I've previously written posts about collaboration tools and techniques in Office; I've covered Communicator, PowerPoint, SharePoint Workspace, Outlook calendars and Word. I want to take today's post to comment on why collaboration is such a hot button topic these days and why you really should consider Office 2010 if only because of its collaboration features.

If you won ten grand—that's right, ten thousand dollars—what would you do with it? Follow in the footsteps of the elderly Canadian couple who gave it all away? Pay off your college/grad school loans (one of my deepest fantasies)? Plop down a big mortgage payment (and be sure to tell the bank it's meant to go toward the PRINCIPAL and NOT just the interest!)?

However or whenever you want to spend it is a-OK with me. It how you tell us what you're going to do with that ten grand that's what this post is all about.

You're a foodie and everyone knows and enjoys that about you. You can bring home the bacon (or is that pancetta?), fry it up in a pan (copper of course), and wrap it around some seared scallops...

Whether you are a fabulous cook or just like to watch the shenanigans on TV's Top Chef (a guilty pleasure of mine even though I'm known as a picky and not-so-adventurous eater), food is an important part of your life (and THIS holiday season). And in this age of multi-tasking, multi-jobs, and multi-activities for the kids, it's nice to slow down and actually enjoy a meal. Together, even.

So whether you're the one who does the cooking at home or you're considering opening up a restaurant of your own, we have a template for that.

As I see it, being a crabby office lady is a state of mind, a way of being, and maybe even the only sane and logical reaction to working in a frenetic and often crazed environment.

 And so, the holidays roll around (yet again for heaven's sake), wouldn't it be nice to acknowledge the other crabby personnel in your office? To allow them to know that it's OK to experience the sort of kinship and closeness and alliance that you and I feel?

Of course it would. That's why I created this holiday card—a download-able template that you can personalize or just print off as is and give it to the crabby ladies and men everywhere.

For the last 12 months, I've provided you with ideas, tips, tricks, a bit of humor, shopping ideas, comments on popular and inane American culture, and ways to get out of working with difficult people. Since everyone seems to be in shopping list mode—except perhaps our Jewish friends who've already done their shopping since Hanukkah started Wednesday night, or our Type A friends who shopped at last year's after-Christmas sales (both types being lucky, chosen people)—I thought I'd offer up a list of the five MOST popular (perhaps because they're useful?) tips that I came up with the past year.

There are more reasons for forgetting a password than there are reasons for having one.

Some of the feedback and e-mails I receive indicate that you're having some issues with Outlook passwords. Let's see if we can't salvage some of your sanity and unravel the mysteries of Outlook passwords at the same time.

Sometimes you just need a little something to tide you over until a new version of Office is released: an add-in, an update, a white paper to prevent your Office programs from going all flabby on you. A nip here, a tuck there ... a quick visit to Office downloads can make you feel like your best self again.

Office offers a variety of downloads designed to give you all of that and much, much more.

If Black Friday is threatening to put you and your budget on the edge of an abyss, maybe it's time to step back and take stock of what your plans are before you let it happen (you know, like the banks and automakers did in 2008...yeah).

Seriously, a bit of planning can go a long way. If you're getting up at the crack of Homer's rosy-fingered dawn in order to drag yourself and your resentful spouse to stand in line at Target, you owe it to yourself and your family to come armed with a budget and a list. Then perhaps, at the end of the holidays, your finances may look rosy (even if your eyes are, too).

Let's all come clean: Sometimes the Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations or other things you've created using Office 2010 or 2007 cannot be viewed by others, inviting bad blood and general crabbiness.

When all your hard work—your documents, spreadsheets, whatever—can't be opened by the people you send them to, it's frustrating, to say the least. But now you can turn those files into universally accepted (and beloved) PDFs.

You know that in Outlook 2010 and 2007 you can have more than one calendar and that you can view all of your calendars together in a couple of different ways. For instance, I have three different calendars: one for work, one for personal, and one for birthdays only. I usually just want to see my work calendar when I'm at work but sometimes I want to get a snap shot of all my calendars together (if only to see what a mess I've made of my schedule and how I've overbooked myself...yet again).

In that case, instead of seeing my calenders one at a time, I can view them side-by-side or overlaid, one on top of the other. But how about printing them like that, in overlaid mode? It doesn't seem possible...or does it???