Business Solutions & Software Group Blog

We’ve been sharing some blogs over the past few months to help anyone more familiar with Apple workstations become acquainted with the Windows environment, primarily because Windows is still far and away the most common business operating system. Let’s continue by examining the File Explorer and how this key system is organized.

Every so often, we’ve been touching on how users who may be more familiar with the macOS ecosystem in their personal lives will likely need to familiarize themselves with the Windows operating system. This time, we wanted to discuss virtual desktops in Windows… something that Mac users would know as Spaces.

Windows is, generally speaking, the default operating system used in a business setting. The same isn’t necessarily true amongst personal use… and with more organizations branching out and using Chromebooks and Macs, general familiarity with Windows is less and less of a given amongst younger users who your company may employ.

Understanding various tools, however, is advantageous—especially if there’s disparity between what one uses at home and what is standard at work. Let’s explore how Windows' different drives work and how to use them effectively.

Last month, we touched on how Windows isn’t necessarily the standard in the home as in the modern office… and therefore, how many users may not necessarily be as familiar with the operating system as some might hope. In light of how vital familiarity with Windows is in the modern workplace, we wanted to share how Windows 11 works.

To continue this exploration, we wanted to take a closer look at the Start menu, which can be found on the toolbar.

We understand that Windows, while standard in most businesses, isn’t always the operating system of choice for personal users. With many schools supplying Chromebooks and Macs to students, the number of young users unfamiliar with Windows will likely rise as time passes.

Regardless of your preference regarding personal devices, becoming as familiar as possible with what is available in your professional life is always best. It also never hurts to review these things, even if you’ve used Windows before. A lot has changed, and you may learn something new!

So, if you’re an Apple user and find yourself using Windows in the workplace, consider this your guided tour of how to use Microsoft’s longstanding operating system.

Have you looked at the forecast lately? Not the weather forecast… the market forecast. You know, the one that shows that proposed tariffs could impact the market—including hardware costs—as early as February 2025.

You know what that means: it’s time to upgrade or purchase new hardware today before the price hikes make it impossible.

Laptops are old news in the business world, but the technology that now powers them is impressive to say the least. You can get just as much done with a laptop as you could with a powerful, resource-intensive desktop just a couple of years ago. But how do Chromebooks fit into the mix? Today, we want to discuss the difference between a Chromebook and a typical laptop, and why you might consider one over the other.

You likely have employees who work outside the office at least some of the time, if not working remotely all the time. Therefore, you owe it to yourself and your business to equip your team with the tools and resources they need to be successful. We recommend that you carefully consider the technology you provide for your employees, especially when they work out of the office part of the time, as well as how your team will access these tools and resources.

Today, technology stands out for its remarkable pace of growth and continuous innovation. I really mean continuous. Nearly everything that has been developed is eventually improved upon, until something new comes along and replaces it. If an improvement is good enough, especially if it is seen as indispensable, it will often transcend the initial invention. This has happened many times over the years. 

Windows has a lot of neat hidden features in its settings, one of which is called Storage Sense. Storage Sense can help you manage some of the more inconspicuous file storage issues you might encounter during your time at the office or on your personal device. Let’s go over what Storage Sense can do and why it’s helpful to keep in mind.

The keyboard is one of the most inconspicuously disgusting tools you have in your office, so you should take care to clean it out every so often. Let’s go over how you can both be more hygienic with your keyboard and clean it up more frequently.

Just like any other piece of machinery or appliance in your household or office, your computer will need regular cleaning to keep it in proper working order. To help you do this, we’ve put together three helpful tips you can use while you’re cleaning your devices. And, of course, if you’re ever uncomfortable doing any of these, we always recommend leaving the work to the professionals, too.

You sometimes see in movies or television shows situations where someone wants to erase the contents of a computing device through the use of magnets, but how much truth is there really to this kind of thing? Today, we dive into just how much a magnet can damage a device and whether or not you need to worry about them.

Using multiple monitors is great—once you try it, you never want to go back. However, there are times that Windows will still act as though you’re using an additional monitor even when you aren’t. This can make your application windows inaccessible.

Let’s go over how you can retrieve them.

The average business has countless endpoints accessing their infrastructure’s data at any given point throughout the workday. Think about it; just how many devices have access to your business’ data infrastructure? Do you know the answer? If not, then perhaps you could be doing more to secure these endpoints, as any endpoint that is not adequately secured could be a gateway into your network for a cybercriminal.

Let’s say you are going about your workday when your computer suddenly crashes. Your first reaction might be to reach out for support, and if so, then you are correct; we can’t let you suffer from downtime for too long! Let’s go over what the acquisition of support might entail, even if the problem you are experiencing cannot be solved through a remote support option.

For companies that depend on their computing, the workstation plays an important role. The problem with them is that spending big money on computers that are used for general productivity is not cost effective, but if they don’t have the computing power needed to successfully run the software that your company uses, they won’t do you any good. Today, we will talk a bit about hardware considerations you will need to make when choosing workstation hardware, and the cloud-hosted options that may be a good option for your business. 

Workplace stress has become a key issue in today’s business environment, and many studies have been performed to demonstrate why there has been such an increase, as well as what can be done to stymie its impact. Microsoft has recently filed a patent to show how seriously this issue must be taken. While it’s good to see the tech company invested in resolving this issue, one has to wonder whether the help of a new technology solution is necessary in identifying stressors in their workplace environment.

No matter how new a device is, the unfortunate truth is that it will not last forever. Eventually, you will need to replace your device; the question then becomes what you do with your old technology. While you could just throw it in the trash, this is not only wasteful but also a security risk. In order to protect both your personal data and the environment, you must go through the proper channels to make sure that e-waste gets properly disposed of.

With computers being so integral to modern life, it can be too easy to hear about certain drawbacks—like the purported impacts of blue light—and discount them as little more than a way for companies to sell things that nobody really needs. While we aren’t going to speak to all these presumed drawbacks, we did want to spend some time discussing blue light and how it could impact your health (and how to help keep it from doing so).