Here are a few interesting points from the latest Microsoft newsletter that may be of use.
Tips when using dates
EXCEL
For a quick way of inserting the date into your spreadsheet, type in Control ; or Control Shift ; for the time. If you prefer to have a formula which will always update to show the current date, type =today() or =now()for the date and time. And if you want to format a cell with a date format, press Control #, but don't forget that you can choose different date formats from the Cells dialog box in the Format menu. Or if you've got time on your hands and you want to work out which day of the week you were born, try this formula: =TEXT(WEEKDAY(DATEVALUE("8/1/67")),"dddd")
WORD
Try the keyboard shortcut Alt Shift D to enter the current date quickly into your Word document. However, you may not be too impressed with this if you don't like the date format that this shortcut uses. No problem - all you have to do is go to the Insert menu, choose Date and Time, select the preferred format and click the Default button. So the next time you use Alt Shift D you might be a bit happier! If you'd prefer to see the date the document was created or last saved, then check out the options in the Date and Time category when you choose Field from the Insert menu.
OUTLOOK
Outlook is pretty clever when it comes to dates. When setting a date for a task or a message flag, you can actually type in something like "the day after tomorrow" (you don't need the quotes) and Outlook will put the right date in for you! If this appeals to you then go to the Calendar, press Control G and see what other natural language dates Outlook understands! For example, "two weeks yesterday", "Christmas", "New Year's Eve".
WORK SMARTER WITH OUTLOOK 2000
Check out these tips and tricks from the book Microsoft Outlook 2000 at a Glance to show you just a few ways to get more from Outlook and work with others. Read the tips at the address above.
DOWNLOAD THE LATEST TEMPLATES FROM THE GALLERY
Need to create an event brochure? Looking for a new style for your newsletter? Microsoft have added new templates to the Office Template Gallery to help you accomplish these goals and a whole lot more. Look for them in the Marketing/Brochures, Marketing/Newsletters, and Publications and Education/For Teachers categories at the address above.
THE NEW HOME FOR OFFICE 2000 DEVELOPER
Are you an Office Developer? Get all the information you need about building custom solutions with Office and Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications. Take the tour, read the evaluation guide, find answers to frequently asked questions.
Quick Links
Check out these links to useful sites.
Home page for the UK Office Web site
Office hints and tips
In depth look at the Office product of the month
The full list of updates, downloads and articles available for Office
http://www.officeupdate.microsoft.com/services/xdrive/default.asp]
Store Office 2000 files securely on the Web
Resources for advanced FrontPage Web developers
Outlook security update