As you may have heard Orcon and Slingshot are removing their global mode service as of the 1st of September . This move comes as a result of combined legal action from Spark subsidiary Lightbox, Sky TV and Mediaworks.

This outcome for global mode may be indicitive of a larger push by the more encumbent and traditional content providers such as Sky Television, against the seemingly overwhelming surge towards internet dominated entertainment.

This means however that people may start looking towards other alternatives to the global mode service, and there are plenty of them out there. Some of the alternative services are pretty straight forward to setup and shouldn't cause you any problems, others may end up breaking your internet connection, collecting data on your browsing habits and causing other internet related headaches. So if you're looking at finding something to replace your global mode service, you accidentally break your internet, or you are just concerned about the risks, give us a call we're happy to navigate you through the do's and dont's of SmartDNS and VPN serivces.

Windows 10 is just around the corner....

On the 29th of July Windows 10 will be released. You may have heard the news or already noticed the pop up tray icon that's been lingering in the corner of your Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 desktop. The good news is it's a free upgrade (for most people) which will probably be a good move for Windows 7 and 8 users alike.

Microsoft is looking to unify all its supported oprating systems in order to provide more access for the universal apps offered in the Windows Store and to change their operating system model. By the looks of things it's shaping up to be a good looking replacement for the sometimes unloved Windows 8 series.

It's Free (for most of us)

Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for those of us running Windows 7 Service Pack 1 or Windows 8.1. If you upgrade within the first year of release there won't be any cost and you'll have a full and functional copy for the supported life of the operating system.

If you're still running XP or Vista then it may be time for a computer upgrade anyway as the hardware that systems using these operating systems came with may be reaching the end of it's functional life.

How do you Upgrade?

Microsoft have already deployed an upgrade program through your windows update system and by now you either seen the 'Get Windows 10' icon in the bottom right hand corner of your screen or you've had a prompt asking you if you would like to reserve a copy. If you choose to click on the icon, follow the prompts and click on 'reserve your copy' then Windows 10 is already starting to download in the background and will be ready to switch over on the release date. If you haven't then just do this now and the process will be well under way.

What else should I do?

The transfer over to Windows 10 shouldn't delete personal files, but it is ALWAYS important to have backups of your system just in case you have hardware or software that isn't going to be compatible with the new operating system.

Should I upgrade?

The are a few more features (you'll find an overview here) in Windows 10 that might appeal to some people such as the return of the start menu and the better layout for non-touch screen devices. Despite all this, the classic adage of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" may still apply. If you don't think Windows 10 provides any additional features you'd like or need then there's no need to upgrade just yet. As long as you make your mind up before this time next year you'll still be eligible for the free upgrade, according to Microsoft. Still undecided? Have a look at the video below it may just entice you.