If you read many of my blog posts you should quickly discover that I'm not a big Microsoft fan. While I often try and find alternatives to Microsoft products for small business, I also realize that there are few viable alternatives to Microsoft Office.
For those interested, TechCrunch has posted a fairly complete guide to Microsoft Office 2010. Read the guide here.
Google has long been trying to convince users that even though Gmail and Google Applications has a beta tag (usually given to software that is not yet ready for prime time) Google Apps is ready for use in corporate environments. The reason why the beta tag has stuck so long? "We've focused our efforts on reaching our high bar for taking products out of beta," explains Google employee Matthew Glotzbach.
Despite wearing the beta tag for more than five years Google can boast a list of credentials typical of enterprise software. Google reports that 1.75 millions companies run their businesses on Google Apps.
KTG uses the free version of Google Apps for just under a year. I think that Google Apps is about the best option for any small business.
Google provides corporate email and a shared calendar. In fact I've heard many users say they prefer Google Calendar to MS Outlook.
If you thought Chrome was only a browser created by Google you are so last month. (If you thought chrome was only a metal you are so 2008.) On July 7, 2009 Google announced the development of the Chrome OS (Operating System). Google expects Chrome OS to be available in the second half of 2010.
I'm excited about Google Chrome because (1) it will be an open source project and (2) it is based on the Linux kernel.
According to Google, "the web is the platform" for applications. This marks a big paradigm shift to the way we normally look at computers. Google's goal is have all applications running on the web (like Gmail, Google Documents, etc).
To create an OS where applications only reside on the Web (instead of installing them) will ask a lot from consumers who are used the the traditional software model. Also, unless Microsoft produces a full-featured web version of Microsoft Office, I think corporations will be reluctant to make the switch to Chrome.
VLC is one of my favorite video players. In addition to working on Mac, Linux and windows machines, VLC always seems to be able to play video files other players can't. VLC also plays videos without slowing the rest of my computer.
Oh, and did I mention that VLC is completely free?
In another example that Windows server cannot keep up with the speed and reliability of Linux servers, Computerworld is reporting that the London Stock Exchange is dumping the expensive trading system developed by Microsoft and Accenture. While the system never came close to reaching the goals of sub-ten millisecond response times, the turing point was when the system crashed last September leaving the major stock exchange at a standstill for almost an entire day.
The trading system, called TradElect, ran on Windows Server 2003 and Microsoft SQL server.
The London stock exchange may be looking at a Linux based system as a replacement. The other major exchanges in the UK as well as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange run a Linux trading system. The Linux trading system has proven to have great reliability. Plus all these systems meet the sub-ten millisecond response times desired by the London Stock Exchange.
I've been a loyal Firefox user since 2004, but since I switched to a Mac about three years ago, I was continually frustrated with the buggy nature of Firefox (it was much worse than on a PC). After about 24 hours of using 3.5 I'm a happy Firefox user again; no strange crashes, or the random lockup, and I can tab through website much faster.
Microsoft has long tried to convince people that open source and free software has hidden costs. I will not argue that free software isn't always free. In fact that is how I am able to stay in business. Small businesses need people to setup and maintain their software, whether it is free or not. Free and open source software will continue to be less expensive than traditional paid software because you don't have to pay any licensing fees.
While Microsoft continues to try and warn people about these hidden cost of open source software, they seem to turn a blind eye towards the hidden costs of using Microsoft Software. It is not a secret that Microsoft software is targeted and more likely to break from viruses and worms. Here is an interesting article about £1.2m in hidden software costs suffered by the UK town of Manchester when government computer systems were attacked by the Conficker worm.
OffiSync is a startup that allows you to save your files directly from MS Office to online storage with Google Docs.
The benefits of this are numerous. First off, if all your documents are stored remotely, then you reduce the risk of loosing any files due to hard drive crashes. With files stored in the cloud, you will also be able to access your files from any where with an internet connection.
OffiSync also makes document collaboration easier. You can easily assign permissions and share documents with others. When a version of a document is saved, Google Docs will automatically update the version number and retain the old versions. This makes it much easier for a team to collectively work on documents.
OffiSync recently announced integration with Google Image Search. This will allow you to search for Google Images directly from Office. When you see an image you like simply add it to your document.
My only complaint is that OffiSync work only on Windows Machines.
For anyone whose web-host uses cPanel, and most do, this short tutorial will show you how to create automated backups of your website.
You can either watch the whole video, or click on the link at each step and that will take you to the specific part in the video where I describe that step.
Note: for some reason linking to a specific point in a YouTube video stopped working. To compensate, I've added the approximate time where I cover each step in the HH:MM format. This way you can easily find what your are looking for.
$cpuser = "XXXXXX"; // Username used to login to CPanel
$cppass = "XXXXXX"; // Password used to login to CPanel
$domain = "example.com"; // Domain name where CPanel is run
$skin = "x3"; // Set to cPanel skin you use (script won't work if it doesn't match). Most people run the default x theme
You can see what skin you are using by login into your cpanel and look on the left hand side. (watch video)
Optional:
If you want to store the backup on a remote ftp host place that information here: (watch video)
$ftpuser = "XXXXXX"; // Username for FTP account
$ftppass = "XXXXXX"; // Password for FTP account
$ftphost = "ftp.example.com"; // Full hostname or IP address for FTP host
Where do you want the backup to be stored? (watch video)
// Where do you want the backup to be stored?
$mode = "homedir"; // FTP mode ("ftp" for active, "passiveftp" for passive, "homedir" for web home directory)
'homedir' is selected by default, but you can choose ftp if you want.
3. Upload the code to a folder in your home web directory. Do not upload the file into 'www' or 'public_html' (Time 03:35 watch video)
Google has recently announced the creation of a site aptly called, "Let's make the web faster." Google believes that web-pages that load faster will be visited more often (and they say they have data to prove it).
The new site offers many different tutorials and videos. Topics range from the more technical, prefetching resources, to simple, optimizing web graphics.
I know that I have some things that I can do to my site to make it load faster and will be using these resources.
Fortunately when I used Google's Page Speed Plug-in for Firefox, I found that drupal does a pretty good job of making your website run fast.
If you read many of my blog posts you should quickly discover that I'm not a big Microsoft fan. While I often try and find alternatives to Microsoft products for small business, I also realize that there are few viable alternatives to Microsoft Office. .png)
Google has long been trying to convince users that even though Gmail and Google Applications has a beta tag (usually given to software that is not yet ready for prime time) Google Apps is ready for use in corporate environments. The reason why the beta tag has stuck so long? "We've focused our efforts on reaching our high bar for taking products out of beta," explains Google employee Matthew Glotzbach. 
If you thought Chrome was only a browser created by Google you are so last month. (If you thought chrome was only a metal you are so 2008.) On July 7, 2009 Google announced the development of the Chrome OS (Operating System). Google expects Chrome OS to be available in the second half of 2010. 
OffiSync is a startup that allows you to save your files directly from MS Office to online storage with Google Docs. 