical styles.
While the Macs look stylish and powerful, I still prefer my "el cheapo" DIY-built PC: Cooler Master case, Intel G2120 Pentium CPU, 500GB HDD and enough RAM to run OMSI comfortably without needing one of those fancy Radeon or GeForce graphics cards. All of that cost me less than about $700-800 (although I had a bit of help in getting the PC built).

Alot of people complain about the Macs and say that they are overpriced especially for the specs like eg the macbook air when you can spend $500-800 and build your own pc like you have done and can play good games like Omsi.

It depends on the user if they want to experience a new user interface like OSX from Windows 7/8 or Windows 7/8 from OSX.

[crazyturbo76]

Well that is true. I tried using Ubuntu 13.04 "Raring Ringtail" for a while, but got sick with it after trying to run OMSI at a decent speed in VirtualBox and various other stuff, so I reverted back to Windows 7.

Installing programs on Linux-based systems is an issue too. Certain file formats that install Linux programs (i.e. .deb files) will install fine on Ubuntu, but other formats aren't really Ubuntu-friendly. Wine-a free Windows emulator for Linux-is also still imperfect, so obviously Linux is still not that reliable for the average Windows-taught Australian.

[rogf24]

Well that is true. I tried using Ubuntu 13.04 "Raring Ringtail" for a while, but got sick with it after trying to run OMSI at a decent speed in VirtualBox and various other stuff, so I reverted back to Windows 7.

By default, VirtualBox runs with only one core and your CPU has two cores. You can change the settings to allow VirtualBox run using both cores. You can also try and increase the amount of RAM it's allowed to use.

[crazyturbo76]

For a while I was running VirtualBox on one CPU core and around 5 GB RAM. It was decent for most things, but unfortunately it lacked one thing I like-grunt.

[macpro622776]

It is extremely difficult to get decent performance in any game or relatively graphics-intense program when using a virtual machine. You would need an extremely good computer to get some passable performance. A computer with at least 4 cores, dedicating at least 2 to the VM, 5GB+ of RAM, dedicating at least 2 to the VM, and a good graphics card with at least 1GB dedicated graphics memory, providing around 512MB to the VM, would be sufficient to play a game such as OMSI in a VM.

Linux is still not that reliable for the average Windows-taught Australian.

Not just Australia - would be worldwide.

Many programs lack Linux support simply because there isn't the market for it - saves development costs.

[rogf24]

Yay, I can use Windows 7 on my Android tablet now!!!!

[crazyturbo76]

I believe that's an Android version of VMware Player/Workstation? I'm surprised you managed to get Windows 7 running on an Android, but since there have been little netbooks that can run Windows on pint-sized processors I would have to congratulate VMware on getting Windows to run on an Android

[pgt]

VMware View - it is a new thing to Android, but isn't that for connecting to a VDI/virtual/hosted desktop, as opposed to running Windows on your own machine?
(I could be wrong - been a while since I looked at VMware enterprise stuff).

Interesting either way though.

[rogf24]

VMware View - it is a new thing to Android, but isn't that for connecting to a VDI/virtual/hosted desktop, as opposed to running Windows on your own machine?
(I could be wrong - been a while since I looked at VMware enterprise stuff).

Interesting either way though.

This.

[crazyturbo76]

Apple have just revealed its newest versions of its system software: iOS 8, and OS X 10.10 "Yosemite" (continuing on with the OS's change of name origins from big cats to Californian landmarks). Yosemite has a new UI based on iOS 7/8, the replacement of Lucida Grande with Helvetica Neue as the default system font and integration with the upcoming iOS 8. Should be out by Spring and will run on anything that can run Mavericks.

iOS 8's new gizmos include the ability to install third-party keyboards, iCloud Drive, a new app called HealthKit, Wi-Fi calling and several other new apps that most likely will try to compete with Android more competitively. The iPhone 4 (now discontinued) is also ineligible for iOS 8 upgrade; instead of dropping two models per iOS version Apple are only dropping one this time. iOS 8'll be out for iPhone 4S and up at the same time as OS X Yosemite.