pptPlex - Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

Overview and Installation

Q: What is pptPlex?
pptPlex is a research prototype developed by Microsoft Office Labs as an exploration of an alternative method of presenting Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 slides. This plug-in allows you to arrange slides on a canvas then zoom between the slides during the presentation. You can move around the canvas and show groups of slides, individual slides, or even zoom in to show a particular section of a slide.

Q: How do I install it?
1. Check that your computer meets the requirements (Windows XP or Vista and Office 2007)
2. Download and install pptPlex
3. Open a presentation in PowerPoint
5. Click the pptPlex tab at the top to see all the buttons needed to use pptPlex.
6. Click the “insert new section” button to add a few sections.
7. Click the “Canvas background” button to select a background for the canvas.
6. Click the “From Overview” button to view your presentation.

You may also want to watch the four videos on the pptPlex home page to learn more about how to use pptPlex.

Q: Is this the same software Bill Gates demoed at the Microsoft CEO Summit 2008?
The prototype software seen during the TouchWall demonstration at the Microsoft CEO Summit 2008 was Plex, which was also developed by Office Labs. Plex takes advantage of the natural human capacity for spatial recognition so that users can organize their digital belongings in much the same way that they organize their physical belongings.  pptPlex uses the idea and concept of Plex, however it is not the same prototype.

Q: What versions of Office will pptPlex work on?
pptPlex works with Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007.

Q: When will a supported version of pptPlex be available? 
We don’t plan to release a supported version of pptPlex. While the prototype will work, it is not a Microsoft supported application.

Q: What languages are available?  When will other languages be available? 
English is currently the only supported language.  There are no plans to add support for any other languages.

Q: Why was it developed?
A: pptPlex was developed to explore whether we could make it easy for people to author zoomable canvases using Office PowerPoint 2007.

Authoring pptPlex decks

Q: What are live content slides?
Live content slides are slides that point to other Office documents (for example, a Word document or a Visio diagram). When a pptPlex presentation is started, the document is placed on the canvas.  And, when the document is updated, the canvas is also updated the next time the presentation is started.

Q: How can I create a high quality background?
The best way to create a high quality background is to use a program that allows you to create a vector graphic.  For example, in Visio, create a drawing, then save it using the Windows Metafile format.  Then, in pptPlex, go to the background slide, click the "Insert" tab, then click "Picture" to insert a picture.  Then, select the Visio diagram that was saved in the Windows Metafile format.

Q: When I put a photo on the background and zoom in to it, it looks blurry or pixelated.  How can I keep that from happening?
We don't have a good way to keep this from happening.  Zooming in to a photo using pptPlex is similar to zooming in to a photo using a photo editor.  There's a limit to how much detail is available in the photo.

Presenting pptPlex decks

Q: Why don't animations and hyperlinks work?
Unfortunately we weren't able to get animations or hyperlinks working in the time that we had available.

Q: Where can I learn all the commands I can use to move around the canvas?
In the pptPlex ribbon, click Learn More, then click View Navigation Help.

Q: Does pptPlex work with PowerPoint documents that have restricted permissions with Information Rights Management?
No, pptPlex does not work with PowerPoint documents whose content is restricted with Information Rights Management.

Q: Does pptPlex work with Microsoft Office Live Meeting?
No, pptPlex is not supported for use with Microsoft Office Live Meeting.

Other topics

Q: How can I provide feedback on this application?
A: You can click the “Give us Feedback” button in the user interface or leave us comments in our discussions area.