Periodically when people come in to our Clifton Park office, they mention that some person or another suggest they get a Mac.  When asked why, they say that so-and-so told them how Macs don’t get viruses and how easy they are to use.

First for the ease of use issue; while I don’t drink the Microsoft Kool-Aid, Windows 7 is a very easy system to use.  I know many seniors who have been using Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional versions and they seem to have absolutely no problems with it.

As for the “fact” that Mac’s are immune to malware, well if they believe that, then they must believe (like many politicians) that money grows on trees. Money doesn’t; and Mac’s are susceptible to malware problems.

Last month, users of Apple’s Mac OS were subjected to a malware attack similar to what PC users have experienced in the past.  While Apple was slow to respond with help, they finally did come up with a fix.  Within a very short time the malware writers were able to work around it.

The reason PCs seem to be in the news more when it comes to attack  and vulnerabilities is because there are simply more of them.  More PCs mean more people using them and a larger potential payoff.

Mac OS and Linux based computers have more vulnerabilities, but there aren’t enough users (at the moment) to make it worthwhile for hackers to spend much time on.

The fact of the matter is just being on the Internet makes one susceptible to attack.  It doesn’t matter what OS you are running or what anti-virus or firewall you have installed.  Just as a motivated burglar can break into any building given the proper motivation and resources; so can a hacker break into any system.

This article was written by The Boss of HITman Services, a computer and IT company, based in Clifton Park and serving the Albany, Troy, Schenectady and Saratoga Counties of New York.

Before we proceeded, I asked her the when was the last time she did a backup.  Her response was,” just a few minutes ago as I just pressed the save button.”  When I explored this further, it became apparent she never did a backup, and she has a lot of financial data going back for many years on her computer.

I explained to her how she could backup her Quicken data and suggested she purchase some USB flash drives.  As Quicken doesn’t take up a lot of space, almost any current USB flash drive would work fine for her needs.

This article was written by The Boss of HITman Services, a computer and IT company, based in Clifton Park and serving the Albany, Troy, Schenectady and Saratoga Counties of New York.

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One way to put more time into your day is to turn downtime into productive time.  And technology can help us achieve this goal.

Whether you’re waiting for your car to be repaired, a plane flight or a doctor’s appointment, the following methods will put some extra time into your life, so let’s get started.

As far as equipment goes you will need to have a Smartphone.  This article will focus on using a Smartphone with either the Palm or Windows Mobile operating system.  The reason for this is the wide array of software available.  A PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) could be used to help with some of the tasks outlined below, but not all.

The second item is broadband access.  This can be either on a per KB basis or unlimited data.  Text messaging is also a worthwhile addition.

For software you will need a package similar to Documents To Go.  This software allows you to transfer documents and spreadsheets from your PC to your Smartphone.  Additionally you will need an email program.

Now that we have the basics covered, we can explore how the Smartphone can help to get more time out of the day.

Is there a book you’ve been trying to read for a while but just haven’t had the time?  Many books are now offered in electronic versions.  There “e-Books” can be downloaded onto a Smartphone and read whenever you have the time.  The following Websites offer books which can be downloaded: ebooks.com, ereader.com and manybooks.net.

Do you have a PVR (Personal Video Recorder) at home?  If so, with the proper hardware and wireless plan, you can catch up on the shows you have tapped.  You can even use this to schedule shows you would like to tape in the future.

Are there asks in your Smartphone which can be accomplished where you are?  Even if you are only able to add notes, this could help you move the task along.  This may be a good time to review all upcoming tasks.

Microsoft Word documents can be worked on and when you get back to the office the changes can be uploaded to your computer.  The same is true of spreadsheets, although the small screen size hampers much productive work with spreadsheets.

Review your calendar.  Did you make any noted from a previous meeting which you forgot to set as a task?  Reviewing your calendar at quiet times might create a new thought.

Texting gives you the ability to communicate with other while at the same time, not disturbing people around you and keeping the communication private.

There are just a few ways a Smartphone can help us.

He told her that their company was still using GarageKeeper.  GarageKeeper is a software program developed by Computer Assistance out of Oregon, and designed for independent repair shops.  So far you may not think this is anything special, after all there are hundreds of programs for automotive repair shops.

What is unique is GarageKeeper was designed to work in DOS, yes that ancient operating system from years ago.  This client has not required support for their program in over ten years.  How many products can you say that about?  And especially software programs.

And this person isn’t a fluke as we have many old clients running GarageKeeper. It just keeps on trucking even though it doesn’t have the latest, greatest hardware.

While we haven’t sold GarageKeeper in many years, we created quite an installation base when we were their top distributor.  We were fortunate to install GarageKeeper in many shops including: Porsche, Jaguar, Mercedes Benz, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Alfa Romeo, Audi, Honda and many domestic shops.

Unfortunately, like many good things, the foundation for GarageKeeper will come to and end when Microsoft stops supporting Windows XP, on April 8, 2014.

Computer Assistance has released their latest replacement for GarageKeeper, Motive Power.  Hopefully this will provide automotive and independent repair shops with the same excellent, reliable service.  Only time will tell, but it is great to know we provided a product to a customer over 15 years ago and it is still going strong today.  Not many people can say that.

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The first smartphone I tested was the HTC Imagio.  This phone had the additional feature of being able to view TV broadcasts such as Fox News, although at an additional cost of $15.00 per month.  The video quality is very good.

The HTC Imagio offers options for either Microsoft Sync or Microsoft Windows Mobile Device Center in that the user is able to select the time period for look back of calendar entries.  For those who have been using smartphones or PDAs for a while, this is a very nice feature.

Syncing with Microsoft Exchange or Microsoft Outlook works very well as one would expect from a Windows device.

The device has sufficient memory to hold close to 20,000 calendar entries along with a couple thousand contacts, hundreds of notes and over a thousand tasks.

The main issue with this phone is the display sensitivity is very poor.  It is too easy for applications to run while simply trying to scroll through the options.

As a business class device, this is definitely not my first choice.