Blue Ridge Technology

Times Up! ​If your business is still running Windows 10, time to upgrade safely is running out. By this time you’ve already had to spend extra to sign up for Extended Security Updates (ESU) if you want to stay current and protected. If this isn’t something you watch closely, we understand — you have a business to run after all. It may also seem like all is well for now: Windows 10 machines still boot up and run as stable as you’re accustomed to. They even get security updates…for now. But that changes for good in October. Windows 10 Extended Support Ends October 2026 Microsoft already ended standard support for Windows 10 back in October 2025, advising businesses to upgrade to Windows 11 to get the latest and greatest (and most secure) Windows experience. But for a variety of reasons, that didn’t work for every business. For example, if: You’re still running old machines that can’t officially upgrade to Windows 11. You rely on legacy software that doesn’t operate past Windows 10. You ...

Stalled Projects? ​Dabbling in AI projects that go deeper than casual ChatGPT/Copilot interactions? Here’s why projects stall — and how to avoid it. The use of LLM-based generative AI tools is seemingly everywhere these days. Even if you haven't used it personally, chances are someone on your team is using it whether you approved it or not. Many small businesses are using AI in basic ways (things like employees chatting with ChatGPT to answer questions or asking Copilot to retrieve a file). But going beyond the basics? That’s a little less common at the small business level. And the bigger problem is what happens with the companies that do try to launch something more significant with AI: most projects stall out. Most Projects Stuck in Concept One recent report showed that around 50% of AI initiatives have yet to exit proof-of-concept mode. Businesses expect they will see gains from AI; they’re even willing to spend more on it — even without seeing much return as of yet. There’s a ...

Make It Last Longer ​Get More out of Current Hardware to Avoid Sky-High Hardware Prices Hardware prices are skyrocketing, and there’s no end in sight to the ongoing memory shortage. That memory is in everything you use these days, but even beyond flash memory, everything from rare earth minerals to plastic components to microprocessors is affected. We’ll get to some of why, but here’s the more important takeaway: now’s a better time than ever to look for ways to extend the life of your existing hardware. That’s what we’re covering in this week’s post, with a specific focus on what you can do within Windows 11 to get a few more months or maybe even years out of the PCs already populating your business. Why Are Prices Rising? The news headlines on any given day tell a big part of the story. The increased demand for AI compute power is causing a huge demand for memory. Those big and heavily capitalized companies are paying a premium for access to the memory getting produced, leaving con...

Phishing Attacks ​Phishing attacks are nothing new, and we’ve probably published 10+ blog posts over the years warning against them in one form or another. Now it’s time to get ready for yet another evolution in AI-powered phishing attacks. Here’s what you need to know for 2026. Catching Up: Current State of Phishing Attacks We’ve already warned about how generative AI is making it easier for scammers to create convincing, legitimate-looking content at scale. 10 years ago, phishing emails almost always had tell-tale signs like weird writing, typos, and graphic design that just looked off. But today those red flags are much harder to spot. The grammar is as good as your favorite genAI model’s, and it’s easier than ever to spin up a fake website thanks to those same tools. So we’ve already shifted our guidance away from looking for visual evidence. Now we warn businesses to look for directional evidence instead. Things like: Urgent calls to do things: “Click now to login or your accou...

genAI Tools ​Let’s face it: your team is using AI, whether you want them to or not. If you have any kind of office operations, then chances are almost 100% that someone on your team is using generative AI tools at work. We think that can be a great thing — genAI tools can summarize meetings, help team members brainstorm and organize their thoughts, do light research, and much more. We’ve even explained how some of the new genAI features in Microsoft Copilot can help businesses like yours, right here on the blog. Using AI can be a good thing. But do you know how your team is using it? Which tools they’re using? And most important of all: do you know what business data they’re feeding to those AI tools? Most small business owners don’t. And because AI tools are developing and launching so quickly, most small businesses don’t have clear AI governance in place yet. What Is Governance? “Governance” refers to how a business controls and manages its IT resources. It’s why your employees can’t...

​Popular mobile web browsers collect more data than you think. Mobile browsers — especially the phone and tablet versions of Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge — collect a surprising amount of data from users. Depending on the phone OS you use, the browser you choose, and the settings on your device, you might be giving the browser maker an uncomfortable level of access to your life and your business. As usual, staying informed is key: once you know what’s happening behind the scenes, you can make informed decisions about your risk comfort level. What Do Mobile Browsers Collect? There’s the usual suspects: browsing history, saved passwords, and probably some form of payment details. No surprise here — you expect mobile browsers to retain details like these for convenience’s sake and to power capabilities we all rely on. But recent research found that some browsers collect a lot more than that. Your phone likely already knows everywhere you’ve been, and some browsers happil...

AI Shopping ​Microsoft keeps on iterating and innovating with AI, and this time you might not exactly love what they’re offering. But you need to know so you can keep your team on track. Here’s what you need to know about Copilot Checkout, coming soon to…well, everything Microsoft makes, it seems. What Is Copilot Checkout? Copilot Checkout is a new AI-driven feature coming to Copilot, Microsoft’s AI assistant that’s already built into Bing, Edge, and Microsoft 365. It does what it sounds like it does: sells you stuff. We know, not exactly revolutionary. But the difference is that Copilot Checkout wants to sell you (and your team members) stuff directly within an AI chat window. No shopping cart, no procurement process, and — some fear — no accountability. Microsoft isn’t coming out of nowhere with this. ChatGPT already rolled out a similar feature, called Instant Checkout. Different from ChatGPT’s recent addition of ads, Instant Checkout can show product recommendations when users ask ...