Technology Q&A.

Linux vs. Microsoft ... Display a Word revision date ... How to trump call-waiting ... Some reasons why Excel 2002 is worth the investment ... Customize the number of days Outlook calendar displays ... Refresh Explorer ... Fast way to select text in Word

OPERATING SYSTEM 

Q. What's the scoop on the Linux operating system? I hear the number of people using it is growing, but can it ever really compete with Microsoft? And what good is an operating system, no matter how great, if there are just a few applications that work with it?

A. Okay, here's the scoop. For those who are unaware of Linux (pronounced LIH-nucks), a young student at the University of Helsinki in Finland, Linus Torvalds, initially created it as a hobby and made it available free for others to improve upon. And improve on it they did.

It is getting more popular among both individual and corporate users, with the fastest growth in large business organizations because the system is so stable--and cheap. It's estimated that about 20 million computers currently run on it. And check out the growth rate on this chart:

You can download the latest version free from www. linux.org, although there are inexpensive commercial products available for those who want special support and easy setup. The leading commercial provider is Red Hat (www.redhat.com) and it costs about $49.

A company with 10,000 employees using computers for only basic tasks could buy a single $49 copy of Red Hat and copy it legally to all 10,000 computers. Compare that with the need to buy 10,000 copies of Windows XP for a total of $2 million.

Now, as to your question about applications: Not only are they available, they're cheap; in fact, one version is free. The free version, OpenOffice.org 1.0, which uses basic StarOffice coding from Sun Microsystems, has all the usual office applications except for database and e-mail components. You can download the 50-megabyte app from www.openoffice.org.

Sun Microsystems sells a full office suite commercial version, StarOffice, for $39.95 (www.sun.com); it runs on multiple operating systems, including Windows and Linux, and it contains word processing, spreadsheet, database, presentation and graphics capabilities. In addition, it's fully compatible with Microsoft Office and the new XML data-tagging system.

In assessing whether Linux is for you, consider that Microsoft products are expensive: $580 for Office and $299 for the latest operating system, XP, which can be used only on one computer. That up-front cost may be just the beginning; Microsoft may soon require users to pay annual license fees, too.

By now you're probably asking, "If I go for OpenOffice or StarOffice, does that mean I have to start from scratch training in these applications?"

The learning curve is short. In fact, when you first open either program you may think, "Wow, this looks like Microsoft Office." The resemblance is more than skin deep--and that's certainly no accident. It not only looks like MS Office, it works like MS Office---including all the nifty things such as AutoCorrect, AutoFormat and even the squiggly red lines that appear under misspelled words. But many of Microsoft's irritations, such as the creepy Office Assistant paper clip or the Einstein image, thankfully are missing.

Here's what the opening section of this Q&A looks like in OpenOffice:

As you can see, even the toolbar arrangements are similar to Windows.

If that's not enough, check this out: If, while you're in the word processor, you want to open a spreadsheet, you don't have to open a separate spreadsheet application. Just go to File, Open (see screenshot below--yep, the same commands as Office) and click on the appropriate file and the spreadsheet opens right on top of the word processor file (see screenshot above, right).

Any negatives? Since most of your neighbors probably still use Microsoft Office, you'll have to contend with some minor issues of format compatibility. While I said OpenOffice is compatible, its compatibility is relative. For example, it can't handle Microsoft Excel macros; the offset to that is that you'll be safe from those nasty macro viruses. Also, some Microsoft Word formatting doesn't travel well--especially when the Microsoft document is heavily formatted. But that's not too bad because you can easily reformat any poorly converted files.

So what's the scoop on Linux? It appears poised to give Bill Gates some significant competition.

WORD

Q. I frequently need to revise my memos, and I'd like each to show the revision date. I know the last-save date will appear in Explorer, but I want a more convenient location--right in the document.

A. The easiest way to do that is to use the Field tool. Put your cursor where you want the date to appear and click on Insert, Field. That will evoke the Field dialog box. Select SaveDate (if you're using Office 2002) or Date and Time (if you're using an earlier version) from the field categories.

Then, under Date formats: select your format choice and click on OK. From now on every time you open the document, the last date it was saved will appear.

INTERNET

Q. I have a two-line phone, and when one line is busy, the call jumps to the second line. But when my partner is speaking to someone and I'm on the Internet, every call that comes in triggers call-waiting and that breaks my Internet connection. Short of adding more lines, what can I do about it?

A. Every telephone system has a call-waiting disabling code, which can be added to the phone number you use to connect to your Internet provider. Ask your phone company for its code. For example, if it's #70, program your Internet dial-up number to begin with #70--such as #70-1-555-555-5555.

EXCEL

Q. I'm a heavy user of Excel and I've been debating whether to upgrade to the 2002 (XP) version. What are your thoughts?

A. if you were a casual user of Excel, I'd say don't bother. But if you're indeed an advanced user, I suggest it's worth the investment. Here are some of the new features in Excel 2002 that you'll find very handy.

* Formula Auditing was called Auditing in prevision versions. It helps you reduce errors in your workbooks. To evoke it, either right-click while in any toolbar or click on View, Toolbars and add a check to Formula Auditing to bring up this toolbar:

The bar displays a very useful collection of tools. Placing a cursor on an icon brings up the tool's name: Error Checking, Trace Precedents, Remove Precedent Arrows, Trace Dependents, Remove Dependent Arrows, Remove All Arrows, Trace Error, Add Comment, Circle Invalid Data, Clear Validation Circles, Show Watch Window, Evaluate Formula. The new powerful ones include:

* Watch Window. Lets you continuously monitor any changes in a cell, value or formula data even if they aren't visible in the current window. To add a cell to Watch Window, put your cursor on the target cell and click on Add Watch.

To quickly jump to a watched cell, double-click on its entry in the Watch Window.

* Formula Evaluation. Resolves each segment of a formula, segment by segment. Place your cursor on the target formula and click on the Evaluate Formula icon on the extreme right end of the toolbar. That will display a dialog box which underlines each segment of a formula, one by one, in order from left to right.

When you click on the Evaluate button, the dialog displays and evaluates each segment of the formula.

* Error Checking. This is to Excel what the grammar checker is to Word. It's governed by a set of rules designed to help you look for and fix problems in formulas.

Key to Instructions

To help readers follow the instructions in this article, we use two different typefaces.

Boldface type identifies the names of icons, agendas, URLs and application commands.

Sans serif type indicates instructions and commands that users should type and file names.

Shortcuts 

* Outlook: To customize the number of days visible in your calendar, press Alt and any number between 1 and 10. So to see an eight-day span, press Alt+8. For this tip to work, you must use the number keys on the keyboard, not the numeric keypad.

* Explorer: When you copy, save or perform any other function within Explorer, it won't always immediately display the change unless you refresh the display by pressing F5.

* Word: Although you can select text by holding down the left mouse button and dragging the mouse, there is an even quicker, more accurate way. Position your cursor where you want the selection to begin. As you hold down the Shift key, move the mouse to the point where you want it to end and then left-click one time.

Do you have technology questions for this column? Or, after reading an answer, do you have a better solution? Send them to Senior Editor Stanley Zarowin via e-mail at zarowin@mindspring. com.

Because of the volume of mail, we regret that we cannot individually answer submitted questions. However, if a reader's question has broad interest, we will answer it in a forthcoming Technology Q&A column.

On occasion you may find that you cannot implement a function I describe in this column. More often than not it's because not all functions work in every operating system or application. I try to test everything in the 2000 and XP editions of Windows and Office. It's virtually impossible to test them in all editions and it's equally difficult to find out which editions are incompatible with a function. I apologize for the inconvenience.