November 2009, or Thereabouts

The bankers have their bonuses, the market is up, and the talking heads say the recession is over. It’s time for me to be doubtful and to entertain you with techie tips and my next occasional newsletter!

I present myself as the "Computer Wizard." I am the technical person with social skills who brings productivity improvement to your 2 to 25 computers, servers, software, hardware, and Internet applications in your office network, old or new.

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Windows 7 has arrived. It is smaller and faster than Vista and runs on the same hardware. If you are buying a new PC, insist on 7. If you are hating your Vista, upgrade to 7. If your business depends on Windows XP, you have until April 8, 2014 when Microsoft hopes to shut it down.

The big change in computing will come when you switch from a 32 to a 64-bit operating system. Windows XP, Vista, and 7 all have 64-bit versions. This “wider pipe” let’s you utilize much more memory, but once again you will have to replace all your drivers. More memory is what all three Microsoft systems and their applications crave.

When you do leave XP or move up to 64-bits, do it when you are buying new computers. Nothing is forever, and the last of my clients just stopped clinging to Windows98.

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FaceBook and Twitter are big deals in the marketing networking worlds. It is not just about finding old school friends. Marketers are pushing products and gathering data on you. When you take the quiz, “Which Greek Goddess are you?”, they add this to your profile, as well as when you sign up as a fan of Engelburt Humperdink.

I turn off the options to “tag me in a photo or video.” I don’t want postings from my secret life. I do not add people as friends that I do not know. Also, if someone does post something I really don’t like, I “unfriend them,” and the post goes away. Remember, the Internet is eternal.

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Cloud Computing? You are already doing it when you use your online banking. You don’t have a teller and a vault and a guard with a gun in your house. They are somewhere else “in the cloud” and you just log in.

The plan is that you will have all your programs in the cloud. Your computer will have an operating system and browser on a chip. No more updates or viruses. Save your data on your thumb drive or just leave it in the cloud too.

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The iPhone is taking over. While we look for improvements in Windows 7, the world is buying apps like http://ifartmobile.com/videos/

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When things are slow, learn something new. I have a list of such topics. When I get busy, self-education is the first area to suffer.

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Relationships matter. It’s time to stay in touch with clients you haven’t heard from in a while. Make sure they are still in business. Do something they really need that’s simple. They will have money later to pay for more.

Make the rounds of everyone you know.

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