Messenger Moves to Skype

The much beloved Messenger application is almost dead. Microsoft has decided that March 15th will be it’s last day of functionality. On that day you will have to start using another IM client. Microsoft thinks that you will like to use Skype.

When Microsoft purchased Skype I expected them to integrate Skype into everything but instead they have move Messenger into Skype and integrated Skype (optionally) into Office 365.

None of that is important right now, the important part at this time is that you have a plan to stop using Messenger and start using another IM client. If you choose Skype all of your contacts will migrate over seamlessly.

If you would rather not use Skype, let us know. We have some alternatives we could offer especially if you’d like to keep your IM’s private within your company. 

We’re here to help with this migration. If you need a hand with it please let us know. When we talk to you between now and then we’re going to be asking about whether you are using Messenger currently because the move needs to happen BEFORE March 15th or you’ll lose  access to your contacts.

- Amy

Sea Change for Desktop Computers

Last week Intel made a major announcement that has been largely ignored by the general media. Probably because they don’t understand the significance. Intel announced that it will phase out production of desktop system boards and will exit the market entirely in three years. Thus marks the final release of system boards for desktop computers.

There are other manufacturers of system boards for desktop computers and Intel will continue to make high-end boards for engineering, cad and graphics computers but the golden age of the individual desktop is ending. The other manufacturers in this market make products that don’t compare to the quality of Intel. They are ASUS and a whole host of other Korean manufacturers. Of the bunch ASUS is the best but even so it’s a big step downward.

As a result of this announcement some PC manufacturers have announced that they will cease production of computers. Infotel in Ohio is one of them. They were a supplier to CDW, Global, and TigerDirect and a Fortune 1000 company. They aren’t going out of business just out of part of the market. Dell is also rumored to be soon to follow. Our supplier Equus plans to continue to offer desktop PC’s but obviously the internal components are going to change and the selection significantly diminished.

All of this seems rather surprising since you probably have a desktop computer in your house and at the office. But you probably also have a laptop, smart phone, netbook or tablet computer. Computers are getting smaller and individual customization is diminishing. But suddenly everyone has multiples of devices.

We smelled the change coming and so have been installing and recommending remote desktop environments for years. We installed our first in back in 2000. It was cutting edge at that time. Now it’s common place. The replacement of PC’s with thin clients, zero clients, something Intel will soon release called NUC and remote work applications is now inevitable. If you haven’t yet had a meeting with us to discuss a future implementation of terminal services or multipoint you will. They bring the promise of work anywhere from any device in any location to reality. Meanwhile the desktop computer requirement drops significantly from $800-$1200 per desk to $100-$400 depending on the power required for graphics. Some of that is traded off with the server implementation but then there’s compensation for that in form of reduced support costs and a much lower electric bill. Over the ROI is excellent.

With change always comes a certain amount of pain and lack of planning makes change more painful and expensive. So the time is now to talk about making a change, planning for the change and phasing in the change to make it most cost effective for your business.

- Amy

the Java crisis

is a bit overrated. It’s been in the news because originally Sun said that would not fix the problem. The announcement was a way to embarrass them into action. Update 7.11 has now been released and is ready for installation. However, it’s not quite as simple as it seems.

1. The installation has checked by default your acceptance to also install the ASK Toolbar. It’s a search engine toolbar for your browser and is not needed and generally considered junk software.

2. Older versions of Java are not uninstalled during the update. So the previous flawed versions still remain on your computer leaving you vulnerable to the exploit even after you install the fixed version. In fact you might find that many older versions of Java are installed on your computer and need to be removed.

3. Websites often require a specific version of Java to work. This is actually the reason why the software doesn’t remove the older versions of itself. So we may find that this new version of Java will actually cause a problem with websites that you depend upon because the website itself has not been updated yet.

So the plan is to update Java on your computers as we visit them. We also be uninstalling the older versions at the same time. We will not know if all of the websites you visit are compatible with the new version until you visit those sites. So we’ll require your cooperation and patience to get through this.

-Amy

Introducing Ed Rempala

I’m pleased to announce that Harbor has added another employee. Ed Rempala comes to us from Delta Airlines where he supported the network at the airport. Ed is looking forward to the variety of work that Harbor provides and the chance to really put his Microsoft certifications to work.

As always getting our new employees off the ground is a lengthy process. Ed will be working with Ted and travelling around to get to know the breadth of our clients. He will also be assigned specific issues and tasks which we will work closely with him on.

When you meet Ed, I hope that you will welcome him.

- Amy

2013 MVP Award

An MVP has passion for the profession. Each person is awarded for a year for the work that they did on behalf of the IT community in the previous year. Nominations are made by other MVPs, peers and Microsoft employees. After the nomination each MVP is asked to submit a list of all of the community work they did in the past year. As you can imagine this is not an easy task. By virtue of being MVP material, the community things you do are just part of your being and generally not something that you keep a dally of.

It is quite an accomplishment to be named one of the worlds elite by one of the worlds top software companies. I wanted to share the letter that MVPs receive. Each of the 5,000 MVP is awarded in a specific product area – mine is small business. There are 42 of us in this category.