There is a lot going on in the computer world, so lets get right to it.
Windows 7 and Windows 10
We knew this was coming down the pike, and now that day has arrived. We just sold our last Windows 7 laptop and can no longer purchase them. We were hoping that after they were gone we could get a Win 10 Pro and do and ‘in place downgrade’ to Win 7. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The processors in the available laptops from Lenovo will not run Windows 7 properly and stay up to date. At the moment, we are exploring options such as possibly using a Linux operating system, but that is still in the infancy stage.
We will stock and sell a Window 10 laptop, but it will come with a disclaimer concerning its instability and potential to break things. We can say, with the last major upgrade to Windows 10, it seems to be acting a bit more stable and not quite as sluggish. We hope that this will continue to improve.
As for desktops, we are still able to get Windows 7, but they won’t be around forever. If you are planning to get a new computer and don’t want to suffer with Windows 10 until its necessary, this might be the time to purchase Windows 7 system while it is still available. Those that we sell new come with a Windows 10 license that allow the upgrade when Windows 7 goes out of support in 2020.
This also brings to mind the fact that you are going to need to look at either upgrading to Windows 10 or getting a new computer by the first of 2020. That’s 1 ½ yrs away, but it creeps up fast. If you are a company, then considering and budgeting for this ahead of time is essential. On that note, a reminder that Tennessee’s tax free weekend is Friday July 27 thru Sunday July 29th this year.
Lenovo Service and Support
Many of you have heard us talk about how good Lenovo’s service and support is. This past weekend we had such a good experience, it left us wondering how, in this environment, such service is possible.
So, here are the details. One of our clients has a Lenovo laptop that is a little over 2 years old for which she purchased the extended warranty. She brings it by with an issue with the charge port where the cord plugged in on the laptop. It was obviously loose and worn from the cord being pulled at various times which prevented it from charging correctly.
We contacted Lenovo on behalf of the client and they sent a box out with FedEx shipping label for us to box it up and ship it back. We backed up the data, boxed it up and FedEx picked it up the next day. We came in Monday to a confirmation that Lenovo had received the laptop. Right around lunchtime on Tuesday, FedEx was backing in the drive with the laptop, fully repaired!
In Lenovo’s diligent diagnostics they discovered that a post test was not passing, so they replaced the mainboard and processor. They discovered that a key was sticking, so they replaced the keyboard. They discovered an issue with the touchpad buttons and replaced the palm rest and touchpad, as well as the charge port. The repair was completed the same day the system was received and shipped back overnight to arrive the next day! This is why we recommend and sell Lenovo!
Internet Explorer and Yahoo Mail
Next Yahoo, BellSouth, AT&T, Froniter, and AOL Mail all use Yahoo. We don’t know why, but they do. Just this week we had a client start getting a notice that her browser (Internet Explorer 11) was no longer going to be supported by her Bellsouth/AT&T email. If you are using any of the above email systems you will have to start using either Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, or Microsoft Edge to access your webmail.
We can circumvent this with the installation of an email client like Outlook or Thunderbird, unless you are using Yahoo. The only way to use Yahoo with an email client is to pay for the premium edition of their email service.
If you have one of these email systems, are using webmail, and need help switching over, just give me a call and we will do our best to help you out.