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Which deployment option for Microsoft Office 2016 is best for your organization?

Microsoft Office 2016 is now available for deployment in your enterprise. There are several options to choose from, but which one is right for you?

Office 2016

As of September 22, 2015, the official version for Microsoft’s productivity and collaboration suite has been upgraded to Office 2016. For consumers and small businesses who subscribe to Office 365, the upgrade to Office 2016 will be deployed automatically. For IT administrators working in enterprise environments, however, the deployment of Microsoft Office 2016 is a bit more complicated.

The plan

How IT admins will chose to deploy Office 2016 will be determined, at least in part, by how they subscribe to the productivity suite in the first place.

For example, if you subscribe under the Office 365 Pro Plus plan, your enterprise can continue to receive feature and security updates on a monthly basis as you have been. Microsoft has dubbed this always up-to-date deployment process as “Current Branch.” Under this plan, your enterprise will always have deployed the most current version of Microsoft Office. The Current Branch for this month released on September 22, so congratulations Current Branch subscribers, you have all the latest Office 2016 apps available.

Office 2016

However, the Current Branch is not the only option for enterprise deployments. If you choose, you can opt to deploy Office 2016 using what Microsoft calls “Current Branch for Business.” This method is particularly useful for enterprises who require more compatibility testing for new features.

Under the Current Branch for Business plan, enterprises will still receive monthly security updates, but they’ll only receive new feature updates three times per year. The first Current Branch for Business build will be deployed in February 2016, and it will include the September 22, 2015, features available under the Current Branch plan, along with any after-the-fact security updates associated with those features.

It’s important to note that the Current Branch for Business plan is the default plan for Office 365 Pro Plus subscribers.

What’s in a name?

As is typical, Microsoft’s naming scheme for Office 2016 deployment lacks imagination and descriptive clues about what to expect from each method, but the concept is relatively straightforward. If compatibility is not a problem in your enterprise, you should probably opt to use the Current Branch method for deployment.

Enterprises with a volume licensing agreement can download Office 2016 from the Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center starting October 1, 2015.

However, if your enterprise has issues with compatibility that require extensive testing before deploying new features, then you’ll want to keep using the Current Branch for Business plan.

No matter which plan you choose to use, if your enterprise is of significant size, you’ll likely want to use the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) to help control network traffic.

Bottom line

There are many new features in Microsoft Office 2016 that may be beneficial to users in your enterprise, including Skype for Business, Clutter for Outlook, better cloud collaboration tools for all apps, real time co-authoring in Word, and built-in business intelligence tools. This is a significant update to Office, so the decision on when and how to deploy it is not a trivial matter.

Microsoft has provided numerous tools and options to help IT admins deploy Office 2016, so there is really no excuse not to find a way to get it to your users. After all, you’re subscribing to Office 365, so you’re paying for Office 2016 apps whether you deploy them or not. Therefore, you might as well let your users take advantage of the latest features. It only makes sense.

Have questions?

Get help from IT Experts/Microsofts Cloud Solutions Partner
Call us at: 856-745-9990 or visit: https://southjerseytechies.net/

South Jersey Techies, LLC is a full Managed Web and Technology Services Company providing IT Services, Website Design ServicesServer SupportNetwork ConsultingInternet PhonesCloud Solutions Provider and much more. Contact for More Information.

To read this article in its entirety click here.

Microsoft’s latest Windows 10 ad annoys Chrome users with taskbar pop-ups

Ads on the Windows 10 taskbar aren’t just for Microsoft Edge anymore.

Microsoft’s aggressive advertising push inside Windows 10 is going beyond pop-ups for Microsoft Edge.

Myce recently spotted yet another pop-up ad on the taskbar in Windows 10. This time around Microsoft was advertising its extension for Chrome dubbed the Personal Shopping Assistant (Beta). The extension is a Microsoft Garage project that lets you compare prices across shopping sites.

Prior to the Chrome extension pop-up, Microsoft was advertising its rewards program for Microsoft Edge, which we spotted in early November. The earlier ad appeared to be targeted at people who didn’t use Edge that frequently.

A pop-up ad that promotes Windows 10’s Edge browser and Bing Rewards. The pop-up for the Chrome extension looks similar, as you can see on Myce.

The Chrome one, by comparison, is probably targeted at people who use Chrome as their default browser. Microsoft’s likely thinking that if people won’t stop using Chrome on Windows, at least they can use some Microsoft software while they’re doing it.

Microsoft told Thurrott.com that ads like the one for the Chrome extension are part of the company’s tests to provide, “new features and information that can help people enhance their Windows 10 experience.”

Tests or not, it’s unlikely that Microsoft will ever stop these taskbar ads even though users pay $100 or more for Windows. Thus far, Microsoft has advertised its own software and services.

The impact on you at home: If you want to make sure you don’t get pop-up ads on your taskbar you can turn them off. Open the Settings app and go to System > Notifications & Actions. On this screen under “Notifications” turn off Get tips, stricks, and suggestions as you use Windows. That’s not the only way Microsoft can advertise to you.

Have questions?

Get answers from Microsofts Cloud Solutions Partner!
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South Jersey Techies, LL C is a full Managed Web and Technology Services Company providing IT Services, Website Design ServicesServer SupportNetwork ConsultingInternet PhonesCloud Solutions Provider and much more. Contact for More Information.

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Tools for Office 365

Office-365-New2

PST Capture Tool

Microsoft now offers a free Administrator tool PST Capture Tool.  This tool will discover and import Personal Folders (.pst files) into Exchange 2010 or Exchange Online.  PST Capture will search all computers or specific computers connected to your company network, the .pst files are then sent to PST Capture Central Service, and finally .pst files are sent to Exchange Servers or Exchange Online.

For more information on this tool, click here.

Active Directory Picture

attribute_afterExchange offers an Active Directory attribute (‘thumbnailPhoto’) that allows you to add a picture for each user.  This picture is displayed in Lync Online and on SharePoint.  Currently, Active Directory does not have a way built-in to add images to ‘thumbnailPhoto’ Attribute.

AD Photo Edit is a simple tool that connects to Active Directory and synchronizes with Online Services.  Using AD Photo Edit allows you to upload, edit, update and export images.  There are two options available:

  1. Free Edition
  2. Bulk Edition

Once your photo is uploaded to your “username”  the ‘thumbnailPhoto’ attribute will be properly filled.

To download this tool, click here.

Microsoft Migration Tools

This tool is for Microsoft Online Services only.  Microsoft Online Services Migration Tool forwards copies of Exchange Server mail to Exchange Online mailboxes.  Also, you can copy from other mailboxes such as Exchange Server, POP3 Server and IMAP4 Server to the Exchange Online mailbox.

To download this tool, click here.

Remote Connectivity Analyzer

Microsoft Remote Connectivity Analyzer was once called Microsoft Exchange Remote Connectivity analyzer. This tool allows you to test connectivity for multiple services.

MRCA

To use this tool, click here

Mobile Admin

Office 365 Mobile Admin allows you to perform simple Administrator tasks from an application installed on your smartphone.  The tool allows you to create users, modify users, disable users, delete users and reset passwords.

This application is only available for Windows Phone for $1.49 and will be available soon for Android and iPhone.

For more information on Hosted Services and Office 365

 please contact us 856-745-9990 or click here.


Organize your intranet with SharePoint hub sites

New SharePoint hub sites make organizing and connecting your intranet easy. 

As business goals and team structures evolve, so too must your sites and the content that lives within them. Ideas must flourish and grow, not become rigid or stale. SharePoint hub sites bring flexible, dynamic building blocks to your company intranet – connecting collaboration and communication. Associating sites together in a hub site enhances discovery and engagement with content, while creating a complete and consistent representation of your project, department or region.

Microsoft first disclosed SharePoint hub sites during Ignite 2017. And recently they announced that they are now rolling out to Targeted Release customers in Office 365. Microsoft encouraged by early adopter feedback, can’t wait for every customer to use and adopt them.

SharePoint hub sites bring the following new capabilities to you and your intranet:

  • Cross-site navigation – increase visibility of and navigation among associated sites
  • Content rollup – read aggregated news and discover related site activities
  • Consistent look-and-feel – establish a common theme to improve visitor awareness of connected sites
  • Scoped search – focus on finding content that resides within the hub site’s associated sites

Hub sites support good governance, giving admins a growth framework to maintain relationships between sites over time. They are easy for admins to establish and bring efficiencies for people who work inside and across the sites on a day-to-day basis. And when managing change within the business, it is easy to move a site from one hub site to another.

 

Getting started with SharePoint hub sites in Office 365

You can convert an existing communication site or modern team time into a hub site, or you can start with a brand-new modern site. We recommend selecting a communication site as the hub site. You can associate multiple team sites and communication sites to model and promote an intranet that reflects the way your people organize. It is easy for admins to create one or more hub sites. After a hub site is created, approved site owners can associate existing team sites and communication sites with the hub site.

 

Use the SharePoint Online Management Shell to establish your hub sites

Admins, you are the enablers. And the SharePoint Online Management Shell (aka, PowerShell for SharePoint in Office 365) is your enabling tool of choice.

The PowerShell cmdlet you’ll want to get most familiar with is: Register-SPOHubSite https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/HR (where HR URL is the full-path address of the existing site that you want to convert into a hub site). You then will assign a unique security group to designate approved site owners that can associate sites to this new hub. You simply create a mail-enabled security group and add the users. You then run an additional PowerShell command to give that group permissions to associate their sites to the hub site.

Note: You must be a SharePoint administrator or above in Office 365 to create SharePoint hub sites. Site owners, however, can associate a SharePoint site with a hub site that already exists.

Learn more how admins create and manage hub sites.

 

Associating a site under a hub site

Once a hub site is established, it’s then a two-click process to associate to the hub site.

As the site owner, go to the site you want to have associated to the hub site. Click Settings (gear icon) > Site information > hub site association and select the desired hub.  You’ll only see the hubs you have permission to associate to. And then click Save. You will see the hub navigation appear above. The site itself will inherit the hub theme, and news and activities will begin to flow up to the hub site home page – along with a search crawl of content for any site associated to the hub site. And at any time, per a reorg or change in business direction, you can easily move sites between hub sites. This is the power of a dynamic intranet, one that can change and adapt with the ebb and flow of your ever-changing business landscape. Note: individual sites can only be associated to one hub site at a time.

Note: Sites associated with a SharePoint hub site don’t inherit the permissions of the hub site or any other sites associated with it. Each site, including the hub site, will retain their current permission settings. And as easy as it is to associate a site to a hub site, you, too, can dissaciate from one.

Learn more how to associate and dissociate your sites to and from hub sites.

 

Design your layout and choose you theme

Once the hub site has been established, you’ll then want to further set it up and refine it for that organization — so the hub site carries the right name and logo, the preferred navigation elements, a preferred theme, and the desired layout for news, sites and highlighted content. And all will re-flow and present beautifully within the SharePoint mobile apps.

The SharePoint mobile apps will display hub sites, and their pages, news, and content, with smooth navigation between associated sites and the scoped search experience. Find what you need on the go and get going! Install or update the SharePoint mobile app today: aka.ms/getSPmobile.

See what’s new with Macbook

A Retina display that takes everything to the edge.

The moment you open your MacBook, its gorgeous 12-inch Retina display with edge-to-edge glass brings everything into focus. Every photo leaps off the screen in rich, vibrant detail. Over 3 million pixels render each letter with crystal clarity. And it all comes to light on the thinnest Retina display ever on a Mac, meticulously honed to deliver a bold visual experience within an impossibly minimal design.

Learn more about Design

Retina Display

A full-size keyboard.
In a fraction of the space.

We believe that a comfortable, full-size keyboard is essential for a great notebook experience. But to fit one into the elegantly thin MacBook, we had to completely rethink how a keyboard is engineered and constructed. We redesigned each key and its underlying mechanism — not only making the whole keyboard much thinner, but also allowing for more comfortable, precise, and responsive typing that just feels right.

Learn more about Design

keyboard MacBook2016

The trackpad, pushed even further with Force Touch.

MacBook comes with a different way to experience a trackpad. The Force Touch trackpad is engineered to deliver a responsive, uniform click no matter where you press the surface. And underneath, force sensors detect how much pressure you’re applying. You can now use a Force click to enable useful capabilities, like quickly looking up the definition of a word or previewing a file just by clicking and continuing to press the trackpad. You’ll also experience haptic feedback — a tactile vibration from the trackpad that adds the sense of touch to what you see on the screen. These advanced capabilities work in addition to all the intuitive Multi-Touch gestures Mac users love. You’ll be more in touch with your Mac than ever before. Without lifting a finger.

Learn more about Design

Fully equipped for a wireless world.

MacBook is designed to fit effortlessly into our increasingly wireless world. Just about anything you do with a notebook can now be done over the air, thanks to Apple software that takes full advantage of the latest Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless technology. So no matter where you are, you can connect to the web, transfer files, organize your photos, listen to music, and more — without being tied down.

Learn more about Design

MacBook2016

 

USB-C.Singularly versatile.

As long as we were including a port for charging your MacBook, we wanted to make sure it was the most advanced and versatile one available. The USB-C port puts just about everything you need in a port all in one place. This amazing port provides charging, speedy USB 3 data transfer, and video output in a reversible design that’s one-third the size of a USB 3 port, giving you the flexibility to easily connect your favorite devices.

The capability to connect to everything you need.

We gave a lot of consideration to the way MacBook connects to peripherals and power. We chose USB-C for its compact design and versatility. This single port lets you connect your charger; HDMI, DisplayPort, and VGA displays; USB devices like external drives; and your iPhone or iPad. All of which goes to show that sometimes less really is more.

Mackbook2016

A range of accessories lets you connect virtually any device to your MacBook. For instance, the USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter lets you connect your MacBook to an HDMI display, as well as a standard USB device and a USB-C charging cable.

Quietly astonishing.

MacBook has been engineered from the ground up for silent, efficient performance. It includes sixth-generation Intel Core M processors that run on just 5 watts of power, made even more efficient by optimizations throughout OS X. Together the processor and OS X sip so little energy that the system generates very little heat, so no fan is required to cool the computer. That means when your MacBook is working, you won’t hear a thing. And the logic board on which the processor sits has been painstakingly engineered to pack all the capability you expect in a Mac into as little space as possible.

Measurably faster.

MacBook features sixth-generation Intel Core m3, m5, and m7 processors with speeds of up to 1.3GHz and up to 25 percent faster graphics. It also comes with faster 1866MHz memory. So your MacBook is quicker and more responsive.

Learn more about Design

MacBook

All-day battery life.
Now even longer.

With the slim MacBook enclosure, all-day battery life simply would not be achievable using traditional rectangular batteries. So we developed our own battery technology specifically designed to make use of every last millimeter of available space. The result is a terraced, contoured battery design that not only fits perfectly inside the incredibly slim MacBook, but also is unlike anything seen before in a notebook. And now, thanks to more efficient processors and improved battery chemistry, battery life has been extended by an hour.

Learn more about Design

OS X

OS X is the operating system that powers everything you do on a Mac. With OS X El Capitan, it’s simple to do amazing things and delightful to do all the everyday things. And it works seamlessly with your apps and iOS devices.

Built-in Apps

Every Mac comes with apps for creativity and apps for productivity. It also comes with a collection of great apps for things you do every day, like surfng the web, sending mail and messages, and organizing your calendar. It even comes with an app for finding new apps. Your Mac is more than fully featured, it’s fully loaded.

Learn more about Built-in Apps

Pure invention.

Learn more about the
design of MacBook

Have questions?

Get answers from Microsofts Cloud Solutions Partner!
Call us at: 856-745-9990 or visit: https://southjerseytechies.net/

South Jersey Techies, LL C is a full Managed Web and Technology Services Company providing IT Services, Website Design ServicesServer SupportNetwork ConsultingInternet PhonesCloud Solutions Provider and much more. Contact for More Information.

To read this article in its entirety click here.

Can’t Change Windows 7 Theme?

Can’t change the Windows 7 theme? Is your Windows 7 theme stuck on “classic”? If it is stuck, then you can try to apply a few fixes and see if if you can unstuck it! Often it is stuck, because your PC is configured to be optimized for best performance, rather than best appearance!

 

Windows

Overview

Configure PC for better Appearance
Start Windows 7 Themes Service
Problem: Themes Service Cannot Be Started

Use Visual Styles on Windows and Buttons

Often the reason why your Windows 7 theme could be stuck on classic is that your PC is configured to be optimized for better performance. I could imagine that some laptops are even pre-configured that way. Actually, it’s a good setting, but if you want a better appearance I can understand that it’s annoying to be stuck on “classic” theme. So, if you can’t change your Windows 7 theme, you might want to check your PC configuration first:

1. StepOpen the Control Panel

Control Panel


2.
Click on “System and Security”:

3. Step Click on “System”.

4. Step In the sidebar, click on “Advanced System Settings”:

5. Go to the tab “Advanced” and click on “Settings”:

System and Security

 

6. Step Scroll down the list, at the bottom double-check that the item “Use Visual Styles on Windows and Buttons” is checked. If this is not checked, your Windows 7 theme will be stuck on “classic” for a long time, because this completely disables your fancy visual Aero appearance.

Windows 7 Themes

This is also often the problem why people can’t seem to be able to active the Windows 7 Aero theme, because their PC is configured to be optimized for the best performance and not the best appearance.

Themes service is not started

If your Windows 7 themes service is not started your Windows 7 theme will be stuck on “classic”. You can’t change your Windows 7 theme when the theme service is disabled. So, let’s check if your themes service is up and running.

1. Step Click on “Start” and enter “services.msc” into the search field. Click on the item that appears.

2. Step Scroll down the list until you find the item “Themes” (or enter Themes while one item is selected)

3. StepYou will now see if the Themes service is running currently and what mode it is in (Automatic, Disabled, Manual):

If it’s currently “Disabled” or in “Manual” mode and not started, you have to start it manually and change the mode to “Automatic”.

4. StepDouble-click on “Themes” and from the dropdown select “Automatic”, click on “Start” and then on “Apply”.

Themes Properties

Have questions?

Microsoft’s Cloud Solutions Partner are here to help.
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South Jersey Techies, LLC is a full Managed Web and Technology Services Company providing IT Services, Website Design ServicesServer SupportNetwork ConsultingInternet PhonesCloud Solutions Provider and much more. Contact for More Information.

To read this article in its entirety click here.

 

Surface Book pre-orders sold out at Microsoft’s online store

If you were still thinking about placing an order for a new Microsoft Surface Book, then you will have to look somewhere other than the Microsoft store.

surfacebook

While there doesn’t seem to be a massive supply issue with the new Apple iPhone 6s smartphone, in the past we have seen Apple products sell out quickly and deliveries move from days, to weeks, to months. It seems that Microsoft’s new Surface Book may be generating more interest than planned.

Last night I went to the online Microsoft Store to place an order for a base model Surface Book. I found that the only available status when choosing that model was, “Email me when available.” I jumped through the other four models and discovered the same thing. It seems Microsoft is sold out of pre-order stock for all models at its online store.

We reached out to Microsoft to try to find out more about stock status and when buyers could expect to place pre-orders. I also asked if there will be units in Microsoft retail stores on launch day, 26 October. Given that units are sold out online, we may even see people queue up for possible stock in stores.

A Microsoft spokesperson provided the following statement, “We’ve seen strong demand for Surface Book and have sold out of pre-order supply for October 26 availability. We will have limited quantities of Surface Book available in store on October 26 and will be updating online availability with new product ship dates soon.”

UPDATE: Microsoft updated its store and is no allowing customers to pre-order the five Surface Book variations. What you will find instead of an email me when available button is updated delivery expectations, ranging from five to six weeks for three models and seven to eight weeks for two models.

While I was disappointed that I couldn’t purchase a Surface Book through Microsoft directly, I found that Best Buy and Amazon will also be selling this new computer. Best Buy did not appear to be taking pre-orders, but I was able to purchase the Intel Core i5, 8GB, 128GB model from Amazon for $1,499.

The Amazon website does not appear to carry the 256GB i5 without dGPU or 256GB i7 models. The 256GB i5 with dGPU looks to be the only other model available for pre-order. The 512GB i7 model is on the site as an option, but redirects you to the Microsoft Store for purchase and it’s not avaialable there.

Have questions?

Get help from IT Experts/Microsofts Cloud Solutions Partner
Call us at: 856-745-9990 or visit: https://southjerseytechies.net/

South Jersey Techies, LLC is a full Managed Web and Technology Services Company providing IT Services, Website Design ServicesServer SupportNetwork ConsultingInternet PhonesCloud Solutions Provider and much more. Contact for More Information.

To read this article in its entirety click here.

Microsoft withdraws update causing Outlook to start in Safe Mode (with fix)

outlook-safe-mode

Microsoft has withdrawn the released Windows Update KB3114409 because it causes Outlook to start in Safe Mode. This loads the email client without customizations and plugins. Fortunately it can be easily fixed.

The patch was actually released to stop Outlook from starting in Safe Mode, but it appears something didn’t go the right way. Microsoft has decided to withdraw the update for now.

Users affected by the update can easily stop Outlook from starting in safe mode by uninstalling the KB3114409 update.

This can be done this way: Go to your Control Panel. Go to ‘Programs and Features’ and left click ‘View installed updates’. Find KB3114409. Once you’ve found the appropriate update, click ‘Uninstall’.

(Tip: copy/paste KB3114409 and enter it in the search field at the top right.)

After a reboot of the computer Outlook will no longer start in safe mode.

Have questions?

Get help from IT Experts/Microsofts Cloud Solutions Partner
Call us at: 856-745-9990 or visit: https://southjerseytechies.net/

South Jersey Techies, LLC is a full Managed Web and Technology Services Company providing IT Services, Website Design ServicesServer SupportNetwork ConsultingInternet PhonesCloud Solutions Provider and much more. Contact for More Information.

To read this article in its entirety click here.

Cyber Security

Intuit Cyber Alert

We have been alerted to a new Phishing scam that effects Quickbook and Intuit customers. Recently, Intuit published a security notice on their website warning customers of a Phishing scam which appears to be a direct email from Intuit’s customer service department using the domain of “intuit-solution”.  This sender is not associated with Intuit nor is it an authorized agent of Intuit. If you receive an email from this domain or any other email that appears suspicious, do not click on any links or attachments, do not reply to the email and do not forward it to anyone. It is recommended that you delete the email. If you mistakenly click or have already clicked on a link or downloaded something from the email, immediately (1) delete the download (2) scan your system using an up-to-date anti-virus program and (3) change your passwords. If you experience any issues and are worried you may have fallen subject to this scam, contact South Jersey Techies for immediate support.

Phishing is a cybercrime aimed to lure individuals into revealing personal information or expose them to downloads of malware that will infect their computer and networks. Phishing baits will impersonate real companies. The imposters are getting harder to spot and not all phishing scams work the same way.  You should never enter your username or password into a Login if you are not 100% confident of the source.  These scams are designed to retrieve sensitive information such as SSNs, credit card information and user names and passwords.

Following basic safety tips can help you keep your information safe:

  • Protect your computer with anti-virus software.
  • Keep your browser up to date and install any updates as they are pushed.
  • Contact your bank and any other financial institutions you use if you are a victim of identity theft. Check with your credit reporting agencies often and spot check for any inconsistencies.
  • Report any suspicious emails to your technology provider or third-party vendor so they may be tracked and logged.

If you have any questions, please email us at support@sjtechies.com or call us at (856) 745-9990.

Goodbye, Hotmail. Hello, Outlook.com

Summary: Microsoft’s flagship mail service for consumers gets a new name and a “modern” Metro-style interface. Here’s how to sign up for a preview and what to expect. So long, Hotmail. It was nice to know you. Microsoft unveiled a major update to its consumer mail platform today, with a new look, a slew of new features, and a new name that is surprisingly familiar.

The “modern email” service has been in super stealth mode for several months under the codename NewMail. With its formal launch as an open-to-the-public preview, the service gets a new name: Outlook.com. I’ve been using the NewMail beta for a week now and can share some first impressions here. Outlook, of course, is the serious, business-focused mail client included with Office. Microsoft used the brand with Outlook Express, its lightweight email client in Windows XP, but dumped the name with the launch of Windows Vista in 2006. Restoring the Outlook name to Microsoft’s consumer email service accomplishes two goals. First, it dumps the Hotmail brand, which is tarnished beyond redemption, especially among technically sophisticated users who have embraced Google’s Gmail as the default standard for webmail. More importantly, it replaces the Hotmail domain with a fresh top-level domain that’s serious enough for business use. (If you have an existing Hotmail.com or Live.com address, you can continue to use it with the new Outlook interface. But new addresses in the Outlook.com domain are up for grabs. if you have a common name, I recommend that you get yourself over to Outlook.com now to claim your preferred email address while it’s still available.) The Outlook.com preview will run alongside Hotmail for now, but when the preview ends, this will be the replacement for all Hotmail and Live Mail users. With Outlook.com, Microsoft is taking dead aim at Gmail, positioning Google’s flagship service as the old and tired player that is ready for retirement. Gmail, they point out, is eight years old, and its interface and feature set aren’t exactly modern. It doesn’t play well with any social media except its own, it handles attachments in a stodgy and traditional way, and it’s not particularly elegant when it comes to managing the deluge of email we all have to deal with every day. So what’s new about NewMail—sorry, Outlook.com? And why would anyone consider switching from Gmail? The most obvious change in the web interface, of course, is the overall design, which gets the full Metro treatment.

That three-pane layout follows the familiar Outlook standard, but the typography is definitely new. It’s clean and crisp with no wasted ornamentation or clutter. It should come as no surprise that the default organization is optimized for use on touch-enabled devices. A pane on the right shows different content, depending on the context. If you’re communicating with a friend of colleague who’s in your address book or connected via a social-media service, you’ll see updates about that person on the right side, with the option to chat with them (via Messenger or Facebook chat) in that pane. In a demo, Microsoft showed off Skype integration and said it will be coming later in the preview. If you’ve selected no message, the right pane might show ads, which appear in Metro style boxes with text–an image preview appears if you hover over the ad. As part of its positioning against Google, Microsoft has taken pains to note that your messages aren’t scanned to provide context-sensitive ads, as they are with Gmail. This is a pure HTML interface, which means the functionality is consistent across different browsers and on alternative platforms. I tested NewMail on a Mac using Safari and Chrome and in both Firefox and Chrome on several Windows PCs. Everything worked as expected. I also tested the web-based interface in mobile Safari on an iPad, where it also displayed perfectly (after switching from the default mobile layout). On mobile devices, you’ll be able to use native apps. An app for iOS devices should be available immediately. Microsoft promises an Android app “soon” that will enable Exchange ActiveSync support for older Android versions. A command bar at the top of the page provides access to commands as needed. If a command isn’t available in the current context, it’s not visible on the screen.

The preview pane (a feature that’s still experimental in Gmail even after eight years) lets you read and reply to messages without leaving the main screen. Action icons that appear when you move the mouse over an item in the message list let you file, delete, or flag the message with a single click or tap.

The new Outlook has some impressive mail management smarts built in. It automatically recognizes newsletters and other recurring types of mail. A Schedule cleanup option in the message header (also available on the command bar), lets you create rules on the fly that automatically delete or file similar messages to reduce clutter. You can specify, for example, that you want to keep only the most recent message from a “daily deals” site. You can also define how many messages you want to keep from a particular sender or automatically delete/file newsletters after a set number of days.

For newsletters that don’t contain an obvious unsubscribe link, the new Outlook adds a universal unsubscribe feature at the bottom of the message. When you select this option the web service sends an unsubscribe request on your behalf and creates a message-blocking rule. One huge differentiator between old-school webmail services like Gmail is the new Unified Address Book in Outlook.com. It takes a page from Microsoft’s People hubs in Windows 8 and the Windows Phone platform to pull together your traditional address book—where you manage names and details—and combine it with social media services of which you’re a member.

The advantage, of course, is that you always have the most up-to-date contact information for friends and colleagues, assuming they update their profiles. The new Outlook does a pretty good job of combining records. If you have contacts that appear in multiple locations, you can manually link or unlink those records as needed. Supported services include anything you can link to your Microsoft account, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Flickr. You can import contacts from Google and Facebook if you want to keep them locally. In terms of creating and sending photos and file attachments, the new Outlook integrates exceptionally well with SkyDrive, so that you can email large attachments and photo albums, storing them on SkyDrive with well-integrated links that the recipient can access with a click. The spec sheet says single attachments can be up to 300 MB in size. If they’re stored on SkyDrive, you don’t have to worry about the message being rejected by the recipient’s mail service. And of course, the service incorporates all of the Office Web Apps, which makes the process of sharing Word documents, PowerPoint slide decks, and Excel workbooks much more seamless. On the back end, the interface for managing an email account is cleaner. You can still create aliases that you use for sites and contacts where you don’t want to share your real address. And if you just want to experiment with the new service, you can redirect your Gmail messages temporarily to the new account or sign in with an existing Hotmail or Live address. (I’ve had my Gmail account redirected to Hotmail for a year without problems.)

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