Office 2010 Initial Reviews
This week we got our copy of Microsoft’s Office 2010 and we upgraded a field laptop Friday night. This laptop runs Windows 7 Professional and was running Office 2007 Service Pack 2. The installation itself was very straightforward but it did take over 30 minutes total as components like the Outlook Connector were upgraded.
Initial impressions of the new look is that it looks more like Office 2003 with the Office 2007 toolbars. The biggest obvious change is that the 2007’s Office Button is gone. In its place is the File tab which will be more familiar to long-time Office users but combines some of the features of the Office Button.
The biggest change in the user controls that most people will notice is Outlook 2010 toolbar. Many of the features have been moved andwe’re sure that’s going to throw a lot of users.
We continue to make notes over the next several weeks and will have further reviews for you in a few weeks. If you have any questions, call or email us (info@setms.com) and we’ll be happy to help.
Now that summer thunderstorms are here, make sure you plug your computer, router, printers, and other equipment into a surge protector or even better, a battery backup. These are great because they keep a power surge from zapping your equipment during a power flicker and provide a few minutes of battery power so you can safely turn off your computer. They are a little more expensive than a power strip but a lot less expensive than replacing your computer’s power supply or motherboard.
Apple has had the Ipad out for a couple of months now and we are seeing a new trend in consumer electronics. So far it’s the only thing out there that has Apps and touch capability as well as portability. However, Google realized the power of the Android platform and how fast the Android phones are giving Apple IPhone a run for their money.
As the market demand for portable larger format tablets heat up we are seeing a new push to get other models to compete with the Ipad. In response Dell is getting ready to release a model of Tablet to allow use of the Android platform and still have something that is application ready. Say hello to the Dell Streak Tablet. Also there is a new type of competitor which is a hybrid of a tablet and a laptop. As this gets more popular you may find that more companies will come up with a hybrid but for now here is a look at the Lenovo Ideapad U1.
Microsoft is realizing that it has to be competitive with the way Google has been taking over with all these new offerings from web mail to shared file upload sites etc. Microsoft realizes that eventually something was going to have to give and so they will be offering applications in Office 2010 that can be accessed from any computer. Please note of course Microsoft will be keeping most of the better features in their paid version of Office 2010 but still having something being offered “in the cloud” could be beneficial to users who already use and love Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc.
Please check out the article/ blog post at Local Tech Wire that shared this information with us.
Yesterday McAfee released a virus definition update (the latest data to keep your computer protected against the newest and worst viruses). This update caused major problems for XP and Windows 2000 users. Thousands to Hundreds of Thousands of computers may have been affected by yesterdays update. The update causes a harmless necessary Windows operating system file to be seen as a malicious virus and quarantines it and then deletes it. After the scan is completed it then reboots your system and the computer freezes upon reboot. There is a way to fix it once this has been applied but it takes time and proper focus to make sure that the newest version of McAfee is removed and Windows gets the proper file it needs reinstalled. If you find that you recently applied a virus defintion update and you have been using McAfee then please contact a skilled computer technician to help you in a timely manner. We are here to help and can get you back up and running if you have encountered this problem.
For reference please see the link from ABC.com
Most people who are around the small business community have heard that they need to use social media to help get information out on the web about them and their business or non-profit. My Carolina Today had a great video about how to use Social Media for business/ non-profit. If you are still confused after watching this video feel free to give us a call and we’ll sit down with you to talk about it. We can help you start using social media or we can help you maintain your social media. The web can be an overwhelming place and is moving in new directions faster and faster… make sure you keep up with it.
Each day one of the first questions that we get asked is “what can I do to protect myself and my identity while online?” First and foremost we tell everyone to be cautious what you put on the web. The web never forgets. You can do searches and find things online from the original inception of the internet. Our company has even found things that were posted in the early ’90’s still out there indexed for people to find. The internet never forgets.
However, with the outgrowth of social media and information indexes growing by leaps and bounds each day we are finding more and more information that is being saved and able to be indexed right now or even years later. Something you say in a forum today will be able to be searched and researched by our children in the future. Add to that the instant update always connected to the net people who use social media for whatever reason who post things that are potentially dangerous to themselves. More likely than not, they didn’t even think it was posting something that could be dangerous. Every day we read horror stories of how someone’s house was robbed while they were away on vacation, all because they “tweeted” or status updated that they were out of town. There is even a whole website dedicated to spreading how dangerous this can be. (See the site Please Rob Me).
Every day there are people who are online or see what you are doing and can be vicious if they want to be. Does this mean that we need to stop all social media? No, it doesn’t. As a company we have a blog (see what you are reading right now) and we have a twitter account and a facebook. However, we take precautions to make sure that we don’t post something that could be dangerous to us or our clients. We use common sense when posting. Do we say we are visiting somewhere, sometimes, but we don’t post things like how long we will be gone. We also don’t post public things about our children on the internet.
The key is just to be cautious. You can use Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, Etc…but just remember that the internet never forgets and if someone sees it, they could be out to do something malicious, mean, hurtful, or even downright illegal. Protect yourself, your property, and your identity. If you have any questions and aren’t sure what is safe to post, just ask. We’ll gladly be there to help you figure out what is too much or too revealing. Good luck and be safe out there.
Recently SE Tech Support (See Tech Support) was introduced to a new little piece of technology called a Poken. At first we were skeptical about what this was and why it is important to the new world of business networking.
The biggest problem with a business card is that you get a hand full of them by the end of a networking event and you aren’t even sure who these people are and why you talked to them in the first place. The idea moving forward with new technology is to solve the problem of the ever growing pile of business cards that never end up getting back into your local contacts via Outlook or other mail program that most people use to handle their contacts.
There is a new little thing out there that can make our lives so much easier. This new item is the Poken. This cute little piece of equipment breaks down to being a little USB device that connects directly into your computer and even directs to you the website to allow you to manage your contacts directly through them. There is even a nice way to download from the website to your mail contact managers. The nice thing is directly on the Poken website you get a timeline that includes everything including a picture if the user has uploaded one. This allows for a little easier recognition of who you have met and when. This also allows for you to get a lot of their social networks that they are registered with if they have linked it to their account. Also, since it is on a website it lets you have immediate updates if they change any of their information. If this has you curious and wondering what this thing is check out their website at Poken.
As a technology management company we have expanded our services to help people manage their social media and we can also help upload your new Poken or help you purchase your poken. Give us a call or email us and we can discuss all the different possibilities that you have with a Poken.
Southeast Technology Management Services now d.b.a. SETECH (See Tech) Support believes that gold support should not just be for those who are willing to pay top dollar for it. We firmly believe that every customer is a valuable customer and without our customers our company would not be where it is now. Therefor we have tried very hard to create low cost solutions offering things like monitoring & maintenance plans as low as $25/ work station and $35/ server. This cost includes your windows updates, anti-virus protection updates, anti-malware checks, hardware checks, and even a half hour of phone/ remote support if you do have a problem. We want to be able to help any level of client with the perfect level of service for their business.
We believe strongly is good customer service. We try to always go above and beyond the best expectations of our clients in order to provide that “gold” level of service for everyone.
So if you would like to know more about our “gold service for all” policy, feel free to contact us and we can work with you to tailor the right level of service and maintenance for your needs.
SETMS has been working with a group of people to make our look, our name, and our selves better than ever. We want to be your all in one technology support team. We also want to make our name something that sticks in your mind a little better than Southeast Technology Management. So keep an eye on our website, our logo, and other places to see the exciting new changes that we will be unveiling over the next couple of weeks!
