This week we're sharing the hardware, software, tips, and tricks, that keep our blogging wheels spinning.

Q:

I have been warned on the Web that Microsoft Office won’t work on Apple’s new Mac operating system, Lion. Is this true?

A:

In my tests, and also according to Microsoft, Office for the Mac does work in Lion, though some relatively minor features won’t work right. Also, you must be using one of the two latest versions of Office.

In my tests, using the current version, Office 2011, all features I tested worked fine, though of course I wasn’t able to test every one of the thousands of features. I even wrote my entire Lion review in Word 2011 on a Lion-equipped Mac. According to Microsoft, the 2008 version also works, though the 2004 version doesn’t.

However, Microsoft hasn’t updated Office for Mac to take advantage of Lion’s new features. More information on Mac Office compatibility with Lion is here and here.

Q:

Can you point me in the right direction for a purchase of a tablet? I am a home inspector and presently use a Toshiba Satellite laptop with a special Windows software program for my job. I need a tablet with a screen size of 12 inches or more. USB ports would be essential.

While Microsoft and Apple are working to bring aspects of tablet computing to the next versions of their computer operating systems, one big computer maker, Toshiba, is going the other way: It is introducing a tablet that emulates a laptop in some key respects.

Unlike other well-known tablets on the market, the new Toshiba Thrive, a 10-inch Android model available this month, sports a full-sized USB port that works with a wide variety of devices and files; a removable battery; and a file manager application like those on PCs. It also includes a full-sized SD slot for flash memory cards and a full-sized connector, called an HDMI port, that can use a standard cable for linking to a high-definition TV.

Would you buy a laptop that comes with only one major program—a Web browser—and doesn’t allow you to install widely used software such as Microsoft Office, Apple’s iTunes, Adobe Reader, or, in fact, any other locally installed program?

Are you ready for a laptop that has almost no storage space to hold your personal files, photos and videos, and is designed around the idea that you’ll keep all that precious personal stuff on remote servers?

A touchpad is a common feature found in most laptops or notebooks which allows a better substitute of the normal computer mouse. If you have very less desk space and want to avoid wire clutters, you should know how to master the operation of a touchpad.

Anyone, who has used a touchpad as well as an external USB mouse would definitely prefer the latter one because  a normal computer mouse is easy to grip and recommended for quick operation. If you work for long hours with your laptop, it’s certainly not recommended to work with the touchpad because this may induce finger strain.

Touchpads are great when you are away from your desk but can come in the way of efficiency if not managed well.

One of the problems with laptop touchpads is the frequent typing errors encountered when your fingers accidentally slip in the touchpad area.  Suddenly, the cursor is misplaced to some other place and you find that the paragraph written a  few minutes ago is disturbed by misspelled words or characters.

This is very annoying and in this article I am going to describe how writers can manage their laptop’s touchpad for better productivity. /> id="more-20502">