Free Windows 7 Upgrade Available

Windows® 7 promises exciting new functionality for PC users, so maybe you're set on waiting until the final release date to get your new PC [3].

Wait no more!

HP's Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program allows you to order an Upgrade Kit for free if your PC purchase qualifies [1].

Just order now and your kit will ship after Windows 7 becomes publicly available on October 22, 2009.

Read on

Technology Tips

Microsoft Word:
Create a Set of Labels
with Mail Merge

You can use mail merge when you want to create a set of address labels.

The following demos show how to use the Mail Merge feature in Microsoft Office Word 2007 to create labels for use in mass mailings.

Watch the demo to see how it works
.
 

Just for Laughs

Welcome to our September edition of the Progressive E-News. It's hard to believe that summer is coming to a close and we are now quickly heading into the fall season. Over the next couple of months, businesses will be working on closing out this year, so please let us know if you need to purchase any replacement equipment between now and the end of the year. We have included information about the 2009 Recovery Act in this edition to make sure that our clients realize that they can take advantage of additional tax savings with the Section 179 expense deduction. Our goal is to look for opportunities to help you save money wherever possible when investing in new technology. In addition, please keep in mind the October 22, 2009 release date for Windows 7. If you need to purchase any workstations or laptops with Windows XP, now is the time to do that before XP is no longer available.

Several things that we have been working on here at Progressive include implementing a new Customer Service Survey at the completion of projects (please feel free to request a survey at any time), expanding options for email backup and archiving, and providing ongoing training for our staff with specialized virtualization products and Microsoft Exchange High-end Restoration Training. In addition, our staff is ramping up to volunteer to provide meals for homeless families in Durham through a wonderful, local non-profit organization called the Durham Interfaith Hospitality Network. In our next edition of the newsletter, we will include a brief highlight about the mission of the Durham Interfaith Hospitality Network organization. In addition, please let us know if you would like for us to highlight your business in one of our future newsletters.

In closing, we are hopeful that you are finding our newsletters to be of value to your business and we look forward to the opportunity to continue working with you. As always, we welcome your feedback and suggestions for this newsletter, so please feel free to email llambert@pc-net.com.

Thank you,
Mark Michal and Lisa Mitchell
 

reprinted with permission from HP

When the going gets tough, the tough have a smart game plan. And with over 2 million jobs lost in 2008, the situation is definitely getting tough. Fortunately, the US has relieved our 26 million small businesses—those which gross $15 million or less in profits annually[1]–in more ways than one with its 2009 Recovery Plan.

The new plan not only gives small businesses tax breaks and credits, it also plans to give your customers more money by providing them jobs. In the meantime, though, one of the best ways you can take advantage of the plan is by carefully investing in the future with updated technology and energy efficient solutions. Even for larger businesses that don't directly benefit from the recovery plan, making these types of changes while business is slower can prepare you for when the economy picks up.

Read on

Key Features of a Reliable Messaging Archiving Service
► Email transport and storage using encryption
►Secure, tamperproof storage
►Optional retention periods for years of storage
►Search current and historical archives from a single console
► Robust search criteria to search for content and attachment details
► Dual data centers for redundancy
► Automatic quality verification - verifies that stored message copies are identical to the original
► Dual commit message capture – prevents messages from being deleted from customer server until accurate copies are made and verified
► Auditable message serialization - adds a unique numeric identifier to each message to comply with SEC requirements prohibiting tampering or deletion of messages

To learn more information about email archiving solutions, please feel free to contact us
at (919) 929-3080 x 241.

By Carolyn Duffy Marsan, Yahoo News

If you're old enough to understand the reference in this headline -- George Carlin, anyone? -- then you're old enough to need a refresher course when it comes to talking about technology.

We've put together a list of outdated tech terms, phrases that you shouldn't be using at work anymore because they will make you seem old. This is especially true if you're looking for a new job. For example, on an interview, you should be talking about "cloud computing," not "ASPs" even though they are basically the same thing.

Read on for the words