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July 15 Newsletter
I hope this finds you fit and well. Here is a roundup of the latest IT news. Windows 10
You may be aware that Microsoft is just about to launch
their latest Operating System, Windows 10 (why they have gone from Windows 8 to
Windows 10, and left out Windows 9, is one of life’s great mysteries) So, the question is,
Should you upgrade to Windows 10? If you have Windows 7 or 8 now, you may have noticed a
small icon suddenly appear in the bottom right corner of your screen, which has
4 small white squares. This is an invitation for you to apply for a FREEE
UPGRADE TO WINDOWS 10. Well, in my opinion, the simple answer is NO, or not yet. Although I haven’t yet used it myself, I’ve read many
reviews and watched lots of YouTube videos, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wwc5jKc-EgE)
and the general consensus of opinion is that is more or less a combination of
Windows 7 and Windows 8, with a few new toys. The biggest change is that Microsoft has finally listened
to its millions of customers and put back the Start button in the bottom left
corner, which has been missing since the launch of Windows 8. There are other
enhancements, such as being able to have 4 windows open at the same time, and
having multiple desktops, which most home users won’t really see as a great
benefit and would prefer to keep things simple and just have one. Other features include Cortana, which is a voice activated
Digital Assistant, much like Siri on Apple products, where you can dictate your
questions or give it commands, such as ‘Send an Email to Henry.’ We don’t know yet how stable Windows 10 will be as far as
StartUp speed and reliability. Time will tell. So, should you upgrade to Windows 10? I would say let’s
wait a few months and see. I will have to upgrade my own computer and I’ll
give you my opinion in my next newsletter. Of course all brand new computers shipped from August will
already have it preinstalled at the factory, so if you're thinking of changing
your computer, you may want to wait until then. Watch this space for further info. CCleaner
I suggest that you download and run it. It’s worth
checking first your Used and Available disk space (Click on Start – Computer
– RIGHT CLICK on C Drive – Properties). This will show you the current usage
and available disk space. Then run CCleaner. Once the cleaning has completed,
check your usage again, to see how much disk space has been recovered. You can get it free by clicking on this link: http://filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/ Online Music Streaming
Who would of thought, even a few years ago, that you would
be able to access in excess of 30 million songs, immediately, from your mobile
phone? Well, that’s exactly where we are today. Technology has
moved forward so quickly, that we are now able to listen to whatever we want,
whenever we want, wherever we are. I’m often asked about this and the best way to get your
music, when out of your home. There are 3 main providers of online music (although many
more available too). Spotify This is probably the best known music streaming service. It
is available to use for FREE, however the Premium version has many advantages
such as being able to listen to your music offline (so you don’t need to be
connected to wifi) and also there are no annoying adverts after every few
tracks. The range of available songs is virtually unlimited and growing every
week. For more information go to www.spotify.com Google Play
Music This is the Google version of Spotify. It also offers
around 30 million songs, anytime anywhere. You can also import your Itunes
library. Create your own playlists, and download any song or album into your
phone, tablet or computer, to be listened to offline. The cost of this service
after the 30 day free trial is £9.99 per month. https://play.google.com/about/music/allaccess/#/
for more information. Apple Music This is the new kid on the block, as it was only launched
in June this year. As it is an Apple product, many Iphone and Ipad users will be
tempted to add this service, just because of the Apple brand. I’ve never used
it yet, so I can’t comment on its strengths, HOWEVER, reading many reviews,
there are many negative comments about it being buggy and difficult to use
offline. I’m sure that if this is true, Apple will sort it out. You can get a
3 month free trial, thereafter £9.99 per month for a single user, or £14.99
per month for a family subscription allowing up to 6 different users.
https://www.apple.com/uk/music/
for more information. RoboForm
These days, it’s become a nightmare trying to remember
all your various passwords for different websites. It’s not quite as simple as
having one password for every site (that would be too easy). Website have
different criteria for acceptable passwords; some insist on having a minimum of
6 or 8 characters, some want a mix of upper and lower case, some insist on a
special character such as symbol like a ! or #. The result is that unless you
physically write them down somewhere, it’s a problem remembering which
password you have chosen for each website That’s why I use RoboForm. This is a great programme
which works with most browsers. The free version allows you to store up to 10
passwords. Should you need more than 10, as I do, then for a one off charge of
£19.95, you can store an unlimited number of passwords. The other big advantage is that it also includes a Form
Filler, which you can add your personal information such as name, address, phone
numbers, and as much or little information as you wish. So when you come across
a web form that asks for your personal details, by clicking on one button on the
RoboForm toolbar, it will automatically fills in all your details for you. And
finally….
I’m a big magic fan. I can keep myself entertained for
hours just browsing through YouTube looking at the video clips of the best
tricks and illusions (how sad am I?) I just love people like David Blane (very weird) and Penn
& Teller but my favourite is still Derren Brown. I’ve seen him live many
times. Unlike most people who just want to know how these tricks are done, I
really don’t. I just enjoy the whole spectacle of illusion and wonderment.
I’ve got no desire to know HOW they’re done. So here’s Derren making Matt Lucas speechless. Who
care’s how it’s done, I really don’t. Enjoy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9LB0k8HePw That’s it for this month. Have a great summer. |
