Plans for a single Operating System at Microsoft

Andy Lees, the President of Windows Phone, has said that a “single ecosystem” for PCs, phones, tablets and other devices could emerge by 2015.

Andy Lee was speaking at the at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference. He said, “You can have full PC compute power available in whatever form factor you like,” said Lees, implying that the company might wish to use a common interface across different devices. The trend, already visible in Windows 8 for PCs apparently learning from Windows Phone, would mean replicate Apple’s recent use of gestures on PCs, laptops, tablets and phones.
Lees also commented on the fact that Microsoft wants to provide “coherence and consistency” across different devices, “particularly with Xbox”. So far, the company has used its IE9 browser on phones and PCs.

Nilay Patel claimed “Microsoft is planning to somehow harmonize not only Windows for PCs and Windows Phone, but also the Xbox operating system sometime within the next four years — a timeframe that perfectly lines up with both the end of the Xbox 360′s 10-year lifecycle and the end of Windows 8′s expected three-year run.”

Watch out for fake virus alerts

Rogue security software, also known as "scareware," is software that appears to be beneficial from a security perspective but provides limited or no security, generates erroneous or misleading alerts, or attempts to lure users into participating in fraudulent transactions.

How does rogue security software get on my computer?
Rogue security software designers create legitimate looking pop-up windows that advertise security update software. These windows might appear on your screen while you surf the web.

The "updates" or "alerts" in the pop-up windows call for you to take some sort of action, such as clicking to install the software, accept recommended updates, or remove unwanted viruses or spyware. When you click, the rogue security software downloads to your computer.

Rogue security software might also appear in the list of search results when you are searching for trustworthy antispyware software, so it is important to protect your computer.

For the full article from Microsoft click here.

If you do end up with nasties on your machine our advice is to switch it off and contact us on 0845 644 2731, we can clean it up and save your data. On that note always, always ensure you have an upto date backup!

Microsoft Buys Skype for $8.5 Billion - Why?

You’ve heard the rumors and now it is official, Microsoft has acquired Skype for a whopping $8.5 billion. On the face of it you may think that purchasing a company for such a vast amount given that Skype made a $7 million loss last year is somewhat bizarre, but I think there are several reasons for this purchase.

Firstly, the integration into existing products such as Xbox and Windows Phone 7, it certainly would be a contender for Apple’s Facetime if you implement in your living room, using Kinect!!

Secondly, with the up and coming cloud services Office365, Microsoft Lync will play a major part in providing business class services and the adoption of Skype will provide an inroad to a whole new client base. Making the move from a free product to a paid service in the region of $5 for a bundle of value add services seems to make sense.

Finally, competition, in my opinion if you have a lot of money in the bank then it makes sense to purchase an existing technology to enhance your portfolio or indeed if you want your technology to succeed then simply remove your competition!

Smartphone Envy

We are noticing increasing use of smartphones amongst the business community, and it's a trend we've made sure we're on top of – our services 
often include sourcing, setting up and helping clients get the best out of their handsets.


Security is often raised as an objection when IT managers are asked to implement smartphones into the business toolkit. Blackberries, iPhones and other mobile devices can be ticking time bombs full of confidential information – the modern day equivalent of the briefcase left on a train. At the recent Mobile World Congress, one of the new handsets unveiled was the Samsung Galaxy SII, which has sufficient security control to allay the fears of the most nervous IT manager.

The advent of cloud services has led to a widespread change

The advent of cloud services has led to a widespread change in the way even the smallest businesses are able to manage and share information. Access to a server that can automatically manage backups and basic system management, and offer centralised storage facilities has become the rule, rather than the exception. Small Business Server Standard is designed and priced for businesses with up to 75 employees, but until now, Microsoft hasn't offered a solution for very small businesses.

This is all set to change with the announcement that Small Business Server Essentials 2011, has been successfully beta tested, and is now categorised as a release candidate (a version which has the potential to be a final product, and is ready for release) SBS Essentials is intended for smaller organisations (up to 25 people) and will provide a cost-effective way to access business information remotely, support business applications, and enable swift uncomplicated connection with email and other online services.

SBS Standard has become rather like a favourite pair of slippers at Nexus, so we're very interested in seeing what the new version has to offer both us, and more importantly, our clients!

Microsoft have announced the release of Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1).

Microsoft have announced the release of Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) now available to download from www.microsoft.com. The service pack is the first major upgrade since Windows 7 was released in 2009, and has been described, somewhat unkindly, as “just a series of bug fixes”.

There is little on there that is going to interest the average business user, and very little that hasn't already been available as a separate upgrade, but it does finally group together the fixes for all the little niggles that have been annoying IT managers operating Windows 7.

One problem we can see immediately with this service pack is its size. It's a large and clunky beastie, which is going to require a significant download time, so timing needs to be planned with care to avoid disruption.

Microsoft commented previously that there was no reason to wait for SP1 before migrating to Windows 7, but now it's here, there couldn't really be a better time to consider a move. We'll examine some of the features in greater detail when we've had a chance to look more closely at them, so watch this space.

Whatever your situation do not let your business STOP due to having an unreliable IT system in place.

The London Stock Exchange made businesses sit up and take 
note when trading stopped due to system downtime. Investigations are still in place to find out exactly what happened, but you can only imagine the chaos caused. That’s why our team at Nexus feel it is vital that all businesses have the correct IT system in place to protect themselves from potential downtime.

Nexus is offering your business a free trial of our Active Fix Agent service.
To take advantage of the free 30 day offer (worth £25) simply call us on: 0845 644 2731 or email and we will be happy to take you through the process.

How does it work?
We will install our Active Fix Agent on your computer, which carries out a series of automated tasks. The tasks optimise your computer and install recommended Microsoft approved updates. No data is obtained from your computer, and we comply with the data protection act 1998.