Open Source Your OS

David Whelan, a lawyer and librarian in Canada, has posted an article on Slaw.ca about some operating system choices outside of Microsoft. He mentions Mac, but spends more time describing some of the Linux options (Ubuntu or Linux Mint). He also questions some of the usual reasons for sticking with the Windows operating system, such as compatibility and the lack of legal-specific software for systems outside of Windows. Whelan mentions several open source software options for use with Linux that are great substitutes for the Microsoft Office suite.

This is a great, short read that may give you some ideas for switching up your office technology.

Open Source Your OS – Slaw

How-to: Legal Tech Trends by Dennis Kennedy

Dennis Kennedy, an information technology lawyer and legal technologist, has written his predictions for legal technology during this potential economic recession. From LLRX.com, his Eight Legal Technology Trends for 2008 – Good Times, Bad Times or Hard Times in Legal Tech? mentions the always sensible though dreaded word "audit" more than once. Luckily, he also mentions more intriguing ideas, such as exploring audio and video and collaborative software.

1. Making Better Use of What You Already Own.
2. Lawyers Win Round 1 in the E-discovery Battle... by a Wide Margin.
3. Security Begins to Matter... Really.
4. The Death Throes for Email?
5. Going Mobile.
6. Opening Audio and Video Channels.
7. Dancing with a Recession.
8. Smart Ways to Work Together – Collaboration Tools.

How-to: Make MS Word and OOo Writer Play Nice

If you've been experimenting with using OpenOffice.org's Writer in addition to or instead of MS Word and found a few unpleasant surprises, check out this short article from CNET.com. Dennis O'Reilly provides some tips on how to get OOo Writer and MS Word to work together better. He also mentions a few features in that don't transfer back and forth happily, with unfortunately, no quick fixes.