Alpha Technical Solutions

Posts Tagged ‘7’

People new to Windows and other Microsoft products very often don’t realise just how customisable they are. We’d like to address that by introducing to our top tips not just good IT procedures and scam news but actual useful customisations that you can perform on Windows, Office or any other product we think you might be interested in.

To start with we’ve got a great tip on the creation of shutdown shortcuts in Windows 7. Although Windows 7 has a brief shutdown procedure, accessing features like restart, lock workstation, hibernate and sleep can be difficult for some people. This is particularly true for the elderly or disabled. Making shortcut to do this in a place that is most convenient for the person in question can really help with this most basic of tasks.

If you are interested in learning how to do this click here and you will be taken to an excellent article in TechRepublic that goes through the procedure step by step with some very clear illustrations.

Image by stevecadman via Flickr

Libraries are a new feature in Windows 7 that allow you to group folders from more than 1 location under 1 heading. Here’s the official description from Microsoft:

where you go to manage your documents, music, pictures, and other files. You can browse your files the same way you would in a folder, or you can view your files arranged by properties like date, type, and author.

It may not sound all that sexy and interesting at all. Except that you can customise the properties and which folders go into a library. Now you can collate files by purpose, project, or your own personal needs. You can also cross reference files. All achieved by not moving any files or making copies of any files. Instantly this decreases the chances of a file going out of date whilst also making it easier for you to find based on the use you are going to make of it.

If you are the kind of person who needs to organise lots of files, then should take a look at libraries, it will make your life much easier.

For the nitty-gritty on getting into and managing libraries there is a good blow by blow account by lifehacker listed below.

Today is October 22nd, the day that Microsoft lets the world see its new operation system. By the world I’m talking about mainstream business and users; as a good many technically minded people have been trailing it some time. In fact it seems to me that the technical press are generally applauding the work done on Windows 7, whilst the mainstream press (this is view is based on some BBC reporting – which is very mainstream) are more cautious and are doing a good job of reminding people of the nightmare days of the Vista launch. One side see the product, the other see change (which is often bad).

Here’s my take on the two sides. Conservatism is an essential part of computing. A bad change to a computer system can be very costly indeed, but I also feel that it is also best to take each product on its merits and apply it to your own needs. As a product I still feel that Windows 7 exceeds previous versions of Windows. Does it meet your needs – well only careful consideration can tell you that. In fact this is why we are putting a number of businesses in a room with Windows 7. We are hoping for an open and frank examination of the system against business needs. Its all about putting information in the hands of the people who need it.

Talking about information here is today’s Windows 7 video, have a look at Latika talking about responsiveness and safety in Windows 7

The next video in the short series that tells you about how improvements in its use interface make day to day work easier and simpler. Take a look at the video and let me know what you think. Personally I think it is true. I’ve been using Windows 7 and my workflow has improved.

Want to learn more? Click to get details about our Windows 7 launch event

This week in preparation for our Windows 7 launch party we’ll be posting a series of videos from Microsoft that tell you a little about the capabilities of Windows 7. To start with I’m going to show the section on media.

Media broadly speaking refers to music, TV, films, games.  Not that much for business there you might thing but remember that media also includes things like plans, maps, designs, photographs, graphics, and logos. I’ve been revising a series of graphics and photographs recently and I do find keeping track of my work much easier. Previous versions of Windows did this, but only reasonably well. Vista was a step forward but its Windows 7 that makes things good. I think I now find it easier to handle this type of work than I have done on an Apple Mac.

Enjoy the video. There’ll be another along tomorrow.

We’ve decided to run a Windows 7 launch party on October 22nd at Langstone Business Park in Newport.

You might ask why we are doing this. After all why note the launch of another version of Windows? Its a good question. However we have been using Windows 7 for some time now and are utterly convinced that this is an important version of Windows, and one that has great implications for business – especially small businesses. I don’t want to sound like an advert for Microsoft, after all we pride ourselves for considered and impartial but this new version of Windows really does improve the way you interact with a PC in a most efficient and effective way.

Ok so that’s the technical pitch, but lets be honest for most people in business being told about Windows is not the most exciting way to spend some time. That is why we are running in the party format. We invite you to come along, have some lunch, mingle and network with other business people and take a look at why we think this is important.

That is why you should be there. It is a way meet other business people, maybe strike a deal and also learn about something that could help you out in the future.

If you’d like to come why not give us a call on 0800 0354148

To make sure you find us here is our address: Merlin House, 1 Langstone Business Park, Langstone, Newport, NP182HJ

Click here to see a map of our location

So come to the party, you get a free lunch and networking thrown in – which makes it a pretty good deal.