2015-03-14

When is your Windows PC too old and when is it time to buy another?

Link To Article
Date of Article:  2015-03-12
Source of Article:  WinBeta 
This article addresses a question I often hear and does so in a very clear and reasonable way.
Personally I fit in what the article calls the high class and have found I need to replace my systems on a three year cycle.  My current laptop runs Windows 8.1 and my desktop is running Windows 7.  The desktop is about a year older than the laptop.  Right now I am holding off on buying another system until Windows 10 is available.  At that time I will update both to it and then evaluate their performance to determine which I replace first.  Since I do most of my work from the laptop it will more than likely be the first to be upgraded.
As the article says, those who use their systems to: browse the web, use email, use Excel for simple worksheets, and Word for small documents have a lesser need for high performance and should find themselves happy with systems no older than 7-8 years old.  I still recommend that they take advantage of the free upgrade to Windows 10 when it comes out if their machines are eligible.
Those in the medium category do everything those in the low category do and add on games and multimedia players and use office in more complex ways.  They need more performance than than the lower group and need a system no more than 4-6 years old.  They too if eligible need to take advantage of the Windows 10 upgrade.
Why am I so in favor of Windows 10?  It takes the best of the Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 interface and merges them to create what should be an excellent user interface.  It brings out a new web browser which should be more secure than Internet Explorer and hopefully deliver better performance.  Hopefully like the new browser Windows 10 will be more secure than its predecessors.  Lastly I am looking forward to the Windows 365 subscription model which I hope to enjoy as much as my current Office 365 subscription.
W.C.

2015-03-09

Lookout for attached chm files

Date of Article:  2015-03-09
Source of Article:  Various tech blogs 
Several tech blogs are reporting that the old Windows help-file (.chm) format is being used to deliver CryptoWall attacks in which data on the attacked PC is encrypted and held for ransom.
Sadly quite a few legitimate software packages still use this outdated format which was largely abandoned by Microsoft (though not completely) due to its many security vulnerabilities.
If you get an email with an attachment with the chm extension I would recommend that you not open it. 
W.C.

Windows 365 will be Windows, plus a little bit more

Link To Article
Date of Article:  2015-02-25
Source of Article:  Tech Republic 
Another article dropping suggestions about what we might expect Windows (365) as a service will be like. 
W.C.