Tuesday 21 July 2009

Windows Updates

Now here's a topic and a half. My personal opinion may not be the mainstream but I believe keeping your Windows operating system up to date as important as having up to date Anti-Virus software.

There's a downside however with the latest sets of updates from Microsoft, Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista is BIG and when I say big I mean HUGE this latest service pack, which has some performance improvements as well as bug fixes, is almost 350MB in size.For all of us that know friends in the countryside (or even the outskirts of a main town) this is going to cause some problems.SME-UK Limited's business covers clients in places such as Cookham Dean, Holyport and Shurlock Row, all popular places in the Berkshire area, which all struggle to get broadband speeds over 1MBs (some places in Shurlock Row there is no broadband available), what are these businesses to do ?Well, SME-UK Limited offers these service packs via CD or DVD-ROM along with other large updates too (Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 2 weighs in at 290MB) to all its Support Subscription clients.
There is a small bright spark on the horizon though, BT at a recent business presentation tell me that the speeds will be getting better with improved and updated telephone exchanges and the arrival ADSL2+ (newer faster ADSL Broadband) but hey I'm sure we can count on Microsoft to find bigger and "better" Service Packs to rollout when Windows 7 hits the streets later this year. Not that I'm a cynic of course but with a new version of software there are bound to be some major fixes hard on the heels of the launch.

I hope I'm wrong in a way and that new operating systems and new application suites are better and more stable, but ask most people about Windows Vista coupled with Office 2007 versus Windows XP with Office 2003 and I think you'll not be surprised by the feedback, lets at least hope they are smaller, more manageable patches and service packs.

Thursday 30 April 2009

Internet Explorer 8

Some of you PC end users may have noted that the latest round of Updates from Microsoft now include Internet Explorer 8.

This maybe a good thing but also maybe a problem for some of you out on the web that use online services and online database systems.

I've always been of the mind that updates from Microsoft are a good thing, a good example of this is the Office Outlook Junk mail filter updates, but with IE8 you may want to tread a little more carefully before installing.

One thing to consider is that if you access any 3rd party online systems which are designed to be 100% browser based (in other words you dont need any additional software installed on your PC) it would be prudent to check with either your Company's IT administrator and or the Service Provider who designed the system

For those of you that are concerned or curious about this latest incarnation of Microsofts Internet browser- take a look at Microsofts office website, theirs a tour and some videos about whats new OK

http://www.microsoft.com/uk/windows/internet-explorer/welcome.aspx

Stoo

Friday 10 April 2009

Credit Card Scammers and Free Internet access

Spoke to a client today who rang me as they had some one come to their door claiming to be from Talk Talk Internet saying they could have free Broadband from BT, they were suspicious and rightfully so, it turns out they were credit card scammers trying to get peoples credit card details.
As I say to all my clients if you are in any doubt about anything technology or otherwise be cautious, if it sounds too good to be true it usually is, and free usually means you get what you pay for or less !!
If you find the Internet useful dare I say critical then don't look at free options, choose a reputable provider at a reasonable price and value it, check out the online forums and see what their current clients are saying about them too.

Stoo