Ekaru - Newsletter

The Ekaru Technology Advisor Vol 6-9 December 2006

Welcome to this month's issue! The Technology Advisor provides technology advice, strategy, tips and trends to help you manage and grow your business!

Happy Holidays!
Thank you for all your support, referrals, and feedback in 2006.
Best wishes for a happy and productive new year!

Microsoft Vista and Office 2007: Finally!...well, almost!
Delays in shipping Microsoft Vista and Office 2007 have created a lot of confusion this season. After all the hype, many users are excited about Microsoft's newest products, but new systems are not yet shipping with Vista and Office 2007. We are expecting Dell to start shipping in mid to late January. Of course, if you buy a system today, you can upgrade to Windows Vista and install Office 2007 through open license, but many users prefer it to be pre-installed.

There are a lot of exciting benefits to going with Windows Vista (and Office 2007), but you will need to weight the impact in your business.

1. Any new hardware should be Windows Vista Premium Ready (minimum requirements):

1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor.
1 GB of system memory.
A graphics processor that runs Windows Aero.
128 MB of graphics memory.
40 GB of hard drive capacity with 15 GB free space.
DVD-ROM Drive3.
Audio output capability.
Internet access capability.

2. Third party applications: When Windows XP Service Pack 2 was released a few years ago, there was a very long list of application incompatibilities. This caused lot of glitches for users who upgraded, and at the time we recommended to clients to wait a while before moving forward. We expect the same bumps in the road with Vista.

3. Company-wide Migration Plan - Typically, its best-practice to standardize your business on one operating system and one version of Office. Instead of thinking of individual systems, consider the overall impact on your business.

Windows Vista has a lot to offer for security and user interface enhancements. Search capabilities in Vista are greatly enhanced, in addition to several other important enhancements over previous operating systems:

Improved firewall to handle inbound and outbound traffic
Restricted services to help prevent malware infestations
Enhancements to Internet Explorer to tighten security.
User account control to enable some administrative rights upon entry of credentials (to get around the "all or nothing" user vs administrator rights). This is very important for the small business setting where controls really need to be balanced with flexibility.
Authentication - enabling integration to biometrics and tokens as compared to simple password protection
Windows Defender (Anti-Spyware) software is included with Vista. Spyware can do a LOT of damage - rather than relying on users to install their own Anti-Spyware software, it will be built-in for automatic protection.
Tabbed browsing in Internet Explorer - This means you can easily move back and forth to different web sites.
High resolution thumbnails in Document Explorer (replaces "My Documents") - lets you see in advance if you're selecting the right document.
Virtual folders by keywords - makes it easier to find things fast - Instead of trying to remember what your "filing system" was when you filed the document, let your computer do the thinking for you.
Aero interface - better control of screen resolution and size of fonts

Office 2007 also has a lot to offer:

"Ribbons" - Tabbed viewing of 31 toolbars.
"Mouseover" previews of style settings - allows much faster formatting!
Enhanced data graphing capabilities
Enhanced data visualization in Excel

Eventually we will all be using Windows Vista and Office 2007. Its just a question of "when"!

By the way, if you missed Ekaru's Windows Vista and Office 2007 preview last month, we're planning another showcase event in February. There were actual "oohs and ahhs" heard from the audience the first time around, so you won't want to miss this!

Save the Date: Thursday January 25 - 7:30am
Data security and backup - Is your critical data safe? Are you confident that your disaster recovery plan is sufficient? Please join us for a breakfast workshop on January 25. David Spector of Secure Strategies (www.securestrategies.com) and Larry Shoer of Backlot Technologies (www.backlottech.com) will be joining us for an information-packed workshop. The workshop is complimentary for all Ekaru clients and e-newsletter subscribers - send us an e-mail if you'd like to attend.

E-Mail Trouble - Heads Up:
Several clients who are Comcast subscribers have noted intermittent problems recently with sending e-mails. If you have a Comcast high-speed connection, Comcast is aware of the problem and working on their network.

Tip: Outlook - Clearing a messaged stuck in your "outbox":
This is an issue that has come up frequently recently, so we thought it was worth putting in a "Tip". The symptoms are that if you attempt to send an e-mail which for some reason can't be sent (for example, too large > 10M) and it gets stuck in your "out box", and it may be hard to clear out. The reason for this is that you can't delete a message in Outlook while Outlook is actively attempting to send the message, and it basically keeps trying because typically the mail setting is to "send immediately when connected". The work around is to go to Tools / Options / Mail Set up and un-check the box to "send immediately when connected". Then close Outlook and re-open it. Now your message will not immediately attempt to send the message and it can be deleted.

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Let it snow!

Sincerely,
Team Ekaru

Introductory Technology Assessment Over 250 local small businesses have chosen Ekaru to manage their computers and networks. We offer a free, no-obligation initial consultation to get started. We'll visit your office, review your network, and make recommendations. Call us at 978-692-4200 or email us to schedule a no-obligation assessment. If you know someone who could benefit from this offer, simply forward this email to them. Thank You!

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