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Newsletter Dec 2012
I hope you are
keeping well and fit. Well, we’ve made it to the end of another year and
here’s my final newsletter of the year. WINDOWS 8
One of the
reasons I’ve delayed sending out a newsletter is because I wanted to give a
full and honest review of Windows 8. Well, I’ve now
been using it for almost 2 months, and I have very mixed feelings about it. My first
encounter with W8 was a nightmare. To cut a very long story short, my big
problem with it is the new Email programme which comes with it. When you first
go to set up your email using it, it will ask you for your Windows ID. That’s
all well and good if you have one, such as a Hotmail account, but if you
don’t, then you have to create one before it will allow you to move on. Once you have set
up your email account, it will bring in all your emails. But it looks completely
different from the old Outlook Express or Windows Live Mail that you may be used
to. The look is very basic, much like your mail on an Ipad or IPhone. One very big
problem with it is that it does not allow you to import your old emails from
your old computer (unless you have a Windows ID). It does not allow you to
import your old Inbox, Sent Items etc. The only way
around this is NOT to use the new email programme. Instead you can install
Windows Live Mail or Outlook, which will do everything as before perfectly. One of the
biggest changes of W8 is the opening Start screen. When you first
switch it on, you are presented with a page of large tiles, rather than the
traditional desktop and icons. This can be customised so that your most used
programmes, such as Email & Internet and office programmes like Word or My
Documents, are simple to access. One drawback I
find is that there is no longer a Start icon in the bottom left corner. This
makes it awkward to Shutdown the computer or find programmes or the Control
Panel. I won’t go on
and on about W8, except for a summary of the pros and cons, in my opinion. Pros: It uses the best bits of Windows 7, so
it is very quick, and so far I’ve never had it crash on me once. It looks very
colourful and works very well when you are using a touch screen monitor, tablet
or Windows Phone. The new Start screen is very clever and has live “Tiles”
which give continuously updated information, such as news headlines, Facebook
& Twitter pages, Sports headlines, Share prices, Weather etc etc, which can
be fully customised for your own requirements.
Cons: Big
problem is the email problem as mentioned before. No Start button, so to turn it
off, you need to put the mouse in top right corner, which brings out the Charms
Bar, where you then need to go Settings, Power, the Shut Down. Unlike Windows 7
where they gave you a free version of Microsoft Word & Excel, now they give
you a 60 day trial of the full version of Office 2010, after which you would
need to but a full licence (around £80). Conclusion: In my opinion, I
wish they had left Windows 7 as it was. It worked perfectly well. But all new
computers built in the next few years will have W8, so we have to get used to it
(unless you choose Apple or Chromebook, more about them later). I think that W8
is fine unless you are using a traditional keyboard and mouse. It has been
designed for the ever increasing touch screen market. However, if you
are thinking about changing your computer now (and I mean in the next couple of
weeks), and you want to love and enjoy it, see if you can still buy one with
Windows 7 Home Premium. But if you are
changing to W8 and need help setting it up and using the new features, please
let me know. IPADs
If you don’t
yet have one, and you can afford it, then I would highly recommend them. They
are amazing. For the uninitiated, they are fantastic for Internet browsing,
Emails, Skype, Books, Pictures & Videos, watching TV & especially HD
movies, and music. But the real strength of the Ipad is the hundreds of
thousands of ‘Apps’ available to download, some are free, some are paid for.
The new Mini Ipad does everything its big brother does, but is a bit cheaper,
starting at £270. Yes, there are
other Tablets on the market, the nearest competitor is the Samsung Galaxy, which
I’ve never used, but by all accounts is really good too. Also the
Blackberry Playbook is excellent and right now is available at PC World for a
staggering £124.00 but in my humble opinion, if you’re in the market to buy a
tablet, and your pocket can stretch to it, then the Ipad is the one to buy. Now I am Mr Ipad,
if you need help in setting up or using it properly, please call or email me to
fix a time for an hour’s lesson to get the best out of it. Google Chromebooks
What is a Chromebook? It’s a
completely different kind of laptop from the one you are used to using. Why,
because it doesn’t have Windows or Apple operating system. Instead, it uses
Google’s own OS. It only has a relatively small built in memory (typically
16Gb as opposed to a standard laptop which usually has a minimum of 500Gb). Why such a small memory? Because it is designed primarily to be used
to access all your files, documents, pictures, music, emails etc via the Cloud,
i.e. NOT stored locally on the computer. The advantage with that is that all
your files are stored safely and securely externally, so the laptop simply
becomes a terminal for you to view and edit your stuff. As long as you have
access to the Internet, the Chromebook will store all your emails, documents,
pictures. What are the pros and cons? Lots of Pros, not many cons 1.
They are made by Samsung, so great quality build. 2.
They are relatively cheap, starting at less than £200 3.
They have really fast start up time, typically 7 seconds from
startup to being on Google page. 4.
Long battery life, average 8 hours. 5.
You will NEVER get a virus or malware, as all your files are
stored in the Cloud. 6.
You will never need to update your programmes, as this is done
automatically whenever there is an update available, for free. 7.
You can also access your files from any computer in the world. 8.
Very light and portable. Downside: 1.
Because it doesn’t run on Windows, no Windows programmes will
run on it, such as Office or Photoshop, but equivalent programmes such as Google
Docs are available free. You get 100Gb of free storage space. 2.
You do need to have a Wi-Fi connection. It won’t take a USB
broadband dongle. 3.
Printing requires either a wireless printer (preferably with
EPrint facility). To learn more,
click on the official Google Chromebook site below http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en_uk/chrome/devices/ New Year Tune UpIs your computer
running slower than it used to? 9 out of 10 people I speak to say Yes. You should now
have your computer serviced and checked to ensure that it is free from viruses
and malware, and all your valuable files, pictures, music and emails fully
backed up, should disaster strike, which could happen anytime. For a fixed fee,
I’ll come and give your PC a full service and tune up, check your security,
and make sure you’re fully backed up. Prevention is always better than cure,
so please call me ASAP to fix a convenient time.
Happy New Year everybody…I would like to
thank you, my lovely customers, for your continued custom through the last year.
It’s been a very busy year for me, which I must say, I have thoroughly
enjoyed, learning new toys and skills, as well as meeting lots of new clients. I hope to be of
continued service to you during 2013. I wish you a very happy, healthy and safe
New Year. Please click on
the link below, turn the speakers up to 10, sit back and enjoy the next four and
a half minutes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mObouU6xacs See you in the
New Year.
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