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The Fiber-to-the-Home Gigabit Experience
I’ll try not to make you envious. I have what is probably the fastest home Internet connection in the country – a theoretical gigabit: 1,000Mbps. And it’s synchronous, as fast going up as down. To add icing to the cake, my ISP bill is dropping almost by half while my speed increases exponentially. To make you feel better, let me tell you that my actual speeds aren’t anywhere near that. And yet the speeds I do get are many times faster than before. I’m here to discuss the experience of having a fiber to the home (FTTH) Internet service. I’ll tell you how I got this service, the experience of having it, and why you probably can’t get it where you live. Better Living With Fiber This is not the kind of fiber you want in your breakfast cereal. It’s made of glass. Fiber optic cables are extremely thin – almost a hair width – but they can handle huge amounts of data. Just one of these thin strands can carry a gigabit going down on one frequency, and another gigabit going up on another frequency. This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here … Read More
Ask @WinObs: How Do I Manage Device Limits?
Q. I am trying to install an app from the Microsoft Store on my computer, but I get an error that says I have exceeded my device limit. How do I fix this? A. This is an error that will pop up if you try to use more than 10 devices to download apps from the Microsoft Store on Windows 10 using the same Microsoft Account. There is no specific rhyme or reason to this number: Under Windows 8.1 this device limit was 81 and under Windows 10 it has dropped to just 10. OK – so maybe there is a connection between the operating system but that makes no sense at all to just change these limits from OS to OS. Note: Developers can often get this limit expanded so they can test their apps on multiple devices without any issues. Anyway, with just 10 devices allowed to install apps from the Microsoft Store, you could hit this limit very quickly. Devices are not automatically removed from your master device list so if you go through a couple of upgrade cycles you could hit this limit as well. This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid … Read More
Syncing Internet Explorer Favorites on Windows 10
When Microsoft launched Windows 10 back in July 2015, they included a fledgling web browser called Microsoft Edge. Work has continued on Edge over the last three years and it has improved tremendously. However, there are still a lot of sites that do not work correctly with it. For some, Chrome and Firefox provide alternative browsers that can be used in these situations but there are also some folks who need to use Internet Explorer in certain circumstances. Over my time using Windows 10, I have occasionally pulled up IE 11, that is the version included in Windows 10, in order to check out certain sites. In fact, Edge has a shortcut in its sidebar menu that lets you directly open a site in IE that is displayed in Edge. While that shortcut is handy, I also use the Favorites Bar on all my browsers to have the same sites pinned across the different devices I use each day. As I have been working with IE over these last three years or so in Windows 10, I have noticed that the Favorites Bar is either not synching at all or is very slow to sync across devices. I tinkered around … Read More
Special Edition: Excel Week, Continued
Numbers make the world go round. Excel’s become indispensable for crunching numbers – so why not make the most of the application? This is part two of our collection on mastering Microsoft’s flagship spreadsheet program. (Part one is here.) Email subscribers will have the full text of all these articles: Avoid Copy and Paste Problems in Microsoft Excel Use Templates to Enhance Your Excel Spreadsheets”}”>Use Templates to Enhance Your Excel Spreadsheets How to Use Multiple Worksheets in a Microsoft Excel Workbook How to Work with Large Spreadsheets in Microsoft Excel We’re taking a quick summer break and will be back with new content on Tuesday, June 12, 2018.
Special Edition: Welcome to Excel Week
Numbers make the world go round. Excel’s become indispensable for crunching numbers – so why not make the most of the application? We’ve got a wealth of how-to articles on optimizing the ways you work within Excel, and we’ll be spending this week collecting them in one place. This way, you get a comprehensive how-to that will allow you an easy reference for mastering Microsoft’s flagship spreadsheet program. Email subscribers will have the full text of all these articles: How to Sort and Filter Your Data in Microsoft Excel How to Work With Formulas in Microsoft Excel How to Protect and Secure Your Data in Microsoft Excel Helpful Free Add-ins for Microsoft Excel We’ll have more great Excel content on Thursday. …This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login.
How Big Tech Is Accommodating More Users
Since today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day, we’ll review how a few of the big tech companies are helping with accessibility when it comes to their products and services. Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) began back in 2012 with a goal to drive the dialog about making digital access to resources/services accessible to those with disabilities. On the seven-year anniversary of the establishment of GAAD, tech companies are showing how they are making their own technology even more accessible. Microsoft The folks in Redmond have become pretty good at building hardware over the last few years with their Surface line of devices and accessories. Today, they showed how that same approach can make a significant difference for gamers with the unveiling of their upcoming Xbox Adaptive Controller. This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login.
Improve Your Productivity With Automation
Workflow automation is an increasingly important factor in productivity. A research report from Formstack released this year found that half of managers are spending the equivalent of one full workday each week on administrative tasks, many of which could be automated. And 44 per cent of managers reported that their workplace has invested significantly in workflow automation tools within the past two years. Managers are spending significant amounts of time, up to half of the average workday, on administrative tasks. In many cases, these tasks could be automated. “Few business owners really grasp the concepts of what automation in technology can do,” said Martin Webb, a founder of Tudodesk. “When they start a business or look to grow it, they instantly assume the problem they need to solve is by hiring help.” There are times when automating repetitive or administrative tasks can free up time and mental space, allowing for focus on more important matters. Automate Your Email This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login.
Ask @WinObs: Are Any Other Features Being Removed From the Windows 10 April 2018 Update?
I recently shared details about the retirement of HomeGroup from the Windows 10 April 2018 Update. This feature update was made available for download last week; as of this month’s Patch Tuesday, the update is now beginning its rollout through Windows Update. Microsoft had given users a heads up about the removal of HomeGroup from this fifth feature update for Windows 10 which is why we knew that was coming. When they began the availability of the update to the public last week that triggered the publication of the complete list of features that were either removed or planned for removal/replacement in this update. On the page listing these changes for the feature update there is a caveat from Microsoft which states: This list is subject to change and might not include every affected feature or functionality This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login.
How to get the Windows 10 April 2018 Update
In last weeks’ newsletters (Tuesday and Thursday), we took a closer look at some of the new features of what we called the Productivity Update, i.e. the Windows 10 April 2018 Update aka Windows 10 Version 1803 (OS Build 17134.1). Note: If you are interested in seeing more about some of the enterprise/business related features in this update you can check out the review we posted at ITPro Today last week. This week, we are going to review the various methods for upgrading or clean installing your current Windows 10 installation to this fifth feature update for the operating system. Windows Update (Automatic) When Microsoft begins an automatic roll out of an update like this, they usually begin with known hardware configurations. That means targeting hardware such as first-party Surface devices, some of their OEM partners’ machines, or newer machines that are more likely to be compatible with the update to Windows 10. This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login.
Windows 10 Redstone 4 Feature Update Review, Part Two
Welcome back to our examination of the Windows 10 April 2018 Update (also be known under its official name of Windows 10 Version 1803 (OS Build 17134.1). In part one of the review, I suggested it be called the Productivity Update. I’ll keep calling it that in this examination of some other highly useful features: Cortana, Startup Apps Control, Accessibility, Microsoft Edge and Security. Cortana Cortana has received a slight makeover with new information cards for both her Notebook and Skills areas when you click on the Cortana icon on the Windows 10 Taskbar. This makes these settings faster to access because they are just one level away when you open Cortana. There is also an edit icon next to your name so that you can adjust the Places which Cortana knows about such as Home and Work. This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login.