XFER Blog

With Windows 11 releasing sometime this year, most users are looking to upgrade to hardware that actually supports it, but today we are instead focusing on upgrading away from one of the more controversial of Microsoft’s recent operating systems, Windows 8.1. With its end-of-life date creeping up in January 2023, it’s never too early to start thinking about how your company will move away from this operating system toward a supported one.

With Windows 10, you have no shortage of features and capabilities to take advantage of. One such capability: the use of a virtual desktop. Found near the Start button in your taskbar, the Task View button enables you to create and manage these virtual desktops, which we’ll discuss here.

It may be hard to believe but Windows 10 has been around for five years. It may not have reached the on-every-device OS Microsoft had planned, but it still can be found on over a billion devices worldwide. That’s pretty impressive. Today, we will be taking a look at Microsoft’s plans for Windows 10 and how it might just be the last build of Windows.

The way a business handles network security is directly related to what problems will arise from their use of information systems. Cybersecurity has become a major part of all businesses, of all geographic locations, and all sizes. Because the better your cybersecurity is, the less problems your business will have to overcome, cybersecurity has grown into a multi-hundred-billion dollar a year industry. Cybersecurity hasn’t always been a concern for businesses. After all, the internet hasn’t been around for THAT long. However, the history of cybersecurity has a fascinating story behind it, and today we’d like to share it with you. 

Windows might be the most popular operating system out there, but it’s not perfect. This is why your systems receive patches and security updates as they are released. The problem, however, is that these updates don’t last forever, and one of the most popular Windows systems out there will lose access to support on January 14th, 2020. Are you going to update now, or are you going to risk your systems going without critical updates?

Over two billion devices in the world run the Android mobile operating system. Most of them that have been purchased in the past year, as well as the ones that have been updated recently, run on the current operating system, Android 9.0 Pie. With this latest mobile operating system, Google has made it clear that they want to be seen as the smartphone software provider. Today, we’ll take you through how you can get the most out of your Android Pie experience.

Earlier this year, Android released Oreo, version 8.0 of their popular mobile device operating system. Whether you’ve already updated to the latest version of this OS or are still waiting for your update, it has several new or improved features that you’ll want to consider using. Let’s look at five of our (many) favorite additions to the OS.

Have you ever tried using a Google Chromebook for work purposes? While it might offer the ability to browse the web on a budget, the device is limited by the operating system’s lack of functionality. Microsoft has created a similar operating system in the form of Windows 10 S, which uses less processing power than the full version of their latest operating system.

Do you know which database management system is used by your company’s servers? Obviously your end users aren’t expected to know the answer to this question, but this is something that you, as a business owner, need to be aware of. If you don’t keep track of which database software you’re using, you might accidentally wait too long and wind up running an unsupported piece of software. For example, you need to move away from SQL Server 2005 (which is now unsupported) as soon as possible.

With Windows 10 making leaps and bounds in the business environment, Microsoft has created another commercial success for both consumer use and workplace productivity. In recent weeks, Windows 10’s adoption has slowed significantly, but in a few years it’s expected to surpass other Windows operating systems in terms of usability.

Small business owners, beware. On July 14th 2015, Microsoft will stop supporting the aging server operating system, Windows Server 2003. If your business is still operating servers using this outdated OS, you need to upgrade away from it before the end-of-support date. If you don’t, you run the risk of hacks and security discrepancies.

The next major operating system to get the ax from Microsoft is Windows Server 2003. Slated to have its mainstream support ended on July 14th, businesses that currently use the software need to begin making plans to upgrade their system as soon as possible. With this server operating system no longer being supported by Microsoft, your data will be vulnerable to the latest online threats.

The news is out; what was previously thought to be Windows 9, codenamed “Threshold,” has been revealed to be Windows 10. While leaks have already shown us quite a bit of what the latest installment of Windows can do, the official reveal goes into more detail about the nature of Windows 10 for enterprises and even common users. First, let’s go over what we already know about the enigmatic new operating system, then we’ll get into the juicy new details.

Windows XP is a product that has consistently performed well for Microsoft and it continues to see growth, even though it's not supposed to. With its support ending this past April, Windows XP was supposed to never be heard from again. Instead, XP is refusing to go quietly into the night by posting positive usage numbers for June 2014.

If you're still running your business or home PC on Windows XP, then it's vital that you upgrade to a newer OS. Yes, your decade-old Windows XP system may be working just fine, and therefore, you may not feel the urgency to upgrade, but you will feel the heat when Microsoft stops supporting its popular OS--in just a few short days!

Overshadowed by the new iPad Air and iPad Mini announcement, on October 22nd Apple launched its new Operating System OS X Mavericks. This new OS is sleek, efficient, and free. Wait, a free Apple product? Really? Yes really. Is this too good to be true? Let's take a look at this new OS and find out.