.NET From India

Insert a Excel file into Work

One of my fellow MVPs raised the issue that with Office 2007 he was not able to insert an Excel File into a Word document as a file icon (You click on the icon and Excel is launched). That feature is still there, just not easy to find.

1. First copy the Excel file you want to embed using Ctrl+C

2. Click the arrow under the Paste Button and Choose "Paste Special"

3. Choose the Excel File Type and then click the "Insert as Icon" Checkbox.

4. Click OK and you are done..

Vista DVD Security Features

One of my fellow MVPs forwarded this link, with the same question as in the post, "Who are the three men in the photo??"

Well, looks like Vista Blog has the answer Taking a detailed look at Windows Vista DVD hologram. You can also find the official MS site about the security features on the disc (though the photo is not mentioned).

Well, how many people get duped with copies of the original?? Well, I dont suppose many, atleast not when you go and buy a copy of Vista from a big retail electronics shop [If you are buying from a roadside vendor, I am sure you were not looking for the original version anyway..:)]. But I have seen things like this happen in the OEM channel though. You buy a PC from a local vendor and you pay for the full OS and the vendor tries to make a quick buck by giving you a pirated copy.

Best Firewall

Scott's Newsletter is comparing the current set of personal Firewall softwares available, both from a security standpoint and also ease of use for a normal user. One of the main outcomes of the study is that most of the big name products do not mesure up. It is usually the smaller products that are really good and usable.

Computerworld also has an article on this effort:

Review roundup: Slim is in for Windows desktop firewalls
You don't need a bloated security suite to get the best protection from a firewall. In fact, many of the biggest names offer less protection than simpler, lesser-known firewalls.

Scott's Newletters AV review for 2007 can be found here. (The winner was NOD32, though I still continue to use Free AVG at home and have not had any problems as yet)

UI Concept - Moving files

One of my fellow MVPs Saurabh has come up with a Concept UI for moving file in explorer. If you are moving a lot of files with explorer and using the mouse, then this does make a lot to sense. I think this is a very logical way to sort the problem and am suprised it is not already in the product. But then, this may not be a very common scenario that MS has come across when doing their UI testing.

Well for me, personally I always use the keyboard, as I find it easier and faster than doing it with the mouse. For the more complex file based operations I use the good old Command Shell..:) (One of the most common things for which I have to use cmd is for renaming multiple files as explorer does not have a provision for that)

Divx Pro for Free

Looks like there Divx Pro for free for a limited period. Don't know how long this is available though. Try your luck.

Update: Not available anymore

Writing a new Programming Language??

If you are planning to write your own programming language, now you don't have to worry about writing an IDE for it. When Visual Studio 2008 gets released, it's Shell can be reused for your language seperately.

It can even be used as a completely seperate design layer if you want. This is perhaps the most extensible Microsoft's IDE has even been. Started with the ability to use Add-ins in the old Visual Studio to a completely reusable IDE is a big step forward.

And did I mention, this is free!!

Acropolis - Smart Clients on Steroids?

Will so many codenames around, I think I will quickly loose track of what each means. The latest one that I came across is Acropolis. This lools like a new Smart client component set that will help you build Smart client business applications faster.

The CTP is out and I have not yet played around with it thoug..