Student FAQs - Software
What Software programs are available for free to Columbia Medical Center students?
Columbia Medical Center has licenses for:
as well as other programs. When your affiliation with Columbia ends, you are no longer covered
under the university license and must uninstall any of these programs from your personal computer(s).
Where can I take classes to learn software programs?
Online courses on various software programs are also available at Columbia's Training and Development site; select the "Skills at Columbia" link towards the bottom of the page and login with your UNI and password.
Where can I purchase SAS or SPSS?
You must first fill out the online form to purchase SAS. 24 hours after
you submit the online form for you can pick up your license and any purchased software at the CUMC IT Service Desk
on the 2nd floor of the Library. Please be sure to read all the
licensing and software information first, and contact the
Service Desk at extension 5-Help (212-305-4357) if you have any questions.
The CUMC IT Service Desk is not able to sell SPSS to students. However, the Columbia University Medical
School's bookstore carries the SPSS Graduate Pack for purchase by students only. You must have a valid Columbia student ID to purchase
the software. This includes a 4 year license, the current version is SPSS 14.
For more information regarding the SPSS Graduate Pack, please contact the Audubon Bookstore at (212) 923-2149 or stop by 3960 Broadway.
Why can't I view streaming video via QuickTime?
Firewalls on your own computer and the CUMC network can block streaming video in QuickTime if the program hasn't been configured properly. For
instructions on changing QuickTime's settings to allow streaming video through these firewalls, please see CNMTL's page at:
http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/video/windows_firewall/
Office 2007 FAQs
How can I install Office 2007? CUMC has a site license that covers Medical Center students as well as faculty and staff of most departments. Please see the Software Downloads page or use your UNI and password to log in at the Microsoft download page. Any faculty or staff that are not able to log in should contact their Department Administrator to verify that the department is participating in the site license.
Please note that these are large files and may take a while to download to your computer.
Should I Upgrade to Office 2007?
There are a number of things to take into consideration when upgrading, most importantly the system requirements to verify that your computer will be able to use Office 2007. It's also best to run Windows Update before installing, to make sure that your computer has all of the latest Microsoft patches.
You should allow yourself a little time to get used to the new layout and features, and check for backwards compatibility if you'll be sending Office 2007 files regularly to others that may not be upgrading. There are workarounds to most issues with backwards compatibility at this point, but if you work with an Access database that is used by others as well it is best to consult with your IT support staff prior to upgrading.
How can I open files created with Office 2007 on an older version of Office? Office 2007 creates XML based files by default, which cannot be opened in earlier versions of Office. As a quick work-around, you can use "Save As" option in Office 2007: select the multicolored Office icon in the upper left corner of the program, then "Save As" -> "97-2003" option. If you'd like it to save this way by default, select the Office icon and "Options" in the lower right corner of the window that appears, then "Save" from the list on the left, and change the "Save files in this format" drop down menu to the "97-2003" option.
Windows computers that have not upgraded can install the Microsoft Compatibility pack to allow them to open the XML based files, however any formatting or features that are only available in 2007 will be lost. Please visit http://www.microsoft.com/downloads and search for "compatibility pack".
Macintosh computers can try Microsoft's free converter at http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.aspx, please look for the link to the Microsoft Office Open XML File Format Converter. There is also a free document conversion utility available at http://docx-converter.com.
Is there training available for Office 2007? Online training for Office 2007 is can is available on Microsoft's training page: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training. Here you can find tutorials for all of the programs, and take them at your own pace.
What's new in Office 2007?
The primary change with Microsoft's latest release is the Ribbon, graphical user interface that replaces the tool and menu bars:
The "File" menu option from older versions is essentially replaced by the Office button, circled in purple above. Other menu options are now tabs rather than drop down menus. The Ribbon offers available options within the program in an easy to navigate, tabbed browser-like bar, rather than a hierarchical set of options. It is more intuitive for those not already familiar with Office programs, however it will take some getting used to for those who have used past versions of regularly.
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Last updated 8/24/2008
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