Microsoft has closed all 86 of their stores due to the ongoing pandemic, but what about your one-on-one support that you paid for? So frustrating, isn't it?! Their Assure Plan may include alternatives to in-person meetings, like online chats, but certain customers expected/needed inspections from an actual store expert. Try calling and pressuring Microsoft to refund your payment. They should make good on the situation.
Bonnie isn't happy about Microsoft closing all stores because she bought the extended "Assure Plan." Leo says that Microsoft will provide the same services through Microsoft.com, but Bonnie says it doesn't allow her to see what's going on with the computer one on one. Leo says that by deciding to not reopen all 86 stores, Microsoft is taking a loss of a half-billion dollars. Leo says to contact Microsoft directly and demand a refund. They should definitely give Bonnie one.
Susan saw that Microsoft wants $130 for WIndows 10. Wasn't it free? Leo says that the official line from Microsoft is that the free upgrade ended a year ago. But they never turned it off. So she can download Windows 10 and upgrade for free. Just don't ask Microsoft. Susan also wants to know if LiveMail is going to go away. Leo says yes, and it's a good idea to start moving the email over to another option. Leo recommends Gmail, and she can even set it up to have her Live Mail forwarded to it. Then she can change webmail providers when ready. But LiveMail will stop working soon.
Don recently upgraded to Windows 10 on his Dell laptop, but now he's being told by his upgrade screen to go backward to 2004. Leo says that's the most recent update to Windows 10, version 2004, which stands for April of 2020. So the latest update is Windows 10 vs. 2004.
Make sure UAC is enabled to ensure the popup appears each time you're about to install something. It's a great idea to have a 2nd account on your Windows PC by going to Control Panel, Accounts, and Users, and then add a new user.
You will probably want to make one of them an "admin" account, while more actively using the standard account. In case one account gets messed up, you can use the other one.
Moving towards a more autonomous computer-oriented news curation, Microsoft this week laid off all their editors and writers for Microsoft News. Leo says that the news site isn't going away, Microsoft is just going to rely on an artificial intelligence algorithm to curate the stories it posts. Leo also adds that both Apple and Google have gone the other way, believing that human curation increases engagement. Leo also says that Facebook is also relying on an algorithm, and its news page is just terrible.
Bob hasn't updated his computer to Windows 10 yet because he uses an app called Microsoft Map Point, which won't work with the updated OS. What Leo recommends is to go ahead and upgrade to Windows 10 to get the upgrade, and then roll back to Windows 7. That way, you can still have the upgrade entitlement when you're ready to move forward. But you can also look at other map apps. There's plenty of alternatives out there, like Google Maps and Waze. Bing Maps may also have similar features, and there's also Windows Maps, an app in Windows 10. So take a look at that.
Ben has a twelve-year-old Mac that runs Entourage for his email client with AOL. But it has stopped working. Then it started working again a month later on its own, then stopped receiving mail a month later. Leo suspects that AOL may be the culprit. But also, Entourage hasn't been updated in years because it was discontinued by Microsoft in favor of Outlook. But Leo doesn't like that option either because both store email in one giant file, forcing Ben to rebuild it when it gets corrupted. It's a terrible way to do email.
Quarterly earnings reports reflected a modest growth for tech giants this week in spite of the outbreak. Spotify, for example, stated that every day is a weekend now, as daily listenership was up. Microsoft reported single-digit growth as well. But Leo says that doesn't mean next quarter won't be the same.
Advertising revenues, by contrast, have plummeted online as advertisers pull back.
Rick wants to know why dashcams haven't taken off in the US? Leo says you'd think that car manufacturers would require them. They are popular in many other countries, but largely due to the staging of fake car accidents. A dashcam protects you.
