What are Bitcoins?

Internet, ,
18
Dec 2013

One_Bitcoin_OnsitePCSolution

What exactly are Bitcoins?

Bitcoins are a digital currency that can be transferred securely between any two people in the world.  Think of it as electronic cash that you can use to buy goods and services.  Ultimately, a bitcoin is a number associated with an address.  A person can have as many addresses as they want

How does it work?

Every transaction that has ever happened with Bitcoins are recorded in a public ledger called a block chain.  Whenever a new transaction happens, for example Person A sends money to Person B, it is added to the block chain in an encrypted format.  In order to confirm that the transaction is valid, individuals called miners will use their computers to break this encryption and finally confirm that Person A did indeed send money to Person B.  The reward for miners dedicating their computers to confirm these transactions is Bitcoins.

Only a fixed number of Bitcoins are released at a time.  As time goes on, breaking the encryption and therefor being rewarded more Bitcoins becomes harder and harder.

A transaction being sent from person to person, showing how the network of individuals called miners verifies the transaction.

A transaction being sent from person to person, showing how the network of individuals called miners verifies the transaction.

What gives Bitcoins their value?

One difference between Bitcoins and normal fiat currencies like the dollar is how they get their value.  Normal fiat currencies get their values from government and private banks and agencies.  Bitcoins however are valued based on how people choose to value them.  When many people are using Bitcoins to buy goods and services, or to trade them for fiat currencies the demand goes up.  Since there are a fixed number of Bitcoins in the world at any given moment, that demand increases their value.  There are several websites that track the value of Bitcoins.

Can I accept Bitcoins at my business?

Businesses have already started accepting Bitcoins as payment such as Virgin Galactic and BitcoinShop.us.  Services such as Bitpay have also been popping up giving shop owners and businesses a quick way to integrate Bitcoins into their payment systems.  To learn more, check out this Getting Started page at the Bitcoin Wiki.

Read More

Microsoft Ending Sales of Windows 7

Software,
16
Dec 2013

Onsite_PC_Solution_Windows_7_Ending_Retail_Sales_2
It has been reported recently that Microsoft will be ending its retail sales of Windows 7. The customers who want to install Windows 7 on their present computers after this deadline may be out of luck. From 30th October, 2014, you will not be able to buy pre-loaded Windows 7 PCs. This is to keep with their stated policy where they stop selling an Operating System directly after one year of its release. And around two years after release, they also stop supplying licenses to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).

This announcement means that Windows 7 copies will no longer be shipped to retailers and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and they won’t be pre-installed in new computers. If you are a business that was looking to mass-install Windows 7 on office computers, then you may be out of luck. OEM partners like Dell and Toshiba won’t be pre-installing Windows 7 in new computers as well and if a business wants to buy in bulk, they will have to buy the present stock in the market.

Onsite_PC_Solution_Windows_7_Ending_Retail_Sales

For vast majority of people, this may not mean much as vendors will continue to sell Windows 7 licenses long after Microsoft stops supplying. Microsoft may not sell them directly anymore, but they are easily available online and offline. You can grab a copy of Windows 7 from Amazon virtual shelves or Newegg. And you can also buy them from offline big box stores. Often these operating system DVDs continue to be sold decades after they are released. Ordinary customers should face no problem if they intend to buy a Windows 7 license in the foreseeable future.

For large enterprises that have volume licensing arrangements with Microsoft, there is no hurdle as they will continue to enjoy downgrade rights as a part of these agreements. So in many ways, Windows 7 will continue to be a force to be reckoned with for a long time to come. Often, Microsoft also extends retail sales deadlines of operating systems to allow everyone to grab a copy.

One of the best ways to stay ahead of the Windows lifecycle is to install Windows 8.1 right now or to update your computers to Windows 7 if you haven’t done so already. Most PCs today come bundled with Windows 8, which should keep you worry free of upgrade cycles in the near future. You can also circumvent this problem as the Windows 8 Pro editions include downgrade rights that allow people to pre-install Windows 7 if they want. Using this method, you can get a direct Windows 7 license from Microsoft for a long time to come.

Read More