Microsoft end of life products - what do you need to do? The release of Windows 10 introduced a major change with the support lifecycle for Microsoft’s client Operating System. With Windows 10, free feature updates are released twice a year, and are supported for 18 months (for the Home and Pro Editions), which means that you now need to monitor which version you are running, which can be done using the following steps:
Click on the ‘Start’ button
Type in ‘winver’ and press enter
If the version is 1511, 1607, or 1703, your version of Windows 10 Home/Pro is already out of support and will no longer receive security updates
If the version is 1709, support will be ending April 9, 2019
OIA recommends that you apply overall monitoring on all devices to alert you when your support is running out. Services such as OIA’s Monitoring Solution will ensure that your Windows devices are being kept up to date. Please see below list of Microsoft products running out of support this year and next year. After these key dates, Microsoft will no longer be releasing publicly available security updates and they will be considered insecure. OIA recommends either replacing or upgrading these products before they reach End of Life.
Contact OIA if any of your products are expiring soon, or if you’re unsure and would like a review of your IT Infrastructure and end user devices.
July 9, 2019
January 14, 2020
Windows SBS Server 2011
October 13, 2020
Please note that support for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, Exchange 2007, and Microsoft Office 2007 has already ended.
Recommendation - Sophos Phish Threat
Phishing attacks have shown record growth in recent years, with 66% of malware now installed via malicious email attachments, and advanced phishing attacks costing businesses an average of $140,000 per incident. Phishing is a cyber-attack which aims to trick an email recipient into believing that a message is something they want or need — a request from their bank, for instance, and to click a link or download an attachment. Sophos Phish Threat emulates a range of phishing attack types to help you identify areas of weakness in your organisation’s security posture, and empowers users through engaging training to strengthen your organisation’s defences. The solution also includes reporting on phishing and training results. OIA has now delivered Sophos Phish Threat to several of our clients, and it has been an extremely useful tool in these organisations, identifying and training employees (including senior staff) caught out in the phishing attack simulation. For further information please click here, and if you are interested please contact us.
Recommendation - Document Comparison: 10 reasons why Microsoft Word can't compare to file comparison software
Find out the many benefits that file comparison software such as DocsCorp compareDocs can bring to your organisation, and why Microsoft Word’s comparison feature is no substitute for a specialist comparison tool here.
Office 365 Update - Microsoft Office 365: Productivity insights in Outlook powered by MyAnalytics now available to Office 365 customers
Do you struggle with missing important emails or forgetting tasks you committed to, and need a way to stay on top of your tasks and get more done? Outlook offers productivity insights in an add-in powered by MyAnalytics. The add-in shows users insights about their recent collaboration and communication patterns and suggests ways to work more effectively, providing actionable insights to help you stay on top of your tasks and get more done. For further information, click here.
Quick Tip - DocsCorp: Quick Start Guides for pdfDocs and compareDocs
Need a quick refresher on all the features that pdfDocs, compareDocs and cleanDocs offer? See the pdfDocs 4.5 Quick Start Guide, compareDocs 4.x Quick Start Guide and cleanDocs 2.1 Quick Start Guide. Interested in further DocsCorp training? OIA offers client training for all three solutions, and DocsCorp offers an e-Learning series for pdfDocs, compareDocs and cleanDocs. For further information and pricing, please contact us.
Office 365 Update - Microsoft Office 365: Skype being replaced by Teams
Microsoft is currently in the process of migrating Office 365 tenants from Skype to Microsoft Teams. This is an automated process, with the Skype client prompting staff to install Teams once the upgrade has taken place. Teams is Microsoft’s new collaboration platform, and supports Instant Messaging, Chat Based Group Workspaces, Video/Voice Calls, Meetings (with external parties), and has integrations with a number of cloud services. An interactive demo on the product can be found here. End-user training documentation can be found here.
Software Update - Microsoft will offer 64-bit Office by default moving forward
Microsoft has announced that moving forward, the 64-bit version of Office will be the new default for both Office 365 and the new perpetual Office product that was recently released, Office 2019. This is only for new full product installations on Windows PCs, and you will not be automatically upgraded to the 64-bit versions. Companies using applications that integrate into the Microsoft Office suite will need to verify their applications support Office 64-bit or update their deployment processes to ensure the 32-bit version is installed. For further information, click here.
Security News - Apple disables Group FaceTime following major security flaw
Apple has temporarily disabled its Group Facetime feature in iOS and macOS on the server side in order to fix a major security flaw. A bug in Apple’s FaceTime video calling feature has allowed anyone to call a phone or Mac and listen in before the other person picks up. The security flaw works by adding a user to a FaceTime call before the recipient picks up, which tricks FaceTime into thinking it’s an active call and forcing the person receiving the call to start transmitting audio. Reports suggest that the security flaw has been fixed for most people after the Group FaceTime feature was disabled by Apple. Apple is also planning to fix this bug on the client side with a software update, but in the meantime it’s recommended to disable FaceTime in the iOS settings. For further information and instructions on how to disable FaceTime, click here.