Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/309054
14 May 2014 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com THE BLEEDING EDGE The Ultimate Windows Update On April 8, all support for the Win- dows XP system came to an end. On the same day, the company released the "Windows 8.1 Update" that may at long last enable users to dump the tiled, "metro" interface. Here is what you need to know, and need to do, now that tax season is safely behind you. First Steps Te frst thing, obviously, is back up all client data; do a restore to assure the backup is valid; and store it ofsite in a safe location. Failure to do so will be perceived as a violation of the Federal Trade Commission's mandate with respect to securing client data. That done, there are two tools that will ease the transition process to new hardware and operating systems. • Te Microsof Windows Upgrade to version 7, at htp://windows.micro- sof.com/en-us/windows7/products/ upgrade#T1=tab01 . • Te Microso0f Windows Upgrade to Version 8.1, at http://w indows. microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/ upgrade-to-windows-8 Ten it is time to determine how well your existing hardware will work. If you are still using Windows XP, the answer is that at least some of your hardware will not have drivers to operate under more current operating systems, and certainly not under the 64-bit versions of the sofware. Here are three basic resources: • W hich Windows Operating System Am I Running? http://windows. microsoft.com/en-us/w indows/ which-operating-system • What are the system requirements for W i n d ow s 7 ? h tt p : / / w i n d ow s . microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/ products/system-requirements • What are the system requirements for W i n d ow s 8 ? h tt p : / / w i n d ow s . microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/ system-requirements Armed with this information, you can decide what you wish to upgrade from and to. If you are running Win- dows XP or Vista, you will need to upgrade to Windows 7 or 8 (well, actually the Windows 8.1 Update, which appeared on April 8, 2014). If you are running Windows 7 you are under less duress, as you can remain there for a few years yet. There are, however, some good reasons to go ahead and make the upgrade to Windows 8. Windows 8 has evolved a bit in the past two years, and with the April Update has become almost the oper- ating system we want it to be. Tat is, there is now an option to boot directly to the old, familiar desktop and beter navigation with the mouse and key - board. But this is just the starting point. Toward the end of 2014, Microsof will release another free upgrade, Windows 8.2, and in April of 2015, a new Win- dows 9.0. Windows 9.0, for the record, is purported to be a complete re-write of the operating system. Upgrade to Windows 8.1 Update It only makes sense to make this the year that you upgrade to Windows 8.x – if for no other reason than free future upgrades and enhanced security capa- bilities that will comply with standards that are being re-writen, more strin- gently enforced and audited. Here are the steps: • CONDUCT AN AUDIT OF ALL HARDWARE AND SOFT WARE. It's a good job for a summer intern, particularly if you can find a local college student working toward an IT degree. Ten determine which pieces of each will need to be abandoned, upgraded or replaced. Tis will pro- vide a base line for the cost of upgrade while giving the frm the opportunity to assess its IT needs today and into 2015. • K E E P A N E RV O U S E Y E O N YOUR PRIMARY ACCOUNTING AND TA X SOFT WAR E. W hile virtually all accounting and tax sof- ware vendors are keeping pace with Windows development, not all may be adept at the securit y, por tal, backup, document management and client collaboration tools. For these, it is helpful to pick up the IRS Publica- tion 4557, Safeguarding Taxpayer Data: A Guide for Your Business (www. irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p4557) and Publication 4600, Safeguarding Tax- payer Information: Quick Reference Guide for Business (www.irs.gov/pub/ irs-pdf/p4600), which summarizes Publication 4557. • UPGR ADE IN L ATE SUMMER AND EARLY FALL, BUT THEN HOLD. While Windows 8.2 should be out at year 's end, that is too uncomfor tably close to next ta x season to be mak ing w holesale changes to equipment and operating systems. Do w hat you can until Thanksgiving , then wait until the following May to make further changes. I have long been a critic of Windows 8, and am still not certain that Microsof can pull of its planned smartphone/ tablet/PC hat trick. But the signs are promising enough that I am using Windows 8 in its native mode in order to root out the changes that actually took place with the Upgrade. More on that as we have things to report. 14 May 2014 t www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com By Dave McClure Dave McClure is a consultant and widely published writer on technology issues. He can be contacted at dave. mcclure@cpapracticeadvisor.com W hile tax and accounting pro- fessional s were fever i shly trying to fnish the 2014 tax season, Microsoft dropped two bombshells on the Win- dows Operating Systems. cpa_14-15_McClure.indd 14 5/7/14 8:55 AM