Managed Solutions

Has Hell Frozen Over?

November 30, 2009 by Joe Hackman Leave a Comment

Not long ago we were reading how Mozilla Firefox had more exploits than Internet Explorer and today I am prepared to go out on a limb and recommend a point release of a Microsoft Operating system. What the heck is going on in Redmond? What happened to our churn the product out and let the customers find the bugs then patch the frequent security issues 2 months after they hit the wild company we grew to love? Apparently they have been listening to feedback and have made unprecedented improvements in product quality and security maybe we should send them a thank you card. Wait a minute, before we decide who we should thank, let’s look at some of the motivation that is driving the changes – namely competition. Apple has put up a very strong showing with their industry standard design and solid performance. This has created market share for them at a very fast pace. Google and Microsoft are also heating up the competition in a number of areas but perhaps most importantly the operating system arena with the upcoming Google Chrome Operating system. So before you mail your thank you card to Redmond, let’s remember that without strong competition they would not have been quite as anxious to improve their products.

Now on to the substance, Windows 7 is ready for Business

We skipped Vista, don’t get me wrong we used it and we knew it but we did not advise any of our customers to use Vista at any point of the product cycle. In fact we made efforts to have them avoid it, basically advising our customers that Windows XP was the way to go for business. That has all changed thanks to the fantastic work that Microsoft has put into making the point release of Windows 7 my favorite operating system ever. Yes I am excited about Microsoft product again, it’s been a long time but I am grateful because I’ve had a love/hate relationship with them for years. My relationship with Microsoft has had its ups and downs:

• DOS was ok.
• Windows 3.x was ok.
• Windows NT (3.x) was ok.
• Windows NT (4) was ok.
• Windows 95 loved it.
• Windows 98 was ok.
• Windows ME hated it!
• Windows 2000 loved it.
• Windows XP mostly loved it.
• Windows Vista mostly hated it.
• Windows 7 Love it!

So as you can see, without getting into disasters like Bob, or the security lapses, etc, the ups and downs I’ve experienced with Microsoft Operating systems have been significant. Please don’t tell Balmer that I like Windows 7, I want them to continue to think like they have been since they started working on Windows 7. Let’s let this be our secret.

Windows 7 Using Sticky Notes

November 29, 2009 by Joe Hackman 1 Comment

Not everyone uses Outlook or a similar program to store their tasks and reminders, or perhaps they might seek something a little more visual. Windows 7 sticky notes will deliver that for you. This video will demonstrate to you how to access, create, change and delete sticky notes on your Windows 7 equipped computer.

Windows 7 Quicktip Aero Snap Feature

November 28, 2009 by Joe Hackman 1 Comment

The Aero snap feature on Windows 7 is really useful. You can use it to maximize a window by left clicking and dragging that window to the top of the screen or drag left or right to have the active program use that half of the screen. This is what you might see in the Microsoft commercial. There is a small problem, what if you have 2 or more monitors? It doesn’t work unless you drag it all the way to the right, left or top most screen edge. You can actually use this feature even with multiple screens by using the windows key + arrow keys, these are the affects:

Winkey + L/R Arrow cycles the active window through all available visible options (Right Half, Left Half, Normal, Maximize)
Winkey + Up Arrow Maximizes the active window
Winkey + Down Arrow Minimizes the active window

These are must know keyboard shortcuts for Windows 7 users with 2 or more monitors and I like them even on single screens. Please note this does require the Aero interface to be enabled and not all computers support it. For a demonstration of this feature check out this video:

Windows 7 Application Compatibility and XP Mode

November 27, 2009 by Joe Hackman Leave a Comment

When you purchase a new computer that has Windows 7 installed or upgrade your current PC to Windows 7 you will have more to deal with than just a learning curve. New operating systems present compatibility issues, sometimes this includes hardware compatibility other times it involves software applications. Luckily there are some tools within Windows 7 that provide very broad application support. This video demonstrates how to use two of the tools, the individual application compatibility settings and the all new “XP Mode”. Links to the Microsoft site mentioned in this video are at the bottom of this article after the video.

Resources:

Microsoft Virtual PC/Application Compatibility Page

Disclosure Policy

November 21, 2009 by Joe Hackman 2 Comments

It is ethical and critical to disclose relationships and policies to people who rely on you for information, in this case readers of this website and our clients. On this website occasionally you will find products and services promoted from partners and affiliates. In some cases there are monetary rewards for these efforts. While we do not directly warrant these products we do have some strict guidelines for partnering with a company:

It must be a product we use ourselves or would be willing to use.
The company must be reputable and follow ethical operating procedures.
The relationship will be noted as (Affiliate or #affiliate on social posts) disclosing the relationship.

If a company we partner with fails to meet these criteria we will cease to promote their products on this website. If you feel that any of products we promote on this site do not fall under our guidelines I would like to hear about it. You can phone or send me a message directly using the websites contact form.

Client Disclosure Policy

We also occasionally share relevant content for a client, every effort is made to disclose these relationships. They are noted by (client) or using the hashtag #client in social posts.