Unfortunately, calling them Labs features doesn’t really do them justice. Some of these Labs are, to me, an essential and required part of Gmail. I highlight my 9 favorite Labs below.

So, how do YOU enable these features? Easy. Just log into Gmail, click the little gear icon in the top right hand corner, and choose Labs. Then, tick the Enable circle next to the features you want to enable and click Save Changes. That’s it! Gmail will reload with all of these new features in tow.

What Gmail Labs do you consider a requirement? Let us know!

• All Windows 7 applications will run natively on Windows 8
• Security update notifications have been minimized to the lower right of the log-in screen
• Refreshed Windows Task Manager suspends apps when they’re not running on-screen
• New “Reset and Refresh PC” functions enable simplified system wipe and restore
• HyperV virtualization software comes pre-loaded on Windows 8
• Multi-monitor support now enables a single background across screens, as well as monitor-specific task bars
• Multi-touch support enabled for Internet Explorer 10
• Magnifier function enhanced for desktop manipulation
• Optional thumb-by-thumb input mode
• SkyDrive storage support integrated into all cloud-based apps
• Metro-style refresh for Mail, Photos, Calendar and People apps with Windows Live ID
• Settings roam allows for preferences to sync across a user’s Windows 8 devices
• Continued update support for Windows 8 Developer Preview Beta
• Even a Lenovo S10 (first-gen Atom + 1GB of RAM) can “run” Windows 8
• There’s “no overlays” with Windows 8; Metro-style goodness is baked into the core
• Both Metro-style and conventional Win32 apps will be sold in the Windows Store
• Windows 8 devices equipped with an NFC chip will be able to use a tap-to-share feature to either send content from one device to another, or simply receive content from something like an NFC-equipped card.
• Logins will use a photo-based system
• Apps will be able to natively connect and understand one another (if written as such)
• Built-in antivirus software will ship in Windows 8
• There will not be a different edition of Windows 8 for tablets, and presumably, not for Media Centers either
• It’s unclear how many “editions” (Home, Professional, Ultimate, etc.) of Windows 8 there will be
• ARM devices will be supported, but not in the developer preview

Some items on this list are certainly way closer to the techie side of things but one line from this list really stands out:

Even a Lenovo S10 (first-gen Atom + 1GB of RAM) can “run” Windows 8

The Lenovo S10 is a tablet PC and tablets, to keep their size down and heat to a minimum, usually run slower processors. This means that you can buy a PC today and it’ll be able to run Windows 8 when it comes out sometime next year. Or maybe you’re thinking of going the tablet route and are considering Windows 8? No problem. For3 can help you find the right kind of tablet that will run Windows 7 now and Windows 8 later.

Get in touch with us, we can help! You can see some screenshots of the developer build of Windows 8 below:

To use the offline versions of these popular Google products, you’ll need four things:

1. Google Chrome – Google’s free and awesome web browser. Get it here.
2. Offline Gmail Chrome app – a special app that syncs Gmail to your computer for offline use. Get it here.
3. Google Calendar Chrome app – this app will sync your Google Calendar entries to your computer for offline use. Get it here.
4. Offline Docs Chrome app – this app isn’t out yet but, when it is, we’ll update with a link to it. It should be available within a week.

Not at all. Antivirus software is valuable and a must-have layer of protection. But antivirus software isn’t going to stop viruses that you introduce, willingly, to your computer.

“But, I’d never put a virus on my own computer!”

However, most infections are just that. Users introducing viruses to their computers. How? By going to unsavory or virus-laden websites.

“I’m still confused. How can we tell the difference?”

Actually, that part’s easy, too. If it’s not a name you know and trust, don’t go to it. Sure, we all use the Internet to search for all kinds of things every single day but there’s lots of names and brands that we know and, for the most part, can trust on the Internet.

CNN. Gap. Nike. Google. Microsoft. Amazon. You get my drift. These are all names we can trust not to have a hidden payload of viruses hidden just behind their home page.

But when your search terms start to yield results that point to websites you’ve never heard of before, proceed with caution. You visit their website, you get a seemingly harmless pop-up and bam, virus loaded on to your PC. Yes, it’s that simple.

Take full advantage of Google’s search previews (click the screenshot to the right for an example.) You can click on the little magnifying glass next to your search results and get a preview of the page you’re going to visit. If it’s loaded with ads you can bet it’s probably not worth visiting.

If you’d like to know more about how you can protect your computer from viruses, let us know. We’d love to talk about how we can help you or your organization be safe and secure.

You can read about these changes all over the Internet, and For3 Technologies was at the largest VMware Users Group gathering in the world last week staying up to speed on all things VMware, but we would love to talk to you about these changes and how they affect you specifically. Contact us to set up an appointment.

It can work 1 of 2 ways:

1. Just contact us via our Contact Page or send an email to info@for3tech.com with who you are referring to us, how we can contact them, and what services they need (if you know).
2. Have your referral contact us and mention that you referred them. If we don’t know you well, we’ll need to have some of your info so we can get you your money, so it would be helpful if you contacted us as well.

If your referral becomes a customer of ours in any way, you get $100. That’s it. There’s no complicated form to fill out. And don’t worry about getting paid. There is nothing in the world we’d rather do than pay out $100 referral bonuses (ok, that may be mild hyperbole, but you get the point). Every $100 bonus we pay means a new customer for us, so everyone wins.

There’s no fine print, but the only caveats are that your referral must not have been a For3 customer in the past year and you only get the bonus once for each referral no matter how much business we do with them. Other than that, there are no restrictions. Psst…You can even refer your own company…

We hope to hear from you soon…Please help us give away thousands of dollars in referral bonuses!!!

-Matt

One question I get asked frequently is, “what’s the difference between backups and syncing?” Cloud technologies have really brought syncing to the forefront so, what better way to describe the difference than an explanation from Seagate, one of the leading hard drive manufacturers around.

File Synchronization (or ‘synching’) is the process of ensuring that two or more locations contain the same up-to-date files. If you add, change, or delete a file from one location, the synchronization process will add, change, or delete the same file at the other location.

Backup refers to copying of data from one location to another.

Sync is not a backup.

Sync keeps two copies of your most recent changes at all times–one locally (the file you’re working with) and another in another location, for backup or remote retrieval.

Backup copies files on a schedule and only captures the change since your last copy.

So now, I imagine you’re asking, “OK, which should I use?” Great question! The answer: you should probably use both.

Backups are great if you have to restore files due to a failure, or if you have to restore a previous version of a file because you’ve made changes and overwritten previous changes you wish you could get to.

Sync is great if you might be accessing files on more than one computer, and also works as a backup if you’re confident you won’t make changes you wish you could revert later. However, some sync services are getting smart enough to offer file revision history, so you can actually go back, much like a backup, and retrieve a previous version of a file.

How do I use sync? I use SugarSync to sync all of my pictures on my computer to my phone, automagically. I take new pictures, move them to my computer, they’re moved to my phone and I have them available, much like a person carrying pictures in their wallet.

Need help understanding backup vs. sync, or want For3 to help you get your data under control and secure? Just let us know and we’ll get you on the road to stress free file management.

My network is the other professionals I connect with to ensure I can offer you the best experience possible. I know far from everything about web development but with a strong network, other professionals can help fill out the skills I lack, just as I help other professionals do the same.

WordCamp Chicago is a fantastic opportunity to network with other WordPress-minded professionals and take in some training and breakouts to further my skills and help provide you with better web development possibilities. WordPress powers this site along with many of the sites For3 has developed for customers.

I’ll be tweeting from Chicago during the two day conference (July 30-31) so follow me at @shawnw and also watch the official @for3tech Twitter account for updates as well.

If you are going to WordCamp Chicago, I’d love to meet up with you. Either drop me a mention on Twitter or shoot me an email and we’ll set up a time to connect.

Windy City, here I come!

Microsoft has officially kicked off it’s campaign to start moving customers to a new Microsoft operating system. At this time that’s Windows 7 but Windows 8 will be out next year so a new Microsoft OS is just around the corner.

Here’s a little more on the little life Windows XP has left:

On April 8, 2014, security patches and hotfixes for all versions of Windows XP will no longer be available. So bottom line, PC’s running Windows XP will be vulnerable to security threats. Furthermore, many third party software providers are not planning to extend support for their applications running on Windows XP, which translates to even more complexity, security risks, and ultimately, added management costs for your IT department if you’re still managing Windows XP environments.

It’s time to move on. If you’re ready to make the move to Windows 7 (and, don’t worry, if you buy a new PC today it’ll very likely work with Windows 8) then get in touch with us, we’d love to help you find that just-right PC.