Windows 10/11 Home Edition and the OEM Bitlocker pitfall

Posted on 2023-02-08 by guenni

Windows[German]Today a topic that might have put one or the other user in an unpleasant situation. A machine with Windows 10 Home Edition (or Windows 11 Home) suddenly requests a Bitlocker key after an update or other change. The user stands like a duck in a thunder storm, since he does not have this key and is actually not aware of ever having done anything with Bitlocker. The cause is a stupid chain of inadequacies in the form of Microsoft's implementation and the OEMs' anticipatory obedience.

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Posted in issue, Windows | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Outlook.com is down (Feb. 7 , 2023)

Posted on 2023-02-07 by guenni

Stop - Pixabay[German]Microsoft's e-mail service outlook.com is today (February 7, 2023) since about 5:00 am German time probably disrupted worldwide. There are currently indications that the disruption is receding. But the status pages of Microsoft 365 or Outlook 365 continue to report a problem with this service. Users who rely on this cloud function can neither log in nor send or receive mails. Here's a quick overview of what's going on.

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Posted in Cloud, issue | Tagged , | 1 Comment

End of sale for perpetual NetScaler (Citrix ADC) licenses as of March 8, 2023

Posted on 2023-02-07 by guenni

[German]NetScaler, a division of Cloud Software Group, has made the decision to end the sale (EoS) perpetual licensing of its hardware (MPX, SDX) and software (VPX/BLX) for NetScaler (Citrix ADC, Application Delivery Controller). It was announced that the sale of these licenses will end on March 8, 2023. Going forward, the products will be available through NetScaler subscription licenses.

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Reminder: Internet Explorer 11 will be retired on February 14, 2023

Posted on 2023-02-07 by guenni

[German]Microsoft will retire Internet Explorer 11 in most Windows versions on February 14, 2023. Microsoft Edge will then take over IE 11's tasks as the default browser via an update. Microsoft has updated a Techcommunity article with some hints and reminds about this replacement.

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Microsoft 365 Apps for Business does not support macro policies (GPOs)

Posted on 2023-02-07 by guenni

[German]This is an unpleasant story, actually a scandal, which I'm putting up for discussion here on the blog. Anyone using Microsoft 365 Apps for Business is in for an unpleasant surprise. Microsoft has pruned the product, so this product does not support macro execution management policies (GPOs, etc.). Only on the Microsoft 365 Enterprise variant provides this functionality.

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Why ISL Online: Critical factors when choosing a remote desktop solution

[Sponsored Post]In the rapidly evolving IT world, choosing the right remote desktop software is critical for organizations that value security, ease of use and reliability. One provider of secure remote access that has been on the market since 2001 is ISL Online, which presents some considerations for choosing such software below. More ...

Winget: Currently issues with manifest validation? (Feb. 2023)

Posted on 2023-02-06 by guenni

Windows[German]It looks like there are currently issues with Microsoft's package manager Winget. Last week winget-pkgs was no longer able to validate packages or manifests. The problem seems to occur since the change to the 1.4 format and is discussed on Github.

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Study proves economic damage from Microsoft's product bundling

Posted on 2023-02-06 by guenni

[German]It's an explosive study that came to my attention last week. Microsoft's product bundling is causing economic damage because the licensing rules for Microsoft software restrict competition – to the detriment of customers and the general public. That's because when market-dominant vendors like Microsoft continue their bundling practices between software and the cloud, it leads to price increases, less choice, less innovation and poorer product quality. This has once again been demonstrated by a study conducted by economists at the Frankfurt School of Finance and ESMT Berlin.

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Free Microsoft Teams (classic) to be discontinued, data backup required by April 12, 2023

Posted on 2023-02-05 by guenni

Teams[German]Microsoft has announced, that the free offer of Microsoft Teams (classic) will be terminated. Companies should switch to the paid Microsoft Teams Essentials subscription. However, there is still a free option to use Microsoft Teams. But those who have been using Microsoft Teams (classic) for free until now will have to take action, as existing accounts will be deleted after the offer ends on April 12, 2023.

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Can antivirus software protect Windows 11 from ransomware? (Jan. 2023)

Posted on 2023-02-05 by guenni

Sicherheit (Pexels, allgemeine Nutzung)[German]This is an exciting question that many users are certainly asking themselves: Can current antivirus software actually protect Windows 11 against current ransomware? AV-TEST GmbH wanted to find out and unleashed a series of known ransomware samples on Windows 11 systems with installed virus protection. It was observed whether the protection software stops the ransomware infection.

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Is Microsoft Defender killing applications like Outlook again? (Feb 3, 2023)

Posted on 2023-02-04 by guenni

Stop - Pixabay[German]Quick question to the round of administrators and users who use Microsoft Defender as a security solution in Windows. As of today, February 3, 2023, have there been any problems with applications such as Microsoft Outlook or do Office applications suddenly crash when selecting various features such as Quick Select? A reader confronted me with an observation that could indicate problems with a Defender update.

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Posted in issue, Office, Security, Windows | Tagged , , | Leave a comment