Windows 7 Support Ends in January 2020

Here’s our first warning: Microsoft will end technical support of its Windows 7 operating system in January 2020. That means there will be no more security patches and bug fixes. Is that bad news? Probably not. Performance-wise, the operating system has outlived its usefulness, and all the special applications and hardware you run off it are probably well beyond their useful service life. We’d bet you’ve likely squeezed out every penny of your ROI, and Microsoft is doing you a favor (of sorts) by nudging you into its next generation OS.

The good news is that you have lots of time to plan for its replacement, and that’s important for businesses who have invested a lot of time, training and money for custom-written or highly customized software. If that’s the case for your business, you have my sympathies, but you should also know you’ve had a really good run.

We’ll talk more about the economics of performance issues in this newsletter (Refreshing Devices Re-Energizes Them – Up to a Point), but if you’re still running Windows 7, you face security issues and the need to carefully plan how you’ll replace your application software.

The loss of security patches and bug fixes will be devastating if you don’t update your technology. Because Windows 7 is an old OS, the bad guys have had lots of time to probe its vulnerabilities. Once the defenses go down, their efforts to crack a system that they can monetize will pick up. They’ll look for ways to get your financial information or disrupt your operations.

We suggest you start your transition planning now. If you have custom-written (proprietary) software, you must find out now if that software can be updated or rewritten. If it can be brought up to date to carry you into the future, your provider will need time to modify or create and test the software, and you’ll need to know how much computing power you’ll need to make it work.

We can help you look at the computer specs needed to meet your processing requirements, and we can work with your software provider to make sure hardware and software are coordinated. Microsoft is planning a massive Windows 10 update this month, and it’s reasonable to expect another update if you plan to have your new system up and running before the end of 2019. Working together, we’ll have the best chance to make sure that your new application software is compatible with the OS updates and that it will work throughout the lifetime of Windows 10 and its successor.

If you’re upgrading your software to work with Windows 10, we can’t encourage you enough to upgrade your hardware, especially if your current hardware is way below current standards. The new OS and application software will be written to work with most up-to-date and most-likely-to-be-improved processors. If you match your hardware and software systems properly, you’ll get performance levels that have the capability to make your business more efficient and profitable for a longer time.

This will move you into a new realm of business and technology management. Once we know how all the ideal pieces should fit together, we can help you budget for your transition – which could be spread out over 18 months or so. We can help you bring in new computers in stages that match your software development, so that you and your employees can test systems and offer feedback to all of your providers.

With proper budgeting, scheduling, testing and training throughout the process, we can help you coordinate all the steps involved so that we can install your system and have all employees trained on their new hardware and software with minimal – if any – downtime.

It’s not too early to start the conversation. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us to set up an appointment to discuss your migration from Windows 7.

Refreshing Devices Re-Energizes Them – Up to a Point

Refreshing your computers, peripherals and devices requires you to take a long pause, but in the end, it still might leave you thirsting for better results. If you’re hanging onto old equipment, Tech Data reports a few facts that might make you change your mind.

First of all, the report says, some 46 million small and medium-size businesses rely on devices dating back to 2014. That’s approaching five years, and that can be a lifetime in technology. Second, repair costs for equipment four years old or more can be 1.5 times the cost of repairing newer technology. Finally, PCs older than four years can be less than half as productive – costing an average loss of productivity rate of $1,260, according to an internal study by Microsoft.

Microsoft, which is phasing out Windows 7 because of its increasing inefficiency (Windows 7 Support Ends in January 2020), certainly has an interest in seeing you buy new computers with their operating systems. But they also know that the more efficient and productive their customers are, the more likely they’ll continue to use Microsoft software.

So, with that last point out there, what are your considerations for refreshing or replacing a computer? If you’re running Windows 7, we see replacement as a no-brainer. One client engagement illustrates how extreme it can get. We were tasked with refreshing a 10-year-old computer to get it to run better, which we did at a cost of $200 or so – after we advised our client to replace it. Refreshing, in this case, meant reinstalling software and updating it as much as possible. A 10-year-old computer cannot run the latest versions of Windows or any application software, and you cannot install the latest, most secure browser software. If we had installed a new hard drive and added licensing fees and our setup time, it would have been about $570. A new computer would have been around $800 plus some setup time to properly install the operating system and applications and transfer some data files.

With that as background, let’s delve more into a cost-benefit analysis.

Performance: Older PCs, according to Tech Data, can only run approximately five applications simultaneously without performance degradation, while newer PCs can easily run eight or more, according to a 2016 study. On the other hand, new Windows 10 Pro devices with 7th and 8th generation Intel® vPro™ processors keep users more productive with up to 25 percent more time efficiency. They are also up to 28 percent faster for startup on average compared to Windows 7. Batteries can last up to three times longer on newer Windows devices.

Repairs: We mentioned early on that repairs can cost 1.5 times more for older computers than for newer computers. Some of that extra cost can come from more time to find parts. Generally speaking, older parts are scarcer and more expensive.

Security: We’ve harped on security, and here’s something to add: More than 50 percent of smaller businesses have suffered a data breach or cyberattack with the cost averaging more than $84,000 per breach. Older Windows devices are likelier to lack the latest hardware and software security features, putting data at risk. When you factor in the fact that small-business customers are prime targets for security breaches, you can be looking at costly recovery.   Upgrading to a computer that can run Windows 10 Pro will give you more built-in defenses and increased support for the lifetime of your device.

To translate all this into an action plan, we recommend refreshing and some component replacement for computers three years old or younger. For older computers, especially those running Windows 7, we recommend replacement. Business users will benefit from improved performance and security, and home users will benefit from better security. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us to discuss your refresh/replacement needs.

Reboot Your Thinking About Restarts

Restarting your Windows-based computer clears out a lot of electronic junk and improves performance. The only problem is that you may not be restarting – or rebooting – your computer when think you are. We had one client go 73 days without performing an actual restart on a computer, which meant we needed a lot of time to clear out all the junk and reset the system.

One of the most common misconceptions we’ve found about restarting is that people think that simply turning on a computer after it’s been sleeping is a restart. To human logic, that makes good sense. To a modern computer, it’s all wrong. When you select the “sleep” option to close a session at your computer, you’re putting it into a state of hibernation. Your PC will seem like it’s completely off, but it saves a hibernation file to boot back to where you were before going to sleep.

When you tap your keyboard to wake up your computer, you’re using Microsoft’s “fast startup” feature to launch the hibernation file that essentially restores your system to where it was before going to sleep. The combination of sleep and fast startup get you up and running faster to use your computer, and it also helps various software and hardware vendors update your system while it’s not in use. Whatever electronic junk your computer has been holding is still there.

Fast startup also helps your computer get up and running faster from a complete shutdown. In a sense, shutting down your computer puts it into a stage of hibernation if fast startup is enabled, so you’re not getting a complete restart, which is necessary for clearing out the electronic junk. In our experience, fast startup is the root of all evil in a lot of problems we’re finding that can be solved by a restart.

All of this leaves you with two options. The first is simple: restart your computer once a week. It’s sort of like flossing your teeth; it’s another thing to remember, and it’s time-consuming. But it will keep your system clean and maintain a higher level of performance. To restart make sure you have saved all work files and application settings by properly closing out of everything. Then, just click the Windows icon at the bottom of your screen, click the power icon and click Restart.

The other option is to disable fast start. You can do that by doing a search for Control Panel, and then clicking on Power Options. On the left side of your screen, click on “Choose what the power buttons do.” Then, uncheck “Turn on fast startup.” Doing that will give you a complete restart when you power up from a shutdown. It can also be helpful when working with a speedy solid-state drive (SSD).

Along with restarts from a shutdown, we’ve found that clients using a laptop as a second computer have another set of problems. When their computers are out of action for an extended period of time, the startup routine when they power on induces a search for all sorts of system and application updates. In the case of Windows updates, the computer looks at when the last update was installed and then initiates a sequence of consecutive updates. That’s necessary because unless Microsoft issues a Service Pack that consolidates several updates, the latest update is typically an addition to a previous update. If you missed three updates, for example, your computer goes back to the first of that sequence and goes through three update procedures.

That entire process can take up a lot of time, and we usually get a call in the middle of it all because it seems like the computer isn’t functioning properly. The easiest way to solve that problem is to turn a computer once a week. It will look for updates as part of its boot-up, and the need to download and install only one Windows update or just a few recent updates for apps will get your second computer operational faster.

Just remember, though, if you’ve turned off the “fast startup” feature for a computer that’s been powered down, you’ll need to make sure you check for updates.

If you have any questions about restarts and power-ups, call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us. We can walk you through the process to set up the options that will be best for you or work with you remotely to set them up.

Size Matters for Computer Performance

Small mechanical hard drives can be a major cause of poor computer performance. We could add small thinking as a cause, too. It may be time to “right-size” your approach. We’re conscious of price and performance, but we tend to think more about the present price when buying a new computer and not looking ahead to future performance issues.

In too many cases, small drives are the result of being penny wise and pound foolish. A small drive, one in the range of 128 GB, may seem like it has a lot of storage capacity, but it’s really not sufficient for today’s use. Word files, Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations take up more and more space, and then we have all of those pictures we store. It’s easy to forget that the more megapixels our cameras can use, the bigger the files become. In addition to larger data files, our application files get bigger, too, as we add more capabilities and speed.

We also tend to hold our computers for many years, putting even more pressure on those under-sized hard drives. With less room for the hard drive to move data files around, your computer gets slower as we pack on years of data and apps. The restricted storage space on the hard drive is one factor that shortens a computer’s service life. The other major factor is that it can take 20 to 30 seconds at startup or restart for a computer to be functional, and that’s intolerable for most users.

On new computers, we consider a 256 GB hard drive as the standard unit. It gives most users enough room for the drive to manipulate files. When factory-installed, it’s not that much more money, and it will give you the opportunity to get more life out of your computer.

You can replace a 128 GB with a 256 GB unit, and that will cost $150 to $175 for the hard drive plus the labor to back up and reinstall all of the software – as well as to physically replace the drive. However, it’s still considerably cheaper than replacing a solid business-use computer, which can run $750 to $1,500.

Better still, Windows 10 users can replace a small hard drive with a solid-state drive (SSD). SSDs are electronic, not mechanical. They don’t require space to physically move data, which means they don’t need to be as large to hold and use a similar amount of data. The lack of moving mechanical parts also makes them faster. We don’t consider this a viable option for Windows 7 users because it would take way too much time to get all of the OS updates and prepare the system for the reinstallation of applications and data files.

In practical terms, you don’t need as large a hard drive if you install an SSD on a Windows 10 computer. In fact, you could downsize from a 500 GB mechanical drive and have the same usable capacity on a 256 GB SSD. And, you’ll get better speed. On an older business-grade laptop, such as a Dell Latitude 5550, you could essentially get a machine that’s “like new” for half the price of a new one. Conceivably, it could add three or four years of service life to a two-year-old system.

If you’re running out of room on your hard drive, running out of patience with your computer’s performance, or both, we can help you find the best solution for your specific need. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us to talk about it.

Spectre and Meltdown Raise Need to Update

We’ve seen lots of patches from chip manufacturers and operating-system publishers trying to resolve the Spectre and Meltdown issues. Their effectiveness is mixed, but there are a couple of things you can do to help protect your systems: backup your files and update your software.

The patches came out quickly last month, and they kept on coming as chip manufacturers and publishers of apps and operating systems tried to close the open doors that Spectre and Meltdown use to get into a computer. If you installed all the updates, even multiple updates from chip manufacturers and software publishers, you did the best you could to mitigate problems.

If you haven’t installed updates for operating systems, applications, firmware, browsers and antivirus protection, do it NOW. If you have not set up your systems to automatically install updates, we suggest you do that now, too. Every supplier with a stake in your success is working ‘round the clock to shore up any weaknesses in their products. The faster you install them, the faster you’ll protect your systems and data.

Here is what you and the computer industry are up against:

Meltdown breaks the most fundamental isolation between user applications and the operating system. This attack allows a program to access the memory, and the secrets, of other programs and the operating system. If your computer has a vulnerable processor and runs an unpatched operating system, you risk leaking sensitive information. This applies both to personal computers as well as the cloud’s infrastructure.

Spectre also breaks the isolation between applications. It allows an attacker to trick error-free programs, which follow best practices, into leaking their secrets and may actually make applications more susceptible to attacks.

While Spectre and Meltdown affect chips, they resulted in computer failures that, in turn, resulted in the losses of apps and data files. In a number of cases in which our clients were affected, we found that Google Chrome was piece of every problem. We don’t say this to point a finger at Google; we note it to make sure you have the latest version of your browser installed.

In the more severe cases, we had to reinstall software systems – with all the cumulative patches – and data files because everything was wiped out. In the most extreme cases, we had to replace computers. This, of course, required that all data files were backed and that all software for operating systems and applications were licensed.

Using subscriptions for operating and application software can eliminate just about all problems associated with keeping your systems up-to-date and licensed. They also can provide access to backed-up data files to help restore your system. The bottom-line benefit is that if your system is struck by some disaster, which can include Spectre and Meltdown, a ransomware attack, or a virus or malware invasion, we can wipe your computers and servers of infections and initiate clean installations of your operating system, firmware, and application software and then restore settings and data.

Without the subscription, you may need to purchase software and then recreate all of your settings as best as possible. And if you don’t have data files in a separate, secure location, you’ll need to find the latest files you have and then restore them in your recreated system.

As we make these points, we are aware that everyone has budget restrictions. However, you need to look at the costs associated with an interruption due to an IT system failure. Any money you may have saved by hanging onto old equipment and software can be wiped by a single event.

By making smart investments to your system, you’ll be able to maximize your security and efficiency. That’s important for home use as well as a business. More and more, we have multiple users conducting some sort of transactions over the internet, and those activities can take place from remote locations. It’s a continuing trend in our use of technology. Subscriptions are a continuing trend, too, in the way we keep our systems ready to do all the things we do.

We can help you make the best decisions to balance your IT needs and available funds. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us to discuss your update needs and develop a plan to meet them.

We’re Not Neutral on Net Neutrality

The intended repeal of net neutrality by the FCC will affect all of us. We’re likely to see the first changes as they affect the cost and availability of streamed programming and premium content; less is likely to cost more. We don’t know, yet, how it will affect search engines and your ability to find local businesses or anything else on the internet.

 Let’s start with a quick review of the history of the internet. It began as a level playing field for exchanging information worldwide, and it led to a communications revolution. It mightily disrupted the communications industry’s business models in every way imaginable.

Telephone calls, for example, are free or cost just pennies per minute to almost anywhere in the world. We can even make video calls for free. The internet, in this case, took away a revenue stream from traditional telephone carriers – and added a business capability for the cable TV industry.

Telephone service – or voice communication – became essentially a throw-in for telephone carriers and cable providers. Even if they were restricted in some markets in certain ways, at least one of each plus a satellite carrier could compete for your business. That led to service tiers and bundles of programming that customers were likely to buy.

Cable or satellite TV, in turn, was impacted by the internet. You don’t need a cable connection – or a satellite dish – to get all manner of visual content: TV shows, movies, etc. All you had to do was buy and install a good Wi-Fi system in your home and pay for fast enough internet service, and you could pick and choose what you wanted to watch.

This setup, which has continued until now, has allowed a number of smaller, innovative companies to get into the content business, either as producers or carriers. Companies that have innovated in some way, shape or form have become big-time players in the internet. Google, Amazon, Netflix, Microsoft and the like are relatively new companies that grew rapidly by exploiting technology.

But those companies are not ISPs (Internet Service Providers). The ISP business is essentially comprised of telephone and cable carriers, and that business has been commoditized. How many of us have switched ISPs at the drop of a hat to save a few bucks on basic services or add new features for very little additional cost? How many of us have simply dropped cable or satellite TV?

One of the factors that has contributed to our freedom of choice is Net Neutrality. Simply put, it is a governmental regulation that prohibits any ISP from blocking or slowing down virtually any content from virtually any provider. If you pay for 300-mbs internet service or 1-gigabit service, you can get it at that speed because the ISP can’t block it or slow it down.

That’s different from most cable or satellite TV services. Ever since their inception, they have sold blocks of programming in tiers. The more programming you want, the more you pay. If you want to pay less, you sacrifice choice – or you choose not to get high-definition service. That was OK because with Net Neutrality, you could get programming over the internet, and you could price your service more selectively.

The removal of Net Neutrality means that your internet service will now be bundled like cable/satellite TV programming. You want to stream Netflix or Amazon programming? There could be a premium charge for that. You want to stream sports or news programming? Your ISP can negotiate with the program providers to determine which ones they’ll carry and at what data speeds. No matter how it happens, your cost is likely to go up.

And there’s more. What about your favorite search engine? Why has Google fought so hard to become the dominant search engine? Why does Facebook keep trying to expand its user base? You know why: they can get more advertising dollars. Who doesn’t get any benefit from that now? Your ISP.

With the removal of Net Neutrality, search engines will need to strike deals with ISPs just like programmers have had to do, and then you’ll have to decide on an ISP based on a search engine you might want – as well as what websites you might want to access. Or, will some carriers show preferences for certain businesses? What’s to prevent one from favoring a shopping site over others in return for a higher access fee? What’s to prevent a consumer products company from being priced out of a website presence by bigger, well-financed conglomerates?

All of the innovation that we’ve seen? It’s going to be harder and harder for startups to get a foothold. We think the end of Net Neutrality will lead to higher prices and fewer choices for anything that we’ve become accustomed to finding on the internet. At least that will be the case until something new comes along. You can bet somebody’s hard at work developing the next alternative.

In the meantime, you can count on us to help you navigate the new world of the internet. We can help you select and install the networking equipment you’ll need to be compatible with your ISP and/or TV provider and make sure all interfaces and security systems function properly. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us with any questions you have as Net Neutrality events unfold.

‘KRACKing’ Your Wi-Fi Network

KRACK is an ominously named crypto attack that exploits a flaw in the process of connecting a device and a Wi-Fi network. By allowing network access without the password, effectively it opens up the possibility of exposing credit card information, passwords, and practically any other data on your device. Here’s how to protect yourself – somewhat.

Using WPA2 security, the standard of protection for the past 13 years, is still the way to go, and setting a strong, secure password is just as important as it ever was. But it’s like a lock on your front door. Locks, according to conventional wisdom, keep out honest people. But a lock that’s strong enough to delay a would-be thief was thought to still be effective.

That was until KRACK (Key Reinstallation Attack) was discovered. It exploits a flaw in the four-way handshake process between a user’s device trying to connect and a Wi-Fi network, allowing an attacker to access a network without the password. It’s an equal-opportunity attack, too. It can affect Android, Linux, Apple, Windows, OpenBSD, MediaTek, Linksys and others, but the most current versions of Windows and iOS devices are not as susceptible to attacks because of how Microsoft and Apple implemented WPA2. Linux and Android-based devices are more vulnerable to KRACK.

Fortunately, it’s not a helpless situation. Attacks can only be successful when someone has access to the wireless network you’re on at the time of the attack. That means you need to be especially careful on public networks. You can further help yourself by:

  • Making sure you’re up to date with all available security patches
  • Using a VPN, which will encrypt your internet traffic
  • Visiting only websites that use HTTPS, though it’s not a guarantee you’ll be safe.

We’ll keep you updated on developments against KRACK, and we can help you now by taking a look at your systems and security to make sure you’ve maximized your protection. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us for an appointment.

Tips from Orlando

Although we played as much as anyone who visits Orlando, we got a lot of work done at Microsoft’s annual tech conference. When I looked at my calendar, I had booked 21 sessions for the week, each session some 75 minutes long, and I probably walked some 40 miles in the expo. I narrowly avoided DBP – otherwise known as “Death by PowerPoint – surviving to get some useful information in many places.

As useful as the sessions were, some of the best learning took place offline while walking the expo hall with fellow members of The Crew. I joined The Crew several years ago. We’re all independent IT consultants, and we stay in touch all year long through a variety of ways, including phone calls. We can turn to each other when we have questions, and my Crew members have been an invaluable resource everywhere we go.

That includes Orlando. When one of members gave a presentation at the conference, we turned up to support him – and we wound up helping him out when he experienced “technical issues.”

Walking the expo gave us access to the best and brightest in the Microsoft arena. All of the booths were staffed by software engineers from Microsoft and its affiliated companies, and we got to talk to them in depth. We could talk about problems we’ve experienced or features we like and get more in-depth knowledge. We learned about workarounds for problems and ways to use advanced features in software and hardware.

Here are my three favorite take-aways from the conference.

  1. Many people who use Microsoft One Drive like to use # and % in their file names, but the system would not accept names with those characters. One Drive now allows you that option, so go ahead and # and % to your heart’s content.
  2. The fall update of Windows 10 will include more capabilities for One Drive. You’ll be able to sync large libraries of files on demand and be able to open files without having to download them.
  3. You can add the ability to share calendars in Outlook or native applications on mobile devices. The feature is not automatically available; you need to re-share calendars each time you want to sync them. While it’s a bit of a pain, all you need are valid permissions for sharing, and you can differentiate each person in the group by color. We can help you set it up.

To borrow an old phrase, we passed the last exit on the information super highway light years ago. With conferences like Microsoft’s annual event, we can be the roadside service resource that keeps you moving. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us at any time with any questions or service requests.

Verizon Forcing Email Decision; We Recommend You Exit

Verizon is dripping out the announcement that it will migrate its email business to AOL, which the communications giant acquired in 2015. It’s a rolling process that will take place over the next several months, and everyone will get specific instructions based on your account. Your clock will start ticking when you get an email notification from Verizon, and you’ll have the choice of: 1.) migrating to AOL and keeping your Verizon email address or 2.) exiting to an email provider such as Outlook or Gmail. When you get your email, you’ll have a short time to make your decision. If you don’t choose one option, you’ll lose access to your “verizon.net” account. Here’s why you should take the second option.

Keep in mind that you can make the switch from Verizon now and retain access to your Verizon contacts and messages for six months. If you don’t decide, Verizon will close out your email accounts. If you have copiers, scanners, servers and other equipment that rely on email addresses to function, those devices will stop working after you choose your options or your time runs out.

We think Verizon is leading a move by utility companies – phone and cable carriers – to get out of the email business because it’s too complicated and time-consuming to provide as a free service. Just to get this out of the way, Verizon’s first option, switching to AOL, is less complicated right now. You’ll be able to keep your existing addresses, with “verizon.net,” but you can keep your addresses and log in through AOL’s system from now on. That might be a temporary solution because you can keep all your contacts.

But we don’t like it for the long term. While you may think that you’re getting a lot of spam now through your Verizon filters, we think that will increase with AOL. Spam is more than a nuisance; it’s a way for hackers to get into your system. Although you can catch most hacking attempts with common sense, hackers know that if they throw enough spam at you, one of them will get past even the most vigilant user. We don’t think security is a major concern. AOL tightened up its security after it was hacked in 2014, before Verizon bought it.

However, we think the “utility company” extensions will disappear as those companies get out of the email business. That means you’ll need to make a switch at some point, and it makes sense to do it now, before you add more contacts. Switching now may make particularly good sense for copier and scanning companies and other similar service providers that use email addresses. We’ve had some Verizon email addresses for some services, and we’re moving away because those addresses will disappear at some point.

We recommend switching to an email provider that will be in the business for the long term, such as Outlook or Gmail. You should be able to keep that address for as long as you like. Besides not having to worry about losing the email address, you’ll gain much more flexibility in shopping for a new ISP. We know it’s a hassle to move all your contacts and messages and tell people your new address. It’s also a pain when people don’t update their own contact lists or when autofill puts in an old address. For all those reasons, you might as well start to move away from Verizon/AOL, as well as from any other utility.

The two email services that come to mind are Outlook and Gmail. In listing the option to move away, Verizon tells you to follow the instructions from your new provider. You could also get your own domain and have that hosted through Outlook or another email service provider. You can keep your domain for as long as you like, and because you’ll be hosting it and calling the shots, you can do away with the advertising that seems to be more prevalent and more annoying.

Regardless of which new provider you choose, you’ll need to establish your new email address and set up your mailbox – or mailboxes – before you close out your old one. Then, you can follow the steps to transfer addresses and messages and set up your rules for how you manage messages.

We can help you in two ways:

  1. Choose an email provider: Outlook and Gmail are two that come to mind, but there are many others, and each one has its own strengths and weaknesses, depending on what you need. We can review the ways you access email, such as a computer, phone or tablet, and whether you need integration and/or collaboration tools.
  2. Set up your new account and transfer all the data: This is extremely critical. Although your new service will have instructions and although you’ll be able to find help through online forums, it’s not always easy to get right settings for your new account and then transfer your contacts and messages. It’s also not easy to back up all of contacts and messages. If you don’t have an accessible back-up and you make a mistake in the transfer process, you could need to jump through hoops to get it all done – at the least – or lose everything – your worst-case scenario.

If you have a “verizon.net” email address, call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us as soon as you get a notice to discuss your options (keep your address, keep your address temporarily or switch immediately to a new email service). If you have an April 13 deadline approaching, and you need to have a plan in order now. If you didn’t get an email, you will, and you’ll need to be prepared to make important decisions quickly. It wouldn’t hurt to start planning now. You can spend hours and hours of frustration solving this issue, or you call us to handle your transition without stress.

Your Next Mobile Phone is All About the Apps

If you’re in the market for a new mobile phone, it won’t be a Windows phone. With Windows 10 as the operating system for less than 1 percent of the mobile market, Microsoft is killing its mobile phone. It’s all about the apps – more specifically about app developers.

With Android and Apple accounting for more than 99 percent of the worldwide mobile market, app developers have put all of their efforts into those systems. Apple generally gets the nod to get an app first, but selling an app to Android can be equally enriching for developers.

Both Apple and Samsung are expected to release new phones this year, the iPhone 8 and Galaxy S8, respectively. Samsung needs a replacement for its ill-fated 7 series, and Apple needs new energy for its 8 series. Whichever manufacturer and OS you choose, you’ll find plenty of features and power – and an abundance of apps.

The apps are critical because we use our phones for just about everything but talking. We shop, find restaurants, use navigation to find the best route to places we’ve gone to for years, research healthcare options, watch TV and movies, read newspapers…

We’re not only untethered from a desktop computer or television, we can do or watch anything on our phones as long as we have internet access. Why, we don’t even need to reach into our wallets for charge cards to make some purchases. Apple, Google, financial institutions and merchants all have secure apps that help protect your credit card information through series of transfers between the merchant and your account. This is one of those few instances in which convenience can be more secure.

According to the website Statista, there were some 2.2 million apps available from the Apple Store as of this past January, and there were a similar number available from Google Play last year. Microsoft, by comparison, had 669,000 apps available from its Windows Store. While gaming apps are in decline, which some parents may find hard to believe, Smashing Magazine reports the biggest growth is coming in customization apps, such as launchers, icons, wallpaper and lock-screen apps. The next growth area is newspapers and magazines.

Other categories for app growth include:

  • Productivity tools
  • Lifestyle and shopping solutions
  • Messengers and social apps

The trend toward mobile apps shows no signs of letting up. With slightly less than half the world’s population owning smartphones, you know there’s an upside waiting to be tapped. A growing number of major companies in the world see mobile devices as a catalyst to transforming their businesses, and the value of mobile apps is expected to more-than-triple by 2020. With mobile apps and Bluetooth integrating with our cars and homes as well as just about every aspect of our lives, apps will fuel the growth of mobile devices, and more users will demand more apps.

We happen to like Apple phones and tablets because we believe they work better with Outlook for email and calendars and because we believe its proprietary OS offers better security. But we are impressed with the creativity that Android’s open software spawns. For most users, either OS will run apps equally well. Your choice may simply come down to the cost of the device and the best plan you can find from a wireless carrier or provider. We can help you whittle down the daunting number of considerations in mobile device selection – and we can help you set up your device to integrate with other systems, including storage options. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us to discuss your mobile device needs or with any questions you have about using your apps more efficiently.