Windows 8 Gets Negative Response From Enterprises

It is a fact that Windows 8, which was launched almost an year ago by Microsoft as the most sophisticated version of the operating system, has not been able to attract the users. Dubbed as the next big thing that would change the whole computing experience, Windows 8 was panned by the customers for the lack of user-friendly features in it. The fact that the enterprise version of Windows 8 hardly got any takers is a serious concern for Microsoft. The software giant had shipped in more than 100 million Windows 8 enterprise licenses, but most of the IT decision makers were satisfied with the older versions.

According to Johnson, who works as a Forrester research analyst, most of the IT firms feel that Windows 8 doesn’t comprise of worthy features as Microsoft claims it to have. He said, “Enterprises just don’t see Windows 8 having value. They don’t see the value in the changes in Windows 8.” Most of these firms have started to compare Windows 7 vs Windows 8 and are extremely satisfied with the older version. Several reasons have been cited for the negative response to Windows 8. One of them is the reliability issues with the new touch-centric Modern user interface. Another reason is the protracted procedures involved in the upgradation of the systems from Windows XP or 7 to 8. According to sources, it was revealed that for most of the IT decision makers, Windows 8 is an all or nothing upgrade. This is because it is not easily possible to effectively mix Windows 8 with older versions of Windows in a work setting, as compared to its predecessors.

Recent reports stated that most of the users prefer using Windows XP and Windows 7, both on the personal and professional front. Now, with Microsoft all set to stop providing services to Windows XP by this year, users are finding it difficult to get acquainted with Windows 8’s workings. Most prefer migrating to Windows 7, especially after comparing Windows 7 vs Windows 8. For them, the touch interface, along with the heavy emphasis on apps, is one thing that is preventing them from switching over to Windows 8.

Hence, it is quite certain that Windows 8 is a failure, at least in the enterprise sector. Now, it remains to be seen what new strategies Microsoft adopts to revive its customers base.

How To Recover Corrupted PST Files In Outlook

Microsoft Outlook is the most popular email manager program. However, there are some issues in the program that you must be familiar with before you make the decision to get Microsoft Outlook. Often you find yourself in a dilemma that leads you to a situation in which the Outlook program stops responding. This is mainly caused when Outlook program is not able to read the PST files in it. The error may also occur if the size of the PST file exceeds the allotted 2GB space. However, before talking about how to fix the issues, you must know about PST files.

PST stands for personal storage table and it in these files that Outlook stores all the personal user related data. Your emails, contacts, calendar entries and schedules are all stored in the PST files. So if something goes wrong with these files, you will be in a lot of trouble as you will not be able to access your files anymore. If the Outlook PST files are unreadable, you will get an error message of the format, ‘Outlook.pst is no longer a personal files folder’.

If you are wondering how file corruption get Microsoft Outlook to not work properly, it is mainly due to the reason that Outlook will not able to read PST files as they are corrupted. File corruptions can occur due to a variety of reasons including errors occurred while transferring files to your system, an improper shut down of the Outlook application etc. Another reason for the corruption of Outlook PST files is the exceeding of memory allotted to the PST files as mentioned above.

There is nothing to worry if you are having corruption issues, as you can easily fix these issues by running an Outlook repair on your system files. The Outlook program in itself has one such program, known as Inbox repair tool. This utility can be launched by clicking on the file named Scanpst.exe found in the default Outlook folder. The utility when launched will scan the system files of Outlook program for corruptions and will fix all the issues that are found.

If you are still not able to run the Outlook program successfully after running the Outlook repair program, you need to download a professional Outlook repair tool that will fix all the issues found in the program. One of the catches on running professional repair tools is that you will need to pay for these pro tools for making them work on your computer.

Procedure To Fix The Audio Issues In Your Laptop Computer

You might know that most laptop computers come with in-built speakers, and this makes correcting the issues or inspecting the audio problems much more difficult. Mostly, the problem might be with your computer settings or an outdated or faulty driver and may not be with the speakers. Inspecting to see if any settings or drivers can fix the problem is a good idea before you attempt to open the laptop or plan to buy external speakers. Here are some laptop support instructions that would help you resolve some basic issues.

Laptop support instructions:

• Test the audio in more than one program. In case the audio works in some programs and not in others, then the ‘mute’ setting might be on in one or more programs and this should be changed.
• You need to turn up the volume on the external volume control. This may be on the side or on the front of your laptop, or on the keyboard. Some models have a touch-sensitive strip at the top of the keyboard that you might not have realized controls the volume. You can also look for any ‘mute’ shortcut keys you might have accidentally pressed and then try clicking it again for seeing if the sound is restored.
• You can go to your volume controls. For this, click on ‘Start’, then ‘Control Panel,’ and then click on ‘Hardware and Sound,’, then click on ‘Audio Devices,’ and ‘Sound’ and finally adjust the volume using ‘Adjust System Volume’. Under ‘Main Volume’, ensure that the slider is up and that the volume is not set to ‘mute’.
• You may have to reboot the computer, in case you have recently made any changes such as installing new updates or service packs. Sometimes, a restart needs to take place to reset devices such as speakers.
• Just plug a pair of headphones into the headphone jack on the laptop and see if you can hear sound that way. In case you hear some noise in headphones or external speakers but not the built-in speakers, then either your drivers or the speakers are the problem. Then try uninstalling the drivers for your speakers in ‘Device Manager’ and then reinstall them by visiting your laptop maker’s website.
• You can also reinstall your audio device drivers from your laptop company’s website in case a sound card is not detected. 

Also, it is possible that some recent changes removed the drivers and made your speakers undetectable, so reinstalling the drivers may very well fix the problem.

Steps To Fix Outlook Data Corruption Issues

In this era of rapidly advancing technology, we may not be able to think about a life without emails. Emails or electronic mails have in all respect replaced the traditional mailing system from the usage of personal purpose for sending greetings and pictures to official purposes for sending business proposals. Most of us have multiple emails addresses; one for official purpose and one for personal, and it might be really difficult for you to manage both accounts simultaneously with ease. This is where email clients come in view. Email clients are programs developed for helping the users manage their email accounts easily and efficiently.

Microsoft Outlook is the most popular email manager program in use now. It is a versatile program that allows the users to manage their multiple email accounts with ease. You will be able to send and receive emails using the Outlook email manager program easily. However, even though the program is much versatile and retro in nature, there is still a chance for the presence of errors in the program. One of the most possible errors found in the Outlook program is the corruption of data stored in the .pst file.

A PST file is a file in which Outlook stores all the personal data of the user like emails, calendar entries etc in the computer. Once the file is corrupted, the Outlook program will not work well and you will need to run an Outlook repair process for fixing the issue. Lucky for you, Outlook contains in it an inbox repair tool that will help you in fixing the data corruption issues in Outlook. Below we discuss the steps for fixing the issue.

• Navigate to the default Outlook folder in the computer and then look for the Scanpst.exe file. Double click on the file for running the Outlook inbox repair utility.
• Now a new window will appear in the screen, click on the Start button found in the window for scanning the system for Outlook errors and corruptions.
• Once the program has successfully listed the corrupted Outlook data files, click on the Repair button found in the window for starting the Outlook repair process.

The inbox repair tool will now automatically fix all the corrupted Outlook files in your system and you will be able to use the program as if it is new without any issues. However if the issue was not solved by the inbox repair tool, you will have to contact the Outlook support team.

Microsoft Lifts Limit Of Devices For Installing Windows 8 Apps To 81

Windows 8, the latest in the Windows line, for touchscreen devices, was released almost a year ago. And the thing best remembered about it is that it could not meet the expectations users had built up by the time of its release. And while the exclusion of basic features like the Start button was one of the main reasons for the sales debacle, another was the option which let users install Windows 8 apps on no more than 5 devices. Said restriction was based on the number of devices registered under a single user account.

Recently, Microsoft announced that it is going to increase the limit of five machines to 81, for a single account. With such an announcement, it is evident that Microsoft is taking up innovative strategies to revive the sales of Windows 8. Check the statistics and you’ll see there are more people calling up tech support to install Windows 8, than there were for Windows 7. This shows how little Windows 8 has endeared itself. The raise on the limit of number of devices would help the business along, considering the added revenue generated from those apps that are ad-based.

However, the latest announcement from Microsoft has put the developers in a state of concern. According to them, with the broad use of apps across so many systems, more issues are bound to occur. But the Windows apps team explains that APIs would exist that would determine where and how apps can be used. According to a spokesperson representing the Windows support team, "Since we launched Windows 8, we heard growing feedback from many developers and from our most enthusiastic customers that the limit of 5 was not enough for their needs. In response to that feedback… we're increasing the app roaming limit to remove friction from the app installation process. "

It is clear that Microsoft has come up with this venture in order to make Windows 8 more popular, as well as to expand their business. It is yet to be seen how well this’ll turn out.

Microsoft Lures Folks With Stunning Windows 8.1 Features

It is almost three months since Microsoft released the groundbreaking Windows 8.1 update. The Redmond based software giant proved that it is capable enough to retain its customer base and draw new customers through its modern operating system. I am not saying that there are no criticisms about the new operating system. The highlight of Windows 8.1 is its status as an update to the flawed Windows 8 operating system. Folks who have Windows 8 license can upgrade to Windows 8.1 free. Even while Microsoft says that Windows 8.1 is a brand new operating system, the tech giant has released it just like an update to the Windows 8 users.

Windows 8 transfer 

Windows 8 transfer is a new feature that Microsoft has added to the new operating system. Using this feature, users can transfer data faster than usual. The feature would be quite useful when you upgrade your operating system from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1.

Windows 8.1 features

The most appreciated Windows 8.1 feature is nothing but the return of the Start button. In fact, the tech giant has received much flak for removing the Start button on Windows 8. In addition to updating the operating system with new features, Microsoft has ensured that most of its default apps such as Office, Bing Search, Bing App, IE web browser and so forth also get an upgrade. The upgraded Bing App on Windows 8.1 allows you to look for other installed apps in your computer or files in your local hard drives instantly. Since the app is featured with a centralized view pane, there won’t be any difficulty in pinpointing your desired files or apps.

Photo Loop

The software giant has incorporated a new feature called Photo Loop, quite similar to the Photo Rewind feature in Blackberry 10. Using this feature, users can rewind an already captured photo and correct the mistakes or problems such as blinking, red eye and so forth.

Lock Screen with Photos

Many complain that they are bored by seeing the same lock screen background in their smartphone or tablets. Well, in Windows 8.1, there is a perfect solution for this. It is equipped with a feature called Lock Screen photos which allows you to enable photo slide shows on lock screen. You can browse through the photos from your hard drive to enable Lock Screen to sport the slide show.
I am afraid describing all the Windows 8.1 features would take a very long time. Hence, I have mentioned only a very few features such as Windows 8 transfer, return of Start button and so forth.

Outlook 13 Ideal For Businesses And Enterprises

As support for Windows XP ends in a couple months, many companies have taken the initiative to upgrade their systems to the latest Windows 8 OS as well as Office 13. Microsoft claims that the new Exchange 13 and Outlook 13 clients have some fascinating new features with better security, enhanced "social networking experience,” and of course touch optimization- thanks to the new touch user interface.

Ankur Kothari, a senior product manager at Microsoft, claims that a new Touch Mode in Outlook 13 allows faster thumb friendly "Quick Actions" for mobile touch devices. Outlook also has a new look with additions like one-touch access to a minimized ribbon, and a brand new online reply feature. In addition, users also get “Quick Peeks” which allows faster access to calendars, tasks and “people” contacts directly from your mailbox.

Kothari also added that Microsoft would be taking advantage of its Yammer acquisition to increase social networking experience for users. The preview edition of Outlook 13 allows users to connect to popular social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn without installing any add-ons. Those who like reading e-news can pull up to five different news and/or weather feeds directly in Outlook 13.

Those who are using Outlook 13 in an Exchange 13 business setting get to access both emails and Microsoft SharePoint documents within a single folder in Outlook.

New Anti-Spam protection

Microsoft also released a new anti-spam technology through an update in the Exchange service. The new technology called Exchange Online Protection expands the Forefront Online Protection for Exchange feature present in the current version of Office 365-based Office suite.

Microsoft claims that the new technology improves identifying spam attacks at the zero day level as well as top-ranked spam filtering. In addition, there will also be improved recognition of new spam footprints or patterns that help identify spam attacks almost instantly.

Moreover, corporate IT administrators get to employ the Exchange service to screen out emails and attachments based on human languages and the country of origin of these mails. This E-mail screening by country greatly reduces the risks of spam attacks. Though the Microsoft Outlook price has not been disclosed, it might not amount to much. With these new enhancements, users may not care much about Microsoft Outlook price.

Exchange also takes a new approach for data loss protection as well as “e-discovery”. E-discovery enables electronic information to be saved as legal evidence. The new Outlook 13 along with Windows 8 is a bonus for large enterprises and organizations.