Parallels Survey of IT Professionals Finds Macs are Moving Beyond BYOD Phenomenon, Now Considered for Broader Corporate Deployment

SAN FRANCISCO & RENTON, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MacIT Conference – Parallels® (www.parallels.com/mac-pro), a global leader in cross-platform solutions, today announced results of its commissioned survey of more than 200 IT decision makers about their attitudes toward Macs in the enterprise. The results are telling – almost half of businesses (45 percent) currently offer their employees Macs, and more than nine out of 10 businesses (95 percent) that don’t currently provide Macs would be more likely to offer employees Macs if they had a single central management system for both Windows PCs and Macs.

Macs are in high demand – and respondents who already support Macs shared the top reasons why:

• Eight out of 10 businesses (77 percent) say Macs are more reliable overall than Windows machines
• Seven out of 10 (65 percent) say they are easier to support
• Seven out of 10 (65 percent) say offering Macs would likely help attract employees (a very important factor given the competition for talent)

Continue reading http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140325005604/en/Parallels-Survey-Professionals-Finds-Macs-Moving-BYOD#.UzGp79y3jlM

Why I’m Leaving Windows for Mac

"I’ve never owned a Mac. Though I’ve seen them from afar – one has always been within reach at work or at school – I’ve never been tempted to buy one aside from the indelible lure of using Final Cut Pro. The reason isn’t so much a dislike for Apple products as it is a preference for the Windows format. As crazy as this may sound, I’ve always liked Windows. I like its design, its programs, and most of all its freedom to run just about anything.

Over the years, Apple has slowly worked its way into my life. From the stone-age iPod that didn’t have a color screen (or much of a “screen” at all) to the iPod Touch that I could not wait to use, Apple’s innovations were as appealing as they were groundbreaking."

Continue reading at Forbes by JASON RAZNICK

Microsoft Brings First Office App To iPhone

Beleaguered Windows users take heart Microsoft just tossed you a bone!

Free Microsoft Security Essentials formerly only free for home users is now free for small business users!

Microsoft Security Essentials has won a lot of praise since its introduction last year. The anti-malware software is unobtrusive and reasonably effective, and its price—free—can't be beat. One fly in the ointment has been the software's licensing terms; MSE is only licensed for home users. Businesses have to look elsewhere for their anti-malware needs.

That's set to change, at least a little, next month. From early October, small businesses—defined here as those with ten PCs or fewer—can use MSE, too. Microsoft claims that enterprise security software is too expensive, complicated, and hard to use for these organizations, hence its decision to expand the reach of MSE.

Read the full story by Peter Bright

Google Dumps Microsoft Windows Company-Wide!

"Employees wanting to stay on Windows required clearance from “quite senior levels”, one employee said. “Getting a new Windows machine now requires CIO approval,” said another employee."

The Collapse Of Microsoft's Mobile Business

"Microsoft finally showed off its newest mobile platform this week, Windows Phone 7 Series, which is set to ship by the end of the year. In any event, for Microsoft, the new product can't come soon enough. After an early lead in the U.S. smartphone war, Microsoft has lost much of its market share and almost all of its relevance, as BlackBerry maker Research In Motion and Apple's iPhone have taken over."

Read the full story

Review: Kingston's new USB drive offers public and encrypted partitions

DataTraveler drive is fast and easy to use and allows users to safely lend them to colleagues

Computerworld - USB sticks have offered pretty much the same functionality over the past year or so. So when Kingston announced a new DataTraveler Locker USB Flash Drive that offered partitioning capability, I took notice.

Kingston's new thumb drive offers the somewhat stand-out capability of allowing a user to set up an encrypted partition to safeguard some of that data, while allowing the remaining drive space to be open and accessible by anyone. I find this useful because I'm often lending my USB drive to friends who want a simple way to transfer files or temporarily save some data.

Sure you can trick a Windows system into creating partitions on a USB stick by flipping the Removable Media Bit, making it appear as a permanent or fixed drive, however, it's possible that solution could render your drive unusable.

So I liked that this product offers a reliable way to quickly set up a partition on a USB stick.

Read the full review by Lucas Mearian

Attention Members of the dark side. The Evil emperor has given you a gift

So do you use Microsoft Windows? Do you want to help stop your system from being hacked or getting a virus? If you use Windows 7, Vista, XP then Microsoft is offering you free software called Microsoft Security Essentials all you have to do is download and install it and yes it's free!

Change your default web browser

After you install Microsoft Security Essentials you should download and start using FireFox or Google Chrome even Safari as your default web browser.

Lock down Internet Explorer

After you have your new web browser installed launch your copy of Internet Explorer. Just launch if it's in the tray, or you use Windows Update, however it is you get IE going. And then under the Internet Options icon, which generally most recently has looked like a little gear, you open that, go to the bottom line on the menu, which is Internet Options, and then choose the Security tab. That's where it shows you those zones. Now set your security to high. So you then need to, on the trusted zone, add *.windowsupdate.com and *.microsoft.com. So essentially what you've done is turned IE into a browser only useful for going to Microsoft and using Windows Update. You've also locked it down so that in Outlook there's no scripting and no permissions to run ActiveX controls and none of these things that are dangerous. So if you're going to view email, it's as safe as it could be using Outlook by having IE locked down.

Other Security issues

After Windows (remember Microsoft update is your friend) and Explorer hackers often get into your system via outdated Adobe software. So go and update your Adobe Acrobat reader and Adobe Flash software.

German government warns citizens off IE!

"Don't use IE 6, 7 or 8 and switch browser," says Federal Office

"The German government's Federal Office for Information Security is warning computer users in the country NOT to use Microsoft Internet Explorer due to recent security scares.

The state organisation has issued the warning following Microsoft's admission that IE was a 'vector' in the recent attacks on Google in China.

The German government is thus advising its citizens to use alternative browsers such as Mozilla's Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari or Opera."

Read the full story

First look: Microsoft Security Essentials impresses

"Microsoft's new antimalware solution, Microsoft Security Essentials, is now available for Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. Ars puts MSE through its paces and finds an unobtrusive app with a clean interface that protected us in the dark corners of the Internet.

After a short three-month beta program, Microsoft is officially releasing Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE), its free, real-time consumer antimalware solution for fighting viruses, spyware, rootkits, and Trojans. MSE is yet another layer of defense the company is offering to help its customers fight the threats that plague Windows PCs.

Microsoft Security Essentials is available for Windows XP 32-bit (8.61MB), Windows Vista/7 32-bit (4.28MB), and Windows Vista/7 64-bit (4.71MB). The final build number is 1.0.1611.0. Microsoft warns that MSE should not be installed alongside any other antimalware application. Indeed, MSE's installer disables Windows Defender completely, which makes sense as it is a sort of superset to Windows Defender. It builds upon Windows Defender by offering both real-time protection and on-demand scanning for all types of malware."

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Parallels Greases Wheels for PC-to-Mac Switch

When Apple first switched to Intel chips, allowing users of new Macs to virtualize Windows on their machines, much of the business companies like Parallels saw was from experienced Mac users who needed to also use Windows. Now, more of its sales go to PC-to-Mac switches who don't want to cut ties with Windows just yet, and a new edition of Parallels addresses those customers directly.

By John P. Mello Jr.
MacNewsWorld
09/21/09 4:00 AM PT

As with other versions of Parallels Desktop, Switch-to-Mac includes the cabling and software to transfer an existing Windows setup from a PC to a Mac and run both systems in an integrated environment. That means running a Windows application from the Mac desktop is as simple as clicking an icon.

"You don't have to think about which operating system you're working in," Prestele said. "When you click on a Windows application, it launches. It actually launches faster with Parallels desktop than it does on a PC."

See a demo

Windows integration is part Apple's subtle strategy to expand its corporate presence. That strategy includes leveraging the popularity of its iPhone and iPod products into home computer sales. Those home sales, in turn, are being converted into a workplace presence.

Read the full article

Insurers Fight Speech-Impairment Remedy

"Kara Lynn has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or A.L.S., which has attacked the muscles around her mouth and throat, removing her ability to speak. A couple of years ago, she spent more than $8,000 to buy a computer, approved by Medicare, that turns typed words into speech that her family, friends and doctors can hear.

Under government insurance requirements, the maker of the PC, which ran ordinary Microsoft Windows software, had to block any nonspeech functions, like sending e-mail or browsing the Web.

Dismayed by the PC’s limitations and clunky design, Ms. Lynn turned to a $300 iPhone 3G from Apple running $150 text-to-speech software. Ms. Lynn, who is 48 and lives in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., said it worked better and let her “wear her voice” around her neck while snuggling with her 5-year-old son, Aiden, who has Down syndrome.

Medicare and private health insurers decline to cover cheap devices like iPhones and netbook PCs that can help the speech-impaired, despite their usefulness and lower cost.

Instead, public and private insurers insist that, if Ms. Lynn and others like her want insurance to pay, they must spend 10 to 20 times as much for dedicated, proprietary devices that can do far less.

The logic: Insurance is supposed to cover medical devices, and smartphones or PCs can be used for nonmedical purposes, like playing video games or Web browsing.

Disease experts say companies like DynaVox and Prentke Romich make many sophisticated, helpful products. Still, advocates argue, advances in computing and easy-to use speech software have opened doors to use cheap mainstream alternatives. Indeed, the price drops have made it possible for A.L.S. assistance groups to buy dozens of netbooks, install specialized software like Proloquo2Go and lend them to clients."

Read the full story at the New York Times by ASHLEE VANCE

An Amazing Laptop Recovery Story

Using remote access software, a Miami man helps cops track down and recover his two stolen laptops.

"This is a true story about sex, computers, the Internet, spying, theft, intrigue, and the police--and it all began this past February when David Krop made the mistake of leaving his two laptop computers inside a locked SUV in a parking garage.

While Krop, 41, attended a brief business meeting in downtown Miami Beach, Florida, a smash-and-grab thief stole the two laptops, a Toshiba and an Apple Macbook. When he returned to his SUV, Krop saw the shattered passenger window and realized that his computers were gone.

"It's just a terrible feeling in the pit of your stomach," Krop, a vice president of marketing at Nationwide Diabetic says. He reported the theft to the police, who were not optimistic the laptops would be recovered. Then he drove home, thinking about the personal data stored on his laptops. He had never planned for a catastrophic event like this--in fact, he hadn't even bothered to set up a user password to shield the laptops' contents.

When he got home, though, Krop remembered that he had installed a trial version of remote access software called LogMeIn on his Toshiba laptop. LogMeIn is designed to allow a user to access the desktop of a remote PC; it doesn't have laptop recovery features of the type you'd find on, say, Absolute Software's LoJack for Laptops. Connecting to his stolen laptop might be a long shot, but it was the only shot he had."

Continue reading the full story by Todd R. Weiss of PC World

Judge: Microsoft can't sell Word anymore and pay more than $290 million in damages!

A Texas judge ruled Tuesday that Microsoft cannot sell one of its flagship products, Word, in the United States because of patent infringement.

You read that right: Microsoft cannot sell Word, the judge ruled.

Judge Leonard Davis, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, ordered a permanent injunction that "prohibits Microsoft from selling or importing to the United States any Microsoft Word products that have the capability of opening .XML, .DOCX or DOCM files (XML files) containing custom XML," according to an announcement by the plaintiff, Toronto-based i4i Inc.

Read the full story here

Macintosh users may want to consider: NeoOffice, OpenOffice, StarOffice, NisusWriter, iWork

Windows users may want to consider: OpenOffice, StarOffice, WordPerfect Office

Outlaw Legends: Secrets of Russian Hackers

Read the full story at Russia Today

Microsoft Office 2008 SP2 update kills cross platform file compatibility

Thanks Microsoft don't you guys test your software anymore? Many users are reporting they can't open an Office document after I install Office 2008 SP2 Update.

Cause: This is a known issue with Office 2008 for Mac Service Pack 2 (12.2.0) that prevents some Open XML Format files from opening. To address this issue, we will release an update in August. In the meantime, you can use one of the following possible solutions.

Solutions: can be found here

Update: Microsoft whips out Office 2008 patch for Mac lovers

VirtualBox 3.0.0 for Linux Brings 3D and OpenGL 2.0 Support

"VirtualBox, the popular, amazing, open-source, virtualization software from Sun Microsystems, reached version 3.0.0 a few minutes ago. This major update brings lots of new features, many bugfixes and improvements over previous 2.x versions. The big and breathtaking news is that users can now use Direct3D 8 and 9 games or applications! Moreover, with VirtualBox 3.0.0, support for OpenGL 2.0 (only for Linux, Solaris and Windows guests) has been implemented. Another important feature is the new SMP (Symmetrical Multiprocessing) guest support with no more than 32 virtual processors. Without any further introduction, let's have a look at the main fixes/additions in VirtualBox 3.0.0 for Linux"

Read the full story here.

Many Computer Users Skip Routine Maintenance

"It probably comes as no surprise, but it seems most people ignore routine computer maintenance and only think about it when disaster strikes. You know, like falling victim to more than 3,000 viruses. At once."

Read the full story at http://hothardware.com.

Hulu releases Hulu Desktop!

Hulu Desktop is a lean-back viewing experience for your personal computer. It features a sleek new look that's optimized for use with standard Windows Media Center remote controls or Apple remote controls, allowing you to navigate Hulu's entire library with just six buttons. For users without remotes, the application is keyboard and mouse-enabled. Hulu Desktop is a downloadable application and will work on PCs and Macs. Sorry Guys Hulu uses Geo-Filtering and is a U.S. only service at this time.

Gumblar" Computer Virus A Growing Threat

Experts Say Web Site Compromise Attack Spreading To New Computers, Already Worse Than Conficker

"The Web site compromise attack known as Gumblar has added new domain names that are downloading malware onto unsuspecting computers, stealing FTP credentials to compromise more sites, and tampering with Web traffic, a security firm said on Thursday.

The Gumblar attack started in March with Web sites being compromised and attack code hidden on them. Originally, the malware downloaded onto computers accessing those sites came from the gumblar.cn domain, a Chinese domain associated with Russian and Latvian IP addresses that were delivering code from servers in the U.K."

"Gumblar" Computer Virus A Growing Threat - CBS News

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