Norton Business Suite

Many Interconnected Technologies clients know about Comcast Business Class internet service because they’re already using it or we’re in the process of moving them to it. One of the small benefits of the Comcast Business service – in addition to the much more important speed improvement and cost savings – is Comcast’s inclusion of Norton Business Suite (NBS). NBS is essentially a re-branded version of Norton 360, which is a superset of Norton Internet Security, the standard antivirus and firewall package we’ve used and recommended for years.

Comcast Business clients receive 25 “free” non-expiring licenses of NBS as part of the service package. It takes a little setup work to get to the point where one can download and use the software, but we’ve set up so many of these that it’s a snap for us to do it, and the result is the best protection available, at no additional charge, with licenses that don’t have to be renewed each year. All we need is the Comcast account number. Once we have that, we create what Comcast refers to as a “portal” account from which we can download and install NBS. It’s a good thing.

Windows XP support from Microsoft ending in early 2014

Microsoft has announced already that certain older versions of Windows have been removed from support:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/help/end-support

This is one of the few places I've seen an official, albeit tangential, statement that Windows XP SP3 - the *last* version of Windows XP - will be out of support on April 8, 2014:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307853

That seems a long way off, but if you have a corporate strategy that still includes Windows XP - either by preference or due to an application requirement or limitation – or if you have an old Windows XP machine around that’s just sitting there providing some function it’s always provided just fine - it's time to have a firm plan now to upgrade from Windows XP in the next calendar year. Yes, that a year ahead of the official termination of support. Still, that is our recommendation – no sense running into an externally imposed deadline.

Having an operating system exit support may not sound like an urgent matter, but it is since it means that updates will no longer be provide. This includes *security* updates, even for identified security problems for which there is no defense.

It’s important. Windows 7 is a very solid, very usable system. Windows 8 will be out this year. Windows Vista is a memory. Windows XP is a relic. 

It’s time.

We can help!

InterConnected Technologies' client time/expense tracking and billing system

In any month in which you have a balance due, you will receive an email from InterConnected Technologies' billing system. We use the services of a very fine company called Freshbooks for this service.

If a payment is due, you will receive an email that looks something like this:

Click on the link to the invoice, and you will be taken to the billing system's site and see the current invoice:

From there you can print the invoice or download it as a PDF for your records. You can also pay by credit card, if you wish, using our Paypal-based (and so very secure) payment processing system. You do not need a Paypal account to use this service. InterConnected Technologies pays Paypal a 2.9% processing fee for this service.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Cheers, Don