microsoft

Oh no, not another Windows upgrade?

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Windows 9

For those of you who are still considering upgrading to Windows 8,don’t bother, Microsoft are about to release windows 9!

Yes, that’s right Microsoft are ready to release Windows 9 to the world (well at least the public preview will be released soon) only 2 years after the release of Windows 8!

OK, first question as always: should you upgrade to Windows 9?

Answer: Maybe!

Yes, I know, the usual techie answer to a question. But as always there are reasons to upgrade delay upgrading!

First of all, unless you have a good reason to upgrade don’t bother.

Good reasons might include that you are still running Windows XP and are concerned about the security issues associated with running an old and no longer supported Operating System (OS).

Or you may be buying a new PC. If you buy a new PC now from a retailer it will have Windows 8.1 installed and you will have no choice in the matter. However, if you buy a new PC from us we can still install Windows 7 if you prefer.

If you are in no hurry, then you may as well wait for the release of Windows 9, although I still go by the rule of not buying the initial release of any software, especially a release of Windows. This is because there are always a lot of bugs and missing elements in the initial release that are often fixed/replaced in the first dot (update) release (e.g. Windows 8 and Windows 8.1).

OK, so what about Windows 9?

 

The Start Button

The first thing that stands out for me and will please a lot of users is the return of the Start Button. As you are probably aware, the Start Button disappeared from Windows 8 and left mouse & keyboard users completely confused as to how to access applications and settings. The “Charms Bar” on the right hand side did not help either and just confused us even more. And just to put  your mind at rest even techies like myself were confused and left in the dark, it took me some time to find Control Panel and even the Shutdown button!

This of course gave rise to third party apps such as “The Classic Start Button” which I installed on all PCs I supplied to clients.

So, guess what, Microsoft are putting the Start Button back in Windows 9! Woohoo!

 

Desktop v Metro

OK, hands up PC users if you have any idea what Metro is? No? Well it doesn’t surprise me, I am still not sure myself!

Everyone outside of Microsoft is still totally bemused at Microsoft’s decision to install both a mouse & keyboard operating system (desktop) and a tablet, tiles screen (Metro) on PCs! Why would you do that? Who on a Desktpo PC using keyboard an mouse wants access to the Metro tiles display that is designed purely for a tablet touch-screen? OK, if you have a laptop with a touch-screen I guess there is a possibility that you may use Metro but only a slim possibility.

That’s another thing I have not got my head around yet, why would you want a touch screen on a laptop (you can even get them for a desktop)!

So why on Earth did Microsoft not only install Metro on keyboard & mouse PCs but also make it the default screen! I have to say the first time I looked at it I had no idea where to start!

So this time around, with Windows 9, Microsoft are apparently splitting Desktop and Metro. If you buy a tablet you will get Metro and if you buy a PC you will get the usual Windows Desktop, with a Start Button!

There are other changes as well apparently like on a tablet version of Metro all the legacy Desktop tiles will be gone!

Charms Bar

Yes, the Charms Bar is rumoured to be going! Hands up anyone who even knows what Charms are? I guess Shutdown and all the other commands will hopefully be back where they belong, with the Start Button.

Upgrade

I don’t know how many of you have ever done a Windows upgrade yourself? That is, install a new release of Windows over the top of an older release, upgrading it to the new version? If you have, then you know what a nightmare it often is and what a complex process it can be.

Well, apparently with Windows 9 they have simplified this process, aka Mac OSX upgrade, into a simple 1 click process! The upgrade process is performed much the same way as Windows Updates. However, this probably means that Microsoft plans to move to a rapid release model for upgrades.

 

Well, I think that is it for now and I’ll keep you updated on the release of Windows 9!

 

 

 

Microsoft Office 365

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Microsoft Office 365

Microsoft Office 365

What is Office 365?

Wikipedia – Office 365 is a subscription-based online office and software plus services suite which offers access to various services and software built around the Microsoft Office platform.

I hope that explains it, if not keep reading!

To put it simply, Office 365 is Microsoft’s latest iteration of it’s Office suite following closely on the heels of Office 2013. The biggest point of difference with 365 is that it is a online based version of Office and it is also subscription based product only available by download and not supplied on DVD.

In this post I will attempt to supply you with enough information to make the decision whether 365 is for you and which version best suits your needs.

Lets get this main point out of the way first, 365 is an cloud based version of Office and you require a fast and reliable Internet connection to make full use of it. This is nothing new, you really need a fast and reliable Internet connection to use a computer for just about anything these days, so if your Internet connection is not fast and reliable then probably Office 2013 is not for you.

On top of that, Office 365 “encourages” you to use online, cloud based storage to get the best out of it. In this case they are of course referring to Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud storage (previously called SkyDrive).

Lastly, you will need Windows 7 or 8 on PCs and OSX10.6 (or later) on Macs to run Office 365, so if you have any old computers hanging around with Windows XP or OSX 10.5 (or earlier) you won’t be able to run it. In addition, 365 files are compatible with Office 2010 and 2013 and also work with Office 2007 but with some loss of functionality.

OK, so what do you get?

Well, as usual with Microsoft, you get what you pay for and Office 365 comes in a variety of flavours. Most of you will be using the personal/home or the small business versions (there are also Enterprise versions for companies with more than 300 employees). The best way to explain the versions is to send you to the Wikipedia page here where there is a good matrix explaining the different versions. I will assume that you require at the very least Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook applications in which case you will need Office Online, Small Business, Home (for families), Personal (for you) or Small Business Premium. The first two do not include desktop versions of the applications so you won’t be able to use them “offline”, or when disconnected from the Internet. So for now let’s assume you want the ones with Desktop applications.

So do you need it? If you are using Office 2010 or 2013 you can already work in the cloud and you can ustilise OneDrive to share files. However, what these versions don’t offer is the ability to work on your files on multiple devices, such as tablets, that don’t have office.

 

So now we have narrowed it down to 3 options, Home, Personal or Small Business Premium, lets start with Office 365 Home and Office 365 Personal.

Office 365 Home & Office 365 Personal

Cost: Home $12 pm ($119 pa), Personal $9 pm ($89 to pa).

Both come with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, OneNote and Access.

Both options ensure you have the latest versions of the applications because subscriptions include automatic updates and upgrades for all applications. No more having to buy the new version of Office and installing it on all your devices!

Differences:

Home can be installed on 5 PCs or Macs and 5 tablets (effectively 5 users).

Personal can be installed on 1 PC or Mac and 1 tablet.

Home comes with 1TB of online (OneDrive) storage for each of the 5 users.

Personal comes with 1TB only.

So why would you go for Personal instead of Home?

If you want/need office on more than 1 PC or Mac then obviously go for Home, but if you will only ever need it on one PC or Mac then save $3 pm and go for Personal.

Office 365 Small Business Premium

Office 365 Small Business Premium costs $13.50 per user/per month, for up to 25 users

It comes with the same applications as Home and Personal plus Microsoft Link (whatever that is)!

It also comes with business class email, online conferencing, a public website, file storage & sharing and Office Online.

This product has many more cool features to simplify ownership and management of the product and also to facilitate collaboration and sharing of data online and on the business network. I haven’t fully explored this product yet but it is looking pretty good.

So which version is for you?

Unless you are running a business with many users, i.e. more than 5, then Home or Personal is probably the way to go. If you are only using one device but there is even the slightest possibility you may need to add a second device in the near future then why not pay the little extra and go for Home. If you only use one device and are never likely to get another then go for Personal.

And lastly, Small Business Premium if you have more than 5 employees or if you need/want the added features of this product.

Office 2013

Office 2013 is still available as a one-time purchase if you are not comfortable with a subscription service. Office 2013 is still available as Home & Student ($169), Home & Business ($299) and Professional ($599). All versions are for 1 PC only!

The final word:

Office 365 University

Office 365 University is available for eligible students.

It comes with  Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, Access and OneNote and 1TB of cloud storage (that is OneDrive).

It can be installed on 2 devices.

It costs $99 for 4 years.

 

As usual, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.