Back to Top

Tech, Web, Cloud & Cabling Services

Category: Windows 2012 Server

Windows / Windows 2012 Server Category

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.
Call us at: 856-745-9990 or visit: http://southjerseytechies.net/

South Jersey Techies, LLC is a full Managed Web and Technology Services Company providing IT Services, Website Design Services, Server Support, Network Consulting, Internet Phones, Cloud Solutions Provider and much more. Contact for More Information.

To read this article in its entirety click here.

 

Upgrade to Windows Server 2012

10 Compelling Reasons to Upgrade to Windows Server 2012

Takeaway: Windows Server 2012 is generating a significant buzz among IT pros. Deb Shinder highlights several notable enhancements and new capabilities.

We’ve had a chance to play around a bit with the release preview of Windows Server 2012. Some have been put off by the interface-formerly-known-as-Metro, but with more emphasis on Server Core and the Minimal Server Interface, the UI is unlikely to be a “make it or break it” issue for most of those who are deciding whether to upgrade. More important are the big changes and new capabilities that make Server 2012 better able to handle your network’s workloads and needs. That’s what has many IT pros excited.

Here are 10 reasons to give serious consideration to upgrading to Windows Server 2012 sooner rather than later.

1: Freedom of interface choice

A Server Core installation provides security and performance advantages, but in the past, you had to make a commitment: If you installed Server Core, you were stuck in the “dark place” with only the command line as your interface. Windows Server 2012 changes all that. Now we have choices.

The truth that Microsoft realized is that the command line is great for some tasks and the graphical interface is preferable for others. Server 2012 makes the graphic user interface a “feature” — one that can be turned on and off at will. You do it through the Remove Roles Or Features option in Server Manager.

2: Server Manager

Speaking of Server Manager (Figure A), even many of those who dislike the new tile-based interface overall have admitted that the design’s implementation in the new Server Manager is excellent.

One of the nicest things about the new Server Manager is the multi-server capabilities, which makes it easy to deploy roles and features remotely to physical and virtual servers. It’s easy to create a server group — a collection of servers that can be managed together. The remote administration improvements let you provision servers without having to make an RDP connection.

3: SMB 3.0

The Server Message Block (SMB) protocol has been significantly improved in Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8. The new version of SMB supports new file server features, such as SMB transparent failover , SMB Scale Out, SMB Multichannel, SMB Direct, SMB encryption, VSS for SMB file sharing, SMB directory leasing, and SMB PowerShell. That’s a lot of bang for the buck. It works beautifully with Hyper-V, so that VHD files and virtual machine configuration files can be hosted on SMB 3.0 shares. A SQL system database can be stored on an SMB share, as well, with improvements to performance. For more details about what’s new in SMB 3.0, see this blog post.

4: Dynamic Access Control (DAC)

Even though some say Microsoft has shifted the focus away from security in recent years, it would be more accurate to say it has shifted the focus from separate security products to a more “baked in” approach of integrating security into every part of the operating system.

Dynamic Access Control is one such example, helping IT pros create more centralized security models for access to network resources by tagging sensitive data both manually and automatically, based on factors such as the file content or the creator. Then claims based access controls can be applied. Read more about DAC in my “First Look” article over on Windowsecurity.com.

5: Storage Spaces

Storage is a hot — and complex — topic in the IT world these days. Despite the idea that we’re all going to be storing everything in the public cloud one day, that day is a long way off (and for many organizations concerned about security and reliability, it may never happen). There are myriad solutions for storing data on your network in a way that provides better utilization of storage resources, centralized management, and better scalability, along with security and reliability. Storage area networks (SANs) and network attached storage (NAS) do that, but they can be expensive and difficult to set up.

Storage Spaces is a new feature in Server 2012 that lets you use inexpensive hard drives to create a storage pool, which can then be divided into spaces that are used like physical disks. They can include hot standby drives and use redundancy methods such as 2- or 3-way mirroring or parity. You can add new disks any time, and a space can be larger than the physical capacity of the pool. When you add new drives, the space automatically uses the extra capacity. Read more about Storage Spaces in this MSDN blog post.

6: Hyper-V Replica

Virtualization is the name of the game in the server world these days, and Hyper-V is Microsoft’s answer to VMware. Although the latter had a big head start, Microsoft’s virtualization platform has been working hard at catching up, and many IT pros now believe it has surpassed its rival in many key areas. With each iteration, the Windows hypervisor gets a little better, and Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012 brings a number of new features to the table. One of the most interesting is Hyper-V Replica.

This is a replication mechanism that will be a disaster recovery godsend to SMBs that may not be able to deploy complex and costly replication solutions. It logs changes to the disks in a VM and uses compression to save on bandwidth, replicating from a primary server to a replica server. You can store multiple snapshots of a VM on the replica server and then select the one you want to use. It works with both standalone hosts and clusters in any combination (standalone to standalone, cluster to cluster, standalone to cluster or cluster to standalone). To find out more about Hyper-V replica, see this TechNet article.

7: Improvements to VDI

Windows Terminal Services has come a long way, baby, since I first met it in Windows NT TS Edition. Renamed Remote Desktop Services, it has expanded to encompass much more than the ability to RDP into the desktop of a remote machine. Microsoft offered a centralized Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solution in Windows Server 2008 R2, but it was still a little rough around the edges. Significant improvements have been made in Server 2012.

You no longer need a dedicated GPU graphics card in the server to use RemoteFX, which vastly improves the quality of graphics over RDP. Instead, you can use a virtualized GPU on standard server hardware. USB over RDP is much better, and the Fair Share feature can manage how CPU, memory, disk space, and bandwidth are allocated among users to thwart bandwidth hogs. Read more about Server 2012 VDI and RDP improvements here.

8: DirectAccess without the hassle factor

DirectAccess was designed to be Microsoft’s “VPN replacement,” a way to create a secure connection from client to corporate network without the performance drain and with a more transparent user experience than a traditional VPN. Not only do users not have to deal with making the VPN work, but administrators get more control over the machines, with the ability to manage them even before users log in. You apply group policy using the same tools you use to manage computers physically located on the corporate network.

So why hasn’t everyone been using DirectAccess with Server 2008 R2 instead of VPNs? One big obstacle was the dependency on IPv6. Plus, it couldn’t be virtualized. Those obstacles are gone now. In Windows Server 2012, DirectAccess works with IPv4 without having to fool with conversion technologies, and the server running DirectAccess at the network edge can now be a Hyper-V virtual machine. The Server 2012 version of DA is also easier to configure, thanks to the new wizard.

9: ReFS

Despite the many advantages NTFS offers over early FAT file systems, it’s been around since 1993, and Windows aficionados have been longing for a new file system for quite some time. Way back in 2004, we were eagerly looking forward to WinFS, but Vista disappointed us by not including it. Likewise, there was speculation early on that a new file system would be introduced with Windows 7, but it didn’t happen.

Windows Server 2012 brings us our long-awaited new file system, ReFS or the Resilient File System. It supports many of the same features as NTFS, although it leaves behind some others, perhaps most notably file compression, EFS, and disk quotas. In return, ReFS gives us data verification and auto correction, and it’s designed to work with Storage Spaces to create shrinkable/expandable logical storage pools. The new file system is all about maximum scalability, supporting up to 16 exabytes in practice. (This is the theoretical maximum in the NTFS specifications, but in the real world, it’s limited to 16 terabytes.) ReFS supports a theoretical limit of 256 zetabytes (more than 270 billion terabytes). That allows for a lot of scaling.

10: Simplified Licensing

Anyone who has worked with server licenses might say the very term “simplified licensing” is an oxymoron. But Microsoft really has listened to customers who are confused and frustrated by the complexity involved in finding the right edition and figuring out what it’s really going to cost. Windows Server 2012 is offered in only four editions: Datacenter, Standard, Essentials, and Foundation. The first two are licensed per-processor plus CAL, and the latter two (for small businesses) are licensed per-server with limits on the number of user accounts (15 for Foundation and 25 for Essentials).

To View Full Article Click Here

First look: Five Office 2016 preview apps

At the Microsoft Ignite 2015 conference last month, the company showcased the latest iteration of its Office suite. Here’s a quick look at what you can expect.

Office 2016

Each month I compile lists of five apps that fall into various categories, such as apps to save you airfare, process monitors, and tools for protecting online privacy. This time around, however, I wanted to do something a little bit different and give you a glimpse of five applications that will eventually make up Microsoft Office 2016.

1: Word 2016

Microsoft is introducing two versions of Word 2016: a feature-rich desktop version and a lightweight, touch-optimized version. The desktop version looks and feels a lot like the previous version (Figure A), but Microsoft is introducing some new features, such as real-time co-authoring.

Figure A

Word 2016 Desktop Version

The touch-optimized version of Word (Figure B) is currently available only for use on the Windows 10 preview. It contains the essential features that users most commonly need to do their jobs, with a clean interface that’s ideal for touch screens, small screens, or for anyone who is intimidated by the desktop version’s exhaustive feature set.

Figure B

Word 2016 Touch-Optimized Version

2: Excel 2016

As is the case with Word, Microsoft is releasing two versions of Excel. The desktop version (Figure C) is much more feature rich and will likely be the best choice for hard-core Excel users. It includes new capabilities, such as business intelligence integrated directly into Excel and some data loss prevention features.

Figure C

Excel 2016 Desktop Version

The touch-optimized version of Excel (Figure D) is similar to its Word counterpart, in that it’s designed to be lightweight and includes only the most commonly used features. Although more capable, this version of Excel reminds me a lot of the version that is included with Windows Phone 8.1.

Figure D

Excel 2016 Touch-Optimized Version

3: PowerPoint 2016

The PowerPoint 2016 preview doesn’t seem to have changed all that much from the previous version, either (Figure E). The most noticeable change to the interface is the addition of the Tell Me bar, a Cortana-like interface that will be shared by all of the Office 2016 applications. It allows users ask Office how to perform a particular task.

Figure E

PowerPoint 2016 Desktop Version

As with Word and Excel, Microsoft has also created a lighter weight, touch-optimized version of PowerPoint (Figure F).

Figure F

PowerPoint 2016 Touch-Optimized Version

4: OneNote 2016

On the surface it is difficult to tell what, if anything is new in OneNote 2016 (Figure G), beyond the enhancements that exist for all the Office applications. Web searches for OneNote 2016 features have as yet failed to reveal anything significant. I admit that I don’t use OneNote often, so it is entirely possible that new features exist and I simply have not found them.

Figure G

OneNote 2016 Desktop Version

Although the desktop version of OneNote seems to be similar to OneNote 2013, the touch-optimized version (Figure H) has an intuitive interface that’s easy to use. The touch version is more full-featured than the version that was included with Windows Phone 8.1, but it doesn’t contain all the features of the desktop version.

Figure H

OneNote 2016 Touch-Optimized Version

5: Sway

Microsoft PowerPoint has been around in one form or another for what seems like forever. During that time, it has become more refined, but it’s still basically just a slideshow tool. In Microsoft Office 2016, Microsoft is introducing Sway (Figure I) as a next-generation alternative to PowerPoint.

Figure I

Sway (Next Generation Alternative To PowerPoint)

There are two main differences between PowerPoint and Sway. First of all, PowerPoint is linear. A PowerPoint presentation has a first slide and it has a last slide and usually, a number of slides in between. In contrast, Sway is designed to be more organic and allow for more free-form presentations.

The other major difference between PowerPoint and Sway is that Sway is designed for Web content. A Sway presentation can include photos, YouTube videos, and items from Facebook, Twitter, OneDrive, etc. Some have argued that Sway is like OneNote because it aggregates information. However, OneNote is more of an organizational application, while Sway is designed for presentations.

Have questions?

Get help from Microsofts Cloud Solutions Partner!
Call us at: 856-745-9990

South Jersey Techies, LLC is a full Managed Web and Technology Services Company providing IT Services, Website Design Services, Server Support, Network Consulting, Internet Phones, Cloud Solutions Provider and much more. Contact for More Information.

To read this article in its entirety click here.

Pro tip: Sort table data in a Word document

sort word

Microsoft Word

 

Sorting data in a Word document isn’t something you routinely do. On the other hand, presenting list and table data is, so the potential exists that one day you’ll want to sort something. The good news is that it’s easy to sort data in a table or a list. In this article, I’ll show you how to do just that. We’ll work through a few simple sorting examples. You can use most any table, or you can download the example .docx or .doc file.

Behind the scenes

Word relies on paragraphs when sorting, which seems a bit odd within the context of a table (or list). The paragraph formatting mark determines where one paragraph ends and the next starts. As you can see in Figure A, there’s no paragraph mark in a table. The end-of-cell markers denote the end of each cell’s content. The similar marker at the end of each row (outside the right border) is an end-of-row marker. These markers also contain cell and row formatting. When sorting a table, Word relies on the end-of-row marker to identify where one row ends and the next begins, the same way the paragraph mark does. (To see a document’s formatting symbols, click Show/Hide in the Paragraph group on the Home tab.)

Figure A

Table end-of-row markers are similar to paragraph markers.

Sort by the first column

We’ll start with the simplest sort possible; we’ll sort a table by the values in the first column. To do so, select, the table by clicking its move handle (the small square in the top-left corner). If you don’t see this handle, check the view. It’s available only in Print Layout and Web Layout. With the entire table selected, do the following:

  1. Click the contextual Layout tab. In the Data group, click Sort — or click Sort in the Paragraph group on the Home tab. In Word 2003, choose Sort from the Table menu.
  2. The resulting dialog does a good job of anticipating the sort. Notice that the Header Row option (at the bottom) is selected. As a result, the Sort By field is set to Species — the label in the first column’s header (Figure B).
    Figure B

  3. This is exactly what we want, so click OK. Figure C shows the sorted table.
    Figure C

Before we move on, let’s discuss the Type and Using options to the right. We didn’t need to change either, but sometimes you will. The Type options are Text, Number, and Date. Word usually defaults to the appropriate data type. You can force a specific type by choosing a different option other than the one Word assumes (but you’ll rarely have reason to do so). The Using options defaults to Paragraph — we talked about that earlier.

Sort by the second column

That first exercise was easy. Let’s complicate things a bit by sorting by the second column. Fortunately, it’s just as easy as the first. Repeat steps 1 and 2 from the first exercise. Then, do the following:

  1. In the resulting dialog, click the Sort By drop-down.
  2. Choose Common Name, the header label for the second column.
  3. Click OK. Figure D shows the results of sorting by the second column.
    Figure D

That wasn’t any more difficult that the first sort. Tell Word which column contains the values you want to sort by and click OK — that’s it!

Sort by multiple columns

With only two sort tasks under your belt, you’re beginning to see how simple the sorting process in Word can be. Let’s complicate things a bit so you can see how flexible this feature truly is. Let’s sort by the Class column and then sort the bird and mammal groups in a secondary sort. Repeat steps 1 and 2 from the first two exercises. Then, do the following:

  1. To sort by the Class, choose Class from the Sort By drop-down.
  2. To further sort each class group, click Common Name from the Then by drop-down (Figure E). You could add a third column to the sort if the results warranted the additional grouping.
    Figure E

  3. Click OK to see the results shown in Figure F.
    Figure F

What about lists?

You might be wondering how to sort the same data in list form. Word handles the list sort the same way — the exact same way. Highlight the list and click Sort in the Paragraph group on the Home tab. In the resulting dialog, check the header option and set appropriately (if necessary). Then, determine the sort order by choosing the fields (columns), appropriately.Figure G shows the result of sorting the same data in list form.

Figure G

Sort a columnar list the same way you sort a table.

 

Seven ways to sort and view Outlook email by accounts

Outlook

 

Most users manage more than one e-mail account. Outlook 2010 and 2013 automatically create individual folders for each account. If you’re still using Outlook 2007 or earlier, you can simulate this convenience, but you’ll have to set it up yourself. In this article, I’ll show you seven ways to sort or view email messages by their accounts. I’ll include instructions for 2010 and 2013; even if you need to sort by accounts, you might want to use these methods to sort by other criteria.

1. Create account-specific folders

You can simulate the account-specific Inbox configuration in Outlook 2010 and 2013 by creating new download folders for each account. Doing so is easy, and it’s probably the best way to manage multiple accounts in Outlook 2007 and earlier. You’ll create an account-specific folder as follows:

  1. Choose Account Settings from the Tools menu in Outlook 2007. (In Outlook 2010 and 2013, Account Settings are on the File tab.)
  2. Select the POP3 account you want to reconfigure.
  3. Click the Change Folder button. (This button isn’t available for IMAP accounts.)
  4. Use the resulting dialog to identify the folder you want to download your POP3 account mail to (Figure A) or create a new folder if it doesn’t already exist.
    Figure A

    Figure A
  5. Click OK and then Close.

After making this change, Outlook will download that account’s mail into the specified folder. You can create specific folders for every POP3 account you have.

Unlike the 2010/2013 configuration, all of your messages download into the same .pst file. In addition, Outlook will save copies of all sent messages in the default account, not in the account-specific folder.

2. Use a rule

Rules have been around for a long time. They’re commonly used to manipulate mail as it arrives. You can also use a rule to manipulate mail received from a specific account as follows:

  1. Select the Inbox.
  2. In Outlook 2003 and 2007, choose Rules and Alerts from the Tools menu. In Outlook 2010 and 2013, click the File tab and click Manage Rules & Alerts in the Account Information section. (Outlook 2010 and 2013 users won’t need this rule unless they choose to combine all accounts into the same Inbox. Although this is unlikely, I’m including the instructions to be as comprehensive as possible.)
  3. Click New Rule on the E-Mail Rules tab.
  4. In Outlook 2003 and 2007, use Check messages when they arrive. Outlook 2010 and 2013 users, select Apply rule on message I receive.
  5. Click Next.
  6. Check the through the specified account option.
  7. Click the specified link in the bottom pane (Figure B).
    Figure B

    Figure B
  8. Choose the account from the resulting drop-down, click OK, and then click Next.
  9. Check move it to the specified folder.
  10. Click the specified folder link in the bottom pane. Then, identify the folder to which you want to download mail from the specified account (Figure C), and click OK. You can create a folder at this point, if necessary.
    Figure C

    Figure C
  11. Click Next twice (you won’t want to include any exceptions to the rule most likely).
  12. Give the rule a name. I recommend a name that includes the account’s name, such as “Move message for account name.”
  13. Turn the message on if necessary.
  14. Select Run this rule now on messages already in “Inbox” (Figure D) if you want Outlook to move existing messages into the folder. Doing so can save a lot of time.
    Figure D

    Figure D
  15. Click Finish, and then click OK.

This rule works similarly to the account-specific folder tip in #1. If you’re not familiar with rules, take a minute to review the many conditions and actions; you can do a lot with rules.

3. Use the Account view option

You can use a view property to sort message by their accounts. In Outlook 2003 and 2007, choose Arrange By from the View menu and then select E-mail Account. The change is immediate, but its helpfulness in a busy Inbox is limited. You’ll probably find it more useful to combine this setting with other sorting methods, such as search folders and filters. After creating the main sort, apply this setting to further define the results by account. In addition, you can quickly apply this setting to all folders by modifying the default Messages view and then copying it. (For more complete instructions on applying this setting to all folders, read “Pro tip: Use standard and custom views to personalize an Outlook folder.”)

In Outlook 2010 and 2013, you can combine individual .pst files into one and download all mail into the same Inbox. You’ll find this setting in the Arrangement gallery on the View tab. (Click the More button to see all of the settings.)

4. Sort by the E-mail Account column

Similar to changing a view’s configuration, you can sort multi-account folders by accounts. You might find this alternative easier or preferable to creating or modifying a view. To add this column, do the following:

  1. Right-click the title bar (in the Mail window).
  2. Select Field Chooser from the resulting dialog.
  3. Choose All Mail Fields from the drop-down.
  4. Drag E-mail Account to the title bar (Figure E) and release it. If it’s not where you want it, drag it accordingly.
    Figure E

After adding the E-mail Account column, you can click it to sort all mail in the folder by their accounts.

5. Use a view

Both the Account view and adding the E-mail Account column will sort messages by accounts, but you’ll still see mail for all of your accounts. If you want to view mail from a single account, create a view. Then you can apply views to filter messages accordingly. To view messages from a single account using a filtered view, do the following:

  1. In Outlook 2003, choose Arrange By from the View menu. In Outlook 2007, choose Current View from the View menu. In Outlook 2010 and 2013, click the View tab and choose Manage Views from the Change View drop-down in the Current View group.
  2. Click New.
  3. Give the view a name. I recommend naming the view for the account.
  4. Select Table and All Mail and Post Folders (the default).
  5. Click OK.
  6. Click Filter.
  7. Click the Advanced tab in the resulting dialog.
  8. Choose All Mail fields from the Field drop-down, and then choose E-mail Account (Figure F).
    Figure F

  9. Choose is (exactly) from the Condition drop-down.
  10. Set the Value using the account’s name (Figure G).
    Figure G

  11. Click Add to List.
  12. Press OK twice.
  13. Click OK to close the Manage All Views dialog and return to the Mail window.

Repeat the above steps to create a custom view for each account. To view all the messages for only one account, choose the appropriate view from the Change View drop-down (in the Current View group).

6. Sort into search folders       billionphotos-1647683

Similar to filtering with a view, you can display account-specific mail in a search folder. The difference, of course, is the difference between a view and a folder. The view merely filters mail to determine what you see, but all of the messages are still there. A search folder contains links to only those messages that meet the folder’s search criteria. To create a search folder for this purpose, do the following:

  1. In Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007, choose New from the File menu, and then select Search folder. In Outlook 2010 and 2013, click the Folder tab and then click New Search Folder in the New group.
  2. In the resulting dialog, choose Create a custom Search Folder (in the Custom section at the bottom of the list).
  3. Click Choose, and then name the new folder. I recommend that you name the folder for the account.
  4. Click Browse, exclude folders and subfolders you don’t want to search, and click OK. Doing so will speed up your search.
  5. Click Criteria, and then click the Advanced tab.
  6. Choose All Mail Fields from the Field drop-down and then choose E-mail Account.
  7. Choose is (exactly) from the Condition drop-down.
  8. Set the Value using the account’s name.
  9. Click Add to List.
  10. Click OK four times.

Create a folder for each of your accounts. To read the mail for an account, open that account’s search folder.

7. Format by account

Sometimes, a visual clue is all you need. When this is the case, apply a format to distinguish accounts as follows:

  1. In Outlook 2003 and 2007, choose Arrange By from the View menu. Choose Custom, and then select Automatic Formatting. In Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2013, click the View tab. Then, click View Settings in the Current View group. In the resulting dialog, click Conditional Formatting.
  2. Click Add and name the new View. I recommend that you name the view after the account.
  3. Click Condition.
  4. Click the Advanced tab.
  5. Choose All Mail Fields from the Field drop-down and then choose E-mail Account.
  6. Choose is (exactly) from the Condition drop-down.
  7. Set the Value using the account’s name.
  8. Click Add to List, and then click OK.
  9. In the Conditional Formatting dialog, click Font and change the formats accordingly. Changing the font’s color is a common choice.
  10. Click OK three times to return to the Mail window.

Outlook will update the folder immediately by applying the formats for the specified account.

About the .pst files

It might never matter to you, but should .pst management become an issue, keep the following in mind:

  • Outlook 2010 and 2013 download POP3 mail into separate (dedicated) .pst files. For each account, you’ll have a dedicated Inbox.
  • Outlook 2007 and earlier download all mail into the same .pst file, regardless of the changes you make for viewing the mail via the interface.

sjt

 

Have questions?

Our small business team is here to help.
Call us at: 856-745-9990

South Jersey Techies, LL C is a full Managed Web and Technology Services Company providing IT Services, Website Design Services, Server Support, Network Consulting, Internet Phones, Cloud Solutions Provider and much more. Contact for More Information.

 To read this article in its entirety click here.

Windows 10: Ten big things to watch for in 2016

Next year will mark the first full year of release for Microsoft’s new OS. A look at what’s in store for Windows 10 next year.

Windows10

 

Windows 10 was described as the “last version of Windows” – an OS that would evolve over time rather than be superceded.

In the few months since Windows 10’s launch Microsoft says it has been installed on more than 110 million devices. But just what lies in store for the OS in 2016, how will it get better and what new devices will it find its way onto?

1. Windows 10 will begin automatically installing on your old machine

Windows 10 is available as a free upgrade to Windows 7 and 8.1 users and Microsoft is getting increasingly aggressive about moving these users to the new OS.

From next year Windows 10 will automatically begin installing on most Windows 7 and 8.1 machines.

Users will still need to confirm the installation manually for it to continue. However, if they choose not to proceed it’s unclear if they can cancel it altogether, with Jeremy Korst, general manager of the Windows and Devices team at Microsoft, saying only that “the customer will have the ability to delay it for some period”.

If users do upgrade but don’t like Windows 10 they will have 31 days to roll back to their previous OS.

The automatic installation, the result of Microsoft changing the status of the Windows 10 upgrade to a Recommended update, will be preceded by increasingly insistent nag messages to upgrade. These notices are already being shown to some Windows users and have been criticised for not offering an easy opt-out.

2. Microsoft Edge will get extensions

Windows 10 launched with Microsoft Edge, a new browser that cast off a lot of the legacy code holding Internet Explorer back.

However, while speedy and capable on paper, the browser suffers from its share of bugs and is missing support for extensions, a key feature found in competitors such as Chrome and Firefox.

Microsoft will rectify this omission “early next year” when Korst said it will add extensions to Edge in test builds of Windows 10, ahead of being made generally available.

Extensions are small software programs, typically written using HTML, CSS and JavaScript, that augment the functionality of a browser.

Earlier this month, Microsoft accidentally published a website announcing the introduction of extensions to test builds of Windows 10. The site, which was taken down, referenced extensions for Pinterest and Reddit.

Microsoft originally planned to add support for extensions to Edge this year.

3. Windows 10 will blur the virtual and real world

Microsoft’s Windows 10-powered augmented reality headset HoloLens will ship to developers in the first quarter of 2016.

The augmented reality headset places 3D virtual images in the wearer’s vision so that they appear part of the real world – for instance, a Minecraft landscape sits on a coffee table or a Skype video sits on the wall.

After trying a demo of the headset this week, TechRepublic senior writer Dan Patterson said that though the headset had a limited “field of vision”, “the 3D animations are smooth, easy to interactive with, and result in only marginal eyestrain”.

The HoloLens doesn’t come cheap, with the developer kit priced at $3,000 – although Microsoft says this early release is meant for developers and commercial customers.

Although HoloLens has obvious consumer and gaming uses, Microsoft is stressing its use for business and is working with NASA, AutoDesk, Volvo, Dassault Aviation, Case Western Reserve University, and other large organisations to develop applications for it.

4. More security for enterprise

The coming year will also see some notable new features added to the enterprise version of Windows 10.

Key among these additions is Enterprise Data Protection, which will allow companies to separate work and personal data on devices using containerisation file techniques. It will also encrypt data as it moves around the organisation – helping to ensure that information isn’t accessed by the wrong people.

The feature will be rolled out to people testing Windows under the Insider Program “early next year”.

5. Testers will get a peek at even earlier builds

Those testing early releases of Windows 10 under the Windows Insider Program will be able to get earlier access to new features from January next year.

Those who choose to be in the “fast” ring of the Insider Program will receive builds of Windows 10 more frequently in 2016, according to Microsoft VP Gabe Aul.

The price of testers getting their hands on early builds more regularly will be that this software will likely include more bugs, he said. Those testers who prefer stability to early access should opt for the “slow” ring, he said.

6. Cortana will be everywhere

Microsoft is planning a major upgrade to Windows 10, codenamed Redstone, next year – with reports the upgrade will put Microsoft’s virtual assistant Cortana at the core of the OS.

An unnamed source told The Verge the new Cortana will help users with a much wider range of tasks inside Windows 10, appearing contextually in documents to provide “information and assistance” and giving Cortana control over a wider range of notifications.

The other major upgrade to Cortana will reportedly be an ability to start a task on one device and pick it up on another, for instance if you get a missed call on an Android phone running the Cortana app you could reply from your Windows 10 PC via text.

7. Microsoft doubles down on Windows 10 phones as desktops

A much touted feature of Windows 10 is its ability to run a desktop OS from a phone.

Microsoft’s new Lumia 950 and 950XL handsets can – wirelessly or via a dock – be hooked up to a monitor, mouse and keyboard and used to run a Windows desktop.

The Windows 10 OS can change the look and feel of certain apps, as well as its own appearance, to suit the phone or the desktop, as well as coping with everyday desktop tasks, such as multitasking and copying files from a USB stick.

The expectation is that Microsoft will further commit to this idea of using your phone as a desktop in 2016, with rumours that Panos Panay and the team behind the high-end Surface Book laptop are working on a Surface Phone that will release next year.

8. No more free upgrade

Windows 10 is available as a free upgrade to everyone running Windows 7 or 8.1 but only for a limited time.

The offer of a free upgrade will expire on 29 July 2016 – after which point it seems that users will have to buy a Windows 10 licence.

However, due to the in-your-face tactics that Microsoft is adopting to persuade people to upgrade, it seems unlikely that Windows 7 and 8.1 users will inadvertently miss out on the offer.

9. Windows 10 replaces its predecessors on new PCs

If you’re not a fan of Windows 10 then you should buy a new PC before October.

From the end of October 2016, PC makers will have to sell new machines with Windows 10, rather than Windows 7 or 8.1.

After that point businesses that want to run older Windows versions on new machines will have to rely on downgrade rights or software assurance rights under volume license agreements.

10. Windows 10 Surface Hub arrives

From January 2016 Windows 10 will power another new piece of hardware,Microsoft’s touchscreen computer the Surface Hub.

The successor to its large-screen Perceptive Pixel displays, the Surface Hub will run a custom version of Windows 10 and various apps needed for workplace communication and collaboration, including OneNote, Skype for Business and Office.

The 55-inch, Intel Core i5-based Surface Hub model will sell for $6,999 (estimated retail price), and the Intel Core i7-based 84-inch version for $19,999 ERP.

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 Services, Server Support, Network Consulting, Internet Phones, Cloud Solutions Provider and much more. Contact for More Information.

To read this article in its entirety click here.

 

Microsoft updates support policy: New CPUs will require Windows 10

In a change to its longstanding support policy, Microsoft says PCs based on new CPU architectures, including Intel’s Skylake chips, will require Windows 10. A list of preferred systems will support older Windows versions on new hardware, but only for 18 months.

Windows 10

Enterprise customers are still the bulwark of Microsoft’s Windows business, in both the client and server segments.

Historically, those customers have also been among the most conservative, lagging years behind the latest releases of an operating system release. Those practices have been encouraged by Microsoft’s support lifecycle, which offers a generous ten years of support for each Windows release.

Effective today, that policy is changing in a subtle but significant way, with the addition of new hardware requirements for support of pre-Windows 10 releases. The company’s also publishing a preferred list of systems that will receive special attention for updates and support.

Yes, Windows 7 (currently in the Extended support phase) will continue to receive updates until January 14, 2020, and Windows 8.1 will be supported until January 10, 2023. But in a series of “clarifications” to its support policy today, the company announced that support for those older Windows versions will be available only for “previous generations of silicon.”

Going forward, as new silicon generations are introduced, they will require the latest Windows platform at that time for support… Windows 10 will be the only supported Windows platform on Intel’s upcoming “Kaby Lake” silicon, Qualcomm’s upcoming “8996” silicon, and AMD’s upcoming “Bristol Ridge” silicon.

The policy will be phased in beginning with systems based on Intel’s new 6th-generation CPUs (code-named Skylake), which debuted a few months ago. New consumer-based Skylake devices must run Windows 10 to be supported.

For enterprise customers that want to buy “future proof” new hardware based on Skylake processors running older Windows versions, Microsoft will publish “a list of specific new Skylake devices we will support to run Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.” That support will run for a period 18 months, until July 17, 2017, after which those enterprise customers will be expected to upgrade to Windows 10.

Examples of systems that will be on the initial release of the list include Dell’s Latitude 12, Latitude 13 7000 Ultrabook, and XPS 13; HP’s EliteBook Folio, EliteBook 1040 G3; and Lenovo’s ThinkPad T460s, X1 Carbon, and P70 models.

The list will continue to be updated, Microsoft says.

Any machine that earns a place on the elite enterprise support list will get very special treatment indeed, with the idea being to reassure corporate customers that these models are especially likely to perform well on Windows 10 in the new era of continuous updates:

For the listed systems, along with our OEM partners, we will perform special testing to help future proof customers’ investments, ensure regular validation of Windows Updates with the intent of reducing potential regressions including security concerns, and ensure all drivers will be on Windows Update with published BIOS/UEFI upgrading tools, which will help unlock the security and power management benefits of Windows 10 once the systems are upgraded.

These models also get special treatment for enterprises that are still planning their Windows 10 migration, with an 18-month grace period where the older OS versions are fully supported.

Through July 17, 2017, Skylake devices on the supported list will also be supported with Windows 7 and 8.1. During the 18-month support period, these systems should be upgraded to Windows 10 to continue receiving support after the period ends. After July 2017, the most critical Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 security updates will be addressed for these configurations, and will be released if the update does not risk the reliability or compatibility of the Windows 7/8.1 platform on other devices.

Of course, enterprise customers who want to stick with earlier Windows versions beyond that mid-2017 deadline have lots and lots of options, based on current generations of Intel processors such as the Broadwell and Haswell lines. Those systems, which are based on what Microsoft calls “downlevel silicon,” will continue to be fully supported for pre-Windows 10 operating systems.

In today’s blog post, Microsoft says it’s seeing “unprecedented demand from our enterprise customers” in Windows 10. Enterprise customers are especially interested in new Windows 10 security features like Credential Guard, which uses hardware virtualization to safeguard credentials from attack.

Windows 8-era enhancements like Secure Boot, which protects systems from being compromised by rootkits and bootkits, also require new hardware.

Not surprisingly, today’s announcement contains the usual cheery statements from Microsoft’s three biggest hardware partners: Dell, HP, and Lenovo. All three companies compete aggressively in the low-margin consumer market, where virtually all new systems will run Windows 10. But enterprises will pay premium prices for the improvements in battery life and security in Skylake-based mobile systems, making this the most attractive segment to target.

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, LL C is a full Managed Web and Technology Services Company providing IT Services, Website Design Services, Server Support, Network Consulting, Internet Phones, Cloud Solutions Provider and much more. Contact for More Information.

To read this article in its entirety click here.

Windows 10: Ten big things to watch for in 2016

This year will mark the first full year of release for Microsoft’s new OS. A look at what’s in store for Windows 10 this year.

Windows

Windows 10 was described as the “last version of Windows” – an OS that would evolve over time rather than be superceded.

In the few months since Windows 10’s launch Microsoft says it has been installed on more than 110 million devices. But just what lies in store for the OS in 2016, how will it get better and what new devices will it find its way onto?

1. Windows 10 will begin automatically installing on your old machine

Windows 10 is available as a free upgrade to Windows 7 and 8.1 users and Microsoft is getting increasingly aggressive about moving these users to the new OS.

From this year Windows 10 will automatically begin installing on most Windows 7 and 8.1 machines.

Users will still need to confirm the installation manually for it to continue. However, if they choose not to proceed it’s unclear if they can cancel it altogether, with Jeremy Korst, general manager of the Windows and Devices team at Microsoft, saying only that “the customer will have the ability to delay it for some period”.

If users do upgrade but don’t like Windows 10 they will have 31 days to roll back to their previous OS.

The automatic installation, the result of Microsoft changing the status of the Windows 10 upgrade to a Recommended update, will be preceded by increasingly insistent nag messages to upgrade. These notices are already being shown to some Windows users and have been criticised for not offering an easy opt-out.

2. Microsoft Edge will get extensions

Windows 10 launched with Microsoft Edge, a new browser that cast off a lot of the legacy code holding Internet Explorer back.

However, while speedy and capable on paper, the browser suffers from its share of bugs and is missing support for extensions, a key feature found in competitors such as Chrome and Firefox.

Microsoft will rectify this omission “early next year” when Korst said it will add extensions to Edge in test builds of Windows 10, ahead of being made generally available.

Extensions are small software programs, typically written using HTML, CSS and JavaScript, that augment the functionality of a browser.

Earlier this month, Microsoft accidentally published a website announcing the introduction of extensions to test builds of Windows 10. The site, which was taken down, referenced extensions for Pinterest and Reddit.

Microsoft originally planned to add support for extensions to Edge this year.

3. Windows 10 will blur the virtual and real world

Microsoft’s Windows 10-powered augmented reality headset HoloLens will ship to developers in the first quarter of 2016.

The augmented reality headset places 3D virtual images in the wearer’s vision so that they appear part of the real world – for instance, a Minecraft landscape sits on a coffee table or a Skype video sits on the wall.

After trying a demo of the headset this week, TechRepublic senior writer Dan Patterson said that though the headset had a limited “field of vision”, “the 3D animations are smooth, easy to interactive with, and result in only marginal eyestrain”.

The HoloLens doesn’t come cheap, with the developer kit priced at $3,000 – although Microsoft says this early release is meant for developers and commercial customers.

Although HoloLens has obvious consumer and gaming uses, Microsoft is stressing its use for business and is working with NASA, AutoDesk, Volvo, Dassault Aviation, Case Western Reserve University, and other large organisations to develop applications for it.

4. More security for enterprise

The coming year will also see some notable new features added to the enterprise version of Windows 10.

Key among these additions is Enterprise Data Protection, which will allow companies to separate work and personal data on devices using containerisation file techniques. It will also encrypt data as it moves around the organisation – helping to ensure that information isn’t accessed by the wrong people.

The feature will be rolled out to people testing Windows under the Insider Program “early this year”.

5. Testers will get a peek at even earlier builds

Those testing early releases of Windows 10 under the Windows Insider Program will be able to get earlier access to new features from January this year.

Those who choose to be in the “fast” ring of the Insider Program will receive builds of Windows 10 more frequently in 2016, according to Microsoft VP Gabe Aul.

The price of testers getting their hands on early builds more regularly will be that this software will likely include more bugs, he said. Those testers who prefer stability to early access should opt for the “slow” ring, he said.

6. Cortana will be everywhere

Microsoft is planning a major upgrade to Windows 10, codenamed Redstone, next year – with reports the upgrade will put Microsoft’s virtual assistant Cortana at the core of the OS.

An unnamed source told The Verge the new Cortana will help users with a much wider range of tasks inside Windows 10, appearing contextually in documents to provide “information and assistance” and giving Cortana control over a wider range of notifications.

The other major upgrade to Cortana will reportedly be an ability to start a task on one device and pick it up on another, for instance if you get a missed call on an Android phone running the Cortana app you could reply from your Windows 10 PC via text.

7. Microsoft doubles down on Windows 10 phones as desktops

A much touted feature of Windows 10 is its ability to run a desktop OS from a phone.

Microsoft’s new Lumia 950 and 950XL handsets can – wirelessly or via a dock – be hooked up to a monitor, mouse and keyboard and used to run a Windows desktop.

The Windows 10 OS can change the look and feel of certain apps, as well as its own appearance, to suit the phone or the desktop, as well as coping with everyday desktop tasks, such as multitasking and copying files from a USB stick.

The expectation is that Microsoft will further commit to this idea of using your phone as a desktop in 2016, with rumours that Panos Panay and the team behind the high-end Surface Book laptop are working on a Surface Phone that will release next year.

8. No more free upgrade

Windows 10 is available as a free upgrade to everyone running Windows 7 or 8.1 but only for a limited time.

The offer of a free upgrade will expire on 29 July 2016 – after which point it seems that users will have to buy a Windows 10 licence.

However, due to the in-your-face tactics that Microsoft is adopting to persuade people to upgrade, it seems unlikely that Windows 7 and 8.1 users will inadvertently miss out on the offer.

9. Windows 10 replaces its predecessors on new PCs

If you’re not a fan of Windows 10 then you should buy a new PC before October.

From the end of October 2016, PC makers will have to sell new machines with Windows 10, rather than Windows 7 or 8.1.

After that point businesses that want to run older Windows versions on new machines will have to rely on downgrade rights or software assurance rights under volume license agreements.

10. Windows 10 Surface Hub arrives

From January 2016 Windows 10 will power another new piece of hardware,Microsoft’s touchscreen computer the Surface Hub.

The successor to its large-screen Perceptive Pixel displays, the Surface Hub will run a custom version of Windows 10 and various apps needed for workplace communication and collaboration, including OneNote, Skype for Business and Office.

The 55-inch, Intel Core i5-based Surface Hub model will sell for $6,999 (estimated retail price), and the Intel Core i7-based 84-inch version for $19,999 ERP.

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 Services, Server Support, Network Consulting, Internet Phones, Cloud Solutions Provider and much more. Contact for More Information.

To read this article in its entirety click here.

Microsoft will let you unlock Windows 10 with your face

Hello
With a quick glance at your Windows 10 laptop, you’ll be able to unlock it — without entering a password.

Microsoft introduced the latest new feature for Windows 10, called Windows Hello. The security tool will let you access your PC through facial recognition, an iris scan or a read of your fingerprint.

But before you get ready for your closeup, you’ll need get some special equipment — most PCs don’t come with biometric scanners installed (though some do). Windows Hello is primarily targeted at businesses and government agencies.

Microsoft opted not to rely on your webcam for facial recognition because the photos it captures are not terribly secure, and they’re easy to spoof. Instead, Microsoft got infrared cameras to do facial recognition for Windows Hello.

Facial recognition is possible on a low-grade camera. Google allows its Android phones to be unlocked with facial recognition, but the company warns that someone with a photo of you — or even someone who looks like you — will be able to unlock your phone too.

With the proper tools, faces, irises and fingerprints are possible to spoof, but it’s not easy — someone’s got to really want to break in to your PC to go through the trouble.

Microsoft opted for more robust security in Windows 10, because it wants to meet strict standards that companies and government agencies impose for secure logins. Microsoft said Windows Hello has a 1 in 100,000 false accept rate, which is very high. It’s a lot safer than a password, which, as we know, can easily be forgotten, lost, stolen or hacked.

Though it’s not necessarily aimed at the average PC buyer, consumers will be able to use the Windows Hello feature too.

Microsoft promised “plenty of exciting new Windows 10 devices to choose from which will support Windows Hello.” And if your PC already has a fingerprint reader, you’ll be able to login with a fingerprint scan.

Passport: Windows 10 will also support another new security feature, codenamed “Passport,” which lets you login to participating websites, apps or networks without a password. Microsoft said the list of sites and apps that support Passport is growing, but it didn’t say how many participate.

Microsoft is trying to position Passport as the end of passwords. Since you never enter a password to enter a website, “there is no shared password stored on their servers for a hacker to potentially compromise,” says Microsoft boldly in its press release.

But that’s not quite true. Passwords will still exist. Even if you can login to your email via Passport from your work PC, you’ll still need a password to login from your iPad. So passwords aren’t going away anytime soon — and they’ll still be stored on email providers’ servers, which means hackers could potentially still grab them in a cyberattack.

The primary way that Passport ensures that you’re you is through Windows Hello. Oddly, however, you can also enter a PIN into Passport, which is significantly less secure than a password.

Still, it’s about time that something replaces passwords, and Hello and Passport are good starts.

Have questions?

Get answers from 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 Services, Server Support, Network Consulting, Internet Phones, Cloud Solutions Provider and much more. Contact for More Information.

To read this article in its entirety click here.

When should businesses upgrade to Windows 10?

Looking at upgrading your business PCs to Windows 10 but not sure when to make the leap? Here are some issues to consider.

Business customers can often be years behind the state of the operating system art: right now most businesses are still running Windows 7, launched back in July 2009, having shown limited interest in Windows 8 which arrived in August 2012.Windows 10

Even when they buy new PCs, most companies today still downgrade them to Windows 7, so it’s usually home users that are first to take the plunge with the new software, whether they like it or not.

However, businesses may be significantly faster to adopt Windows 10, which arrives on 29 July (volume licensing customers will be able to download Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 Education on Volume Licensing Service Center from 1 August) than previous versions of Microsoft’s operating system.

Part of the reason for the change is the huge public testing process – five million testers strong – that has preceded the arrival of Windows 10. As a result, the standard policy of waiting for the first service pack to arrive before rolling out a new OS is now longer the right one, says Stephen Kleynhans, research vice president at analyst Gartner.

However, that doesn’t mean firms should be full steam ahead with upgrades. “I’m not one who believes there is a need to rush to a new operating system. You want to let the ecosystem around the operating system mature a little bit before you jump right in,” he says.

Companies should wait until it’s clear if the line of business applications they use work happily with Windows 10, and whether they can find enough expertise to make sure any rollout is a smooth one. “All of that has to build up before you want to jump in and start running it in your production environment,” he said.

Kleynhans said businesses need to spend some time testing out Windows 10 in a controlled fashion: “Bring it into a lab, bring it into a test environment, let some folks run it for the rest of this year. Then, in 2016, get serious about it, start looking at it in a real test environment, start piloting it with some real users to see how it’s performing.”

He said that if all goes well companies should be ready to start deployments in the second half of 2016 or the beginning of 2017, depending on how large and complex their IT environment is.

“If you’re a large company nothing happens really fast. If you’re a small company the timeline is going to be a lot faster – if you’re testing with 10 people you might be testing with ten percent of the company.”

Starting the rollout a year to 18 months after the operating system is launched might seem like a long delay, but it would still be six months to a year faster than with previous upgrades.

Kleynhans said that it took most big companies 18 months of testing and remediation work before they were able to start rolling out Windows 7. In contrast, most companies will get Windows 10 testing and remediation done in less than six months.

The analyst said that some organizations are keen to get moving as soon as Windows 10 is available – such as those that are still using Windows XP or who have plans to deploy hybrid PC devices. But, for most companies, this will be too soon.

“There are pieces of the operating system targeted at the enterprise that we really haven’t had a chance to try out yet. You can’t consider significant production rollouts even in the most aggressive cases until later in the fall.”

He cited Windows Update for Business as a new tool that small and medium sized businesses will want to use, but that wasn’t part of the tech preview. There are also some other security components that haven’t been as broadly tested or available during the tech preview, he said.

As Ed Bott notes over at Tech Pro Research, other missing features will include the new unified sync client for OneDrive (the consumer cloud storage service) and OneDrive for Business (the cloud storage service for business Office 365 subscriptions). He predicts these will be wrapped up by late October, in time for Windows 10 PCs to hit the retail channel for the festive season.

Other factors to consider: at a prosaic level, the upgrade will inevitably cause disruption so don’t plan it for a busy time of year. If you’re in retail, starting the upgrade in November or December might be a career limiting decision for the CIO.

The state of your current infrastructure is another element to take into account. Gartner says that companies planning Windows 8.1 deployments should instead redirect their efforts toward earlier deployment of Windows 10.

“In almost all cases, enterprises currently planning to deploy Windows 8.1 should switch to Windows 10. Enterprises that already have Windows 8.1 deployed should continue with those deployments for the time being. Customers on Windows 7 with no plans for Windows 8.1 should begin evaluating Windows 10 for deployment in 2H16 or later,” the analyst firm said in a research note.

Equally, for some, the upgrade may never take place. David Gewirtz has no plans to upgrade any of his Windows 7 devices to Windows 10: “They work, they’re rock solid, and all their drivers are perfectly tuned to the hardware they’re running on,” he notes.

However long it takes enterprises to take the plunge, Windows 10 is likely to become widely adopted, if only because most firms will need to move off of Windows 7 eventually, while the relatively few who did move to Windows 8 will also update sooner rather than later. The pressures that forced companies to migrate off Windows XP and onto Windows 7 will eventually make them move from Windows 7 to Windows 10.

“Windows 7 comes to end of life in January 2020. That’s only four and half years away so you’re going to see the same sorts of pressures mount to get off of Windows 7. They need to go somewhere and they’ll go to Windows 10,” he said.

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 Services, Server Support, Network Consulting, Internet Phones, Cloud Solutions Provider and much more. Contact for More Information.

To read this article in its entirety click here.

CALL US NOW!