With Windows XP expiring in just a few days, it is time to upgrade. What does XP’s expiration actually mean for you though? Well, it means that on April 08, 2014 your computer and everything on it will become an open door for hackers. Prepare yourself for Malware, Virus’s, your personal information exposed as well as any and all confidential information on your computer. I read just today that “Currently”, Windows XP users are 6 times more likely to be attached and the support hasn’t even ended quite yet. (Current stat’s show that there are still 211 Million people on XP worldwide).
So what do you do? Well, you get your checkbook out and start spending money. The question becomes; how much money will you need to spend? Well, that is not really clear for anyone to be honest. The logical choice for an upgrade would be Windows 7 but that is not an easy find.
You see, Microsoft has released Windows 8 and 8.1 and they are pushing really hard to see to it that you move to their newest – latest – greatest, blah, blah, and blah. The problem with Windows 8 however, is that the majority of corporate America will be on Windows 7 for many years to come. Windows 8 was designed for use on a touch screen system and the interface that so many millions of people have grown accustomed to has “gone away”.
To get Windows 7, you have several choices but are there any “Good” choices or let’s say “Fair” choices? You can go to some of the known computer sellers such as Dell and purchase a brand new computer for $500 or more and have a licensed copy of Windows 7, but if you own a small company and need to upgrade 20 or 30 users, that doesn’t seem like a logical expense to start the second quarter of the year. You can go to some of the online software vendors and purchase a version of Windows 7 for around $100 but if you go that route, you will not get support from Microsoft. Microsoft will offer security updates on these software versions until 2020 however.
So where does all this Microsoft talk fit into a Google blog?
Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and so on are simply Operating Systems, the programs that give you the GUI (Graphical User Interface). Well you can get an OS from just about anywhere for starters. If all you need is internet an email for example the chrome book is ideal.
Well with Google, Guess What?
All you need is an internet connection and you can be up and running with more bells and whistles than you have ever had!
Where to start:
- Start with Google Chrome
- Set up your Gmail account
- Customize your Google+ page (comes free and ready with Gmail)
- Connect with Google Drive (Google’s free cloud storage space for you)
Within Google Drive is your Google Doc’s
- · Document (Word Editor)
- · Presentation (Slideshow Presenter)
- · Spreadsheet
- · Form
- · Drawing
These are just the beginning of what you get for free. For those who may not know it, Google owns Android. You can now add Google Calendar which not only helps you organize your life and appointments but also synchronizes with your mobile device and will send you text messages as reminders of upcoming appointments.
There is Google Sketch-Up for those who like to design. It is Google’s free version of programs like Auto CAD and Solid Works. Sketch-Up also is a 3D program.
Another really neat and convenient feature in Google Docs is that changes are saved automatically within seconds of you entering them. No more “Lost Data” due to power surges and system failures and because it is all on the cloud, you can access your information from any computer from anywhere you have an internet connection.
You don’t need to worry about when Google will expire and you will be forced to spend hundreds to thousands of dollars just to keep working.
So, hopefully you now have at least an understanding of where I am going with this Microsoft Windows XP expiration being a good time and excuse to start exploring the wonderful world of Google. Please remember to follow me for updates and training videos and remember to subscribe to my videos so that you can always receive the notices of newly released videos. Please comment your opinions and questions and what you would like to learn or know next and I promise to be as prompt as possible at meeting my follower’s needs.
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