Microsoft has admitted that many of the issues this week were due to the Azure Active Directory authentication. However, when the company was asked why other people are still having a slew of outages and problems, they refused to talk. It’s looking like many of the problems aren’t even related to the original problem, beginning with something much deeper. What’s going on, Microsoft? And what am I supposed to do to fix the problem, you may be asking yourself. We’ll take a look into this, so you know you’re not alone.

It All Began At the Beginning of October

On Oct. 7^th, 2020, many people tried logging into their services, and they found they couldn’t log into their outlooks. Others were logged in, only to find that it was crashing intermittently for no apparent reason. The other services started having the same problem (Excel, Word, Powerpoint, etc. – all only on the Microsoft 365 platform). This is following the previous outage that Microsoft had on the last week in September that kept people out of their accounts for an entire day, which turned into an entire week.

According to Microsoft, they’re as vague as usual, saying that users “can’t access their services” – Duh, right?! Either way, there have been so many problems with Microsoft 365 in the past since all of the new forced Windows Updates, and the problem has just grown worse and worse over time. This sounds like a serious server-side problem or a coding issue somewhere.

Azure to Blame

The Microsoft 365 outage is being blamed on an infrastructure issue having to do with Azure AD.

Microsoft is primarily blaming their Azure infrastructure because it says that a change with wide-area networking causes connectivity issues and latency problems. Therefore, Azure decided to roll back the update to the last healthy config setting. Once this happened, many people say that they had problems fixed.

However, as time progressed, users of various Microsoft 365 services started reporting more and more issues, such as Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive, Business, and even Teams started seeing that they had a spike in their admin center traffic, and this caused similar issues to Azure AD’s issue plus Microsoft themselves still haven’t posted a real root cause as to what happened in September, and even October for the outages.

Is There Anything I Can Do?

There isn’t much that you can do to change Microsoft 365 for the better, but know that MSPs like us are prodding them to make their software more consumer-friendly and reliable.

One thing is for certain. There’s not much you can do regarding changing Microsoft 365 and Exchange services as it was a code issue on the server-side of things. However, you can help yourself with a failsafe solution to protect your business and keep things going steadily during an outage with cloud services. One such thing is to have the full professional versions of Microsoft Office (Office 2016 or Office 2019 Professional). These can help to give you some better connectivity and allow you to work “off-grid” from the cloud.

If you have any problems with the cloud services like this, you can always call your managed service provider and have them install such software and help you configure servers in your office so you can always use your business emails and more. Since the outage, though, about half of the users out there have been able to connect. But as of October 14^th, there has been a humongous spike in server connections, logins, and Outlook yet again. Will Microsoft ever get it right and retain 100% uptime? Who knows!

Microsoft 365 vs. Google Workspace Suite – Which is Better?

The battle between Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace is one for the ages, and we’ve got the results down below.

With the rise of mobile and remote work opportunities growing at an insane pace these days, one thing remains certain. Many companies are starting to use more and more cloud services for their work than they used to. Whether you’re a company with remote workers, or even if you are a work-from-home entrepreneur (such as a freelance web designer or copywriter), you probably utilize a cloud service somehow.

These days, most popularly, it comes down to which workspace suite is better for you and your business. Microsoft offers one that has been around for quite some time with Microsoft 365. Google has been around forever – along with its continuously growing Google Suite to cater more to businesses. But which one is better? Let’s find out!

Microsoft 365 Services and Packages

This list of Microsoft 365 services and programs is quite extensive, and we’re positive every business can find many of them to be useful.

Previous called Office 365, Microsoft 365 offers numerous solutions for businesses (and even home users and students – but we’re going to focus on business solutions) for apps and more. The prices range from $5 per month all the way up to the Business Premium package (more bells and whistles) for $20. You do have to pay for these services annually, much like a web hosting package.

You get web and mobile versions with the basic plan of Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Teams, Microsoft Exchange, OneDrive, and Sharepoint. With the next tier of Microsoft 365 Business, you get all of these apps, but you also get Publisher and Microsoft 365’s premium apps that you can use on your PC as well. The Premium account gives you all of the second tier’s secure services, as well as Intune and Azure Information Protection.

Of course, you can also purchase the apps only for $8.25/month, too, if you do not need the extra business packages. They offer enterprise packages that can give you better connectivity and interaction remotely and additional filesharing apps to improve team productivity.

Security & More

With Microsoft 365, you get file storage, email, and exchange protection against spam and malware, as well as additional support. You get more advanced threat protection with the Premium, of course.

Downsides

There are some major downsides when it comes to using these apps. For starters, they are a cloud service after all, and Microsoft has been subjected (especially in the past month) to numerous connectivity issues, but they’re often quick to resolve them.

Google Workspace as an Alternative to Microsoft 365

Which is better? Microsoft 365 or the new and improved Google Workspace? The results were a lot closer than we would have liked to see.

Google is on the rise, and they’ve been around for quite some time with their email services, search services, and of course, the rise of Android has brought things such as Google Sheets, Calendar, Chat, Docs, Slides, Keep, Sites, Forms, Currents, Drive, Google Meet (their Zoom alternative), and of course Gmail. They are a bit more expensive for businesses than Microsoft, and they offer varying amounts of cloud storage based on what package you get. You can also get Business Plus, which gives you more security (in their mind) and standard support that you can get upgraded at any time.

Google also has an Enterprise solution that can cater to larger businesses because you are limited to how many participants in video meetings you can have (Enterprise allows up to 250, recording, and live streaming services). With Enterprise, you also get unlimited cloud storage. (the lowest tier only gives you 30GB, while Business Standard provides 2TB, and Business Plus offers 5TB of cloud storage). The prices aren’t too bad either, and probably the most important features are the cloud storage, the email, and the collaborative documents that all of their apps share.

Business Starter is only $6USD, Standard is $12, plus is approximately $18 (prices are based on per-user you’re going to have for your business). Unlike Microsoft’s annual commitment that you have to pay for in advance, Google allows Flexible billing and Annual billing. This allows you to be charged monthly or annually based on the exact number of licenses you’re going to need. Most people choose Flexible because you can pay for many users you have every given month. If you do choose the Annual plan, it operates more like Microsofts.

The Upsides of Google Workspace

With all the data Google controls and their overall reliability, you’d think that they’d be a shoe in to beat Microsoft 365.

Google is a dominating leader in online cloud platforms, and they can virtually integrate with almost every device you have. However, as a business, some of the best features are the email (which you can use your actual website domain for) and collaborative features.

Google Workspace Downsides

Google Apps don’t operate with the famous shortcuts that Microsoft has literally kept for decades, and this causes a lot of confusion for employees needing to learn a new cloud-based platform. At the same time, there are things that people have problems with, such as links not pasting right, and of course, they don’t offer a downloadable platform that can be used offline like Microsoft either. The Google plans are also a bit more expensive per user than Microsoft’s (and you don’t get as much).

Another big issue is security. While Microsoft may be a tech giant who has had a slew of breakdowns and bug fixes, they are still one of the world’s most secure platforms. Sure, they have exploits that hackers find, etc., but there have been far fewer attacks on Microsoft itself. In contrast, Google literally monitors everything you do, controls every application and your data, and has had numerous security issues that have led to common everyday cyberattacks and data breaches. Not only that, but if you look at lawsuits in terms of security and data protection, Google has had more issues.

And the Winner is?

Drum roll, please! The winner and still champion is Microsoft 365!! See why below.

While we may not necessarily be in love with Microsoft, it does take the cake in terms of security and data protection. They do have certain features that Google doesn’t. Of course, Google has some more collaborative features that Microsoft doesn’t, but we are sticking with our decision. Mostly, security is a primary issue among most companies, and because of this, Microsoft does win in our book.

If you’re a business that doesn’t need to worry so much about this (and have numerous things in place for it), then the choice is ultimately yours, as both services are pretty solid. If you’re looking to get more collaboration, many users still choose Google (even though Hangouts has now been split into Meet for conference meetings and Chat for text-only messaging) since there are so many issues with Microsoft Teams and other collaborative applications.

After installing the update and logging back in, you were unexpectedly greeted by a list of tracking permissions and the Edge browser.

This sounds like the way spyware would act. Well, there’s even more terrible news. Millions of Windows 10 users have already tried to uninstall it – and either they can’t, or when they do, they end up having it force-reinstalled right back again. Microsoft even confirmed this. So let’s discuss this even more.

Why Did Microsoft Do This?

In case you are unaware, Microsoft has been collecting your data since the dawn of time, and things haven’t changed with Edge.

Part of the reason that is unbeknownst to Windows users is a hidden reason that Microsoft did this. If you have ever noticed, almost all Microsoft products (including Internet Explorer, Windows Defender, and more) collect your user data. Of course, you can somewhat turn this off, but Microsoft has ended up giving you the option to provide a minimal collection of data (in previous versions of Windows, you could turn these features off completely).

So, how does this relate to the Edge browser? Well, unfortunately, you cannot turn off Microsoft Edge’s ability to collect and report data to Microsoft. Therefore, with all of your browsers automatically being forced to share their data with Edge – this means that they’re collecting even more information. Invasion of Privacy? Well, they say it won’t be used against you, but at the same time, they have protection in place to cover their rears since you use Windows. So, you can’t get out of it.

Does This Mean I Have to Use Edge?

If you go to the Start Menu->Typing default apps -> And clicking the Default Apps Feature Setting, you can change Edge to the browser of your choice.

Fortunately, the answer is no. You don’t have to use Microsoft Edge necessarily. And the only way you can close it is to end the task on your Task Manager. But once you do, you can ensure that it doesn’t run in the background pretty quickly. Not only that, but you will need to more than likely set your current browser back to being the default browser by going to Start Menu->Typing default apps -> And clicking the Default Apps Feature Setting. This will show you a list of default applications, and you can click on the Default Browser and choose your primary browser again.

Can You Remove It?

Try as you might, you will not be able to remove Edge from your computer.

Some users have claimed that you can altogether remove Microsoft Edge. Still, Microsoft has already confirmed that it’s going to be a phased automatic install and an integral part of Windows. If you get rid of it, more than likely, you’re going to have a Windows Update detect that it’s not there and reinstall it all over again. So, the correct answer is no. If you don’t want it, don’t use it.

Is Edge More Secure and Safer?

Edge is more secure than it has ever been before, which is a relief for many.

There are some good things about the Edge Browser with these updates compared to previous versions of Edge and even Internet Explorer. By using the Google engine that they chose to base it on, it’s almost identical to Chrome in the way that it works, and there is much more security than even the Chrome and Firefox browsers when it comes to phishing and malware. This means that if you’re going to use it for your business, then it will more than likely be the better alternative compared to other browsers very soon.

Final Thoughts

Anytime you have software force-installed on your computers at your company, this can be a shock and a possible red flag, so we understand the importance. If you ask your IT support team the right questions, they’ll inform you of any problems that may be going on and educate you on the new features that may be installed onto your systems, so you don’t need to worry!

What Is The Main Use of Azure AD?

Azure AD is an excellent tool if you’re looking for synchronization and password management for your employees.

Azure AD helps companies implement active directory domains on their systems to have a solution that incorporates employee synchronization and helps to protect data for employees and companies so that everything can be put into one place. A lot of companies have specific issues when it comes to putting pertinent information into the cloud. Hence, things like the AD Connect password synchronization is a security issue that comes with storing them there – just as it is with any other cloud-based service.

ADFS

Azure AD offers additional security protocols with its Active Directory Federation Services or ADFS.

The Active Directory Federation Services helps in terms of authentication for a company by enforcing additional security measures like authentication requests that can only be used for the AD server. The downside is that it has its configurations that make them more complex and fully customizable. Other companies can provide identity federation services just the same, though, and for a smaller price. However, they don’t have the capabilities that Azure does in terms of integration.

Microsoft Exchange Services

Microsoft Exchange servers for corporations are available to provide employees with a full suite of Office software for a reasonable price while allowing businesses to save money by having the same Office 365 Exchange server so all employees can create their users. It also allows people to use things like Consumer IDM to enable customer-facing identity management. Therefore, you can use authentication services specifically for your business to incorporate with other cloud services for B2C purposes (such as social media outlets).

Other Features

Another great thing about Azure AD is that with Azure AD incorporated into your SaaS apps, you can integrate user provisioning into your Office 365 deployments and other apps such as Google and many more. This helps to integrate exchange servers for your employees and other users – a prime example of this is how the University of Phoenix operates with their “free” Office 365 subscriptions for their students.

You can also choose to have premium AD, which will help you incorporate Azure AD into your already created SaaS apps that your company uses. This allows your company to manage all of your IT solutions at not only a corporate level, but you can get enterprise services at a very reasonable price per like.

What We Think

Azure AD can help your business reach maximum heights in incorporating everything you need to have cloud-based solutions for your business. The only thing you may need, though, is a professional IT team in place that can install the services for you, as well as help you get the most out of your IDaaS while maintaining maximum integration with your internal corporation servers and services. Azure is a top-rated tool that many businesses use to incorporate many things, so it’s more than worth the price compared to many other advanced and more expensive old-school procedures.

Alarming Windows 10 Vulnerabilities You Should Know About

In the past, Internet Explorer junkies and those who, despite it alike, can tell you of all of the terrible security flaws in the browser, but nobody has ever complained that the browser just sort of “installed itself” and “wouldn’t let anyone close it.” That sounds like a problem to me!

How Do I Get the New Microsoft Edge?

The new Microsoft Edge doesn’t look half bad, and it has some cool features I didn’t expect to find, like the read-aloud feature you will find below.

If you have a recent Windows 10 system, getting the new version of Microsoft Edge is pretty straightforward. Run Windows Update and reboot your system. That being said, be prepared for a fun browser that can destroy itself. No, we’re serious. If you plan on closing it, don’t even bother unless you get it completely set up to your likings or unless you force it to stop with the Windows Task Manager.

What’s worse, you won’t even know it installs until you restart your system for a “super important Windows update.” When you restart, your computer will get bombarded with laggy speeds and a big splash screen telling you how you can try out and use the new Microsoft Edge browser. Wait, Didn’t Windows 10 already come with Microsoft Edge? Oh yeah, they updated it supposedly.

Problems with Taking Over

Microsoft Edge promises to keep your information private, but why is Microsoft forcing it on us by automatically making it our default browser?

Another important thing that people everywhere are complaining about – especially faithful Chrome and Firefox users – is that with this update, Microsoft also resets your default browser to use Edge instead of any others on your system. This alone is a humongous no-no. It is the exact reason why many people stop using their computers or operating systems altogether – directly because it controlled too much of their PC. Don’t believe us? Ask how many people have quit Windows because of the new version that doesn’t let you disable Windows Defender, and you may be surprised!

Unbeknownst Copying of Data

Microsoft Edge has been caught red-handed copying private data from its users. While it’s nothing new, and Google does it as well, we wish none of them did this.

Google has recently got into trouble by jumping the gun and automatically throwing your personal information online before. This eventually led them to make sure they ask your permission. Windows 10 went one step further – they share your data to the cloud with your Microsoft account, but they also copy your chrome data – bookmarks, history, cookies, and more) and throw it into its cache to help it “replace” your Google Chrome. Because of this hiccup, the app is almost a breach of security of privacy to many users.

Residual Waste

Once Microsoft Edge has dug its claws into your network, getting rid of it is a little tricky, and you’ll need to dig deep and pull it out by the roots.

While we mentioned that you could use the task manager to kill the app, you still didn’t get rid of it. Once you reset your default browser to the one you use, you need to find where the Edge browser resides, then find and delete the personal data of yours that it stole from your other browsers.

Final Thoughts

If you wish to stay up to date, then sure – leave the new Edge on your computer. It’s not an awful browser since it’s based on Chromium. It has way more security, stability, and performance than previous versions and that of IE. However, the fact of the matter is that anything installed silently, in the background, and then takes control of your PC’s settings that you worked hard getting just right yourself is simply something that doesn’t turn heads in a good direction for most users.

How can you avoid this from happening? Well, you can easily uninstall the update or the browser, but this can lead to problems. Otherwise, if you have an excellent technical support team that can help with all things IT, you may be able to eliminate this force-ware installation successfully.

What Were They Trying to Accomplish?

Microsoft has been working hard to improve its security for users, but they may have rolled out this Outlook update a tad prematurely.

In recent months, Microsoft has been trying to figure out a way to defend and update their apps to protect against hijacking attempts through the Microsoft Office and Windows exploits. It ended up affecting Office365 as well, though. These exploits allowed people to try to connect to others through Office exploits. Where they could secretly drop files and other backdoors onto other people’s devices (yes, the hackers are getting smart – you can read our blog post about it from a previous date).

Are There Workarounds or Fixes for the Outlook Update?

You’re in luck because there is a fix for the botched Outlook update! Please do so at your own risk, and if you need any assistance, don’t hesitate to message your IT provider or us.

After the error, Microsoft immediately posted a workaround on Twitter as they investigated the problem. They told people that they could open a command prompt as Administrator and then go to:

Cd “\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ClickToRun”

Then type:

office2rclient.exe /update user updatetoversion=16.01287.20470

This would roll back people’s Outlook to the previous version. Did this fix the problem? Somewhat. Most people still had to wait for Microsoft to release their fix for the Windows Update. However, there are a few ways that you can fix the problem aside from the information mentioned above as well.

Uninstall Your Updates

Uninstalling an update, especially the latest Outlook update, should be relatively simple and can be done with a few mouse clicks.

This method is a long workaround, but it indeed fixes the problem much better. First, you have to uninstall your updates. You may be able to uninstall one of the updates that caused this, but not the System security update. Windows won’t let you uninstall it because it’s “necessary for your computer and cannot be uninstalled,” unfortunately. So, what do you do?

Once you uninstall any updates from the July Outlook update you received, you need to reinstall your Outlook (or your whole Office program). If you still have your Office application, you can reinstall it, but this won’t fix the problem completely. Many users still had issues with things crashing and emails not working right.

System Restore (gasp!) is Your Friend.

In the case of the botched Outlook update, restoring your system may be your best bet. Let’s hope you backed up your files recently?

Most users could accomplish removing the update by doing a full system restore to the day of the Outlook update. You have to take the time to let Windows do its thing. Once that’s done and your system restore is complete, you can begin the progress of stopping Microsoft in its tracks.

1. Postpone Windows Updates as long as you can.
2. If your Outlook is fixed, there may still be plugin issues (more on that in a minute).
3. You may have issues with other Office programs and their integration. At worst, you may have to do a Microsoft Office online repair again (or a full repair, which takes a lot longer).

Plugin Issues Related to the Fix

One of the biggest known problems that people faced after the Outlook update and after fixing their Outlook was antivirus plugins (and some other plugins). One such issue is that people started noticing that when they sent emails with attachments through Outlook, the email messages would send, but the attachments wouldn’t go through for some reason on the message. So, what now?

The only way to fix this temporarily until Microsoft rolls out a successful new Outlook update is to try uninstalling and reinstalling your antivirus email plugin. Otherwise, you’ll have to disable it in Outlook.

What Gives?

So, Microsoft has released yet another update that is destroying people’s computers. What else is new? What can you do? Well, if you run a business, it may be hard for you to go into every single computer’s settings and fix the problem yourself. That’s when having an excellent support team of IT professionals can help so that you can get back to your regular days at work!

They’ve released versions allowing companies to use the Cloud-based VoIP or a dedicated PBX server, Linux, and even Windows to host 3CX software. However, each version comes with its bugs and problems. Therefore, knowing that you’re well prepared to tackle them in certain situations or avoid the issue overall by having the right OS is essential.

Everything’s in the Cloud These Days

3CX offers secure Cloud-based solutions for businesses of all sizes.

In recent years, your software solutions, customer support, and even your VoIP are not strangers to “the Cloud.” Of course, there’s no such thing as one dedicated cloud for everything,  but 3CX knows that many users want to have this option to use valuable tools and save hardware and software space in their place of business.

There are good and bad things about having cloud hosting in any shape or form, though – and most of it comes with data security. You don’t have control of a cloud-based server’s data – they do. However, if you’re not worried about it (since most of these servers are super secure), you can go for it and have your VoIP provider set you up.

Dedicated PBX Servers

Some businesses run their 3CX software on a dedicated VoIP server to achieve maximum performance.

These servers may have Windows Server or even Linux as their base kernel, but they’re more or less running the dedicated 3CX software as a micro-operating system of its own in many cases. These are a trendy choice among numerous companies because the VoIP servers and software are hosted on a dedicated machine that shares and are usually throttled up to get the best of the network’s bandwidth. Separate devices can often be put onto their network if you’re worried about sharing bandwidth, so your local internal networks don’t suffer in terms of speed.

Windows

3CX software in itself has world-class security features to keep you safe. But if you’re running it on Windows, you may encounter a hiccup now and then.

The 3CX software for Windows is made differently than that in a PBX system. You get a program that uses your system’s hardware and then, ultimately, through a router. The most significant benefit is that it can be run on a Windows system, one of the most popular operating systems in the world. Even more remarkable is that 3CX software can be run on a virtual server, which means additional security.

This call center uses 3CX software to route all their calls in a slick and easy-to-use interface.

However, the biggest downside is that Windows has a ton of security issues itself. Sometimes, Windows Updates installed frequently can restart your system and naturally can cause problems with entire computers. You get a free version for small businesses or slightly more substantial companies. You can get the Small business version of the Pro version, a paid edition that can be upgradeable and have many features. You can handle multiple calls at once, utilize Microsoft Exchange for your company, and even have automatic handset customization. You also get a web portal that allows individual users to set their Yealink phone settings for themselves.

Linux Versions

One thing Linux has going for it when it comes to 3CX software is it’s free.

One of the most significant benefits is the higher security that many people are comfortable with hosting 3CX on a Linux server. For starters, upgrading your system to a server with Linux is extremely easy (all you have to do is install “<Linux BUILD NAME>-server,” and your system upgrades to the server edition for free) compared to Windows. While Windows has server capabilities, to get the most professional services, you have to pay for them. Who doesn’t love free stuff? We certainly know that we like free software and open operating systems!

The Verdict

It all depends on your entire company’s needs regarding what kind of system you want to use your 3CX software on. If you look into it, every single version has its benefits, and your external managed service technician will be able to install it and set it up for you. With 3CX being one of the nation’s leaders of VoIP, it’s no wonder they would release it for availability on literally any machine!

With one of the recent Windows Updates, though, they installed a – WSL v2, which allows users even more flexibility and allows you to update your Linux kernel right and your Windows Updates. So, what does this mean for businesses?

What Does This Mean for IT and VoIP?

Some people prefer to have added security for their VoIP systems, and therefore, they prefer to install software like 3CX on a Linux kernel computer. Linux gives the PBX server more added protection since the file systems are different from those on a Windows computer, and they’re less likely to be attacked. The downside? Many users have to resort to additional software on their Windows PCs to connect to the PBX server to access certain features remotely. Well, what if you could do it all on one computer?

Using a console command line on a Windows workstation can allow installing and running the PBX server software that goes with your YeaLink phone.

It’s Also Lighter on the System

Another great benefit of using the Windows Subsystem for Linux is that many people have to install a virtual machine onto their computers to run Linux kernel apps and programs and even access a console solution. The downside is that doing this often takes up more space, but it also needs more customization and eats up system memory more.

By having a WSL server set up on your Windows 10 machine, you don’t need the VM, so you can do everything right from the command line of your Linux kernel installation without having to install third-party software.

What Microsoft Has to Say

Microsoft has been more than well known to have nothing but products you had to pay for when it came to professional services. Over the years, their prices have skyrocketed (unless you buy OEM keys for everything – such as Microsoft Office 2019). Still, they realize that there are a lot more benefits to open-source platforms on their actual software.

By packaging the Linux kernel in Windows 10, making Microsoft more developer-friendly.

For quite a while now, they’ve learned to release numerous Windows Apps on the GitHub platform for open source development. Releasing these apps allows them to get more development done and teach others how to program (it’s a win-win situation for Microsoft).

What About Graphical User Interfaces?

One of the coolest things about having the WSL is that with an X11 server running on your Windows machine, you can enable the ability to run the GUI components popular on Linux right on your Windows machine without a VM. Yes! You can seriously run Linux programs now on Windows (finally). The installation trick is to download a third-party Linux X11 display server such as X-Ming or even Cygwin/X.

Windows 10’s Linux kernel may make your computer run faster by freeing up much-needed RAM.

Once you have the Linux-X server installed and running, all you have to do is load up your WSL installation, then export the display (this sets your current monitor/display in your Linux installation), and you can run the programs. You won’t be able to do anything unless you do the display export, though. To do so, type the following in the console (or copy/paste the code below):

export:DISPLAY=:0

Once you hit enter, you’ll be able to run an X11 program. You can install some by typing:

sudo apt-get install x11-apps

This will install the basic X11 apps. Once you’ve done this, you can also choose the graphical Gnome desktop while you’re on WSL. Simply type:

sudo apt install gnome gnome-session

to install the Gnome desktop for Linux, and then once that’s done, you type:

sudo DISPLAY=:0 XDG_SESSION_TYPE=x11 gnome-session

into your Linux kernel.

The Conclusion

In the past, you had to use the buggy transference software to run a Linux kernel desktop on your PC – such as the old version of Linux for Windows (which allowed you to log off of your Windows system to run the Linux installation you had). However, this caused many problems, and when it came to uninstalling the Linux installation (as many people didn’t like how buggy it was), it caused many broken computers.

Now you have the freedom, flexibility, and security you need for all of your development. You can even have your managed services solution help you to set up your VoIP server right there on a Windows machine, which is more secure by knowing you can have Linux kernel directly on your Windows 10 PC!

You, too, will be jumping for joy after your Windows 10 PC gets the Linux kernel!

Windows 10 Phone App

One of the coolest things you can do is use the Windows phone app that comes with the new Windows 10 version (it’s been around since v1809), but it is very picky. Some phones aren’t supported (some older smartphones aren’t compatible with the app), but if you have a newer one, you can synchronize your phone with Windows to operate on your Desktop, send and receive text messages, and even make phone calls.

This is an excellent tool for remote working! If you don’t have a Bluetooth headset (but have a PC headset or even a gaming headset), then you can use the Windows phone app to make phone calls from your PC using VoIP and your cellular service. As stated earlier, this is not entirely new technology, but you couldn’t do this on Windows without installing a third-party software program in the past.

You can pair your phone with Windows 10, whether it’s an iPhone or an Android. You can even pair your iPad!

Are There Any Third Party Programs That Do This Too?

There are numerous third-party apps out there that can help you share files, documents, and more to your PCs. Of course, these are often a little trickier because you usually have to have your PC and your phone connected by a USB cord, have USB debugging turned on, and in some cases, have to completely root and unlock your phone. One popular app that does many of these things without having to completely root your phone, though, is Airdroid, but it’s primarily for Android, and you do have to do some trickery to control your phone with your computer. However, you can do complete phone mirroring with it, which is pretty cool (though a bit laggy).

What Third-Party Apps Can’t Do

Most third-party software apps for phones are specific to the type of phone you have (Android, iOS, Windows 10 Mobile). And not only that, you can’t synchronize your phone with all of the numerous mobile apps with third-party software. Sure, you can share files, share connections, and more, but what about using things like Microsoft Office products? Sure, you can use the apps and share the files, but not sync them together!

Complete Windows Synchronization

In the past, you were able to only synchronize windows phones with Microsoft products. Still, now, if you have Microsoft 365, or a Microsoft account with OneDrive, you can easily do just about anything on a mobile device. Microsoft Office is available entirely for free on Android and iOS. You can save your documents in the cloud, then come back to your computer later. Not to mention Skype. With Skype, you can even use it to chat with clients and even make some video-conferencing and audio calls.

So How Do You Pair Your Phone With Windows 10?

First things first, to pair your phone with Windows 10, you should have an active working phone number that you can link to. Below we have demonstrated how to pair your device if it’s an Android. The steps to pair an iOS device are similar and shouldn’t cause you too much hassle.

Please follow the steps below to pair your phone with Windows 10:

1. On your Windows 10 PC, not your phone, click on the sprocket-looking icon, which will take you to your Settings.
2. Then click on the picture of the Phone.
3. Here comes the tricky part don’t be scared. You’ve got this. To pair your phone with Windows 10, you need to click where it says Add a phone. Also, make sure your PC and phone are connected to the internet. That wasn’t so bad, was it?
4. When the new window appears, you need to choose your country code and input your phone number. Then you need to click the Send button to receive a text message on your phone.
5. Lastly, you need to download the Android app called “Microsoft Apps” by clicking the SMS link that you just received. This step is crucial if you want to pair your phone with Windows 10. After you’ve done all these steps, you should be good to go, and you can celebrate! All you need to do now is to sign-into the Microsoft Launcher or Edge, and your device will magically appear in the Windows 10 Phone section on your PC.

The Downside

There is one downside to all of these fantastic features, though. It’s not a huge deal, but it is one worth mentioning. That’s simply the fact that it’s all done within Microsoft. Many people don’t like that Microsoft records a lot of data that its users submit, especially over the Cloud. Not only that, but if you want to make sure your Cloud is completely secure, then you’ll probably want to hire a managed service provider for extra security. But if you’re going to pair your phone with Windows 10, this what you need to do. If you have any questions or concerns, please leave a comment or send us a message.

Depending on your actual job, it also depends on how you’re going to be using Word. Therefore, it’s essential to know all of these little tricks (including how to utilize other tools like Hotkeys and AutoHotKey – a powerful custom hotkey creator that is easy to program with) to help you increase efficiency in the program.

Multiple Selection Just By Clicking

Microsoft Word has a way to select a single word (running characters separated by spaces), an entire paragraph, and even a complete sentence. By double-clicking a word, you’ll select it. By triple-clicking, you can choose to select a whole section, and if you hold onto the Control key and click, you can even select that sentence.

Rapid Line Drawing

Need to draw lines in your Word document? Why not use Microsoft Word’s rapid line drawing shortcuts? And you’ll be done in no time at all.

Have you ever wondered how people get those perfectly formatted lines across Microsoft Word? Believe it or not, most people struggle, insert a shape, then choose to draw a line, leaving them to do all of the formatting (line size, style – 1 line, two lines, dotted lines, etc.). With Microsoft Word, you can type three symbols; then press enter to get a perfectly formatted line across the document from margin to margin. Note: These will appear under the text you type, as it creates line separators, not just line shapes.

• Asterisks *** = Dotted Line.
• Hyphen — = Draw a single underline.
• Underscore ___ = Also a single underline.
• Equals === gives you a double line.
• Pound sign ### = Gives you a three-line style.
• Tilde ~~~ Gives you a bottom-angled line.

Quick Tables

Are you looking to insert a table into your doc? Microsoft Word has got you covered!

Many people don’t know it, but you can create a table by typing the plus sign +, hitting tab, and drawing another + sign. On a special note, always use one more plus sign than the number of cells you want to create. So, for example, if you want three cells, then type:
+, Tab, +, Tab, +, Tab, +, Hit Enter.
Of course, without the commas.

Exceptional Help with Random Text and Symbols

It’s easy to insert random text in Microsoft Word documents.

You can insert random text from Microsoft’s Help by typing the following command: =rand(#,#). The first # sign represents how many paragraphs you want the random text to display. While the second is the number of lines in each section. Along with this, you can use special characters by typing certain popular symbols such as:

• (TM) = A Trademark symbol. ™
• (C) = Copyright symbol ©
• (r) = Registered Trademark symbol ®

Other Awesome Shortcuts

You can toggle the way that a header or title is capitalized by hitting Shift+F3 together. Not only that but every single item in your Styles can be assigned to a hotkey combination. We’re going to get into this more to give you a killer writing shortcut. Especially if you’re a blog writer who uses Word as your weapon, don’t worry.

Hotkey Combinations and AutoHotKey

Using AutoHotkey can take your Microsoft Word skills to a whole other level!

AutoHotKey is a program that allows you to use Lua scripting to create unusual combinations of keywords. You can create loops and more, and sure it can be a little confusing when it comes to creating multiple files, getting used to what symbols are equivalent to which command keys there are. Fortunately, we’re going to give you some excellent tips on how you can utilize this with Microsoft Word and quickly get your writing on! Then choose a quality IT solution to provide you with a place to back up all your files. This little tutorial is excellent for creating numerous new documents at once.

1. Download AutoHotKey and Install it.
2. Now that it’s installed, you can create a new script.
3. All you have to do is right-click and choose Edit to open the script in notepad. Let’s create a custom number of new documents.
4. In Microsoft Word, creating a new document is equal to CTRL+N. Therefore, we’re going to use that.
5. The script created will create a new document by pressing the key combination above, and the Sleep timer will be the pause between keypresses.
6. The number next to the Loop function is how many documents you want to create. Change that number (we’ll use 5, for example), and then close the file. When it asks you to save, click yes.
7. Would you please open a new document or previous document in Word and resize it to the exact size you want it on the screen?
8. Double click to run the AutoHotKey script, right-click it, and then select “Run Script.”
9. While it’s running minimized in your system tray, you can now press CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+N, and voila! Your computer will automatically and quickly create that number of new documents to the size of the one that’s already opened.

So Are You a Word Ninja Now?

There are many other tricks that you can utilize when using Microsoft Word for writing and document editing. You can create some cool automation with hotkeys and shortcuts that can significantly improve your speed and efficiency. You can create the headers for your document by setting your Header style to CTRL+H. This is especially useful when it comes to document writing and editing. You can even use Word in conjunction with Outlook using the Mailing tab, selecting recipients, and creating e-mail templates so you can send mass e-mails! How cool is that?

For more of the best tips and tricks in tech, send us a message, and we’ll hook you up! For IT and VoIP assistance, visit us here or call 480.493.5999, and we’ll get you sorted.

However, there was one significant benefit that many gamers and developers were able to do, and that was being able to take control of their computers fully. They could turn off things like Windows Defender completely, as well as disabling many Windows System features that gave them more power and optimized their networks. Then Windows 1903 came along, and there were humongous problems. Let’s see what you lost the ability to do.

Disabling Windows Defender & Antivirus Software

Some gamers think disabling Windows Defender, and their antivirus is a good idea. The Windows 1903 update would say otherwise.

Of course, we don’t recommend disabling any antivirus by any means. Still, many gamers and developers would disable Microsoft’s Windows Defender altogether, whether it be registry keys, services, or even group policies. Some corporate IT professionals did this as well, so they could have full control, which allowed them to work remotely on company computers and more.

If you update to Windows 1903, you are going to lose the ability to do this. Sure, you can temporarily disable antivirus protection on Windows Defender. Still, you don’t get to have full control of Defender like you used to (If you enable Group Policy Editor, you can’t even disable it that way). The other downside is that if you install a secondary antivirus, you can’t close out of it when you need to if it starts slowing down your PC, and you have to uninstall it completely.

Duplicate Services

After the Windows 1903 update, many users started receiving push notifications like this.

Many users complain about a new service popping up and makes them believe they have a virus. You’ll often see things like the Windows Push Notification User Service (many people disable this to optimize their PCs for gaming), followed by a bunch of numbers.

Disabling this service does nothing, and later on, you get the same service, followed by another group of numbers. This is because Windows has its service called the Unistore Service that belongs to the Windows Store, and they can’t be disabled or even changed in the Windows registry anymore. And what happens if you disable these? Specific applications won’t work anymore. What’s worse, Microsoft forces you to use the original Unistore Service, which loads the “runaway services” or you can’t use your computer.

Supposedly, you can disable the Auto-Update feature in the Windows Store, but some users complain that it doesn’t stop the issue. Other users state that they were able to set the registry keys to disable the problem, but with the new Windows 1903, other users aren’t allowed by Windows Defender (which you also can’t turn off) to disable these. If you do, upon restarting, these features are sometimes re-enabled.

Windows 1903 Re-Installs Bloatware

It was the Windows 1903 update to reinstall Bloatware on millions of computers.

Aside from all of the numerous services that become re-enabled by the Windows 1903 Update (and then forced you to use them as we mentioned above), you also get to have all of the Bloatware, which is unnecessary software, games, and more. Not only that, but many people who are avid users of Microsoft Office 2013 and 2016 (the most widely used versions of Microsoft Office to date) gets broken, and Microsoft flags them as unregistered. Rolling back the update can fix this, however.

Even More CPU Problems

When people update to Windows 1903, there have been numerous people that have had a lot of issues with the new “Start Menu” program that installs, as well as other issues. There are multiple CPU spikes that some users have reported takes their entire 100% of CPU usage, and it causes system hangs, and more. Not only that, but numerous programs are much slower because of all of the new system services that are running with high usage.

Think Your Graphics are Safe?

Ah, the critical component that makes a gamer and developer’s is the graphics card. With the Windows 1903 update, numerous forced updates are required because of a ton of security loopholes that are created when you upgrade. Not only this, but users regularly have been reporting that NVidia crashes when using programs like Spotify, games, and even many Facebook games.

So How do I Fix It?

If you’re a gamer and want to get full control of your computer again, you can go back to your previous version of Windows. The only way to do this is to go into your computer’s Update & Security > Recovery settings and Go back to the last version of Windows 10 and click the Get Started button to go back to the Windows 10 you were used to having administrative rights to.

As far as having the proper IT managed solutions afterward and antivirus software, you can send a message to your quality service provider to help keep your systems secure using the right software and IT solutions.