Newsletter 2013.10

The past several weeks have seen a rush of new tablet releases for the end-of-year season:

• Apple launched the iPad Air and iPad Mini with Retina Display at their October 22 event.
• Microsoft showed off the new Surface 2. Building on some of the shortcomings of the first model, the Surface Pro 2 could fill an enterprise niche, running Windows 8.1 and functioning as an all-in-one tablet, laptop and desktop (courtesy of a docking station).
• Nokia unveiled its first ever tablet – the Lumia 2520running Windows RT 8.1.
• Samsung released the updated Galaxy Note 10.12014 Edition Android tablet.
• Dell announced the Venue series of tablets in both Android and Windows 8.1 flavors.

With this much attention, the predictions about tablets outselling PCs next year are looking more and more likely to come true.

The ‘Start’ button is back! Kind of. Paying careful attention to customer feedback on the first version of Windows 8,Microsoft released the revamped Windows 8.1 on October 17. The upgrade is free to Windows 8 users. User of Windows 7 or earlier should expect to pay around US$120 – 200 for Home and Pro editions respectively.
A quick visual tour shows off some of the new features in Windows 8.1, while this more in-depth review of Windows 8.1 suggests it’s time to give the tile-faced OS a reappraisal.
Considering Windows 8.1 for your company? Check out some of the need-to-know Windows 8.1 info for IT Prosand this guide to preparing your business for Windows 8.1, even if making the leap from Windows XP.

In a surprise move, Apple announced that the latest version of OS X, named ‘Mavericks’ would be made available for free in the Mac App Store. The upgrade can be installed on Mac models dating back as far as 2007 running OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) or later. On the back of the release of Windows 8.1, this new tactic could be having a major influence on the corporate OS market. An interesting article on TechCrunch discusses the long-term implications of IT giants giving away operating systems and other software for free.

Another freebie this month – Microsoft’s new Remote Desktop app for iOS and Android lets you control Windows PCs from mobile devices. Could come in very handy! Need help setting up Windows Remote Desktop in your workplace? Check out our Admin & Support solutionsand contact us for a free quote.

BlackBerry Messenger for iOS and Android finally arrived this month. The free apps went straight to number one in over 75 countries and clocked up an impressive ten million downloads in their first day, proving there is still massive demand for the chat platform in many markets.

Two years in the making, the Internet Archive has just launched a free browser-based service which emulates a boggling number of old computers and games consoles. Fancy trying out the first version of WordStar, using an early Macintosh or revisiting some Atari VCS classics from the eighties? The Historical Software Collection gives you some ideas where to get started.