bruceb news

Previously: Outlook Archives: AutoArchiving And Archive.PST Files

In this article: information about Office 365 personal archives; the detail that might keep you from setting up that archive; quick thoughts about buying licenses for Office as a subscription; and notes for Office 365 administrators about setting up personal archives.

Get some coffee and dive in!

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Office 365 Personal Archives

Office 365 subscribers are given 25Gb of storage space for each Exchange mailbox. A portion of the space can be used for a separate archive mailbox stored online, with messages moved automatically into the archive from the primary mailbox. The “personal archive” can be viewed and searched in Outlook or online in Outlook Web App. […] continued

If you’re in a small business using Outlook, your mailbox has probably been growing exponentially for years. Your gut instinct is to keep everything forever but Outlook is slowing down and your IT support people seem upset because maintaining Outlook becomes more difficult as your mailbox grows, for all kinds of reasons.

Chances are that you’re starting to ask about archiving your mail.

Here’s a primer on some of the different meanings of the term “archive” for Outlook users, starting with a history lesson about AutoArchive and Archive.PST files. In the next article I’ll give you a brief look at options for Office 365 mailboxes and some of the other possibilities. […] continued

The pace is picking up as we head into full-blown techno-craziness this fall.

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WINDOWS 8 This morning the shipping version of Windows 8 became available to Microsoft TechNet and MSDN subscribers. The download site generated error messages for an hour or so under the weight of the people trying to log in but they got it under control and I’m downloading Windows 8 in the background as I write this. The next few days will be spent installing and upgrading and testing Windows 8 on the computers at Bruceb Consulting global headquarters.

Windows 8 will be available to regular folks on October 26 for upgrades and new computers. […] continued

Lenovo is stepping to the front of the pack with new laptops and tablets that look just right for small businesses. The Lenovo lineup of Ultrabooks, thin and light notebooks, is more interesting than any other manufacturer now, and the upcoming products for Windows 8 look compelling. I’m going to encourage my clients to look beyond Dell for a change.

Some background: Lenovo acquired IBM’s line of Thinkpad laptops in 2005. The company made an effort to maintain the traditional high quality of the brand as it expanded the selection of models and introduced a lower-priced, more stylish line of notebooks under the name “Ideapad.” Although it’s best known in the US for laptops, Lenovo also makes workstations, servers and mobile devices and has become the world’s second largest PC vendor, after HP. […] continued

Verizon and AT&T are both offering new share plans that allow all of the family devices to share unlimited calls, unlimited texting, and a pool of data that can be used by up to 10 devices – smartphones, tablets, and PCs. If you already have a number of devices with individual data plans, one of the share plans might save you some money, and it makes it tempting to get more broadband devices in the future.

(Verizon’s plan is available now. AT&T’s plan will be available on August 23.)

For the last few years the cost of a data plan has been an annoying consideration with each new device. […] continued

Microsoft’s vision for Skydrive is starting to come into focus. Microsoft is integrating Skydrive deeply into its entire ecosystem, across its entire product line, until it will seem obvious and inevitable. You might not need to rush but the chances are that you’ll be using Skydrive before long.

Skydrive started as a place to store files online that you would primarily access through a web browser. It was not well designed or widely used – difficult to figure out, littered with advertisements, and inflexible.

The fundamental change came in April, when Microsoft released a Skydrive app for Windows PCs that makes Skydrive work like Dropbox. […] continued

When Microsoft realized that it was on the verge of missing the implications of the Internet, it famously turned the company around in the mid-90s, building web access into all of its products and working out the implications of online access more thoroughly than anyone else.

The turnaround that Microsoft is engaged in this year might be even more impressive. It is straightening out its product brands, giving virtually everything a consistent design, and adapting to a world where mobile devices and multiple form factors are replacing traditional desktop computers.

This week’s announcement potentially carries as much weight as Microsoft’s other 2012 blockbusters – the radical reinvention of Windows and Office, the Surface tablet, the revamped server lineup and more. […] continued

I am happy to announce a major update to Bruceb Cloud Backup, now offering monitored online backups for small businesses and home offices with increased storage and lower prices plus new features and improved, easy-to-use software. One thing hasn’t changed: it’s monitored and supported by Bruceb Consulting, and I’m dedicated to protecting you and your data.

All the details are here. If you’ve been considering online backups, this is the service you’ve been looking for! Drop me a note and I’ll set up a free trial – it takes no time to get started.

Here are just a few of the highlights. […] continued

The most successful smartphone manufacturer in the world sold more than twice as many phones as its nearest competitor in the second quarter of 2012. In fact, it increased its lead last quarter, when the second-place manufacturer saw sales start to slip.

Quick! Without looking, who finished first?

It was Samsung, of course – by any measure, the world’s largest maker of smartphones.

Surprised? It’s hard to resist Apple’s reality distortion field. Apple shipped 26 million phones in the second quarter. It’s no slouch. But Samsung’s share of the market is steadily increasing, whether measured by number of units sold (52 million last quarter), by market share (35% vs. […] continued

Here’s a small tip that might open up some hidden secrets of Office 2010 and Windows 7.

Some people prefer to use the keyboard as often as possible when they’re working in Word or Excel to avoid the delay required to move a hand to the mouse.

Windows and Office are filled with keyboard shortcuts but many of them require memorizing the right key combinations, and very few people are willing to study lists of shortcuts to find something useful.

You probably already know a few of them. Ctrl-P brings up the Print dialog in most programs. Ctrl-F brings up a Search window. […] continued