We are used to adverts for Fundraising Appeals from Wikipedia, but these are official. Some users are reporting third party ads appearing in Wikipedia, which is not right.

If this is the case and you are seeing third party adverts in Wikipedia, they have said that it is probably because your browser has been infected with malware.

Commonly, these can be removed relatively easily but if you are in doubt and you are a supported customer, do give us a call on 01489 589924.

It appears that they have simplified the system too which isn’t a bad idea as previous releases have confused many with what versions they need for what tasks.

By the looks of it, there will be three versions:

• Windows 8 RT – will be released pre-installed on PCs and tablets with the ARM processor installed. Effectively, this will be Microsofts version of the OS found pre-installed on Apple iPads. There will be limited functionality, but what noticed is that it will come with Microsoft Office Home and Student (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote)
• Windows 8 – Suitable mostly for the home user, Windows 8 will be the standard product of choice for consumers. It will have all the features you would expect Windows to include, including Internet Explorer 10 and a variety of ‘apps’ to get you started.
• Windows 8 Pro – This is the version that we will most likely recommend to most of our clients, much in the same way we recommend the Pro edition since Windows XP. Why? Because it includes one very important feature that home editions (and in this case, the standard edition of Windows 8 ) do not include, and that is the ability to join a domain. It also includes drive encryption and bitlocker for extra security.

I did notice some other features that were worth noting for interest:

• Metro Start Menu / Desktop – The new Metro tile style start menu has been questioned, but fear not to all who enjoy the standard Windows Desktop for you will be able to switch to that.
• ISO / VHD Mount – to the non tech, this may not sound like a big deal. Lets use an example – Microsoft used to distribute media to us by DVD. Now, we download an image of the DVD called an ISO. In order to use this ISO, we would either have to burn it to DVD or mount it with a third party tool. To be able to do this natively is a bonus.

The full list of features can be found on the Windows Team Blog.

We look forward to hearing what the pricing model will be and what licensing channels Windows 8 will be available on. I suspect Volume license customers with SA will get a free upgrade, and that there will be an upgrade path for retail versions.

This is because Microsoft are going to use the Euro exchange rate, rather than the Dollar exchange rate.

This means a potential increase of 20 – 30%. This is coming into effect as of the 1st June 2012.

We are not sure whether this will also affect SPLA licensing, but as these are done through a Volume Licensing arrangement this looks likely.

While we will monitor this situation closely and do our best to keep our prices the same, we may be left with little choice but to raise monthly subscription costs for our hosting customers.

Once we have heard more from Microsoft, we will keep in contact with all of our Volume License clients and SPLA customers with announced changes.

Do call or email if you have any questions or queries.

The Reset feature is designed to reinstall Windows 8 in the event of a crash. So, for example, if your PC crashes and you are in the predicament of having to reinstall the OS, apaprently the simply touch of a button will allow you to do this.

Refresh is apparently designed to do the same thing, but keeping your personal files and folders.

I guess this is a more advanced backup and recovery feature, but made simpler by simply needing to only push a button. As Microsoft put it, “Wouldn’t it be great if you could just push a button and everything is fixed?”.

More details can be found at http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/01/04/refresh-and-reset-your-pc.aspx

To assure our WordPress users, I am in the process of checking all of our sites to check that Timthumb is not installed and if it is, to ensure it is updated.

if you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.

As for our clients who are on a BES service, you shouldn’t have had any problems throughout. If you are a BIS customer then you should see services have returned back to normal. Call us if not.

If you are a supported client using a Blackberry, then you maybe affected.

You shouldn’t be affected if you are connected to our mail servers using Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES).

However, if you retrieve your mail through what is called Blackberry Internet Service (BIS), then there is a chance you are not getting your mail through your Blackberry.

As it is a Blackberry issue, there is little we can do. If you are experiencing problems then our advice would be to first call your mobile operator (Vodafone, Orange, etc.) first to make sure services are up and running their end.

If you are a supported client, you are welcome to call us any time if you need support.

Once in, it will try to log on as a variety of usernames and passwords, as listed by Microsoft on their security bulletin.

All the usual basic passwords are there, such as password, and admin, and qwerty1234. It will try logging with usernames such as admin, administrator, user, and owner. It will even try logging in as john!

Morto can cause all sorts of issues, as listed on the Microsoft site.

This highlights the great importance of having a strong password policy. Our advice is to ensure all users have strong passwords, and that you use unique usernames.

According to the Windows Lifecycle, support for Windows Vista Service Pack 2 ends on the 10th April 2012. This is for all home editions, which also includes Ultimate.

Business customers have extended support up until 2017.

Got an Open License?
If you have an Open Value Subscription agreement or an Open License agreement with SA, you have upgrade rights to the latest version of Windows, Windows 7. Not only that, but you should also have entitlement to Windows 7 Enterprise.

And if I don’t have an Open License?
If you have purchased an OEM (preinstalled) or an FPP (boxed product) license, then your product won’t be supported after 10th April 2012 if you are on a home edition, or 2017 if you are a business customer. However, you are still licensed to use the product.

If you are a support client and you have any questions, remember to give us a call!

UPDATE 13/07/2011 : Support for Windows Vista Service Pack 1 has now come to an end. This means that any computer on Vista Service Pack 1 will not continue to recieve updates or support. You can however upgrade to Service Pack 2 and continue to be supported by Microsoft, or alternatively switch to Windows 7 (which is now at Service Pack 1 itself).

These updates are important and must be done. If you are Windows 7, you can either update when you shut down the PC or set it to update while you are working. If your PC is set to do the latter, then you will need to reboot for the updates to take place.

If you are a supported client then you are welcome to contact us if you have any quesions or queries regarding this security update.