Blue Ridge Technology

For years now, Microsoft hasn’t exactly been winning the browser popularity contest, taking a distant third to Google Chrome and Apple Safari. But for several years now Microsoft has been working hard to shed its Internet Explorer-era reputation. And if you ask us, Microsoft Edge is a highly compelling browser, especially in the workplace. Microsoft is back at the innovation game, adding even more new business-friendly features to its Microsoft Edge internet browser. Here’s a rundown of what’s new. Take a look and consider whether any of these features or new capabilities could improve the way your business operates. In-Browser Split Screen First up is an interesting one: split screen, but within the browser itself. Many of us are familiar with using apps in split screen. Windows makes it super easy: you just grab a window, slam it toward the side of your monitor, and boom — you’re halfway to split screen. (I’m even writing this very blog post using a full-screen split screen view on ...

There’s a new, ultra-sneaky type of phishing attack on the rise. These attacks are harder than most to spot, and we’ve seen an absolutely massive spike in recent weeks, with as many as five million of these fraudulent emails reaching unsuspecting email inboxes every single day. This new attack is called SubdoMailing. In this week’s post we’ll explain what these attacks are, how they work, why they’re so hard to spot, and as always how to keep your business safe. What Is SubdoMailing? On one level SubdoMailing is simple: these attacks work in the same way as your everyday run of the mill phishing attacks. You get an email that urges you to click a button or link and take some action. The email looks like it’s from a brand you trust, like your bank or a popular business vendor (like Microsoft or DocuSign). But it’s not: it’s really from scammers who set up a lookalike site in an effort to steal your information. You click the link and attempt to log into the service, and that’s it — now ...

How to stop Teams opening when you startup Windows 11 Your work PC is a pretty impressive piece of technology if you think about it. Your PC is the nerve center of your workday, empowering you to accomplish more in an hour than your parents or grandparents could’ve done in an entire workweek— not to mention tasks that are commonplace today that would’ve been unthinkable just a few years ago. (At least, all that’s true assuming you’ve updated your hardware recently enough — so if you’re tempted to disagree with that first sentence, maybe it’s time to talk about a hardware refresh!) But as powerful as your computer is, it can create frustrating distractions if you aren’t strategic in how you use it. And that strategy starts with a process called Startup — what happens when you first power up your machine. Today’s post will cover how to gain control of your Windows Startup — along with reasons why you might want to do so. Why Take Control of Windows Startup? In a nutshell, your startup pr...

Back in August of 2021, Microsoft quietly announced a few changes coming to the Microsoft 365 program. They gave businesses a healthy six months of notice, and that time has almost expired. Starting in March of 2022, businesses need to be prepared for their Microsoft 365 subscriptions to change in some small ways — and to cost more. Here’s what you need to know about this upcoming change. The Big Change: Higher Prices The big piece of news is that Microsoft is raising prices across its various business plans. While no one likes to pay more, the move makes sense: since launching Office 365 back in 2011, Microsoft hasn’t raised pricing even once, despite adding 24 new apps, including Publisher, Stream, Bookings, Power Automate, SharePoint, and its stellar collaboration app, Microsoft Teams. If you think back to how you interacted with Office back in 2011 and compare it to how you use Microsoft 365 today, you’ll likely see the difference. Microsoft has continued to add features, function...

Many businesses subscribe to Microsoft’s cloud-based office suite, Microsoft 365, because it’s the best way to keep up to date with some core Microsoft apps, like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Chances are, your company does, too. But what you may not know is that Microsoft has been steadily adding new apps to Microsoft 365 (formerly known as Office 365, and just Office Professional before that) for going on a decade now. In fact, it’s added so many new tools so quickly, that many businesses don’t use more than half of them. To be fair, not every app is as essential or robust as Word or Outlook. Still, quite a few of the lesser-known Microsoft 365 apps are worth a closer look. Many of them can improve efficiency, collaboration, and quality of life for a wide range of businesses. Over the next three weeks, we’ll be covering 10 of these lesser-known yet still incredibly powerful apps tucked away in Microsoft 365. We’ll start today with just three: Bookings, Whiteboard, and Planner. Booking...

Adapting to the new “Work from Home” environment Millions of us across the world have responded amazingly to the challenges of working from home and many people who have taken this challenge to change the workplace will never return to their old jobs. So for people who can not take home their laptops or desktops with them at all times, it is crucial to know how best to train their team on software when they work from home. For these people, software training in the workplace is essential. And training on the software at home is even more essential. A study conducted by O*NET over three years identified that more than 50% of the people asked about software training said that this was essential. Training staff remotely In a world where in person training is no longer always an option, we must look at how we can support our people digitally. If we can’t train them, we have even less chance of retaining them. Using video, webinars and workshops are all great ways to encourage your colleagu...