Internet on the go Set to Expand
2014 has almost finished serving its useful life and is soon to be upgraded to 2015 so we have a good opportunity to look at what has been happening in IT during the last 12 months as well as the possibilities for the future 2015. 12 months in the IT world can be a long time as far as change is concerned and I don’t see any slowing in the rate of these changes – especially when it comes to Internet enabled portable devices, Microsoft operating systems & cloud based service so let’s reflect on these topics.
When it comes to staying connected with technology while on the move you have to wonder whether there was firstly a huge demand for such devices or if the release of a plethora of these devices has created the demand. Did everyone want to be able to browse and email while away from the home and office or do they just want look trendy with the latest iSomething offering from Apple or Galaxy from Samsung?
Finally giving up on my trusty Nokia I initially I purchased a large screen phone (Samsung Galaxy Note 3) to more easily be able to read text messages and see what phone number I had just typed in to call. I know that I am supposed to be IT savvy but it was months before I even used the Internet on this device and several months more before I configured it to give me copies of my latest emails, however I became hooked and now find it invaluable when away from the office. I know that given the current almost defunct state of the once largest phone company in the world (Nokia) that I am not the only one that has made this transition.
During 2014 Apple released their iPhone 6 models, Samsung released their Galaxy S5 phones & Galaxy Note 4 models and many die hard phone users cued up overnight to become proud new owners on the first day of model availability – such has become the almost fanatical desire for the latest and greatest with some consumers! Samsung are already planning the launch of a Galaxy S6 early next year & you can be that Apple aren’t resting – so this is a trend that is set to continue in 2015.
The last 12 months has also seen Microsoft forcing Windows XP users to abandon their well-liked operating systems to migrate to the newer Windows 7 or 8 or 8.1 which invariably has also required all new hardware. When you consider that compared to the average XP computer from at least 8 years ago the average modern PC offering is 10 to 20 times more powerful you can see why the new hardware is also necessary. There has still been lots of conjuncture about the look / feel / operation of 8 and 8.1 however they can be made to work similar to XP and it is folly to be purchasing Windows 7 when it is already old by comparative standards.
2015 will also see the skipping of the logically named next Windows version (9) and will see Microsoft go straight to launching their next multi-device platform – Windows 10! Aimed at installation on everything from a ‘Windows Phone’ to tablets, notebooks, desktops and even servers they are hoping to give the user a ‘familiar’ feel when using any of these devices. Current users of any Windows 8 version are reported to be able to ‘upgrade’ to 10 for free. Win 10 will also see the introduction of a ‘hybrid’ desktop returning the ‘Start’ and ‘taskbar’ features of traditional windows versions while also combining the active ‘tiles’ of 8.
Although first launched back in 2011 Microsoft did a real push of its Office 365 and other cloud services during 2014. Combined with the strong arm of Telstra they have pushed (sometimes not so transparently) into many market segments and not always to the benefit of the end user. Other cloud based companies and services have sprung up like mushrooms during the last year and offer everything from backup solutions to housing your current live data to even hosting a private server for you. Not everyone or every business needs these services and to many it is another baffling technology with very diverse product offerings, so anyone considering migrating to these services needs to know exactly what they are signing up for.
Future Byte Me topics can be emailed to [email protected] and Bruce is contactable at Kerr Solutions, 205 Musgrave Street or on 49 222 400.
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