Here’s the scenario … You’re running the latest version of QuickBooks Desktop software on Windows 11 … You want to send invoices by e-mail in your QuickBooks Desktop software via Outlook (integrated approach instead of manually) …

If you’ve created e-mail signatures for Apple Mail in iOS/iPadOS, you are probably aware that signatures for Apple Mail in iOS/iPadOS are very basic. They are created using a default font, font size and font color. There are few options to customize your signature (ex: you can’t change font size or font color).

Working in the advertising industry for over twenty years, you develop a deep understanding of the trials and tribulations creatives and agencies face when it comes to font management.

Apple is a year and a half into their two-year transition to Apple Silicon. With only the Mac Pro remaining in the current Mac product line to transition to Apple Silicon and the next generation Apple Silicon chip, M2, announced at WWDC 2022 with the first two Macs running on M2 - the MacBook Pro available now and the MacBook Air due out July 2022, now is a good time for businesses that rely on Macs (and are still using Intel-based Macs) to take proactive steps to ensure those businesses are ready to transition to Apple Silicon-based Macs when the time comes.

Here are some basic tips and best practices if you’re considering upgrading to Windows 11!

Many modern printers support driverless technology (ex: AirPrint) to install/add printers in macOS; however, if you happen to be using an older HP printer that does not support driverless technology, macOS will typically download and install the required print drivers via Apple Software Update if those drivers aren’t already included in the latest version of macOS.

If you recently upgraded your Windows PC from Windows 10 to Windows 11 and cannot launch the Windows Security app (ex: you click on the Windows Security icon in the taskbar and nothing happens; you right-click Windows Security to try to open View notification options or View security dashboard and are prompted to search the Microsoft Store for an app to open the options), you can try resetting the Windows Security app to its original settings by using the Reset-AppxPackage cmdlet.

If you’re accustomed to launching Task Manager in Windows by right-clicking the taskbar and selecting Task Manager, you’ll get quite the surprise in Windows 11 when right-clicking the taskbar only gets you the Taskbar settings. Not quite sure why Microsoft opted to remove this convenient option to access Task Manager but if you find the need to access the Task Manager in Windows 11, you do have some alternative options.

If you need or want to perform a clean installation of Windows 11, you’ll need to create bootable Windows 11 installation media. To create bootable Windows 11 installation media, you can use the Microsoft Windows Media Creation tool.

Intuit has announced QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Premier, and Enterprise 2022 (R3 or later) are certified as fully compatible with Windows 11 64-bit (natively installed). The key is R3 or later … you must make sure your version of QuickBooks Desktop 2022 is updated to R3 or later if it’s not already.

If you’re ready to upgrade to Apple’s latest version of macOS, macOS Monterey, your best and simplest option is to upgrade your existing installation of macOS to macOS Monterey provided your existing Mac is supported. If your Mac supports macOS Monterey, download macOS Monterey from the App Store and run the installation (or via Software Update, if available).

It should go without saying that you should always purchase and use genuine licensed software.

Need to run Windows on an Apple Silicon-based Mac?

If you have a Mac with M1, M1 Pro or M1 Max, you can’t use Boot Camp as Apple does not support Boot Camp on M1.

Need to run Windows on a Mac?

If you have an Intel-based Mac, you can use Boot Camp to setup a Boot Camp partition on your Mac to install and run Windows.

When purchasing user-replaceable parts, components and consumables for business equipment, it’s ideal to use genuine parts from the manufacturer especially when the equipment is still under warranty and if genuine parts are available.

Leasing computer equipment may be an option if you need to purchase a significant amount of computer equipment but don’t want to invest the funds and incur the costs upfront.

When purchasing computer equipment for your business, there are some decisions to make like desktop vs laptop or Mac vs Windows PC. However, when it comes to cost, you don’t want to buy the least expensive (aka cheapest) computer available nor do you necessarily need to buy the most expensive computer available.

If you have compatible/supported non-live production workstations which you can use to test and evaluate major software updates/upgrades before deploying those updates/upgrades to live production workstations, this would be the ideal way to go.