Software Africa Newsletter - July 2016

Editorial

We are truly living in interesting times.  In the USA, they have to chose between Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton.  Many voters don't want either one.  Britain is brexiting. Here there is mayhem.  Still the buildings rise in Sandton and elsewhere, so the economy may be jump started once our local elections are over.

PC Tip: SwitchedOnIT 7-day Special

Do you need any viruses removed? Perhaps you need maintenance on your computers? Perhaps it's time for a new computer?

SwitchedOnIT is offering a 7-day only special of 10% off normal labour rates and R50 off call-out fees. They are also offering all laptops, pc's and screens at less 5.5% from normal retail. This means you save around R500 on a typical laptop. This offer expires end July so if you need new IT kit or a computer fixed, contact us now!

QuickBooks - 2016

QuickBooks 2016 comes in three flavours - Pro, Premier and Premier Accountant.  QuickBooks have rationalised their pricing and now only support the 2015 versions as well as 2016.  We advise people to upgrade to 2016, not only because it works better than 2015, but because the cost is the same.

If you run QuickBooks on a server, as we do, please make sure that the server is running the Database Manager.  Otherwise, you will have problems accessing multi-user mode.

If you are upgrading to Windows 10, please note that earlier versions of QuickBooks do not work on it.  You will have to upgrade to 2016.

Green Tip

Look at www.imaginedearth.com to find a great recycling solution.  It benefits the recyclers by giving them points or vouchers for coffee and other things

Autodesk updates

Please note that from 1st February 2016, all maintenance subscriptions must be renewed promptly!

The Subscription Options

From the 1st February, only subscription offerings are available.  These are as follows:

• Quarterly Desktop Subscription with Basic Support - which gives you 24 hour turnaround (1 day).
• Quarterly Desktop Subscription with Advanced Support - which gives you same day turnaround
• Annual Desktop Subscription with Basic Support - which gives you 24 hour turnaround
• Annual Desktop Subscription with Advanced Support - which gives you same day turnaround.
• 2- and 3-year subscriptions.

AutoCAD LT subscriptions only come with Advanced Support!

The range of Suites is being totally replaced on 1 August by the Autodesk Industry Collections, an exciting brand new, value-driven
offering.

On or near August 1st, Autodesk will offer a convenient path to switch plans which will enable Suites subscribers to easily move to an Industry Collection if they so choose.

If you have bought perpetual Suites on a maintenance plan - that’s good too! You can continue to renew the maintenance plan for your Suite as long as
you want.

You can pause your subscription if you do not want to renew at the end of the period. The downside is that you actually have to purchase a brand new subscription. this requires downloading the new software again.

Revit Offerings

Autodesk Revit has been released as a standalone product once more. It incorporates Architecture, MEP and Structure, plus A360 cloud rendering.  The latter frees up the designer's machine for other work as well as operating much faster.  It is available on Annual and Quarterly subscriptions.

Inventor Changes

Autodesk Inventor Pro is now available outside of the Suites, whilst straight Inventor is not.  Pro comes in at the same pricing (approximately) as AutoCAD, which makes it a great investment as you can stress test your designs with Pro.

Something to think about:

This site connects CAD employers and employees.  Try it and let us know how well it works.

Excel Tip #145 -  AutoCorrect Spelling and Shortcuts

This tip applies not just to Excel, but to recent versions of Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access and OneNote, i.e. across the Microsoft Office suite.  A change or addition you make for one of them applies to all the others too.

You can use the AutoCorrect feature to correct typos and misspelled words, but you can also insert symbols and other pieces of text. In fact, it is particularly useful as a shortcut for inserting words you type often: A kind of cellphone AutoComplete for Office.  AutoCorrect is set up by default with a list of typical misspellings and symbols, but you can modify the list.

To add a text entry to the AutoCorrect list:

1. If in Excel, you must have a workbook open first.
2. Click the File tab.
3. Click Options.
4. Click the Proofing tab (In Outlook, click Mail, and then click Spelling and AutoCorrect).
5. Click the AutoCorrect Options.
6. On the AutoCorrect tab, make sure the check box "Replace text as you type" is ticked.
7. In the Replace box, type a word or phrase that you often mistype or misspell, or want to expand. For example, type WW.
8. In the With box, type the correct spelling of the word, or the expanded version. For example, type Wendywood.
9. Click Add.
10. Repeat steps 7-9 for as many words as you want.
11. Click OK, OK.

You can use the AutoCorrect feature to do the following:

• Automatically detect and correct typos and misspelled words For example, if you type teh plus a space, AutoCorrect replaces what you typed with the.
• Quickly insert symbols For example, type (c) to insert the Copyright symbol. If the list of built-in AutoCorrect entries doesn't contain the symbols that you want, you can add entries.
• Quickly insert any long piece of text For example, if you need to repeatedly enter a phrase such as return on investment, you can set AutoCorrect to automatically enter this when you type roi and press a space or punctuation.

Computius Say:

Never do card tricks for the group you play poker with.

Remember:  We can make your business run better by:

• Automating your in-house processes with a custom program or database..
• Speeding up your processes by linking your database or spreadsheet to QuickBooks.
• Solving your QuickBooks, Access, Excel, Word, Visual Basic, and PowerPoint problems.
• Training your company on Maximizer, Excel, Word, Access and Windows (all levels from beginners to Programming).
• Supplying software: We re-sell and support various accounting, timesheet, scheduling, and productivity programs.
• Providing world-class programs for the Engineer and Civil Engineering Geologist: AutoCAD, Caddie, dotPLOT, etc.
• Making your Civil Engineering Laboratory run smoother and more profitably with Labbie, our Data Retriever.
• Promoting your corporate image with a set of templates on Word or Excel, linked to your address list.

All the Best from the team!
Judith and Rick

Members, Communication in Action cc trading as Software Africa
"Empowering African Business with standard and custom PC programs, databases, and templates using Microsoft technologies"
Reg. 2009/007863/23 ~ VAT No 4500104387 ~ 126 Kelvin Drive, Morningside Manor, Sandton, 2191 South Africa.
Tel: 011 802-2685 / 011 802-6440/1 ~ Fax: 011 802-4576 and 086-635-7902/3 ~ Cell: 082 389-3481/2 ~ e-mail: info@softwareafrica.co.za