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Microsoft has rolled out a minor upgrade to its free security program, Microsoft Security Essentials. A few days ago I began running into computers with an MSE icon by the clock that had an exclamation point in it. Take a look at your icon! If it looks like the picture on the left, double-click on it to start the program.

It takes a single click to install the upgrade. The process takes 2-3 minutes – it only seems like a long time if you’re staring at the screen impatiently drumming your fingers.

Microsoft has released […] continued

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If you read gadget sites like Engadget or Gizmodo, then you already know that the world changed today when Microsoft unveiled the “Windows Phone 7 Series,” the next generation of its software for cell phones and a serious attempt to break up the iPhone monopoly on cool handheld devices. Readers of those sites found out that western civilization has finally reached its fruition and mankind is likely to evolve into a higher form of life.

The attention span on those web sites runs about three weeks, so chances are they’ll be distracted by something else shiny […] continued

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Live Mesh is Microsoft’s program for syncing folders between multiple computers and online storage, making your files available to you wherever you are.

I think Live Mesh is dead, and I think I know why: Microsoft is deliberately cutting back on what it could have delivered to protect the revenue it wants from Office 2010.

Live Mesh was built on promising technology and it fulfills part of its promise: once it’s set up, it syncs files accurately and quietly.

Its quirks were easy to overlook – for a while. Two examples:

• There is nothing intuitive about setting up Mesh.

[…] continued

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Windows 7 is a staggering achievement. Microsoft delivered exactly the right product at the right time and will completely dominate desktop computing for the foreseeable future.

Microsoft shows no signs of being able to do anything similar in any of the other areas that will be important to consumers and small businesses in the next ten years.

At some point in the next few months, Microsoft will roll out revamped versions of its Windows Live family – Hotmail, Messenger, Skydrive, and the main Windows Live portal. Some screenshots have leaked but very little information has been […] continued

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If you use more than one computer regularly, then you understand the need for an easy way to access some of the same files from each of your computers.

I want to add Dropbox to the programs you consider to accomplish that. At the moment, it combines simplicity and exactly the right features – and the basic version is free.

The idea is simple: after installing one of these programs, you have a magic folder on your office computer and your home computer or your laptop. Anything you drop in the folder at one end automatically appears […] continued

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[Thursday January 28, 2010 – sent to MOS subscribers at 9:07pm]

Dear Customer:

Microsoft Online Services strives to provide exceptional service for all of our customers. On January 28, customers served from a North America data center may have experienced intermittent access to services included in the Business Productivity Online Suite. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you and your employees.

We are committed to communicating with our customers in an open and honest manner about service issues and the steps we’re taking to prevent recurrences.

• What happened?  
  • Monitoring alerted us

[…] continued

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Some problems today with Microsoft Online Services, which leaves me feeling unsettled about it.

Microsoft has made a serious commitment to moving Exchange customers to hosted services. There are some real advantages for small businesses if someone else takes responsibility for the mail system – Exchange is a big, complex piece of work that needs regular attention and updates, and requires a high degree of expertise if something goes wrong.

Many third parties offer hosted Exchange mailboxes but in some ways, Microsoft’s own hosted mail service offered through the Microsoft Online Services program is the […] continued

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Mozilla has released Firefox version 3.6, with increased security, faster display of web pages and Javascript, and some new features for add-ins and themes. Here’s a description of the new release and a video demonstrating some of the new features.

If you are running Firefox, you can get the new version by clicking on Help / Check for updates. Presumably it will soon be offered automatically when you launch Firefox.

Switching from IE is easy: start at this page and you’ll be given lots of information about what to expect. Firefox imports favorites and passwords from IE […] continued

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I’ve prepared a list of computer safety tips for years. Over time, the advice to keep critical programs up to date has moved to the top spot on the list. You don’t have to spend all your time reading technology news but you do have to be able to identify which reminders are legitimate when they pop up from the system tray.

There’s a weird news story to illustrate why updates are important: the entire network of computers at the University of Exeter has been locked down and taken offline for days because a virus has […] continued

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Here’s an updated list of ways to be safe and secure with your computer.

Install updates from Microsoft promptly. Look in the lower right corner for the gold shield (WinXP) or update icon (Win7/Vista).

Install updates to Acrobat, Flash, Java, and Quicktime promptly. Each will alert you from the lower right corner.

• An easy and safe way to keep up with updates: visit Secunia Online Inspector once a month and follow its suggestions.

Install antivirus software and keep it up to date.

Know the name of your antivirus software. If you get a security

[…] continued

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