A new year brings with it new technologies and wonders. The one that seems to be getting the most buzz is Microsoft's new upcoming operating system, Windows 8. Individuals and businesses alike are sure to be getting curious about how this new OS will turn out.
Windows 8 was first demonstrated at the D9 Conference on June 1, 2011. The most obvious change is its new design that makes use of the metro interface, similar to what is seen on Windows cell phones, where your main applications and programs are shown in auto-updating block picture form for easy access. Microsoft is rumored to release Windows 8 around October of this year.
Other features include a faster and more fluid switching between applications, seamless integration with Windows 7 programs running alongside Windows 8 apps, and newly designed for a full touch screen experience over all platforms (cell phones, tablets, laptops and PCs).
"Windows to Go" is another said to be new feature where users can boot Windows 8 from a USB device along with their whole user profile. This sounds great for companies where employees have to move around a lot. No matter what work station they end up on, they can simply plug in their USB device to that station and have immediate access to their profile and files. Even better, this feature works with PCs that have Windows 7 OS as well!
Here is a YouTube video posted by Microsoft that explains a little more about what Windows 8 will do.
I understand a lot of people tend to be afraid of having to learn a new operating system. You are probably thinking, "But I just barely learned how to use Windows 7, now I have to learn Windows 8?"
Fear not, we are here to help. PCX Technologies prides itself on being able to help employees and their companies understand their technology better, and work closely with them in order to explain how things work, making their transition into new technologies as painless as possible.
We also work hard to make sure your system keeps running problem free 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We will remotely monitor and fix any issues you may face in order to provide you the time and efficiency you need to grow your business.
Let us explore the wonders of windows 8 and beyond, together.
References:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2011/jun11/06-01corporatenews.aspx
MicroSoft announces ReFS will debut on Windows Server 8
Written by M.G. Ferguson
This week the Redmond, WA software firm announced that the Resilient File System (ReFS) will make its debut on Windows Server 8. ReFS is the long awaited successor to NTFS, which is nearly twenty years old. While the file format will initially only be featured on Server 8, it is expected to be rolled out onto Work Station versions of Windows as well. The initial release be used for sever storage only, and then client data storage via upgrade. A final update, will allow ReFS to be used as a boot volume on Server 8.
ReFS will be for the most part backwards compatible with NTFS, yet will integrate many new features to help accommodate devices “from the smallest footprint to largest data centers,” according to Microsoft Development Manager Surendra Verma, in the MSDN blog post announcing ReFS. Most of the new features, such as removing the mandatory periodic checkdisk operations, and instead allowing for file system repairs while system remains online are designed with the concept of increasing uptimes and recoverability.
Some of the seldom used NTFS features will be removed or deprecated, among them are the NTFS Object IDs, short names, compression, file level encryption, hard-links, extended attributes and quotas. Most of these features are widely considered to serve little purpose and add unneeded complexity. Other more popular features such as BitLocker, access control, mount points, and volume snapshots will remain.
In addition to being more resilient, ReFS will also offer larger max volume sizes for files, directories, and disk volumes. Listed below is a chart from Microsoft detailing ReFS’s new attributes and limitations.
The use of a virtualized environment in the workplace has become normality. It not only allows companies to save money on hardware, but to save rack space and clean up the clutter.
The ability to add eternal drives to the VM on a Hyper-V server has been contested by many people. I have read several blogs that state that Microsoft has left them in the lurch and that they need to make sure to add this ability in Windows Server 8. Actually, it is available in Windows 2008 R2.
On the Host server, you need to attach the external drive to any available USB port. Open Server manager and click on Disk Management.
Then right click on the USB disk you want to attach to the VM and select Offline.
Close Server Manger and open Hyper-V Manager. Open the settings of the VM that you want to attach the USB drive to. Click on SCSI Controller, select Hard Drive and click Add. Select Physical hard dick and choose the drive that you want to attach from the drop down list. Only the disks that are set “Offline” are available here.
Apply the new configuration and click OK.
You can now go into the Disk Management on the VM and see that the drive you just attached is now available.
This gives us the ability to access files on an external drive from the VM and share those file just as if they were on a VHD attached to the VM. This is very useful in moving files back and forth to and from a VM.
Best of all, you do not have to shut down the VM or the host server.
Logitech Harmony Link = Almost Awesome (Product Review)
Written by M.G. Ferguson
Rating: ♦♦♦♦◊ (4/5)
MSRP: $99.99
In The Box: Harmony Link Module, Mini USB Cable, Power Cable, and 1 IR Blaster
Pros: Sleek Styling, Multiple OS Support, Multiple Device Support, 1-touch Programming
Cons: Programming Software Can Be Buggy, Cost, No Bluetooth Support
At $99.99, the Harmony Link by Logitech allows any mobile device running, android or iOS to serve as harmony remote for your home entertainment center. The product provides control for up to eight devices. It works over your home wireless network (802.11 b, g, or n). The device allows multiple mobile devices to serve as a remote, so any member of your household can use their smartphone or tablet as their own personal remote. In my home I use with my TV, home stereo, PS3, Home Media Center PC, Sony media box, and digital thermostat. Because the device does not come with native Bluetooth support, I have to use the Logitech PS3 Bluetooth adapter (MSRP $69.99).
My first impression of the Harmony Link was that its small form factor and IR blaster technology seemed like win, especially with concept of replacing my Harmony One remote. The price point was little more than I wanted for the device, but considering that it was going to turn the smart phones and tablets in my home into harmony remotes, I thought it was worth a shot. I got the device home, downloaded the Harmony software, for my phone, and MacBook… and proceeded to set up the device.
The initial set up is fairly painless, using the PC software I was able to connect the device to my Wi-Fi network, and from there proceeded to enter the model number for my electronic devices. The only issue in the initial set up was when it came time to program some special feature that my TV remote had onto the Harmony Link. The Link requires that the IR from the remote it is learning from be pointed at a 45 degree angle, and if you are even just a 5 degrees off, it will make you repeat the process… after reading some forums, and speaking with Logitech support, the general consensus is that the issue will be corrected in future updates for the device.
Once the device was configured, I proceeded to place it my home entertainment center, tucked away with just the IR blaster exposed. The device worked just as well as my Harmony One, and when I installed the app on wife’s Evo 3d it paired up and worked without a hitch. Additional features allow each user to set up custom favorites on their device.
My overall impressions of the Harmony Link, are favorable, the device delivers as advertised, though there are some early adoption hiccups that will need to be ironed out with future software and firmware updates. If you are looking for one device to control your entire home entertainment experience, and you don’t mind a few tech glitches here and there, then I would definitely recommend the Harmony Link.
This week Apple launched the iTunes match service, which will hold up to 25,000 songs in your personal library in their cloud, to downloaded and played on your cloud connected iOS devices. The service is 25 dollars per year. The service's real selling point is that as iTunes scans though your music library it will issue a license for each of your songs, no matter the source.
iTunes match, however, is not without its limitations, among them is that you may not stream your music to your iOS devices, you must download them. Also is the inherent issue that the service limited to iOS environments. What that means is that if you have an android, black berry, or any non-apple device, the music stored in iCloud will not be accessible to you on those devices.
Also launched this week is Google’s Music 11. The Google Music service allows users to upload up to 20,000 songs into the Google’s music cloud. The service is free, and gives you access to your music on PC, Mac, Android, Blackberry, and Nokia devices. There are some restrictions with Google Music. First of all, users are not allowed to download music to PC’s that were not purchased on Google Music (you may however stream). There is also no official iOS application for Google Music. Users may either go directly to music.google.com, or download the gTunes app.
Both services have their limitations, and the choice between one of the two of them really comes down to the need of the individual user. If you do not have a need to stream you music, and 25 dollars per year is worth the cost of having licenses for your all of digital music, then iTunes match is a lock. Those users looking to stream media across multiple platforms, or who are looking for a more cost effective cloud based music solution, may find the Google Music will fit their needs. Either way it goes you really can’t go wrong with these two fantastic services.
With the influx of iPhones and Android phones now being used in the office, we have the ability to be productive almost anywhere, but the opposite can also true. Personal email, texting, web surfing and social networking have the possibility of becoming huge time leaches. These items are now literally available at your fingertips. Many people are using their work time to conduct personal business or chat with friends and this is not always done from the user’s PC anymore. The enormous amounts of apps that are available have put a lot of people at risk of “playing” on the job.
This also goes for some additional items such as iPads and Android tablets. The ability to watch streaming media as well as downloading games and movies to these devices is very easy to do. This can also make it very tempting to enjoy these things on the company clock. This also gives the ability to view inappropriate data such as porn in the workplace. This leads us to another discussion altogether.
Both smartphones and tablets have the ability to be security risks as well. People can download files to these devices via their USB connections or over a Bluetooth connection. This opens companies up to the possibility of having sensitive data taken offsite without anyone knowing. A lost smartphone, can allow someone access to company email if it not setup for password protection or to have the data wiped if the device is lost.
Smartphones and tablets do have their place in a work environment and can help those want to be productive do so. It can also help those who are less apt to stay on task follow that path. Each company should have a policy on their employee’s usage.
A lot of discussion has been had in our office recently, especially in light of the passing of Apple founder Steve Jobs, as to whether or not Mac products really have a place in the corporate environment. I am specifying Mac products, not Apple as whole. By now most people accept iPads and iPhones are viable office tools. Thus we can, for the sake of this blog; omit those products and focus squarely on Macs. Whether it is the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac Mini, or the Mac Pro we want to focus on devices running OSX 10.6 or higher. Just to be clear here, I am talking about Intel Macs, not Power Mac G5’s or any of that rubbish. The reason why I am focusing on Intel Macs is because they can run Windows natively with Boot Camp, which really opened up the Mac experience to those outside of its traditional niche market.
Before we begin let’s look at some quick facts:
- Most PC users are still using Windows XP, at around 35%
- Windows Vista has a larger percentage of market share than Mac OSX
- October 2010, was the first time since the 1990’s that Apple had more than 10% of the PC market share
- As of September 2011, OSX had achieved 13.3% total market share worldwide and 15.4% market share in the U.S.
In today’s corporate world Windows, no matter which flavor, is still king. Hardware prices are more affordable than ever, and even with the price of Windows operating systems, being more than triple the cost of Mac OSX, Windows PCs are still more affordable than most Macs. As an example a brand new 15” MacBook Pro with an i7 CPU @ 2.4 GHz and 4 GB’s of DDR3 Ram costs $2199 before taxes. A Sony Vaio 16.4” laptop running Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit with similar specs and a Blu-ray drive retails for $1149.99. Adding to this fact is that at the end of the day, most applications are written to run in the Windows environment. All of these factors have combined to secure Microsoft’s place at the top of corporate mountain over the past two decades.
The reason for Mac’s recent growth in the market is twofold; the first reason is more users are exposed to Apple products than before due to the domination of the iPhone and iPad in the mobile consumer market, and number two, the introduction of Intel chips have made application support, and running Windows applications on Mac Hardware truly viable for the first time. Whether it be through virtualization apps such as Parallels or just loading up Boot Camp, Mac users are now able to take full advantage of the simplicity of Mac OSX, while have the productivity of the Windows environment all under one workstation. This versatility has opened the enterprise and corporate environments up to Mac hardware for the first time in decades.
Remember the transporters from Star Trek? Did you ever think how cool it would be if we could do that? Wouldn’t it be something if someday we could actually recreate objects on the other end of a data stream? Beaming me up Scotty, might be closer than you think. Check out this video below to see what we are capable of today with 3D printers.
We’ve recently been seeing a rash of people infected with seemingly real but in reality what is completely fake anti virus malware. The user reports that they were surfing the web innocently enough and suddenly a window appears that looked like it came from Microsoft informing them that their system is seriously infected. The window wouldn’t close when clicked and when they restarted their machine the fake anti virus software appeared to have become installed on their machine and couldn’t be removed, urgent warnings of infections are appearing everywhere, popups to embarrassingly raunchy websites are coming up and the machine is basically unusable. Uttimately the software wants you to subscribe in order to remove these “infections” and this is the object of Fake Anti-Virus it's all about getting your credit card.
If this should happen to you, DO NOT CLICK on anything and do not attempt to navigate through the Fake Anti-Virus user interface, It is not legitimate and all roads lead to you inputing your credit card. Immediately restart your computer.
Hopefully you have caught it in time but if after the reboot, you find your machine is infected, you can try to restore it to an earlier time if you are familiar with how to do this but if all else fails call a professional to clean your computer as malware infections can be very difficul to remove and you may actually damage your computer if you're not sure what you are doing or following bad or incorrect instructions.
Check out the video below from SophosLabs to see a Live Demo of Fake Anti Virus in action.
Get ready for Windows 8
Although it is really too early to predict exactly when it will be released or what its official name will be, Windows 8 is generating an increasing amount of buzz on the Internet. Microsoft has hinted that Windows 8 will be released in the fall of 2012 but rumor has it that preliminary builds have been widely distributed for testing on various platforms.
There are a lot of stories circulating about the features that will be included in Windows 8 such as 128 bit compatibility, native 3D support, an App Store, Tablet support, O/S level facial recognition, Hyper-V, faster start up time and quite a few others.
We’ll keep you posted as the details of Windows 8 develop but earlier this month; Microsoft released this video of Windows 8 Preview for partners in Taipei, Taiwan.
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