The Road Ahead

Everything comes to an end, and after 12 years Microsoft will cease support for Windows XP on 8th April 2014. At first glance, this might not seem important. Computers running Windows XP will not magically cease to work on the 8th, but they will become progressively more vulnerable to attack and security breaches as Microsoft will no longer release security updates and patches.

If you are still using Windows XP, you now have less than a month to upgrade or replace your operating system.

Before purchasing the latest version of Windows, compare the system requirements of Windows 8.1 with that of your computer. Computer hardware has changed significantly in the past 12 years and upgrading to Windows 8.1 may not be possible with your current hardware.

If a Windows upgrade is not a viable proposition, then there are alternatives. One common route is switching from Windows to Ubuntu Linux. Ubuntu is free to download and install and unless you absolutely require Windows or Microsoft Office, it is a reliable alternative that includes the LibreOffice Suite. A guide on how to migrate from Windows to Ubuntu may be found in this month's PcPro magazine.

After 8th April, we will only offer support for customers still using Windows XP on a case-by-case basis.

Microsoft Exchange 2013 is now the default messaging service for new customers. With Hosted Exchange 2013, you get the latest technology, a better way to share email, calendars and contact information and easier mailbox setup.

For existing customers, we can still add Exchange 2010 mailbox now and into the foreseeable future.

Happy Christmas from Calzada Media!

If you're worried about whether Santa is on his way, check out either Google Santa Tracker or NORAD's Santa Tracker. They don't actually agree, so we'll leave it to you to trust either the Chocolate Factory or the US Military ;)

Don't forget, we'll be performing maintenance work between Christmas and the New Year.

In many ways, the IT industry is a lot like Network Rail - we tend to undertake upgrade and substantive maintenance work during the holidays. This year will be no different as we have a busy schedule of planned work to take place between Christmas and the New Year.

For the most part, the upgrade work will not interfere with normal operations. The big ticket item is an upgrade to our mailserver software which will require an unavoidable period of service interruption to all mail services. We're currently looking at around a 20 minute period of interruption, but we hope this will be much less.

As always, we will post individual notices on this blog and and on our Twitter Feed with regard to potential service interruptions. If you have any queries, please send us a message through helpdesk.calzadamedia.com.

We're nearly there. After many months of hard work, we're nearly ready to release TaxiOffice for public use.

Development work aside, we've already started building up material relating to TaxiOffice. The TaxiOffice section of the knowledgebase is growing daily with new articles covering all aspects of TaxiOffice ranging from adding jobs, managing customers through to sending newsletters.

Although there is already a FAQ in place, here's is a quick primer on TaxiOffice:

What is TaxiOffice?

TaxiOffice is a complete operations management service for taxi and private hire businesses. Designed and developed in partnership with partners in the private hire sector, TaxiOffice streamlines business operations and systems into one easy-to-use service.

How does it work?

TaxiOffice is a subscription service with everything hosted by us on our servers. You don't need to buy any equipment or install any software and we take care of all routine maintenance. All you need is a computer with access to the Internet and an e-mail account.

Subscriptions will be monthly and possibly annually as well.

Do I require a website or web hosting?

No. Hosting and a public website will be included as part of any TaxiOffice subscription. All subscriptions will include a free sub-domain as well like mycompany.taxioffice.net, but you can use a full domain if you wish.

Where are your right now?

TaxiOffice is currently in the middle of closed pre-release testing with our development partners. Once any final bugs are ironed out, we'll be in a position to state once and for all when it will be available.

Will there be a demo?

Yes. There will be a fully functional demo available at http://demo.taxioffice.net where anyone can get a taste of TaxiOffice.

Where can I find out more?

If you want to know more, please get in touch.