I’ve been using Windows 7 since early beta and have overall been pleased with the OS.  I won’t bore you with a lengthy review (there are plenty of other articles on the Internet for that); instead, I’ll give you some basic information that you should be aware of before you install Windows 7.

Like Windows Vista, there are several different versions of Windows 7 that you can buy. Which version you decide to purchase depends on the features you’re looking for. For example, bitlocker encryption isn’t available in the home or professional versions. For more information, see the “Which one is right for you” page on Microsoft’s website.

If you’re upgrading from Windows Vista, you should be able to simply launch the installer from within Vista and go from there. However, if you’re upgrading from Windows XP, you’ll need to upgrade in a completely different way by rebooting with the Windows 7 install disc, and selecting the drive where your current install lives. This is essentially a clean install of the OS (which is actually a good thing). Back up all of your important data such as documents, pictures and emails before proceeding, and prepare to reinstall any programs you had running under Windows XP since they will also be deleted in this process.

One important thing to remember: Windows 7 no longer comes with a mail client. If you aren’t using XMission Webmail, You can download a copy of Mozilla Thunderbird which is an excellent mail program. You can also download Windows Mail by itself or as part of Microsoft’s Windows Live Essentials.

Finally, if you were worried about not being able to use some of your favorite free programs such as Mozilla Firefox, Thunderbird, FileZilla and free virus scanners AVG and Avast, fear not! We’ve tested out all of these programs under Windows 7 and they all run wonderfully.

If you’re wondering whether or not your existing XP or Vista computer can run Windows 7, there’s an app for that (Windows 7 upgrade advisor).  If you need help backing up your important data or installing the upgrade, give the guys at geekbox a call and they can help you out.

Phishing emails are dangerous and have potentially catastrophic effects.

One particular type of phishing email could be the most malicious of them all: an email pretending to be your email provider that asks you for your account and personal information. Do not be fooled.

Read below and learn about phishing attacks, what you can do and what XMission does to protect your accounts.

How phishing attacks happen.

Phishing is an elaborate form of data and identity theft. It works by persuading users to respond to emails asking for personal information or to go to a website where information can be entered. These are so effective because the emails usually look trustworthy and sound like plausible scenarios.

How to spot a phishing email.

While phishing emails often differ, they almost always look legitimate and always ask you for something confidential.

Examples of email subjects:

• “Verify Your Account”
• “Email Upgrade”
• “Update Your Email Account”
• “Your email account has been suspended!”

Examples of From:

• “Xmission Admin”
• “Support”
• “Webmail Support Team”
• “email@xmission.com”

Example of a Phishing body:

Confirm your email account by filling in the details below:

Username:

Password:

Why it’s so difficult to stop.

Often, phishing emails come for legitimate email accounts that have been compromised, which is what XMission has been dealing with recently.

Phishers use a variety of camouflage techniques to avoid being detected by our antispam/antiphishing systems by using:

• Random letters or famous quotes in the subject or in the body of the email;
• Invisible text in HTML emails;
• HTML or Java content instead of plain text;
• Pictures only (no other text in the email body).

Potential consequences:

By replying or following links inside emails like these you can do more damage than you might imagine.

Common Examples of what phishers can do:

• Use your information to run up your bank accounts
• Open new accounts, credit cards, loan or contracts in your name
• Have access to all of the confidential emails you receive from your bank

Don’t fall for it:

Follow these tips to stay safe:

• Don’t ever reply to emails that ask for personal/confidential information
• Forward the email to spam@xmission.com and then promptly delete it
• Do not click links in emails unless you were expecting the email
• Do not fill in forms that request information. Any trustful provider will use a secure website and digital certificate

Safety:

Customers with “@xmission.com” email addresses can verify that they have spam filtering enabled on your account, this catches almost all phishing attempts. You can verify that filtering is enabled by going to http://webmail.xmission.com and entering your login information. There you will find a button called, “Filters”. Business customers have filtering enabled already, unless requested otherwise. If you have questions, you can always go to http://chat.xmission.com and talk with one of our technical staff or call us at 801-539-0852.

Use an antivirus program that helps detect malicious emails and websites

What XMission does to protect you:

We have full time staff that monitors incoming and outgoing email for spam, phishing and other potentially harmful traffic

XMission uses Spamassassin on its five email scanning servers (http://spamassassin.apache.org) and is constantly writing rules to account for trends in spam and phishing emails (see: What is Spamassassin below)

We have Email Admins available around the clock to respond to phishing emails.

We keep details statistics that you can view at: http://postmaster.xmission.com

Our systems have been configured to automatically detect phishing emails and notify our staff

What is Spamassassin?

Excerpt from spamassassin.apache.org

SpamAssassin uses a wide variety of local and network tests to identify spam signatures. This makes it harder for spammers to identify one aspect which they can craft their messages to work around.

If you’d like to get into the details of our filters, you can visit:

http://postmaster.xmission.com/senders/spamassassin/

What is Prey ?

Prey helps you find your stolen laptop by sending timed reports to your email, including information of its whereabouts. Prey reports the general status of the computer, a list of running programs and active connections, fully-detailed network and wifi information, a screenshot of the running desktop and — in case your laptop has an integrated webcam — a picture of the thief. Pretty cool!

You need to have the software installed on your laptop for it to work. With enough luck you may just get your machine back.

The program runs on Mac OS , Linux, and Windows.

I’ll be installing this on my laptop tonight.

This latest addition to the XMission domain based services makes it even more convenient to manage your online presence. Need to secure your web transactions or an email server? We can help!

Using SSL Certificates reassures your clients that you are doing everything possible to keep their information secure. Your customers can easily spot sites using SSL because the web address contains “https://” and web browsers shows either a lock symbol, key symbol, or specially highlighted navigation bar display.

Like a drivers license, SSL Certificates are issued by a trusted source, known as the Certificate Authority (CA) and the SSL protocol allows applications to communicate across the net in a way designed to prevent eavesdropping, tampering, and message forgery. All this conveys a level of trust and security to increase your client’s confidence in your online presence.

XMission will handle all your SSL Certificate needs from start to finish. Unlike other companies, we are here to help with real humans that answer the phones and respond to your emails. We will help you every step of the way and with a single bill so you do not have to manage several vendors.

Learn more about SSL Certificates by reading about them on our SSL wiki support page. You can order your SSL online, or simply call someone on our sales team. They will take care of you!

The XMission sales office is open weekdays from 9 AM to 5 PM, MST. You can reach us by calling 801-539-0852, 877-964-7746, or by emailing sales@xmission.com. As always, our support staff is here 24×7 to help you with any technical assistance you require.

Well, I have a new tool in my referral arsenal. Zimbra officially launched their Zimbra Desktop 1.0 client. Although I prefer the Zimbra web interface, I am frequently asked about desktop email applications. Because the Zimbra desktop client has support for multiple email accounts across multiple providers, and provides an integrated calendar and contact solution, it has become my favorite recommendation. It works especially well for daily use or off-line use while traveling. I also recommend Zimbra to clients as an Outlook replacement – it has a similar look and feel, but it’s free!

Finding the download is pretty easy:

Direct from Zimbra: Zimbra Desktop 1.0

If you have business Email Hosting from XMission you can find it by logging into your Zimbra webmail on XMission.

• Look in the upper right hand corner and there you will see “Offline version”.
  This link takes you direclty to the Zimbra Desktop download website.

• Install and you are on your way.

Just a friendly reminder, IMAP is the best setting to use on most mail accounts.

Also of note, if you currently use the Base version of Email Hosting, then Zimbra Desktop will not integrate your contacts and calendar into your webmail interface on XMission. Unless you are using a Standard or Premium version of Zimbra, your contacts and calendar will just live on your desktop within the application.

Happy emailing!

So what does this mean for XMission subscribers? Why is it important?

Easy, you don’t have to “just take our word” for it. You can see everything about our network in real time through tools available over the web.

How many times have you been left frustrated by technical support from a service provider and wished there was a way to verify what they just told you? At XMission, we make those tools and reports readily available. The following links to various tools, reports, and system monitoring sites let you see what is going on for yourself.

XMission Network Tools

Speed Test – http://speedtest.xmission.com/ Test your connection speed.

Network Trace – http://stats.xmission.com/lg/ Looking-glass interface for ping/traceroute/etc. on our network

DNS Tools - http://stats.xmission.com/nettools/ For the slightly more savvy. Access Trace/Dig/RBL/Whois/Network/Linker information.

Performance Disclosure

We share information about upstream connectivity because our 14 Gbps network blends the best of major carriers to provide our customers with excellent network performance. XMission routes based on optimum performance, not cost. We will always send packets via the best path and our ping times and traceroutes prove it.

Real-time Statistics – Online statistics for DSL, UTOPIA, QMOE, T1, and Colocation services Check bandwidth status in real-time.

Nagios System Monitoring – http://stats.xmission.com/nagios/ Take a good look into our systems.

Maintenance Updates – Netstatus mailing list For upcoming maintenance windows

General Announcements – Announcement archive Online and available via email

Outage Updates – http://stats.xmission.com/outage/ Not that we anticipate having an outage but if we should, this is where you would go for updates.

Bandwidth Availability:

The fact that you can monitor each of our networks, capacity from those networks, and our current usage on the pipes means you can grow your bandwidth without having to question performance or availability. Simply put, your critical data transmission needs are met.

Reliability

Having worked at XMission for 13 years I can honestly say the most common statement my clients make about XMission is, “It just works.” How awesome is that?!? Makes my job that much easier.

I would encourage any non-XMission clients to call your ISP and demand these same tools. After all, if XMission can do it, then other ISPs should too. Sustaining a healthy Internet is crucial to our future and you have the right to understand the products you buy.

If you have any questions about network services or this blog post please feel free to email me directly, john@xmission.com. I’m happy to help.

Enjoy!

Author Safely Ensconced in Cave

A part of having a good workspace, for me, is having a very clean desktop. I run everything as lightly as I can get it because the goal — the thing that brings about  good work, is to establish a place where everything drifts away but the project that you’re on. For me that means putting away IRC, instant messaging, Twitter and email for most of the day and just allowing for one or two really basic windows that I can use. Otherwise, an 8-hour workday can easily produce less than fifteen minutes of actual progress while still feeling exhausting.

Not everybody runs Linux on the desktop, of course, but those of us who do often enjoy a good tight terminal setup. For me, aterm fits the bill quite nicely. Running on a dark, single-color background with the following options produces very nice results:

/usr/bin/aterm -bg black -fg white +tr +trsb -fade 60 -bl +sb -font font1

What do other people do to enhance their productivity on the desktop? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

The Library is located at 210 East 400 South in Salt Lake City. This class begins at 2 p.m. and usually lasts until 4 p.m.

Our instructor, Kyle Waters, will provide some info about how the web works and then dive into creation of basic and dynamic pages. You’ll leave with a great foundation for your future web developments (or at least, experiments).

Please visit the Salt Lake Public Library Website for registration information.

We offer other library classes on the second Wednesday afternoon of every month. Generally these classes are beginner-level, but we are always looking for intermediate and advanced instructors if you want to teach.  We hope to see you soon!

Back in the days of old, POP3 was the best way to handle your email with your desktop mail application. The problem with POP (Post Office Protocol) is that it downloads email to whichever machine you are using at the time. This means that unless you access all your email from one machine, you can end up with some messages on your desktop, others on your laptop, and even others on your phone or PDA. Talk about a productivity and convenience killer! Ouch!

IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) keeps everything—even your sent mail and other mail folders—in sync with the copy on XMission’s servers, which avoids the problem of messages being scattered across your machines. IMAP gives you email portability via your mobile phone’s email application,  your favorite desktop email app at home and at the office, or the web interface.

For me, portability is crucial. I use several devices to access email: the office desktop, my phone, my laptop, and sometimes a random computer on the road. This need for access, no matter where I go, is why IMAP is so fantastic. IMAP keeps my email synced on every access device no matter where I am. It just makes life easier.

Putting this to work for you is simple. See the XMission support wiki for easy to follow configuration instructions on setting your favorite mail client for use with our IMAP service. There is no extra charge and all XMission email services support IMAP.

One last suggestion, if you want your email world to be even easier, use webmail. Most XMission accounts use https://webmail.xmission.com and our business Zimbra users access email, calendars, and collaboration tools through https://zimbra.xmission.com. All computers (and most mobile devices) have a compatible browser that supports webmail. The convenience is fantastic and you will never be stuck without your email again.

If you have questions about any of the XMission business email solutions please give us a call, 877-964-7746, or drop an email to sales@xmission.com. We are happy to help you out.

Now go be productive!

With Google Grants, registered non-profits can receive free keyword advertising in the AdWords program.

Details and more information can be found here.