Inside Solsis

Longest Game and Fastest Update….

JamesH — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:06:15 +0000

This is sort of a technology related post I guess. But I just noticed whilst watching the record setting Isner/Mahut tennis match that the Wikipedia article for both players is being updated live as the match happens. (see excert below)

In the singles at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, he faces Nicolas Mahut in the first round, attempting to win his first ever match at Wimbledon. At this moment, they are both locked in an epic 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(7), 7–6(3), 58–58 stand-off (In Progress).

I have heard that Wikipedia is the fastest updating encyclopedia ever but I never realised quite how fast. Any way however the match plays out I am sure Wikipedia is deserving of a record of it’s own.

iOS 4 is here

JamesH — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:39:11 +0000

iOS 4 is out for the iPhone 3G, 3GS and iPod Touch (exc. 1st generation) so the question is what do you do next. At this stage if your thinking of upgrading I thought I would provide a bit of information about the process and my experience in getting it working.

It was a painfully slow download, but right now everyone trying to download the update so it is going to be slow. On my 23MB ADSL line it took just under 35 minutes to download the 363MB file. To install the update on multiple iPhones I copied the iOS download from my iTunes to all the others I need to activate it on

I first updated my iPhone 3G and the process will be quite slow.I would recommend that prior to updating you backup your phone and disable iTunes ability to backup. If you’re on a mac you can open a terminal window and type the following:

defaults write com.apple.iTunes AutomaticDeviceBackupsDisabled -bool true

If you use windows open a command prompt and type the following:

“%CommonProgramFiles%\Apple\Mobile Device Support\bin\defaults.exe” write com.apple.iTunes AutomaticDeviceBackupsDisabled -bool true

On the 3GS it’s a lot quicker. The OS install itself takes about 20 minutes and when done will prompt you to restore your old settings. I didn’t because I wanted to see all the features by exploring and setting up the phone as if it where a new phone.

If you are thinking about updating your work supplied iPhone or it’s yours but configured for work, there are a few things you should remember

Make sure you know your mail server settings. For Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync you’ll need you Windows username and password and your Webmail address
If applicable make sure you know your VPN settings or know where you can download your VPN profile from
You’ll need iTunes 9.2

As with all these things if you’re unsure about whether or not you need this update or would like assistance installing it please contact Solsis Support on 0845 600 2552

Windows Live to get Active Sync Support

JoeW — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 11:09:33 +0000

I have been reading on the web that hotmail is going to get Exchange ActiveSync enabled over the summer allowing users to keep their email, calendar, and contacts in sync with their mobile device.

Although not officially enabled yet it appears some users have had limited success (including me) it appears that to get it working you specify the server name as m.hotmail.com and leave the domain box blank.

Please remember ActiveSync on most devices currently only supports one email address, this means that if your work email server is configured on your phone then you most likely cannot take advantage of this new service. iPhone 4 users, iPhone 3G* and 3GS* users will be able to support multiple ActiveSync accounts.

*3G and 3GS users will get this in iOS 4

Office 2010 Ready for Release

CharlesQ — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 12:04:50 +0000

Businesses users will be able to get their hands on Office 2010 (both web and desktop editions) less than two weeks.Microsoft have officially announced that the code for Office 2010, SharePoint 2010, Visio 2010, and Project 2010 have been released to manufacturing. Pre ordering from Microsoft has been available since April 15th.

Volume licenses customers with software assurance will be able to download the new versions from the Volume Licensing Service Center on April 27. Those without software assurance will be able to access the download from May 1st.

In a first for Microsoft and following hot on the heals of Google Docs and Apples’ iWork.com website the first ever web based version of Office called Office Web Apps will be available to volume license customers at the same time. Microsoft have also announced plans for cloud based implementations of Office Web Apps as well as on premise versions customers can host in their own environment

Microsoft Office 2010 will officially be launched on May 11th in New York

As yet there has been no work on when the free consumer version of Office Web Apps will be available, despite being in testing since September 2009. Microsoft have said that for now the consumers, Office Web Apps will remain in technical preview until availability.

If you want more information about pricing or availability for your business please contact your account manager or a member of the Solsis Sales team on 01344 401500

iPhone OS 4.0 Brings Multitasking At Last

JamesH — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 20:46:26 +0000

Today Apple unveiled plans for the biggest iPhone software update since iPhone 3.0. The OS lots of new features for iPhone and iPod touch owners to enjoy. And for developers, and a new software development kit (SDK). It will ship this summer for iPhone and iPod touch.

Particularly exciting is the new enterprise features, which are summarised below.

Users will be able to set up multiple Exchange ActiveSync accounts including Exchange 2010 mailboxes. With the new unified inbox feature, you’ll be able to see messages from all of your email accounts displayed in a single inbox, or you can quickly switch between inboxes to see messages from any single account. If you receive an attachment that you want to save or edit, you will be able to open attachments with compatible apps from the App Store.
Perhaps the most exciting thing for me is the expansion of the VPN support. To be able to connect to my home server with a choice of more VPN solutions is one of the most anticipated new features for me.
SSL VPN support in iPhone OS 4 gives your users another way to securely access enterprise resources. These new protocols can even be leveraged to connect seamlessly to a corporate network via VPN on Demand. Forthcoming apps from Juniper and Cisco will support SSL VPN on iPhone.
iPhone OS 4 will work with iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS this summer, and with iPad in the fall. Not all features are compatible with all devices. Most disappointingly multitasking is available only with iPhone 3GS and I think
Multitasking will allow tasks to be performed in the background while preserving performance and battery life. So you’ll be able to make a Voice over IP call while checking email

Hopefully I will get to test the BETA OS 4.0 in the near future and will post some screenshots and reviews right here.

Outlook 2011 Screenshots released (Update)

JamesH — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 06:58:35 +0000

I have just seen screenshots (courtesy of Boy Genius Report) for the new Outlook 2011 for Office on the Mac. Is everyone ready for proper Exchange Support from a Microsoft product on the Mac? We’ll see I guess, there always seems to be something that doesn’t quite seem to work the same as Outlook. Then again as I say to people, if you want Microsoft Office to work the way you’re used to “Get a PC”.

The current implementation of Exchange Web Services in Snow Leopard is actually pretty good though I am not a fan of the folder layouts in Mac Mail I wonder if Outlook 2011 with use EWS or some to other Microsoft proprietary connector

You can see a full gallery of photos here http://www.boygeniusreport.com/nggallery/page-320/album-1/gallery-23/

OS X 10.6.3 Released (Update)

JamesH — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 06:46:41 +0000

OS X 10.6.3 has been put on the Apple Software Update Site. Here is a list of the fixes and updates that Solsis customers running Mac environments may benefit from

An issue in which the Finder reports a -36 error when copying directories to a drive formatted as FAT32.
An issue in which shadows in PDF of Aperture book are black instead of gray.
The reliability of certain third-party USB devices.
The Accounts preference pane can now limit login to members of groups hosted by a non-Apple directory service, such as Active Directory.
DNS server ordering as specified in Network Preferences and DNS reliability.
General reliability for wireless connections.
Improvements to 802.1X reliability, including closed network connections , and WPA2.
An issue that could cause the system to become unstable or unresponsive when bound to an LDAP server using SSL.
An issue in which the 802.1X Login window Profile is in place, but the wireless network is not available, directory authentication over Ethernet will now succeed.
An issue that could prevent saving files from Microsoft Office 2008 to an SMB server volume.
Issues copying, renaming or deleting files on an SMB server volume.
clear-text authentication enabling to an SMB file server.
Changing the invitation list for a single instance of a recurring event will no longer “un-book” the location of the meeting.
An issue in which new invitations on a Microsoft Exchange server might not appear in the Notification pane.
Properly showing recurring Microsoft Exchange events which have a set end date.
home directory synchronization when the home directory is stored on an SMB file server.
properly warning mobile users in an Active Directory domain about upcoming password expiration.

There are many other updates 10.6.3 has a lot of updates in. I would head on over to here to see the full list of updates.

For Solsis customers reading this please contact the helpdesk on 0845 600 2552 if your concerned or would like assistance.

Great Wall of China

Graham Bromham — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:04:34 +0000

Next year (March 2011) Senior Account Manager at Solsis, Steve Chambers will taking part in the Great Wall of China hike over 9 days to raise funds for the Institute of Cancer Research UK.

Below is a link to his blog detailing the challenge, which also has a link to his Face Book fan page, and – more importantly – his online sponsor site!

http://greatwallforicr.co.uk/

The website will be updated regularly with details of Steves preparations, training weekends, planned fundraising days, auctions and raffles and of course updates on his sponsorship.

You can also become a fan on facebook by visiting http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Great-Wall-Hike-Supporting-the-Institute-of-Cancer-Research-UK/352606454316 and promote it to you friends and families to give as much support and exposure as possible!

Feel free to take a look, and if you wish to make a contribution it will be much appreciated!!

Spell Check in Safari

JoeW — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:25:43 +0000

For those like me that use Safari as an alternative to Internet Explorer (let’s face it there are times when this is necessary) and have got used to the fact that it’s spell checker runs as you type may sometimes get annoyed with the fact that by default it uses American English.

However you’ll also be glad to know there is an easy way to change this:

Open up a text box in the web (google or whatever) type a word incorrectly. Right click the word.
Choose “Spelling and Grammar” then “Show Spelling and Grammar”.
Now choose your language from the drop down box.

Windows Users to Get Browser Choice [Update]

JamesH — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:27:26 +0000

Microsoft have today released their Browser Choice Update forcing users to choose the browser they want installed on their computer. So how does this work and how does it affect you?

Key points

A choice of 12 browsers (7 of which this techie has never heard of)
The browser choice software will be delivered as part of the Windows Update system Microsoft usually uses to distribute security patches.
The choice screen will keep appearing until a user has made a choice. Anyone wanting to stick with IE will be prompted to upgrade to the latest version.
Microsoft said that Windows 7 users who have fixed or “pinned” IE to their taskbar will have it unpinned by the update. Right clicking the icon for any browser will let users pin that program to the taskbar.
It will not pop up in front of those who already run a different default browser, such as Firefox, Safari or Chrome.
Users guaranteed to see it are those that have Internet Explorer (IE) set as their default browser and have taken the option to let Windows automatically download and install updates.

How to handle the Update

After the update is downloaded and you have restarted your computer, you’ll automatically be shown the Browser Choice screen, and you can then select and install the browsers you want to use. (If the Browser Choice screen doesn’t automatically appear when your computer restarts, you can double-click the Browser Choice shortcut on the desktop to select and install web browsers.)

The Browser Choice update doesn’t add or remove any programs from your computer. If you’re using Windows 7 and Internet Explorer is your default browser, the update will unpin the Internet Explorer icon from your taskbar. Internet Explorer will still be available from your Start menu, and you can choose to pin it back on your taskbar. For information on how to pin programs to your taskbar, see Pin a program to the taskbar.

To select and install web browsers using Browser Choice

Follow these steps to use Browser Choice to install one or more browsers to your computer:

Double-click the Browser Choice shortcut on the desktop.
In the Welcome screen, click OK.
In the Select your web browser(s) screen, for each browser you want to install, click Install. Click Tell me more for information about any of the browsers.
Follow any on-screen instructions to install the browser you chose.

At Solsis we recommend using Internet Explorer 8, it’s fantastic security features and compatibility with programs such as Outlook Web Access, and Microsoft Office Web Apps is the natural partner for your current network applications

This guide has been replicated in parts from the one on Microsoft’s own website which can be found here. However the part relating to browser recommendation is purely the view of the author