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Patience will be the key to a successful Windows 10 upgrade

let the dust settle before you attempt the free Windows 10 upgrade.

Windows 10

With the official Windows 10 launch and Microsoft’s promise that the upgrade for Windows 7/8.1 systems will be free for the first year after launch, you’ll have until July 29, 2016, to make your move. Just because it’s free doesn’t mean you have to rush to get your copy—unless, of course, it’s a status thing.

For the ordinary Windows user, there really isn’t any immediate need to be one of the first people to download Windows 10. In fact, you’ll probably have a better upgrade experience if you hold off for a bit. Wait for the hype to die down, wait for the load on the Windows Update servers to wane, and more importantly, wait for the first wave of updates to make their way out to the masses of Windows users who had to be the first.

Besides, unless you’re a Windows Insider program participant, chances are that you won’t be able to get Windows 10 right away anyhow.

In his July 2nd blog post, “Windows 10: Preparing to Upgrade One Billion Devices,” Terry Myerson stated:

“We want to make sure all of you have a great upgrade experience, so we’ll roll-out Windows 10 in phases to help manage the demand.”

He then goes on to say:

“Starting on July 29, we will start rolling out Windows 10 to our Windows Insiders. From there, we will start notifying reserved systems in waves, slowly scaling up after July 29th. Each day of the roll-out, we will listen, learn and update the experience for all Windows 10 users.”

That last sentence hints at the fact that the Microsoft is anticipating the possibility that there may be some glitches in the first wave of the roll out.

To be sure, I’m not suggesting that you hold out for months before you upgrade—rather, I’m saying that you may want to give it a couple of weeks just to see how others are faring with Windows 10. With Microsoft’s Windows as a service model, the ongoing testing via the extension of the Windows Insider program, and the rapid update system developed during the Windows Insider preview program, the hope is that any issues that crop up in the first weeks after initial availability will be quickly resolved.

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The BlackBerry platform’s slow fade to black

blackberry-logo-SJTechiesBlackBerry’s operating system was recently dealt blow by Facebook. Find out how this could be the final nail in the BB10 coffin.

The only reason this headline should surprise anyone is the fact that BlackBerry OS is actually still alive. End of story, right? Truth be told, most assumed BlackBerry’s operating system dead when the company decided to release a device running the Android platform. It seemed to be the only logical step forward for BlackBerry Limited. And yet, BB continues on.

Only now, they continue on without Whatsapp and Facebook support.

When pressed for the reason why they are pulling support, Facebook made their case quite simple, stating that 99.5 % of all smartphone sales are of the Android, iOS, and Windows Mobile platforms.

Makes sense.

What doesn’t make sense is the fact that the BlackBerry OS is still alive and kicking. Yes, I understand BlackBerry was the platform for business users for a very long time, but that time has come and gone and the only relevant platforms are obvious. In fact, even Windows Mobile is barely hanging on to any semblance of relevancy.

What can you expect

If you happen to be a BlackBerry user, you already knew that Whatsapp pulled the plug. Now you can count on the Facebook app functioning (sans updates) until the end of the year. Once 2016 passes, the app will cease to be available in any form.

My guess is, once the Facebook app no longer functions on the platform, the Grim Reaper will swoop into the offices of the BB10 developers and have a field day. Facebook holds a powerful sway over the ebb and flow of the consumer. No Facebook, no platform.

And you may be saying to yourself, “BB10 is a business-centric platform, there’s no need for a Facebook app”. That assumption is false for at least two reasons. First, businesses actually use Facebook as a form of marketing. Second, you’re assuming that business users do not spend any amount of time on Facebook. According to comScore, the average American citizen spends 40 minutes a day on the social network platform. Relatively speaking, that’s a significant amount of time (considering users tend to work on Facebook in a sort of “hit and run” style). And if you factor in the peak Facebook hours of 1 p.m. – 3 p.m., it’s clear that business users do spend time on Facebook.

BlackBerry’s reaction

Of this separation, BlackBerry said:

“We are extremely disappointed in their decision as we know so many users love these apps. We fought back to work with WhatsApp and Facebook to change their minds, but at this time, their decision stands,”

BlackBerry even started a Twitter campaign to change Facebook’s mind, with the hashtag #ILoveBB10Apps. I did a quick Twitter search for that hashtag and found the hashtag (somewhat) backfired on BlackBerry. Tweets ranging from angry users (one user asking how his BlackBerry device could be showing 0% battery, yet still be functioning), to the usual flood of memes and spam. Some users did proclaim they’d be sticking with BlackBerry by way of the PRIV (which, if we’re being honest, at that point you are as much in support of Android as you are BlackBerry). Of course, there were the BlackBerry faithful, extolling the values of BlackBerry 10 multitasking, security, and such to convince Facebook to not pull the plug.

The truth is in the numbers

You really shouldn’t need anything more than that telling number 99.5. That is beyond significant. We’ve watched new (and promising) platforms come and go, thanks to the might that is Android and iOS. Because BlackBerry has been around for a while, doesn’t give them a special hall pass to avoid the apple flavored robotic death hammer.

If BlackBerry wants to continue on, their only hope clearly lies in Android. The BlackBerry faithful will gladly continue on, with their physical keyboards and Android platform. Either that, or they can say goodbye to BlackBerry altogether, because Facebook pulling support could well be the killing blow to the little platform.

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iPhone 7: What business users need to know

Apple recently announced the latest version of its flagship smartphone. Here are the features and functions that will matter to professionals.

iphone7lineup

The iPhone 7 is officially here. At an Apple event in California on Wednesday (September 7, coincidentally), the phone was unveiled by Tim Cook and the crew amid a variety of Apple announcements.

The first mention of the new device came in a now-deleted tweet that read: “New cameras. Water-resistant. Stereo speakers. Longer battery life. This is 7.” Apple is known for being tight-lipped until the last possible second, so it was definitely a surprise.

The phone has a new design, featuring an aluminum body with almost non-existent seams and is available in gold, silver, rose gold, black, and Jet Black. The home button was also redesigned, with Force sensitivity and a new Taptic engine. It can also be programmed by third-party applications and customized as well.

The above tweet wasn’t a fluke. The new enclosure is both water and dust resistant, with IP67 protection standard.

The new, 12-megapixel iPhone 7 camera has image stabilization and a wider f1.8 aperture lens that is made up of six distinct layers. The sensor for the camera is faster and more efficient, and a quad-LED flash can help users take better photos. The iPhone 7+ gets a second 12MP camera to use as a telephoto lens.

A new image processor helps balance colors and tone in an image, among many other features. This could be helpful for small marketing departments, or businesses that rely on image content, to produce better photos.

The front camera is a 7MP FaceTime HD camera. This will be helpful for road warriors and remote workers alike, as it could provide a better experience for mobile video conferencing.

The new Retina HD display is now 25% brighter than previous generations. The iPhone 7 has stereo speakers with twice the volume and better quality sound. If you want to use headphones, the traditional auxiliary input jack is gone, and the Apple EarPods now connect via Lightning connector only. If you have traditional headphones, though, Apple will include an adapter in the box with the new iPhone 7 and 7+.

Apple also debuted a wireless version of its earbuds called AirPods. They use a W1 chip to enable “intelligent connection” and users can access Siri through the AirPods with a tap. The batteries provide five hours of listening per charge.

In terms of performance, the iPhone 7 has a new A10 Fusion 64-bit, four core processor. Using two high-efficient cores, tasks like checking email will take less battery power. It also has stronger graphics performance while consuming less power than previous models. Pro apps, like those from Adobe, can perform better on the device as well.

Storage-wise, the new iPhones will be available with 32GB, 128GB, or 256GB of space.

apple_watch_series_2

Apple also announced the Apple Watch Series 2. The watch is swim-proof, which is a fancy way of saying that it is water resistant up to 50 meters. Its second-generation SiP (system in a package) has a dual-core processor that’s up to 50% faster, and a stronger GPU for better graphics performance as well.

A new display is easier to read, and the more powerful hardware allows for more complex apps to be built for the device. Built-in GPS will be good for business travelers, and developers can take advantage of it to build more contextual apps. Of course, watchOS 3 came to preview back in June, but Apple was expected to bring a new version of the hardware for quite some time.

Real-time collaboration is coming to the iWork suite as well. Apple showcased the functionality by editing the slide deck live on stage. Of course, Google Docs and Office 365 have had similar functionality for some time, and iWork has struggled to gain traction in the enterprise, but it’s a welcome update.

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Microsoft Surface Studio: The smart person’s guide

Everything you need to know about the Surface Studio, Microsoft’s new all-in-one PC designed to tempt professional artists and designers over to Windows.

microsoft-surface-studio

The Surface Studio is an all-in-one PC with premium specs, designed to wow professional artists, designers, architects and other creatives.

While the $2,999 price tag will deter most consumers, Microsoft seems to be targeting the Studio at design professionals, who would otherwise be using Apple Macs alongside specialist devices like Wacom’s Cintiq drawing tablet.

The Studio is a machine with a lot to recommend it, but one that could still be a leap too far for creatives already heavily invested in alternative tech.

Executive summary

  • What it is: The Surface Studio is a high-end, all-in-one PC aimed at being a drafting table and canvas for creatives.
  • Why it matters: The machine marks Microsoft’s first venture into designing desktop PCs and may put pressure on Apple and other manufacturers to crank up specs on competing machines.
  • Who it is for: Artists, designers, architects — creative professionals who want a machine that shows off their work at its best.
  • Why you should get it: For its super sleek, razor-sharp display that lets users draw straight onto the screen.
  • Why you shouldn’t get it: The price is too high or you’re a professional already heavily invested in alternative software and hardware.
  • How to get it: Pre-order online, although stock is limited according to Microsoft

What it is

An all-in-one, Windows 10 PC designed to dazzle users with its superlative display.

The screen, a 28-inch touchscreen LCD monitor, is ‘the thinnest in the world’ according to Microsoft, and sits on a counterbalanced hinge that makes it easy to push down onto the desk, and start drawing on with a digital pen.

The monitor’s 4K+ resolution and ability to display more than one billion colors, as well as to show drawings and documents at 1:1 scale with their paper equivalents, is designed to give professionals the ability to see how their creations would look in the real world.

Sketching on the screen with the Surface Pen is made easier when the Studio is used with the newly released Surface Dial, a brushed silver knob that can be rotated to select a new color when drawing on the screen or to turn the image.

Why it matters

From the point of view of artists and designers, the Studio offers a high-end computer built around their creative needs, which does away with having to use a separate drawing tablet and computer.

Even if creatives ignore the Surface Studio, its release is good news, likely to prompt incumbents like Apple and Wacom to spec up and cut the prices of new machines — in particular for the iMac, which the Studio has been compared to many times, despite the iMac lacking a touchscreen.

By following up the immaculately designed Surface Book laptop with a striking machine like the Surface Studio, Microsoft also appears to be trying to establish itself as a competitor to Apple on the design front.

Who it is for

Broadly, the Studio seems to be aimed at anyone who draws or designs for a living.

In launch videos, the Studio was seen being used by artists, architects and product designers.

The multi-purpose nature of the Studio, a machine that combines a Windows desktop PC with the functionality of a separate digital drawing tablet, such as the Cintiq 27 QHD Touch, will likely make the $2,999 price tag easier to swallow among those in the creative industries.

Why you should get it

If you draw or design for a living there are plenty of reasons why you might want the Studio. For example, there’s the quality of the display and the ease with which the Surface Pen draws on the screen. Microsoft describes this experience as virtually as fluid as drawing on paper. Then there’s the Studio’s significant graphical processing power, the ability to view documents and drawings actual size on screen and the ease with which you can switch push down the monitor and begin drawing.

Why you shouldn’t get it

Despite the Studio’s looks, its high price makes it hard to recommend as a consumer purchase, particularly when an iMac with a higher resolution, and only very slightly smaller screen, will cost less money.

Even professional creators are unlikely to abandon their current expensive setup for a Studio, as Mikako Kitagawa, principal research analyst with Gartner, pointed out.

“An all-in-one device is not the most cost-effective device, as the users pay for both the computing unit and monitor at the same time,” she said.

“Creative professionals have already invested heavily in hardware and software. For instance, many professional illustrators use a high-end drawing tablet and high-resolution monitor at the same time.”

If those same professionals exclusively use macOS, as is the case in some creative outlets, then the high cost of switching to Windows will also be a deterrent, she said.

There is also Microsoft’s odd decision not to include the $99 Surface Dial with the Studio, despite the peripheral featuring so heavily in demos of the machine, and being particularly useful for tasks like changing colors while drawing with the Surface Pen.

How to get it

The Surface Studio is available to pre-order from Microsoft, with prices starting at $2,999 and shipping starting from 12 December. Microsoft has warned the machine will be available in limited quantities.

Tech specs:

$2,999: 1TB drive; Intel Core i5 CPU; 8GB RAM; 2GB GPU

$3,499: 1TB drive; Intel Core i7 CPU; 16GB RAM; 2GB GPU

$4,199: 2TB drive; Intel Core i7 CPU; 32GB RAM; 4GB GPU

Display: 28″ PixelSense Display; 4500 x 3000 resolution; 192 DPI; Color settings: Adobe sRGB, DCI-P3 and Vivid Color Profiles; Touch: 10-point multi-touch; Aspect ratio: 3:2 TB drive; Intel Core i5 CPU; 8GB RAM; 2GB GPU

Processor: Quad-core 6th Gen Intel Core i5 or i7

Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M 2GB GPU GDDR5 memory or NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M 4GB GPU GDDR5 memory

Storage: 1TB or 2TB ‘rapid hybrid drive’

Memory: 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB RAM

Wireless: 802.11ac Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.0; Xbox Wireless built-in3

Dimensions: Display: 25.09 x 17.27 x 0.44 in (637.35 x 438.90 x 11.4 mm); Base: 9.84 x 8.66 x 1.26 in (250.00 x 220.00 x 32.20 mm)

Weight: 21.07 lbs max (9.56 kg)

Connections: 4 USB 3.0; Full-size SD card reader (SDXC compatible); Mini Displayport; 3.5mm headset jack; Compatible with Surface Dial onscreen interaction

Cameras: 5.0MP front-facing camera with 1080p HD video

Audio: Dual microphones; Stereo 2.1 speakers with Dolby Audio Premium

Buttons: Volume and power

Surface Pen

Surface Keyboard

Surface Mouse

Power cord with grip-release cable

Security: TPM chip for enterprise security; Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in

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Old Windows PCs can stop WannaCry ransomware with new Microsoft patch

In a rare step, Microsoft published a patch for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows 8

Users of old Windows systems can now download a patch to protect them from this week’s massive ransomware attack.

In a rare step, Microsoft published a patch for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows 8 — all of them operating systems for which it no longer provides mainstream support.

Users can download and find more information about the patches in Microsoft’s blog post about Friday’s attack from the WannaCry ransomware.

The ransomware, which has spread globally, has been infecting computers by exploiting a Windows vulnerability involving the Server Message Block protocol, a file-sharing feature.

Computers infected with WannaCry will have their data encrypted, and display a ransom note demanding $300 or $600 in bitcoin to free the files.

Fortunately, Windows 10 customers were not targeted in Friday’s attack. In March, Microsoft patched the vulnerability that the ransomware exploits — but only for newer Windows systems. That’s left older Windows machines, or those users who failed to patch newer machines, vulnerable to Friday’s attack.

Researchers originally believed the ransomware was spread through attachments in email phishing campaigns. That no longer appears to be the case.

Infection attempts from the WannaCry ransomware.

Once a vulnerable PC becomes infected, the computer will attempt to spread to other machines over the local network as well as over the internet. The ransomware will specifically scan for unpatched machines that have the Server Message Block vulnerability exposed.

Businesses can prevent this by disabling the Server Message Block protocol in vulnerable PCs. They can also use a firewall to block unrecognized internet traffic from accessing the networking ports the Server Message Block uses.

Fortunately, Friday’s ransomware attack may have been contained. A security researcher who goes by the name MalwareTech has activated a sort of kill-switch in WannaCry that stops it from spreading.

As a result, over 100,000 new infections were prevented, according to U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre. But experts also warn that WannaCry’s developers may be working on other versions that won’t be easy to disable.

“It’s very important everyone understands that all they (the hackers) need to do is change some code and start again. Patch your systems now!” MalwareTech tweeted.

Unfortunately, the kill-switch’s activation will provide no relief to existing victims. The ransomware will persist on systems already infected.

Friday’s ransomware attack appears to have spread mainly in Europe and Asia, with Russia among those nations hardest hit, according to security researchers.

Security experts are advising victims to wait before paying the ransom. It’s possible that researchers will develop a free solution that can remove the infection.

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Change the Processor Affinity setting in Windows 7 to gain a performance edge

Under specific circumstances and with careful tweaking, you can increase Windows 7’s performance using the Processor Affinity setting.

If you have a multi-core processor, chances are good that on the Performance tab in Windows Task Manager, you have noticed that the CPU Usage History graphs look about the same for each core, as shown in Figure A. The reason for this is that most applications you run these days have been designed with multi-core processors in mind and will work with the operating system to distribute their operations as evenly as possible across all the available cores.

Figure A

In most cases, you’ll notice that the CPU Usage History graphs look about the same for each core.

In most cases this even distribution provides you with the best performance possible. However, that’s not always going to be the case. For instance, older applications that were designed for single-core processors can behave irrationally — they may all of a sudden begin maxing out the CPU usage at 100 percent and appear to be locked up. In other circumstances, you might be able to achieve better overall performance from certain applications by configuring each of them to run on different processor cores.

Fortunately, Windows 7 allows you to configure applications to use only one, or several, of the processor cores in a multi-core system by using the Processor Affinity setting.

In this edition of the Windows Desktop Report, Iwe’ll show you two ways to change the Processor Affinity setting in Windows 7.

From Task Manager

Changing the Processor Affinity setting from within Task Manager is a pretty straightforward operation once you know how to do it. To launch Task Manger, you can use the keystroke combination [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [Esc] or you can simply right-click on the taskbar and select Task Manager from the context menu.

Once Task Manager is up and running, select the Applications tab, right-click on the application that you want to work with, and select the Go to Process command, as shown in Figure B. When you get to the Processes tab, right-click on the process and from that context menu, select the Set Affinity command, as shown in Figure C. (If the processes are jumping around, it may be hard to select the correct process, so you might just want to press the Application key or [Shift]+[F10].)

Figure B

Right-click on an application and select the Go to Process command.

Figure C

Right-click on the process and select the Set Affinity command.

After you select the Set Affinity command, you’ll see the Processor Affinity dialog box shown in Figure D. As you can see, the default setting is All Processors, which in the case of my example system are CPU 0 and CPU 1. At this point, you can clear the All Processors check box and then select the CPU on which you want the process to run.

Figure D

The Processor Affinity dialog box allows you to choose which processor(s) you want to use.

An example

To take a look at the effects of using the Set Affinity command, we launched two applications: Microsoft Security Essentials and Disk Defragmenter. Next we used the Set Affinity command to assign Microsoft Security Essentials to CPU 0 and Disk Defragmenter to CPU 1. We then started each application running — Microsoft Security Essentials performing a full scan and Disk Defragmenter defragging a 500GB disk.

Once each application began working, they started sucking up CPU time, so we went to the Performance tab in Windows Task Manager to look at the CPU Usage History graphs. When we did, we could see that each graph was showing different measurements, as shown in Figure E.

Figure E

Each of the CPU Usage History graphs shows different measurements.

To specifically see how each CPU core was faring, we launched Resource Monitor and selected the CPU tab. Again, we could see that each CPU core was showing different usage measurements, as shown in Figure F.

Figure F

Resource Monitor’s CPU tab specifically identifies each CPU core and its usage.

Now, of course, my example combination is purely for the sake of showing each CPU handling a separate process. However, there are instances where running Microsoft Security Essentials on a separate CPU core would be beneficial.

From a shortcut

Now if you find that running an application on a specific CPU core works well, you might want to use it again in the future. If so, chances are that you won’t want to have to go through the Task Manager each time. Fortunately you can create a shortcut to launch an application with a specific affinity setting.

For example, to launch Disk Defragmenter so that it runs only on CPU 0, you would create a shortcut with the following command line:

C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /C start /affinity 1 dfrgui.exe

To launch Disk Defragmenter on CPU 1, you would create a shortcut with the following command line:

C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /C start /affinity 2 dfrgui.exe

The number that follows the start /affinity command is called the affinity mask and is defined as a hexadecimal number. However, the CPU core number can be calculated more easily using binary numbers. For instance, the command

C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /C start /affinity 3 dfrgui.exe

will launch Disk Defragmenter on both CPU 0 and CPU 1. If you convert 3 into a binary number you will get 0011. Under the affinity mask system, processors are numbered from the right to left beginning with 0 and since there are 1’s in the first two places, this indicates CPU 0 and CPU 1.

Suppose you have a Quad core processor. If so and you use an affinity mask of 4, that will convert into binary 0100, which indicates CPU 2. If you use an affinity mask of 9, that will convert into binary 1001, which indicates CPU 0 and CPU 3.

For more information on the start /affinity command, open a Command Prompt window and type the command

start /?

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Did you know? Mac Office 2011 support conks out on Oct. 10

End of support is sneaking up on enterprise employees running Office on a Mac

Companies that have employees running Office for Mac 2011 have just over 100 days to replace the suite’s applications with those from last year’s upgrade, Office for Mac 2016.

Support ends for Office for Mac 2011 on Oct. 10, a date that Microsoft first stamped on the calendar two years ago, but has not widely publicized since. As of that date, the Redmond, Wash., developer will cease supplying patches for security vulnerabilities or fixes for other bugs.

The individual applications — Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Word — will continue to operate after support ends, but companies will be taking a risk, however small, that malware exploiting an unpatched flaw will surface and compromise systems.

To receive security and non-security updates after Oct. 10, IT administrators must deploy Office for Mac 2016 or instruct workers covered by Office 365 to download and install the newer suite’s applications from the subscription service’s portal.

Office for Mac 2011’s end-of-support deadline was originally slated for January 2016, approximately five years after the productivity package’s release. But in the summer of 2015, when it was clear that 2011’s successor would not be ready by early 2016, Microsoft extended its lifespan by 21 months. At the time, Microsoft cited the long-standing policy of supporting a to-be-retired product for “2 years after the successor product is released” when it added time to 2011.

Mac users: Steerage Class

The impending cutoff for Office for Mac 2011 is an issue only because Microsoft shortchanges Office for Mac users. Unlike the Windows version of Office, which receives 10 years of security support, those that run on macOS are allotted half that. Microsoft has repeatedly classified Office for Mac as a consumer product to justify the half-measure, even for the edition labeled “Home and Business.”

Nor does Microsoft update and service Office for Mac for corporate customers as it does the far more popular Windows SKU (stock-keeping unit). The latter will be upgraded with new features, Microsoft said in April, twice each year for enterprise subscribers to Office 365 ProPlus, with each release supported for 18 months before giving way to a pair of successors.

Mac editions, however, are refreshed with new tools at irregular intervals, often long after the same feature debuts in the same Windows application. (Recently, for example, Microsoft added a delivery-and/or-read receipt option to the Mac version of Outlook; that functionality has been in Outlook on Windows since 2013.) And because there are no regular, large-scale feature upgrades to Office for Mac, support is not curtailed by the release schedule as with Windows.

The difference between Offices — the behemoth Windows on one side, the niche Mac on the other — has been put into even starker relief recently: Microsoft has adopted March and September dates for launching new upgrades to Windows 10, Office 365 ProPlus, and last week, Windows Server, but made no similar promises for Office for Mac 2016.

It’s clearly the odd app out.

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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.

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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.

5 Tips to Keep You Cyber-Safe this Buying Season

With more consumers spending money online, sales will rise, but so will the risk of exposure to some sort of scam or cyber-crime right alongside those fabulous deals.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday may mark the high points of the holiday shopping season, but they are by no means the end of it. In a still struggling economy, with everyone searching for value, consumers will encounter technology deals that might seem too good to be true.

As reported by the Dow Jones newswires, online shopping may well top $1 billion dollars on a single day this year. With more and more consumers willing to spend money online, sales will rise, but so will the risk of exposure to some sort of scam or cyber-crime right alongside those fabulous deals.

So, how can you avoid being taken advantage of?

There are many ways to keep yourself, your privacy, and your money safe this holiday season. But, as the countdown to Christmas grows shorter, many of us abandon our common sense in the desperate pursuit of that one great gift or that one fantastic deal.

Therein lies the problem. The number one way to guard against online scams is to employ some common sense.
For example, many of us will go to extreme lengths to save a few dollars. This often includes venturing off the ‘beaten path’ and looking outside the major retailers on online auction or classified sites such as E-Bay or Craigslist, which the Better Business Bureau has cautioned against. While many of the deals offered on such sites are perfectly legitimate, the likelihood of stumbling into a scam is far greater on these sorts of sites.

Tip #1 — If a deal seems too great, it probably is, especially if it’s from an individual user or a ‘minor’ retailer. Be suspicious of any deal or sale that you can’t believe is real. Maybe you’ve found the best buy of the season, but it’s more likely that you’ve stumbled into a scam set up to defraud you and steal your money or information.
It’s also important to remember that anyone you do business with online knows more about Internet commerce — and its dangers — than you do.

An excellent Tip #2 is to do some research about any online vendor you’re considering making a purchase from. Some vendors believe quality customer service goes hand in hand with turning a profit. Others, however, such as Vitaly Borker, seem to value their bottom line over the satisfaction of their customers.

As reported in the New York Times and on Cnet.com, Borker took advantage of loopholes in credit card policies to refuse refunds and threaten customers. Only when he was in danger of being cut off by Visa and MasterCard did Borker begin meeting his customer’s needs.

Some simple research might have tipped customers off that Borker’s website was one to be avoided.

As heinous as Borker’s actions may seem, they do bring to light Tip #3 for the online shopper: understand your credit cards. Borker and other merchants like him, were able to take advantage of customers because of the rules set up by the credit cards those customers use.

With credit card purchases being the dominant form of online shopping, it’s vital that consumers know the policies of the cards they use and what recourse they have should those policies be abused.

Tip #4 — Consumers would also be wise to investigate other forms of payment, such as PayPal or Bill Me Later, a PayPal service. While alternative methods may not offer the convenience of credit cards, they may provide more security against potential scams and those who know how to abuse the system.

Regardless of where and when you shop online, Tip #5 applies: be cautious. The Internet can be a dangerous place at the best of times. During the often stressful and expensive holiday season the dangers increase exponentially.

Be wary every time you shop online and help to make sure this time remains a time of giving, and not of taking.

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