The good news is that both apps will be replaced by another one. This app will be more complete and has a very familiar name for anyone who uses Microsoft products. We are talking about the new Outlook app, which is already available and will gradually be installed on all computers.

New Mail and Calendar app

The Mail and Calendar apps are as old as Windows 10. When the then new Microsoft system was released, it wanted to demonstrate its usefulness with these apps preinstalled. Firstly, they fulfilled two essential functions: managing email and personal calendar. On the other hand, these apps were a demonstration of what was possible with Microsoft’s new platform. We are referring to UWP: Universal Windows Platform.

The idea of UWP was very similar to Android apps. That is, it was a platform that allowed developers to create apps that worked on all Windows. Moreover, without the need to create specific versions for each one. UWP was compatible not only with Windows 10, but also with Windows 10 Mobile phones, Xbox One consoles and even Hololens augmented reality devices. The programmer only had to create an app. Then it would be able to run on all those devices no matter what operating system they were using.

In practice, UWP was heavily criticized. This was both because of its limitations and because it was associated with the Microsoft App Store. As with Android, by default, Windows 10 only supported UWP apps if they were installed from the official store. Microsoft was accused of trying to shut down Windows by limiting the distribution of apps. This is now past history. Either by the failure of UWP or by Microsoft’s recent moves.

Outlook app: a long-awaited change

With the closure of the Mail and Calendar apps, a somewhat controversial era of Microsoft comes to an end. They will be replaced by the new free Outlook app, which will include both functions, and many more. Outlook is a name that needs no introduction, as it came bundled with recent versions of Office (now Microsoft 365) and is the name of Microsoft’s mail service.

If we are using the Mail app, we can now make the jump to the new free Outlook app. Just click on a button in the upper right corner, where it says New Outlook. Clicking it will start the installation of the new app. The Mail and Calendar apps can still be used. However, from September 2024 they will no longer be available for download. So new computers will already come with the Outlook app.

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New features of Office 2021

We mentioned the almost non-existent promotion of this release. Well, this has its origin in a couple of reasons. First, Microsoft is in the middle of launching and promoting Windows 11. Logically, this takes a lot of time away from the guys in Redmond. On the other hand, Microsoft has been pushing its Subscription service for a long time. We are talking about Office 365. Consequently, Office 2021 is not so interesting for the company. As we said, they are betting entirely on their cloud services. Mostly to fight against the use of Google’s office applications. Let’s remember that these have increased a lot since the beginning of the pandemic.

Most of the changes are visual

According to Microsoft, this local suite is intended for specific situations. Specifically, those in which a device cannot connect to the Internet. Either for security or production reasons. But they need a long term service channel. Office 2021 includes the most recognizable and most used applications of the suite:

• Word (Word processor)
• Excel (Spreadsheet editor)
• PowerPoint (Presentation tool)
• Access (Database tool)

In addition to the rest of the tools that make it up as Outlook, Project, Visio and Publisher. Teams is also included. Keep in mind that this tool is intended to replace Skype in all communication tasks. Therefore, it is also strongly promoted together with Windows 11.

On the other hand, there aren’t many new features that an Office 365 user doesn’t know about. Let’s remember that Office 2021 is based on the cloud suite. Therefore, the changes are mostly aesthetic. So, it has received a visual update with a monoline iconography. In addition to new multimedia content and Microsoft search bar in all applications. It has also incorporated a neutral color palette and a modernized ribbon interface. Furthermore, it incorporates rounded corners, dark mode and others to integrate better with Windows 11. In addition, it has received performance improvements and support for the OpenDocument 1.3 format. Well, ultimately we have introduced the features of the new Office 2021. One of the latest news from Microsoft. Not as relevant as Windows 11, but still important for many users. Bye!

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“We are thrilled to now make it available for free to anyone using a current version of Windows 10, whether at work, at school, or at home”
Bill Doll from Microsoft

Both ‘MyOffice’ and ‘Office’ facilitate the full use of the Office suite. This update of ‘MyOffice’ will be available in the coming weeks. Normally, the system updates the app automatically. Otherwise, users will be able to download it from the Microsoft Store. The new app is used with most versions of Office. Including the Online version. To search for it on our computer, just type Office in the Windows search bar and then log in to your Microsoft account to get started.

In this app, the range of office automation products are available for free. Therefore, users will use Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and the other tools through it. If the application of each tool is installed on the device, it allows access to it. Otherwise, it will refer to the online application.

New Office app repowered

Among the new features are quick entries to the entire list of office tools. As well as the services offered. Also, access to Office desktop apps is available from your mobile device. Also, to the files saved in the device locally. These can be used offline, in addition to those stored in OneDrive or SharePoint.

The trial of this app was launched to the Insiders in December 2018. The response was good and the reviews encouraging. It is certainly loaded with new tools. But, in general the experience is similar to the one lived in Office.com. Nevertheless, if there are doubts or lack of knowledge, the app is loaded with tutorials and information links about the apps and services it offers. As well as tips and tricks that are useful. In short, this new Office app promises. If you liked this news, don’t forget to stop by our last post about How to activate God mode in Windows 10.

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According to FireEye researchers, the attackers are now trying to harvest passwords and cryptocurrency wallet data and also, make a target for future DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks. FireEye researchers first identified this malware. According to their description, the attack begins with a malicious ZIP file from spam campaigns. That ZIP file contains one or several types of DOC file(s) that use the Office’s vulnerabilities to exploit the PC.

The flaws

The first vulnerability the malware uses is a .NET Framework bug (CVE-2017-8759). Microsoft patched the bug in October 2017. Using this bug, the infected document can allow attackers to install programs, data manipulation and even create a new, privileged account. As FireEye described, the infected DOC comes up with an embedded OLE Object. When executing, it downloads another additional DOC file from a stored URL.

The second vulnerability is a pretty old bug –17 years old! It’s the infamous remote code execution bug (CVE-2017-11882). It’s found in an Office executable named “Microsoft Equation Editor”. As a part of Nov. 2017 Patch, Microsoft patched the bug. This bug also allows the infected DOC file to download another additional DOC containing a PowerShell command that downloads the final payload.

The third flaw, DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) isn’t considered a flaw by Microsoft. Instead, they describe it as their product’s feature. DDE is the protocol used for sending and sharing data through shared memory. However, hackers have been successfully exploiting DDE with macro-based malware to launch exploits, droppers etc. In the most recent attacks, DDE delivered a dropper, according to FireEye.

Zyklon’s capabilities

According to FireEye, Zyklon is immensely powerful, “Zyklon is a publicly available, full-featured backdoor capable of keylogging, password harvesting, downloading and executing additional plugins, conducting distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, and self-updating and self-removal. The malware can download several plugins, some of which include features such as cryptocurrency mining and password recovery, from browsers and email software”.

If we focus on the recent attacks, Zyklon is mostly targeting businesses, including telecom companies, financial institutions, and insurance.

The fix

Zyklon was dormant for years until it woke up recently. MS Office is a really popular office suite for everyone – personal to business level. The reason Zyklon is able to infect systems is due to the fault of us, users.

Most of the time, we don’t update our apps. We continue to use them as if everything’s ok. The older version of apps may contain bugs/flaws that may allow illegal access. That’s why developers/companies release newer versions. This is the perfect situation for Zyklon to attack.

To stay protected, update your system to the latest. Update all your software, especially MS Office and Windows. Zyklon is using .NET Framework flaws, so that’s the top priority. If you’re updating after a long time, it will take quite a few hours to completely update your entire system. You might like using WSUS Offline Update. This tool downloads all the updates and saves them offline. You can also install all the update one by one using the tool. Learn how to use WSUS Offline Update.

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