Firefox, the best browse in the world, recently released their new logo, on their blog. Well, it’s pretty much the same logo but with enhancement on the details.
Check out the following information regarding the new Firefox logo.
See the difference?
How much does technical support cost in the US? Here are some of the most popular technical support companies in the US that provides paid support for computer issues (software).
I visited the Microsoft Answer Desk website and I can’t find an annual fee for technical support (unlimited). Can someone point it out for me?
The cheapest technical support I found on the Internet is that of Virgin Digital Help (US) at $165 a year.
Microsoft Answer Desk: $99 per incident
24/7 Techies: $199.95 a year
Geek Squad: $199.99 a year
iYogi: $179.99 a year
Support.com: $199.99 a year
Virgin Digital Help: $165 a year
Top Call Drivers are the usual calls we receive on a daily basis. Here are the Top Call Drivers for the Windows Department:
Microsoft did an excellent job at confusing customers when they launched the Microsoft Account with Windows 8. Customers are calling because they can't login to their computers because of a password issue, which was brought about by their confusion with the Microsoft Account.
The Windows Live ID is the old name of Microsoft Account.
In earlier versions of Windows like XP and 7, when a customer logs in to their computer, they type in their password. That's the computer password. In Windows 8, when you first turn on your computer, it will ask you to set it up and enter an email address. It will not ask for a password yet. It will let you click on Finish.
When you sign-in to that new Microsoft account, it will ask you to enter that email's password. It will not proceed if the (email) password is incorrect. If for some reason, there is no Internet connection, it will give the message:
Your PC is offline. Please sign in with the last password used on this PC.
Click on OK again and it will let you login to the computer, with the same password, even if you're not connected to the Internet.
Once the Internet connection is restored and customer changed the password of the Microsoft Account (say Password2) on the website, if he restarted the computer and login to the computer with Password2, he won't be able to login to the computer since it is still using Password1 (original password of the Microsoft email). I guess this is where the issue happens. Customer knows that they already changed the password on the Microsoft email but the computer is still using the original password when they set Windows 8 on the computer.
I guess this is the reason why customers are having issues logging in to the computer. Microsoft should have stated clearly that on the Set Up process or should have defaulted the Set Up to create a Local Account first and gives the option to switch to a Microsoft Account, not the other way around. I hope this is something that will be change in Windows 8.1 to avoid confusion with a Local Account (computer) and a Microsoft Account.
If an AOL email (or Yahoo) was used as the computer sign-in account, it will give the option to Set up a Microsoft Account. It will ask for:
You need to provide at least two types of security information to proceed – either Phone number and Alternate email or Secret Q&A with Alternate email.
On the Finish up page, you have the option to:
Enhance my online experience by letting Microsoft Advertising use my account information (unchecked by default)
Send me promotional offers from Microsoft (checked by default)
It will also ask for a CAPTCHA word before you could click on Finish.
I guess this is also where the confusion kicks in. If customer is always logged in to his AOL or Yahoo email and he doesn't type in his password often, then he might be typing a totally different password upon the creation of the Microsoft Account. Since this is a new Microsoft Account, it will accept the password even if it's not the actual password of his AOL or Yahoo email.
Once you're signed in to the computer with the new Microsoft Account, and you login to Outlook.com website using your AOL or Yahoo email, it will give you a message:
Call us overprotective, but we need to verify that xxx@aol.com (or @yahoo.com) is yours.
It will ask you to open your @aol or @yahoo email to verify the email for your Microsoft Account. After you verify the email, that is when you can begin using that email as a Microsoft Account on Outlook.com and be able to send emails from there. It will also let you use your Microsoft Account to sign in to the Microsoft Store and download free apps.
Most probably, this is also the reason why sometimes customers are having issues logging in to the computer because of a password issue. They are not aware that the computer can have a different password than that of the email address that they're using, regardless whether it's Outlook.com, AOL or Yahoo.
I hope my customers can read this blog post.
Now that the release date of Windows 8.1 draws near, we are already seeing some pictures (screenshots) of Windows 8.1 and its new features. Here are some of those pictures:
Do you noticed the newly added Start Menu? It’s the Windows 8 logo.
SkyDrive’s new look in Windows 8.1
Some tiles are now even larger than the others.
Blog directory website www.bloggers.com is shutting down on June 25, 2013. It’s a sad news for bloggers like me since this is one of those free directory sites wherein we could post our blog link.
I do hope that the next company who’ll acquire that URL will continue what the website is known for. Here’s the official statement about the site’s closure.
In the US, email clients are very important to customers. That's the reason why setting up an email client is one of the top call drivers here at Microsoft Answer Desk (Windows). Most of the time, their Internet Service Providers (ISP) provides an email address that ends with @ispname. In most cases also, customers are not using the web-based email service that comes with their ISP. Thus, the need to setup an email client is important.
The leading email client these days is Microsoft Outlook. It's part of the Microsoft Office Suite and is software that customers have to buy. The last time I checked the Office website, MS Office Home and Student 2013 sells for $279.99 while its web-based equivalent, Office 365, has a tag price of $79.99 a year (subscription base).
That's the reason why some customers look for an alternative to MS Outlook because it's pricey for some. Microsoft is a generous company and it provided a free version (but less features) of MS Outlook and named it Windows Live Mail. It's part of the Windows Live Essentials Suite which also includes Messenger, Movie Maker, Writer, Family Safety and Photo Gallery.
Setting up an email address with Windows Live Writer is pretty much automatic especially if you're using AOL, Gmail, Outlook, MSN, Hotmail and Live emails. If you're using Yahoo or GMX, then you have to configure the port and server addresses manually. For most US ISP, customers need to setup their @ispname email addresses manually. They have to contact their ISP first and get the POP and SMTP port numbers being used as well as the Incoming and Outgoing Server names.
An alternative to MS Outlook and Windows Live Mail is released by the Mozilla Foundation. They are the same company that released the Mozilla Firefox. Their email client is called Mozilla Thunderbird and it can setup almost all emails automatically, including Yahoo and GMX. It's also simpler than the Windows Live Mail when it comes to the design and look of the email client (minimalist). This is my personal choice when it comes to email client. Not to mention that it automatically checks the ISP Database for the POP and SMTP settings.
I would highly suggest that they avail of the Gmail service so that it stays the same even if they change their ISP. Anyway, here are some of the usual ISP settings that customers need to know in setting up their email addresses:
@verizon.com
@comcast.com
@q.com (now @centurylink.com)
http://qwest.centurylink.com/internethelp/email-setup-in-windows-live-1.html
@earthlink.net
http://support.earthlink.net/articles/email/windows-live-mail-2011-setup.php
@charter.com
http://www.myaccount.charter.com/customers/Support.aspx?SupportArticleID=2656
@juno.com
http://help.juno.com/support/email/wlm.html
@cox.com
I am really loving Windows 8. It has tons of free apps that is available for download. One of those numerous apps is Adobe Photoshop Express. It’s a free (and simpler) version of the popular graphic software. It was available for smartphones before it became available for PC as well.
There are more features that is available for the Adobe Photoshop Express but you have to purchase these additional features. Some of the features of Adobe Photoshop Express are:
Auto-Fix
Looks
Corrections
Reduce Noise
I just recently discovered that Adobe, the company famous for Photoshop, also has it’s own cloud technology server – and it’s free. It’s called Revel – and it offers a storage space of up to 50 photos a month. Now you have an alternate to Dropbox or Photobucket.
Revel is the cloud technology from Adobe. It’s very similar to Dropbox, SkyDrive or Google Drive.
It’s very easy to create and upload pictures on Adobe Revel.
Like all the cloud technology today, Adobe Revel also has it’s premium service.
Unlike the other cloud technology websites, Adobe Revel gives 50 Photos/Month for it’s free account.
This is one of the reasons why I don’t like the BitTorrent Client – it contains virus. I installed BitTorrent and as soon as it’s installed, the Microsoft Security Essentials detected a virus / adware.
I installed uTorrent before but it didn’t give me such adware. That’s the reason why I choose uTorrent instead of BitTorrent.
