Windows 11 has an attractive new look and some of the niftiest features ever seen in previous iterations of the operating system. These include the new placement of the Start button, improved security, Microsoft Teams’ Chat integration into the taskbar, a more personalized Widgets feed, and much more. Some users, however, would have liked to see certain Windows 10 features and capabilities brought over to the latest OS.

Customizable taskbar

In Windows 10, users can move the taskbar from its default horizontal position to the right or left edge or the top of the screen. In Windows 11, the taskbar stays at the bottom and there’s no option to customize its dimensions. Although the taskbar is commonly kept at the bottom of the screen, some users may want to change its position for different reasons.

Additionally, there’s no longer an option to move the Date and Time on the taskbar. In Windows 10, users can move Date and Time, which is placed in the right-hand corner of the taskbar’s System Tray area, by toggling off Clock in Settings. Some users may be perfectly fine with the default taskbar settings, but others might prefer greater customizability.

Drag and drop

Also absent in Windows 11 is the ability to drag and drop a file on your desktop into a program on the taskbar. In Windows 10 and earlier versions, you can drag, say, an Excel document saved on your desktop onto the Excel icon on the taskbar, and it will open. You can’t do this anymore on Windows 11. Users can also no longer drag and drop/save a file or any program onto the taskbar.

Live Tiles

The Start Menu in Windows 11 comes with new features, mainly a refurbished design, the “Pinned” icons, and a “Recommended” section. But gone are Live Tiles, previously available in earlier Windows versions, beginning with Windows 10. Those who’ve updated to Windows 11 will get the new “Widgets” features in place of the Live Tiles, but the latter serves an entirely different function.

Easier activation

To activate Windows 11 Home, users must have a Microsoft account, a 64-bit processor, and an internet connection. These are part of Microsoft’s minimum system requirements to activate the OS — on top of the need for a device with at least 4 GB of memory and 64 GB of storage.

On one hand, this can be useful. For one, business users signing into Windows with their Microsoft account automatically backs up their files through the company’s OneDrive storage device. However, for many users who don’t have a Microsoft account yet, it would be a lot easier not to have to connect a Microsoft account (or create one) when activating Windows 11.

Cortana integration

Cortana is a much less popular counterpart to the more established voice assistants of Apple (Siri), Amazon (Alexa), and Google (Google Assistant). But people who’ve gotten used to Windows’ very own assistant, which is integrated into Windows 10, might feel let down that Cortana is no longer part of the system setup nor can it be found within the Start Menu. Note, however, that the Cortana application is still available. You can find and enable it in Settings > Apps > Apps & Features > Cortana.

Internet Explorer support

To a lesser extent, some Windows 11 users will be disappointed by the absence of Internet Explorer, which will cease to receive support from June 15, 2022 onwards.

Faster shutdown

The slow shutdown of PCs running on Windows 10 is commonly attributed to Windows system files or corrupted drivers. Users would have liked to see faster shutdowns in Windows 11, but alas, that is not the case. Wake-from-sleep and restart times also remain unenhanced.

Windows 11 is not going to please everyone, but its other new functions will nevertheless please others. If you want to maximize all that the new OS has to offer, give our team a call. Our IT professionals would be more than happy to make your new system work for you.

If you are looking for an expert to help you find the best solutions for your business talk to GCInfotech about a free technology assessment

Published with consideration from TechAdvisory.org SOURCE

Every business, regardless of size and industry, needs to have an online presence these days. One of the best ways to achieve this is to create your own website, and for that, you’ll need a web host. Here’s a quick overview of what a web host is and the two most common types of hosting.

What is a web host?

A web host sells or leases memory space on its servers so your website can have a virtual location on the internet. Their services include online storage for all of your site’s files and web pages.

Many web hosts also offer domain name hosting, which creates a web address that users can type into a web browser to access your website (e.g., google.com, inc.com, etc.). Combine these two hosting services and you have the main foundations for your website.

You can also get domain-based email addresses (e.g., robert@acmeenterprise.com) and website databases from web hosts. Essentially, your web host can store everything your website needs.

When you sign up with a web host, you will usually pay a monthly fee, which the company uses to maintain and invest in new servers for hosting, increase access speeds, and provide better services.

What are the two most common types of web hosting?

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of web hosts around the world, but they usually fall into one of two categories:

  • Shared hosting – Multiple, different websites are stored on one physical hosting server. Sites have their own partition (section of storage) that is kept separate from other sites on the same server.
  • Dedicated hosting – One website is hosted per server. This means you have all of the server’s capacity to yourself.

Which hosting type is best for my business website?

Most websites use shared hosting because it’s more affordable while still offering generally stable access and access speeds. This is the ideal hosting type for most small- and medium-sized businesses with fairly simple websites.

If your website is going to be large (e.g., thousands of pages) and you are going to host complex features like advanced eCommerce, streaming, communication portals, and other web applications, then it would be best to opt for a dedicated hosting service. Examples of large sites include Google, Amazon, and government sites, among others.

With numerous web hosts out there, selecting the right fit can be quite challenging. But with our IT expertise and solutions, we can help you find the web host that will work best for your business needs. Contact us today to get started with your online presence.

Ask yourself what your website is doing for you and whether it’s aligned with your business needs and objectives. The GCInfotech professional web design team is here to help.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. SOURCE

Microsoft is a provider of powerful and intuitive tools that improve efficiency, productivity, and security. And as phishing attacks become more sophisticated and prevalent, Microsoft is taking steps to protect its users, one of which is releasing powerful cybersecurity tools via Microsoft 365 Defender. Here are some of them.

1. Anti-phishing

The most dangerous types of phishing scams involve emails that are disguised to appear like it’s from an entity. An attacker may use cunning tactics, such as referring to the victims by their nickname. They may even take over actual email accounts and use these to trick their victims.

Through machine learning, Defender creates a list of contacts that users normally communicate with. It then employs an array of tools, including standard anti-malware solutions, to differentiate acceptable from suspicious behaviors.

2. Anti-spam

Since common phishing campaigns utilize spam emails to victimize people, blocking spam is a great way to protect your company from such attacks.

Defender’s anti-spam technology addresses the issue by examining both an email’s source and its contents. If an email is found to come from an untrustworthy source or has suspicious contents, it is automatically sent to the Spam folder. What’s more, this feature regularly checks the activity of people in your company to ensure that none of them sends out spam emails.

3. Anti-malware

Malware, such as ransomware and spyware, can spread via phishing emails. Ransomware locks systems and files from users until a ransom is paid. Spyware, on the other hand, steals data by recording keystrokes, copying clipboards, and taking screenshots, among other methods.

Defender employs a multilayered defense against both known and unknown types of malware. This covers the different stages of email transmission security, including filtering potentially harmful attachments, and real-time threat response. Microsoft also regularly deploys new definition updates to keep its defenses armed against the latest threats.

4. Sandbox

It’s not uncommon for some users to accidentally open a malicious email attachment, especially if they’re not careful.

Defender resolves this issue by opening all attachments in a sandbox first. This sandbox is an isolated environment, so if the attachment is malicious, it will only infect the sandbox and not your actual system. Microsoft will then warn you not to open the file. If it’s safe, you will be able to open it normally.

5. Safe Links

Instead of attachments, some phishing emails contain URLs that lead to fraudulent websites — often made to look like legitimate ones — that require victims to provide their personal information. Some of these URLs also lead to pages that download malware into a computer.

Through a process called URL detonation, Safe Links protects users by scanning the links in their emails and checking for malicious behavior, such as the transmission of malware. If the link opens a malicious website, Microsoft Defender will warn users not to visit it. Otherwise, users can open the destination URL normally. Even so, the service will rescan the link in the succeeding days and report any suspicious changes.

What’s great about Safe Links is that it also scans links in emails from people within your company and works on files uploaded to Microsoft Teams and SharePoint.

6. User Submissions

Defender allows you to set a specific mailbox to send emails you deem a threat. The User Submissions feature lets you set criteria for both malicious and safe email and identify mailboxes besides your spam folder to keep these messages in. This feature gives your administrators greater control over which emails to flag and which to report to Microsoft.

7. Enhanced Filtering

If your company uses third-party services to route emails to your on-premises environment before they are sent to Microsoft 365, you will benefit from Enhanced Filtering for Connectors. Defender uses inbound connectors to determine the trustworthiness of email sources. The more complex your routing scenario is, the more likely that an email’s inbound connectors will not reflect its real source.

Enhanced Filtering preserves authentication signals that may have been lost over the course of routing emails. This maximizes the effectiveness of Microsoft 365’s overall filtering capabilities, helping it detect spam and phishing emails.

If you need an email service that promotes efficiency while protecting your business, we can deploy and manage Microsoft 365 for you. Call us today to get started.

To learn more about how to safeguard your business, or if you are looking for an expert to help you find the best solutions for your business talk to GCInfotech about a free technology assessment.

Published with consideration from TechAdvisory.org SOURCE

Windows 11 — Microsoft’s latest operating system (OS) — boasts of improvements that are designed to keep organizations secure, support businesses with hybrid work setups, and increase users’ productivity. Let’s take a closer look at some of its most important features.

Security features

Windows 11 continues what its predecessor has been doing, which is to provide apps that boost security and grant control over security and privacy settings.

OS LEVEL: SECURITY BASELINES

Security requirements differ among different industries and organizations. For instance, a hospital must be HIPAA-compliant and maintain the privacy of patients’ health information, whereas a phone manufacturer would want to safeguard the fruits of its R&D department. Given the multitude of controls to set, security baselines help firms configure their own granular security settings and apply industry standards.

APP LEVEL: WINDOWS APPLICATION SECURITY

When malware-laced apps and files are opened, malicious code may be executed alongside innocuous programming. Microsoft is well aware of how hackers abuse Office macros and turn these into cyberattack vectors, so it developed Windows application security to thwart such threats.

DEVICE LEVEL: MICROSOFT DEFENDER FOR ENDPOINT AND ENDPOINT MANAGER

Defender for Endpoint is a security platform that keeps networks protected by detecting, analyzing, and responding to all types of cyberthreats. On the other hand, Endpoint Manager is an administrative tool for enforcing security compliance policies across all devices on your network. It helps an IT admin prevent data breaches and minimize their impact by isolating compromised devices.

USER AND IDENTITY LEVEL: WINDOWS HELLO FOR BUSINESS

As a security tool, passwords are obsolete because of how these have become easy to steal. Windows Hello for Business protects your organization at the end-user level by replacing passwords with biometrics or PINs that are kept locally in users’ devices.

Hybrid work innovations, productivity enhancements, and other helpful features

These innovations help users accomplish their tasks and provide nice-to-have conveniences:

VIRTUAL DESKTOPS

Whether employees use company-issued devices or their own, they tend to use these for both work and personal tasks. Personal apps, files, and activities increase your organization’s exposure to cybersecurity risks, while the converse is also true: work apps, files, and activities may also expose an employee’s personal accounts to cybersecurity risks.

With virtual desktops, users can compartmentalize the professional and the personal by creating a separate desktop for each one. This separation helps limit the impact of a cybersecurity event to the affected desktop. Plus, compartmentalization has the added benefit of helping employees avoid personal distractions while at work, and unplug from work when their shift is over.

WINDOWS AUTOPILOT

Autopilot automatically takes care of preparing a Windows PC or HoloLens 2 for use whenever you issue one to an employee. Just have the employee sign in to their account, then Autopilot automatically does the following in the background:

  • Enrolls the device into Endpoint Manager, which then deploys work apps like Microsoft Teams
  • Applies policies and settings
  • Has the device join either Azure Active Directory or Active Directory

Autopilot can also be used to reset, repurpose, and recover machines.

Everything mentioned thus far can all be done without ever involving your IT admins, thereby allowing them to focus more on higher-value tasks.

WIDGETS

If there’s info that you consume regularly, such as news and weather reports, it’d be convenient to have a repository you can open with just one click. That’s what Widgets is for. Simply click on its icon on the taskbar to access your very own personalized information feed — no need to manually search in web browsers.

Widgets can also contain small apps like calendars and calculators. These apps are ready to be used and do not need to be launched separately.

SNAP LAYOUTS

Snap layouts allow users to arrange app windows for when they’re using multiple apps simultaneously on a single screen. To illustrate, a data analyst may place two data sources on the left side of the screen while they work on their report in a spreadsheet on the right side.

Users can save a particular grouping of apps or layout into a Snap Group. This means that they can save a Snap Group for every task that requires a different set of apps. Therefore, when a user wants to perform a certain task, they can just open the related Snap Group to select the apps they need for that task. This is much faster than opening apps individually and setting your preferred layout every time. Furthermore, if a user has created multiple Snap Groups, they can easily switch to another Group when they have to perform a different task.

POWER AUTOMATE

With Power Automate, users with practically no coding experience can leverage robotic process automation or RPA to automate repetitive processes and make their work tasks a lot easier. All a user has to do is to select from Power Automate’s 400-plus premade actions and utilize a recorder to keep track of keyboard functions and mouse actions. To illustrate, you can create automated email alerts that notify your team whenever a client submits a form, or you can automatically place purchase orders whenever supplies breach minimum quantity thresholds.

If you wish to deploy Windows 11 in your organization, let our IT experts help you out. Tell us more about your business requirements today.

If you are looking for an expert to help you find the best solutions for your business talk to GCInfotech about a free technology assessment

Published with consideration from TechAdvisory.org SOURCE