The hardware baton passes, sort of

MICROSOFT

By Will Fastie

I try to follow Microsoft news carefully, but it can be hard when the news about Microsoft comes from an unexpected third party.

In January, Onward Brands published a press release stating that its Incase brand would be introducing a series of “Designed by Microsoft” products. These comprise a significant portion of the hardware accessories sold by Microsoft.

The discovery of this news came as a surprise.

Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.13.0, 2024-03-25).

The novelty factor

Spotted this post the other day….  “In our recent analysis of Copilot for Microsoft 365, we observed a notable trend: a 64% decrease in user interactions with Copilot over a 9 week period. This decline suggests a concerning “Novelty Effect,” where initial enthusiasm for new technology gradually wanes. Initially, users exhibited a robust engagement with Copilot for Microsoft 365, leveraging its features extensively. However, this engagement significantly diminished over time, a phenomenon evident in 10 out of the 14 test users.”

In my current tests, we find that more targeted programs like Grammarly.com does a much better job of what we expected AI to do.  We typically don’t want AI to write a letter (it honestly does not do a good job at all and makes way too many assumptions regarding the content) rather ideally, you’d want a secure AI to make your letter better.

So have you tried AI in all of the places on the web that it’s showing up?  Are you impressed or having waning interest over it?

Issues with processing renewals resolved

By Susan Bradley

I’ve been monitoring the fixes we made to ensure that customer orders are properly handled.

I’m confident that the underlying bug has been squashed. While I’m confident that you won’t see any repeat of the error where the system would indicate your charge did not go through when in reality it did, I am still following up on some longer-term annoyances with the renewal process.

Read the full Plus Alert (21.12.1, 2024-03-22).

Secure messaging on Windows with Signal

PRIVACY

By Mary Branscombe

Signal is a smartphone secure-messaging app that also works in Windows. Here’s why you want it, and how to get started.

Sometimes you need to send a message that you can be certain will stay private. Perhaps a friend urgently needs a place to stay while you’re out of town, and you must give them your alarm code (and maybe tell the neighbor who has your spare key how to recognize them).

Or perhaps you want to discuss a medical condition, or something that’s perfectly legal but might still get you into trouble at work, such as whistleblowing or staging a protest.

Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.12.0, 2024-03-18).
This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

Must your password manager be multiuser or just single-user?

PUBLIC DEFENDER

By Brian Livingston

So many websites these days require usernames and passwords of varying lengths and strengths that installing a secure password manager to keep track of them all is almost a necessity.

But there are big differences between versions of password managers that are designed for a single user (for example, you) and versions that can securely inform multiple users about all the credentials your home or business has created.

Today’s column is the final piece of my four-part analysis of password managers.

Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.12.0, 2024-03-18).

The Quickening

SOFTWARE

By Will Fastie

My relationship with Quicken has gone from friendly to annoying to infuriating over the past ten years. But is my opinion justified?

I’ve been using Quicken, specifically the Home & Business edition, for at least 25 years, and plain old Quicken for years before that. It’s been an excellent program, and I always felt it was reasonably priced.

I last purchased a copy in 2015. That was shortly before the Intuit/Quicken world turned upside down.

Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.12.0, 2024-03-18).

Server updates fail to download

PATCH WATCH

By Susan Bradley

The March updates for Windows opened the month on a bumpy road.

The most significant bump relates to the update for Windows Server, demonstrating that it’s not just client PCs that have problems. Fortunately, the problem seems to have been fixed quickly.

KB5035849 is the culprit.

Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.12.0, 2024-03-18).

Is there a piece of tech hardware you love?

The other day at the office, one of the folks couldn’t log into his computer. He typed in his password and no go. He tried again, this time a bit slower and still didn’t work. It was then that we found that certain keys weren’t working. You see he had accidentally dumped coffee on the keyboard earlier and now it wasn’t working.  We tried cleaning it up and set it aside to dry out. In the meantime I quickly grabbed another keyboard to use as a replacement, but there was a problem: The damaged keyboard is a Microsoft ergonomic keyboard. Which they no longer manufacture anymore. While there are versions online via Ebay which Chinese and English marking on the keys, I’m not sure I’m keen on an imported keyboard. We had to go with a Logitech ergonomic keyboard as a replacement.

Is there a keyboard or a mouse of any other hardware that you absolutely love? Did you buy multiple copies of them to ensure you weren’t without that device? I know I’ve got my favorites and I’ve even purchased spare duplicates. Keyboards are SO important when you are picking a computer. It’s actually one of the things I would rate down on my home OEM Windows 11 laptop – the keyboard. The keys are those flat chiclet style and my fingers tend to not be able to type as fast on them. I prefer the keyboard on the Lenovo laptop instead. If you aren’t on the go you can always use a normal keyboard with your laptop.

So?  What’s your favorite keyboard?