XML Schema Designer

Microsoft recently released XML Schema Designer Community Technology Preview (CTP). This is the first Community Technology Preview (CTP) of the XML Schema Designer. It is a graphical tool for working with XML Schemas. This CTP introduces XML Schema Explorer - a tool that helps you navigate, search and work with schema sets. XML Schema Explorer will automatically come up when you open or create an xsd file in Visual Studio. It is docked with the Solution Explorer tool.

To download v1(beta) of this new tool, go to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4DE12C98-1221-4A0E-B5AA-BFC7DAF02550&displaylang=en

SharePoint Server 2007 SDK Released

Recently Microsoft released the SharePoint Server 2007 SDK. The Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 SDK contains conceptual overviews, “How Do I…?” programming tasks, developer tools, code samples, references, and an Enterprise Content Management (ECM) starter kit to guide you in developing solutions based on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. To learn more about this, or to download the SDK, go to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=6d94e307-67d9-41ac-b2d6-0074d6286fa9&displaylang=en

Description of the "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet"

If you ever accessed the help features in Word and came across the phrase "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet" and wondered what it meant, you've come to the right place.

Although the phrase is nonsense, it does have a long history. The phrase has been used for several centuries by typographers to show the most distinctive features of their fonts. It is used because the letters involved and the letter spacing in those combinations reveal, at their best, the weight, design, and other important features of the typeface. A 1994 issue of "Before & After" magazine traces "Lorem ipsum ..." to a jumbled Latin version of a passage from de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum, a treatise on the theory of ethics written by Cicero in 45 B.C. The passage "Lorem ipsum ..." is taken from text that reads, "Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit ...," which translates as, "There is no one who loves pain itself, who seeks after it and wants to have it, simply because it is pain..."

To read more about this, go to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/114222

Using Word 2007 Templates

Q: How do I use templates in Word 2007?


A: Using Templates in Office 2007 is one of the easiest tasks you will ever use. Basically a template document contains all the specifications for font, color, and the overall appearance of the document. To create and use a template, simply follow the procedure below.

Creating a Word Template
1. Open Microsoft Word 2007. By default, Word will open a blank document (.docx).
2. Modify the document so it contains all the cosmetic elements you want to appear in all future documents that will use this template.
3. Click the Office button (located in the upper left corner of the Window) and select “Save As”. After specifying the “File name”, change the “Save as type” to “Word Template (*.dotx)”.

Using a Word Template
1. When you need to create a document that reflects all the elements created in the template, simply open the template.
2. The next time you click “Save”, Word 2007 will automatically save the changes to a new document (.docx), leaving the template in place as-is.

Templates work the same way for all applications in the Office 2007 suite. Microsoft has hundreds of Office 2007 templates available for download, free of charge. To view these templates by category, go to http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/CT101485751033.aspx