Microsoft Archives

The end is near for Office 2010 and Office 2013

cyberguru Consulting February 18, 2020February 20, 2020end of life, Microsoft, Modern authentication, Office 2013, Office 2016, Office 2019, Office 365

Microsoft Office

On 13 October 2020, some considerable changes in Microsoft Office 365 will be occurring to only support modern email software. If you are running Microsoft Office 2010 or Microsoft Office 2013, Microsoft will no longer allow these to access Office 365 after this date.

Microsoft is making these changes to make email more secure. As part of this, Microsoft will support predominantly which allow modern authentication, being the currently supported perpetual versions, Microsoft Office 2016 and Microsoft Office 2019 and the subscription product, Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus (which is included in Business Premium, Enterprise E3 and Enterprise E5 and Microsoft 365 subscriptions).

As noted on the Office Resources page (link opens in new window), Microsoft advises, “Office 365 is designed to work with the latest browsers and versions of Office. If you use older browsers and versions of Office that are not in mainstream support Microsoft won’t deliberately prevent you from connecting to the service, but the quality of your Office 365 experience may diminish over time”.

If you are running Microsoft Office 2010 or Microsoft Office 2013, or other programs not supporting modern authentication, then we strongly recommend you upgrade to a supported program as soon as possible. For mobile phones and tablets, Microsoft recommends the Outlook app for iOS and Android. For desktops and laptop access, they encourage the use of the latest versions of Outlook for Windows and Outlook for Mac.

If you are still using Microsoft Office 2010 or Microsoft Office 2013, we suggest that you start look at upgrading now to at least Microsoft Office 365 Business Premium or Microsoft 365 to ensure you remain able to access to Office 365.

If you need a hand to understand the changes going forward or help to plan and go you to the next step, please contact us.

Is your Windows 7 PC out of support?

cyberguru Support January 15, 2020January 16, 2020end of life, Microsoft, out of support, Windows 7

If you are running Windows 7 past the 14 January 2020 cut-off for support, you may notice that Microsoft has begun placing full-screen messages on computers stating “Your Windows 7 PC is out of support”.

As noted in this message, Microsoft has ended support for Windows 7 and your PC is now more vulnerable to viruses and malware due to the absence of security updates and tech support from Microsoft. If you receive this message we strongly recommend you take action immediately. This will ensure you have the latest security features and protection against malicious software.

CyberGuru can assist you with upgrading your computer to Windows 10 or the purchasing and setting up a new Windows 10 PC based on your requirements, along with transferring the necessary programs and data across to the new PC. In addition, we will provide you with training and support going forward to ensure you are best place to take advantage of the new operating system.

We can assist you both face-to-face and remotely, depending on your location and urgency.

Please contact us today for more information or to make a booking.

CyberGuru’s Chief Guru is now Microsoft 365 and Azure certified!

cyberguru Announcements October 25, 2019November 1, 2019Azure, EMS, Microsoft, Microsoft 365, Office 365

CyberGuru’s Chief Guru, Chris Jeffery, recently successfully completed his Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Azure Fundamentals certifications, providing his knowledge of the options available in Microsoft 365 and the benefits of adopting cloud services, the Software as a Service (SaaS) cloud model and implementing the Microsoft 365 cloud service.

Microsoft 365 is a SaaS offering that includes Office 365, Windows 10 or Enterprise Mobility + Security. By combining the features into a single subscription, you can use all of the familiar productivity tools in Office 365, collaborate using Microsoft Teams and help increase security and compliance.

Microsoft 365 includes Windows 10 Enterprise and a complete set of security and compliance features provided as services. By bringing together Office 365, Windows as a service, and Enterprise Mobility + Security, Microsoft 365 addresses the needs of many organisations who want to maximize their adoption of the cloud for productivity, but also for enterprise-grade security and desktop operating system management.

Azure is Microsoft’s ever-expanding set of cloud computing services including servers, storage, networking, software provided over the internet.

The certifications demonstrate Chris’ foundational knowledge on the considerations and benefits of adopting cloud services in general and the Software as a Service (SaaS) cloud model. It also covers knowledge of available options and benefits gained by implementing Microsoft 365 cloud service offerings. The knowledge cloud services and how those services are provided with Microsoft Azure as also addressed. This requires an understanding cloud concepts, core Azure Services, Azure pricing and support, and the fundamentals of cloud security, privacy, compliance, and trust.

These certifications mark Chris’ 25th successful Microsoft certification exam, having sat and prepared for exams on Microsoft technologies including Windows, Office and Office 365.

If you require assistance in deploying any of the components in Microsoft 365, including Office 365, Teams, Windows 10 or Enterprise Mobility + Security and Azure, products and technologies, please feel free to contact us.

Ask CyberGuru: Should I set up my new computer “for personal use” or “for an organisation”?

cyberguru Consulting September 9, 2019September 16, 2019account, Ask CyberGuru, Microsoft, Microsoft account, organisation, personal, Windows 10, work or school

When setting up a new computer, a question often arises by clients as to whether they should set it up for “personal use” or “for an organisation”. The question comes down to how which accounts you have a “work or school” or a “personal” account.

By setting it up for your personal use, you will be logging in using your own Microsoft account. This generally is created by you using Hotmail email addresses such as yourname@hotmail.com or yourname@live.com, but they may be also using other accounts such as Gmail and Yahoo. Previously, these were Windows Live accounts, and used for services such as Hotmail (now Outlook.com), OneDrive and Xbox. Microsoft do not allow Microsoft accounts to be using work email addresses these days, and if you do have one they will recommend changing your email address on your Microsoft account to someone else.

Alternatively, by setting it up for an organisation, you will require a work or school account which was set up by your organisation that uses Microsoft’s cloud services, such as Office 365, Microsoft 365 or Azure. The work account is generally based upon the organisation’s domain name and work email address, eg. username@domainname.com.au. As a result of this, when a user logs to their computer they are connecting into their organisation’s resources such as their email, network and apps. Further, allows the organisation’s administer to also be able to control their computer.

There are various benefits of doing one or the other, however which one to use will dependent on your situation, including who owns the device, and type of your computer may have. We are happy to assist you to make a decision on this. Please contact us for more information.

Ask CyberGuru: Do I need to upgrade to Windows 10?

cyberguru Consulting May 27, 2019May 27, 2019Microsoft, Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 7 end of life, Windows Update

In this month’s Ask CyberGuru, we are asked, “I am running Windows 7 and I have received a notification that Microsoft is ending updates and technical support for it. Is this legitimate and do I need to do this?”.

Yes, this is a legitimate notification which has been delivered as part of Windows Update recently. The message would look similar to this:

As noted in the support notification, after 10 years of service, Microsoft will no longer offer security updates for computers running Windows 7 from 14 January 2020. As part of Microsoft’s Support Lifecycle, only its Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 operating systems will be supported from this date. Any computers running Windows 7 after this date will pose a significant security risk.

Given Windows 7 is used in a significant number of computers today, Microsoft is providing early notification to users to ensure that appropriate measures are undertaken to upgrade to a later operating system. Windows 10 has been on the market for almost four years and become an increasingly secure and stable operating system, making it the ideal replacement for Windows 7.

It is strongly recommended that you upgrade as soon as possible to ensure you are provided with the necessary security updates and technical support from Microsoft as required.

Depending on the age and type of computer, you may be able to upgrade to Windows 10 successfully without issues. If the computer is three or less years old, it is likely it will be able to be updated to Windows 10. Some older or custom-build computers, however, may need to be upgraded or replaced.

Unfortunately, the free upgrade offer which was available when Windows 10 was introduced is no longer available, with Windows 10 Upgrade media costing between $225 to $339 depending on the edition.

CyberGuru can assist through our Consulting solution by reviewing your computer equipment to provide the best advice for your needs, as well as providing any necessary training and support to assist you and your organisation make the change.

For more details, please see this Microsoft Support article (link opens in new window) or feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.

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