Monday, October 7, 2013

Differences in PC and Mac versions of Word - U-T San Diego

Macintosh user Powers Charles Craig asked if any of my Microsoft Word PC tips will work on a Mac version of Word. Well, historically, PC and Mac versions of Word have been very similar in about 80 percent of their commands. The main difference has always been that the "CTRL+_" commands for PCs are done on a Mac by pressing "CMD+_" (such as CMD+S for Save, CMD+C for Copy and CMD+A for Select All.

Furthermore, PC Word files can be opened on a Mac, and vice versa, without any special conversion software required. In Word 2007/2013, click on the Microsoft Office button and choose Open. Then in the lower right corner of a Word page, you will see options for opening "All Word Documents (.DOC, DOCX, etc.)" along with options for opening .TXT, .RFT, .HTML and several other document types, including WordPerfect and Microsoft Works files.

Barbara Patterson wrote that she heard Google will be discontinuing its popular online "Calendar" service this year. Personally, I use this free program extensively and would be saddened by its loss. However, Google says it will only discontinue its "iCalendar" mobile version, which it says has been made redundant by all the similar programs that come built into the various "smartphones."

Speaking of useful free services, I've been using Google Docs ever since it debuted a few years ago. Originally, it was simply an online word processing program that was compatible with Microsoft Word. Its main feature was being able to collaborate with one or more associates working on a document without having to continually exchange emails to update one another.

Later, an Excel-like spreadsheet and a PowerPoint-like presentation program were added.

Finally, it became a free online "cloud storage service" called Google Drive, into which one's personal files can be uploaded for safekeeping. Anyone who has a Gmail account automatically has 15 GB of space available for holding backups of photos, videos, music files and any other personal documents you'd like to protect. Compare this to DropBox, which offers 2 GB of free storage.

Originally, uploading was restricted to one file at a time, but now users can upload folders full of files. Furthermore, if you have multiple Gmail accounts (I have 18) you can have a Google Drive account for each one of them.

This is also a good way to share snapshots with friends and family. Use a separate Google Drive to store the photos and give the drive's password to those who would want to see and/or download copies of the pictures.

However, you can also share photos on Facebook and Google+ without having to give a password to anyone.

Beverly Welch told me how she changed her default home page from Internet Explorer to Google Chrome. Click "Start>All Programs" and choose "Internet Explorer." Then click "Tools>Internet Options." Finally, click the "Programs" tab, and type in the URL that you prefer to have as your default Internet home page. (I typed in the URL of my own home page:

www.pcdon.com).

Contact Don Edrington at (949) 891-1731 or donedrington@gmail.com


mac – Google News

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