OneDrive
Dropbox Smart Sync Included With All Paid Plans
Dropbox Smart Sync is now included with all paid plans for individuals and businesses. It’s not a feature of Dropbox’s free account, but that plan is so limited that the lack of Smart Sync doesn’t matter.
Let’s take a minute to unpack that. This might be interesting for OneDrive users also, since OneDrive includes a similar feature (“Files On Demand”). […] continued
Read moreHow To Turn Off The Dropbox Desktop App (And Why Is There A Desktop App, Anyway?)
Dropbox started as a drop-dead simple product for individuals: a folder on your computer that seamlessly syncs with the cloud so you can work with the identical folder on all your other computers. That’s it! That’s all there was to it. Ten years ago, that was revolutionary.
Last year, Dropbox introduced a new desktop app for PCs and Macs. […] continued
Read moreShooting Fish In A Barrel: Microsoft Is Rebranding Office 365
Shared communication is one of the underpinnings of civilization. It sets humans apart from animals.
Microsoft is engaged in a long-term effort to prevent us from being able to understand each other. I don’t know why. The company doesn’t appear to be run by a super-villain, but that would fit the facts. […] continued
Read moreRequest Files Using Dropbox Or OneDrive
I tingle with excitement when I discover a cool technology trick that no one knows about, which perhaps tells you more about me than I should be comfortable with. The only nagging worry is, what if everyone already knows the trick and you’re all embarrassed for me?
I’ll have to take that risk. […] continued
Read moreThe 2019 Bruceb News Year In Review
(This will be the last Bruceb News article until I recover from an upcoming business conference trip to Hawaii. Happy holidays!)
I think I accomplished two goals in 2019: writing articles about privacy and security that were so terrifying that they kept you awake at night; and making those articles so dull that they helped you sleep. […] continued
Read moreWindows 10 Has Ransomware Protection – Here’s Why It’s Not Turned On
Microsoft added built-in ransomware protection to Windows 10 two years ago. When you check, you’ll find it’s not turned on. This will seem strange. It should be a good thing to stop ransomware, right? Here’s why you’ve never heard of it and why you probably won’t turn it on.
It will help if you have some background about how ransomware works; then I’ll tell you about the difficult bits in the Windows ransomware protection that make it hard to manage for non-tech people. […] continued
Read moreYour Backup Program Is Not Backing Up OneDrive Files (But It’s Okay!)
Backups are hard. I have a story to tell you about why your backup program is not backing up OneDrive files – but don’t panic! This is just a public service announcement that may help you someday if you understand what’s going on behind the scenes.
If you have files in OneDrive or OneDrive for Business, it means Microsoft stores your files in the cloud. […] continued
Read moreOneDrive For Business Has Issues
I wanted to love OneDrive for Business.
And it should have been a great relationship! There are lots of reasons to love OneDrive for Business. Although it had problems in the past, now the Windows app is stable and fast; I’ve got lots of storage space included with my Office 365 subscription; and OneDrive for Business includes features at no charge that cost extra from other services. […] continued
Read moreOneNote Is Lonely And Confused
Microsoft OneNote isn’t on the Office team these days, at least not like it has been for the last ten years when it was installed alongside Word and Excel as a full-fledged Office program. OneNote has been left to play by itself.
Oh, and if you’re a OneNote user, the version you’re almost certainly using on your PC is on its last legs and someday will be discontinued. […] continued
Read moreGoogle Docs Adding Support For Microsoft Office File Formats
Google is trying to make the grass look greener in its walled garden, hoping to lure businesses that might otherwise stay loyal to Microsoft. The change it has announced sounds innocuous but might have big consequences in the long run.
Google is adding native support to Google Docs for editing, commenting, and collaborating on files in Microsoft Office file formats. […] continued
Read moreHow To Live The Simple Life . . . With Microsoft
My new computer is simple and has relatively few confusing bits.
My new computer runs Windows and primarily relies on Microsoft services.
Those two sentences are not normally uttered together! Microsoft’s mish-mash of dueling and overlapping personal and business accounts is anything but simple. I continue to have conversations every day with people who are confused by Microsoft services. […] continued
Read moreMicrosoft Has Improved AutoSave For Office Documents (But Not For Everybody, And With One Bit That Might Make You Curse)
Have you ever lost hours of work in a Word document because you closed it without saving? Of course you have. It’s happened to everyone.
That has never happened to you if you use Google Docs. In fact, you’ve forgotten about that problem because Google Docs automatically saves everything continuously. Now that you think about it, you’re feeling a bit superior, aren’t you? […] continued
Read moreIt’s Not Just Your Computer – Everything Is Too Hard To Use (And It’s Not Your Fault)
I wrote an article a few years ago about how difficult it is for non-tech people to manage the fiddly bits required to run a Windows computer. It’s one of the things that drove the transition from computers to phone and tablets.
An interesting thing is happening today. The explosion of devices, products and services is causing just as much confusion and frustration in the world of mobile devices. […] continued
Read moreThe 2018 Bruceb News Year In Review
Remember when I wrote an article a year ago predicting that always-connected computers would be heavily promoted in 2018?
Yeah, about that: not even close. Nada. All the buzz died away when the first PCs in that category turned out to be underpowered and, well, pretty awful.
Okay, that prediction didn’t pan out. […] continued
Read moreMicrosoft Has Not Made Any Progress On Sorting Out Its Personal And Work Accounts
Microsoft has two giant identity systems set up by different divisions of the company – one system for personal accounts, a different system for “work or school” accounts. It’s confusing. There is a team at Microsoft trying to make it less confusing; they may be doing things behind the scenes but there has not been any visible change in the last two years. […] continued
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