1. I have already covered this message in a dedicated e-mail to clients, but most Windows users will notice a little white “Windows logo” flag in the lower right hand corner of your screen. This is not malware. It is a legitimate announcement from Microsoft. When you click on it, it will simply ask you to confirm your reservation for Windows 10. No other changes will be made to your computer at this time. This simply gets you in line for the eventual upgrade in late July / early August. I just completed the simple reservation process with a client yesterday 6/6. I takes less than 90 seconds. UNLESS I HAVE SPECIFICALLY E-MAILED YOU WITHIN THE PAST WEEK SAYING YOU SHOULDN’T PLAN ON UPGRADING YOUR CURRENT COMPUTER TO WINDOWS 10, FOR REASONS SUCH AS 1) YOUR COMPUTER IS TOO OLD OR 2) YOUR COMPLEX SETUP WOULD BE BEST SERVED THROUGH WINDOWS 10 ON YOUR NEXT COMPUTER …. You should be initiating this reservation. The more you can do on your own now, the less involved your transition will be.

2. If you are looking for a “Mac like” Windows laptop, the two best ones that I could recommend to you are the Dell XPS 13 and new Dell XPS 15. The numerical designation indicates the screen size and these computers are designed to be on par with the Mac Book Air 13 and the Mac Book Pro 15. The XPS 13 starts off at $799, while the 15 will start at $1500. One of the big things going for it is that that the XPS 13 has a battery life of 11 to 15 hours, matching the Mac Book Air 13.

3. Mac malware: yes it does happen! There is a major vulnerability that has been uncovered in all Macs PRIOR TO THE 2015 MODELS. Per the discussion on last week’s SMR Podcast, hosted by 3 veteran security analysts, this flaw could affect your Mac within seconds of waking up from sleep. To inflict pain here, the hacker would need access to your Administrator account. This makes it a little harder to score a hit on your system, but how many of you have an administrator password that is “PASSWORD” or how many of you Mac users have a blank password (no password)? That makes you vulnerable. You should also set your Mac to require the password whenever waking from sleep or starting up the computer. A good password should include letters and numbers, along with capitals.