Gray Matter

Gray Knowlton's blog on Microsoft Office

Thank you and farewell.

May 30th will be my last day at Microsoft. I appreciate Microsoft so much, and I hold the company in...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 05/22/2014

A comment about September and October 2013 Patch Tuesday

Given our challenges with September I thought a comment about our preparation for the October...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 10/08/2013

Today is Patch Tuesday

Taking a departure from my promised post on C2R for a minute to celebrate the passing of another...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 08/13/2013

How Office Updates - The Basics

Our Update Strategy Today Before we get into the considerations of release cadence and Service...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 08/07/2013

Office Updates: Weighing Currency vs. Cadence

Customers give us a lot of feedback. We depend on that feedback to improve the quality of our...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 08/01/2013

3 years later

I'm back to blog some more. This time about Office Updates. Posts to roll soon.

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 07/31/2013

RSA: What Motivates Us

This is a great video for aspiring managers. Excellent production as well....

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 10/14/2010

A Company of One

I may have hit a chord with the management theme last week, lots of offline feedback on that post....

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 09/30/2010

Office Round-up

Tossing up a few useful links and a few random comments to go along with it. BPOS Customers can now...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 09/28/2010

How to present to an executive

Taking a left turn for a moment on the software talk. Iā€™m at a point where I have to vent on a...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 09/22/2010

Updating the Custom XML Scanning Tool

A while back I posted a scanning tool to detect the presense of Custom XML Markup in Open XML...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 09/21/2010

Welcome Back

Resurfacing, It has been several months since I last posted. I have spent that time transitioning to...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 09/21/2010

A New Challenge

A great thing about Microsoft as an employee is the ability to manage one's own career and to invest...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 03/19/2010

Open XML SDK 2.0 Released

On February 21, 2008, I posted on Microsoft Interoperability Principles, which are designed to make...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 03/15/2010

Office Developer Atlas

If you are new to Office development, or are if you are looking to learn more about what's new in...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 02/15/2010

Office 2010 Application Compatibility Tools Bug Hunt

Hello, this is Michael Kiselman again with exciting news related to the Office 2010 compatibility...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 02/10/2010

Office 2010 Application Compatibility Tools Bug Hunt Sweepstakes Official Rules

MICROSOFT OFFICE 2010 APPLICATION COMPATABILITY TOOLS SWEEPSTAKES OFFICIAL RULES NO PURCHASE...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 02/10/2010

Open XML SDK Code behind the Custom XML Markup Detection Tool

On Brian Jones' blog today, Zeyad Rajabi has posted the source code for the Custom XML Markup...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 01/27/2010

Scanning Tool to Detect Custom XML Markup in .DOCX and .DOCM files

Quick Start The Installer is located here. (update: A new version of the installer is here:...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 01/20/2010

Off Topic: Check out the Office Ribbon Hero

Taking a break from Custom XML for a moment. more posts on the topic are imminent. Jennifer...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 01/19/2010

Associating Data with Content Controls

Background readingWhat is Custom XML- ... and the impact of the i4i judgment on Word, Regarding...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 01/15/2010

Regarding Custom XML Patch distribution and availability

Background readingWhat is Custom XML- ... and the impact of the i4i judgment on Word, Associating...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 01/11/2010

Using Content Controls vs. Custom XML Elements

Background ReadingWhat is Custom XML- ... and the impact of the i4i judgment on Word, Regarding...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 01/04/2010

What is "Custom XML?" ... and the impact of the i4i judgment on Word

I recall saying recently that "this is my last post for 2009." Whoops... I don't think I was...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 12/23/2009

2010 New Year's Resolutions & Beer Selection, Simplified + 2009 blog in review

On December 15, 1999, I was sitting in my home in England (near Reading), having just wrapped up a...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 12/15/2009

Office 2010 Questions Answered for new Office developers

Continuing on the theme of Q & A for Office 2010, I thought I'd add a few questions, answers and...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 12/10/2009

Office 2010 System Requirements

Customers have many questions about Office 2010, so may decisions related to Office deployment...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 12/07/2009

Office 2010 Application Compatibility Tools Beta Now Available

Update: URL's in the post were not functioning properly, and have now been fixed. Today we are...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 12/04/2009

5 Years at Microsoft

It's a small thing, but fun. Today I was given my 5-year service award for Microsoft. With a brief...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 12/02/2009

Outlook 2010 for Developers: New Shutdown Changes for Outlook 2010

If you are developing add-ins or customizations for Outlook, these changes in 2010 are worth noting....

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 12/01/2009

Office 2010 for Developers: Transcript from my training session

During the launch wave we spend a lot of time "readying" various teams around the company and...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 11/23/2009

I get your strategy, but where are you hosting your data?

With all the talk about Azure at PDC09 today, I cannot help but observe the inevitable language...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 11/17/2009

Office 2010 for Developers: Outlook 2010 MAPI reference and a hint for the PowerPoint Developer

At the recent SharePoint conference, one of the things I was asked most frequently was whether or...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 11/12/2009

Office 2010 Application Compatibility: Deep dive on the Code Compatibility Inspector

Continuing with the deep dive into new tools in Office 2010 Application Compatibility, we would like...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 11/10/2009

Office 2010 & SharePoint 2010 Developer Workshops

The Office 2010 train is now boarding. For those of you looking to get your hands on some training...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 11/09/2009

PowerPoint VBA and the Purpose of Thursday

Most weekly newspapers publish on Thursday because this is the day when the majority of young people...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 11/05/2009

Office 2010 Application Compatibility: Deep dive on Environment Assessment Tool

Update: I caught wind of some problems with the email address for the beta signup through blog...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 11/02/2009

Office and SharePoint 2010 Highlights from SharePoint Conference

SharePoint Conference was a very busy time for us. We were finally able to pull back the curtain on...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 10/27/2009

Announcing the Office 2010 Application Compatibility Program

Update: If you would like to sign up for the beta program for the tools, please email the following...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 10/22/2009

Open XML and the SharePoint Conference

SharePoint conference is just a few days away. We are thrilled that in an era of shrinking shows and...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 10/16/2009

Resurfacing

There's no doubt that Microsoft offers perhaps the best benefits package in this industry,...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 09/18/2009

A big day for Office 2010

So today we pull back the curtain on Office 2010. Product managers know that launch is the most...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 07/13/2009

Compatibility Pack for Open XML passes 100 million downloads

Sorry for the absence, I took a short break from work and blogging after the birth of our second...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 06/23/2009

Data Portability for Office 2007 ā€“ the first 3 examples to read

Doug Mahugh posted today on Interoperability ā€“ specifically the difficulty of enabling...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 06/05/2009

Office 2010 for Developers: Office Developer Conference moving to SharePoint Conference 2009

Want to get an in-depth look at Office 2010 for Developers? Want to see what 64-bit Office looks...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 05/30/2009

Blog and Comment Policy

My Blog Policy Gray Matter is my personal blog that reflects my personal perspectives. This blog...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 05/20/2009

Leaked Office 2010 Build and Staying Safe

I am re-posting from the Office 2010 blog as a public service to ensure folks don't cause themselves...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 05/19/2009

Rethinking ODF leadership

I can't help but observe the "discussion" underway with respect to spreadsheet interoperability that...

Author: GrayKnowlton Date: 05/06/2009

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