TOP STORIES #85

It is a bit of a mixed bag this week, but with one highlight being the OpenAI app now available on Windows and a reminder that many key Microsoft products are coming to the end of support in 2025. There is a LOT of planning to be done between now and October 2025!

Did you Know?

There is a brand new "Did you Know" next week, and once more, I am 100% sure that you will be surprised again with what you will learn!

Hardware

Intel Shows off Panther Lake

While we still cannot lay our hands on a Lunar Lake Core Ultra notebook (unless you really lucky), Intel has shown off the generation that will succeed Lunar Lake!

The Intel CEO used the Lenovo Tech World event to announce Panther Lake and to talk about Intel's and AMD's new collaboration. You can read more about the announcement here.

New Technologies with dramatically improved specifications are going to continue to be released at a bewildering pace, so it is more important than ever to make sure you are keeping your hardware refresh cycles up to date with the latest changes. Please contact your First Technology account manager to ensure you have a regular update cadence in place and that you are always up to date.

Powerful but expensive!

A PC for R2 million?? Yes, it is quite possible to have a machine for that amount of money purring away next to you at your desk. The latest CPU's from Intel and AMD are insanely powerful compared with anything you have encountered in the past, but have prices to match. Here is an example of how you can customise a computer like this.

Microsoft

Installing Windows 11 24H2 NOW!!!!

If you really, REALLY want to install it NOW, you can force Windows Update to offer it immediately to your computer if deemed "safe" - that there are no known safeguards in place to prevent it from installing on your computer. The guide on how do it is here. I have tried it, and it works, but I'm still not brave enough to do it on my primary work computer.

WARNING!!!!! Proceed at your own risk!

However, it is really important to start planning the rollout of 24H2 for next year before Windows 10 comes to the end of support. Though the OS will keep working, running it in production without patches will become increasingly risky, so please make contact with Your First Technology account manager to connect you with the right consultants for your business plan for this rollout and, for some, a simultaneous hardware refresh.

Microsoft Plan Comparison Document Updated October

Microsoft keeps updating the plan comparison document, so it is important to have the latest on hand, which you can get here.

There are no major updates this month, but if you are looking at buying add-ons, renewing your agreement or generally wanting to make any changes to your BOM, please contact your First Technology account manager to take you through the tables to be sure that you are considering all pricing options and agreement types like EA/CSP/NCE etc.... as there are many different ways to buy the same license.

The support clock is ticking for Office 2019 and 2016

Both these version come to the end of support October 2025, so it is important to consider your options - some of which are:

Office 2024
O365
Google Workspace (formally G Suite)
Libre Office
Many other Microsoft Office look-alikes

However, the publication Office Watch makes an important point that though Microsoft will no longer be releasing security patches, the software does not stop working. You can read more here about how long they think you can keep using it for.

It is still really important to consider your options NOW and start planning, so it is recommended that you contact your First Technology account manager to connect you with our specialists in licensing and Office to help you look at all your options.

Word is getting an online coach.

It seems Word Online is getting CoPilot as a writing coach (along the lines of Grammarly) to help you with your writing skills. It is only available in Word Online and in the USA for now. You can read more about it here, Of course you need a CoPilot license to use this.

It is so important to start experimenting with AI in your business, and only through experimenting you will become an expert with AI in YOUR business, there is nobody to do it for you. Please contact your First Technology account manager to talk about making plans to get your business ready for AI to be switched on securely.

Security

AI Enhanced Cyber Attacks are the biggest risk

AI is going to be increasingly used to trick employees into being caught it in an attack where the "angle" is so legitimate, that only specific training on what to look out for can stop the attacker. You can read more about this trend for 2025 here.

Please contact your First Technology account manager to see what courses are available for your users to prepare them better for the attack that will inevitably come.

AI Generated scam call almost worked.

Here is a story of a Microsoft consultant who was almost tricked into giving up his Gmail account login details. It is interesting that he only realised he was being scammed when he noticed the AI-Generated voice call was "too perfect" and one of the email addresses was disguised under a non-Google domain. Just imagine how many people will get caught!!!

Cloud and AI

OpenAI releases Windows App

This is not the final release, but if you have an OpenAI Plus subscription, you can download the app from the Microsoft Store. You can read more here.

What you need to know about Anthropic (CLAUDE)

When I talk about AI I'm usually referring to OpenAI and CoPilot, but there is another that should not be ignored - and that is Anthropic - which I'm not a user of, but it is still good to know more about it, and here is a good summary.

AI Arms Race heats up

NVIDIA has released an LLM that outperforms Anthropic and OpenAI, and not only that, but it has also opened the doors to companies experimenting with their own LLMs based on what NVIDIA has released. You can read more about this here.

What's up at FTG

Huawei Cloud Summit

First Technology and Huawei invite you to the 2024 Cloud Summit, which will be held at the Gallagher Convention Centre.

When: 24 October

Where: Online - Register here

CoPilot Security Demo

BUI, FTG's security division, is able to present CoPilot for Security information-sharing sessions, workshops and demos. Please contact your First Tech Group account manager to make arrangements to attend, or you can request a session here.

What does a World Class SoC look like and how does it work?

You are invited to book a tour of one of our SoC (Security Operations Center) nodes (and there are still parts we can't show you). You can book for the tour here.

BUI blog - 3rd Video Available

FTG's Azure and security division, BUI, has launched a blog focused on Security—what's new, what changed, and what you need to do to maintain a good security posture. This one, however, is about a game that Dirk learnt about while attending Black Hat in Vegas.

All BUI videos have been moved to one YouTube channel, which you can find here.

The Security Blog Video #003 is now available to view here.

This video introduces you to KC7 - a Cyberdetective game!:

Movies

Only one really good movie to look forward to - Venom!

Now Playing: Smile 2

Now Playing: White Bird: A Wonder Story

25 October: Venom: Last Dance

25 October: Gracie & Pedro: Pets to the Rescue

25 October: Goodrich