Remember These Letters - RSS

RSS, Real Simple syndication, has been around for a while now. I have been using it to capture posts to my favorite blogs for over a year. My own blogs all have RSS feeds. RSS is a method of pushing information out to the Internet so that RSS Readers can grab it and present it to the user. The user does not have to go and check each blog or website to see if anything new has been posted. It's a great tool that's just getting started. Podcasting is a variation that includes audio feeds.

Microsoft has announced that IE 7 and Longhorn (the next version of Windows) will include RSS tools. This is great news for the RSS community. Microsoft doing something like this always adds credibility to a new technology. Although it usually sends shivers down the spines of the companies that make their living creating similar tools.

It's yet to be seen how far Microsoft will go with this. One thing is for sure though, RSS is here to stay. This is a technology everyone should keep their eyes on! Click here for more info on RSS.

Sprint Nextel Corporation

The merger between Sprint and Nextel will create a new company called Sprint Nextel Corporation. It appears that for now Nextel will be a separate labeled product from the company. This is mainly because the two systems are not compatible. Nextel will continue to use its popular push to talk function over its IDen network. The two systems should merge down the road a bit. (If not what was the point of the merger?) For you racing fans, the Nextel name will still be used for the Nextel Nascar series at least through 2006. What a relief! More information can be found here.

IE7 For Windows XP Only

Microsoft has announced that the next version of Internet Explorer, IE7, will be available for Windows XP only. Windows 2000 users will not be able to use it. Two reasons given are the fact that Win2K is getting to the end of its life cycle (extended support through 2010) and several of the IE7 enhancements are dependent on technology built into WinXP but not Win2K.

It seems Microsoft is pouring fuel on the alternative browser fire to me. Why does the browser have to be so connected to the operating system? There are several alternative browsers including Firefox that are not dependent on the OS and do a great job. Is Microsoft saying you must use one of those if you want a better or secure browser for Win2K?

Over the years Microsoft has back stepped on many of these types of announcements. There are still a large number of Win2K users out there. This type of announcement can not only make them consider a browser alternative but possibly even an OS alternative. If IE6 needs a refresh, Win2K users should not be left out. Get the browser out of the OS!

Don't Let Up On Security

We get real busy when some type of IT security event hits the mainstream news. Clients are always concerned that they are protected during those times. Then it gets quite for a while. Invariably another incident occurs and the cycle continues. In the meantime business get laxed in their vigilance.

Your IT infrastructure, including your hardware, software, and data is much too valuable. Even when things seem to be quite you need to insure that you are following all the security protocols. Maybe even more so.

Do you have the latest AntiVirus data files?
Are you running Anti-Spyware software?
Do you have all the latest Windows and application updates?
When was the last time you changed passwords?

These are just a few of the things you should know the answers to in order to keep yourself reasonably safe from the next round of attacks. It stinks but it's necessary. Give us a call if we can help.

How Old Is Your IT Equipment?

For many companies IT equipment is an expense that tends to be a nuisance. Equipment is rarely replaced until it can no longer operate. While I can understand this method, I find companies are wasting valuable time with old equipment. How so? As users use their workstations throughout the day applications are opened and closed, data is added, changed, deleted, reports are created and printed, etc. On older systems time spent waiting for each of these process adds up. On a daily basis it can be from 30 minutes to an hour or more. If a new system can cut this time in half (many times it is much more than that), the user will save from 15 to 30 minutes or more per day times 5 days per week times probably 48 working weeks per year. That's 60 to 120 hours per year per employee. How much is that worth to you?

Support costs reflect the same situation. Installing Windows XP SP2 on older machines can take 30 to 45 minutes, while on a newer machine it may take 10 to 15 minutes. (actually a new machine would already have SP2 installed requiring 0 minutes to upgrade). Then there's the security updates, application updates, normal maintenance, etc. Each of these necessary functions takes much longer on older devices and translates to wasted time and money.

IT costs need to be treated as a productivity booster and not an expense. The bottom line is that is what they are at this point. Many users spend a good portion of their day in front of their workstation. Making them more productive is always a goal. Our general rule of thumb is to replace 20% of your workstations per year and servers about every 4 to 5 years. You make the calculations and see what you think.