First week without Windows

It has now been just over a week since I set up my Windowless system.
What are the issues? Well none really.
I have copied over all my data from my old system. A mixture of putting the old Hard Disks (one for Win XP and one for my old Ubuntu setup) and copying the data across. No problem. Other than that I brought across other data on a USB memory stick. Again no problem.
Ok I still have to import my old emails from Outlook. Just a 3.5 GB file to port across first. Evolution seems to do the job OK. I have imported calendar entries that have been sent to me. email set up was easy.
I have used Banshee to import some music. I am not mad with this, I still prefer to play from CD on my separates system but I have brought some files across. Can I sync with my Creative Xen, Well no. It doesn't like ogg files and I haven't found a way of converting them to mp3 to port across. Is it a big issue? Not really for me.
I have tried to connect my Blackberry. At the moment it is not having it. Is that a real problem for me? Well it should be but I have been very lazy about syncing my Windows and my Blackberry so why should it now be a problem. On the other hand maybe I shall see if I can swap the blackberry for an Android phone.
I have put my personal Accountz program on. Only problem were of my own making in making a mess of copying the old data from backup.
What is really good?
I have set up a number of users on this machine. It is nice to be able to log on to one account whilst remaining logged to the first account. For example, I was logged on to my personal account and playing some music through Banshee. I logged on to my work account without logging off the personal account and the music kept on playing. When I logged off the business account I simply logged back on to my personal account and carried on working from where I have left off.
After one week my impression? Great. Should have done it sooner.

We now become Accountz partners

Hillier Consutlants has just become a full business partner with Accountz - the 'Accounting for the real world' specialists.
Accountz runs on Windows, Mac and Linux platforms - all from the same disk.
As business partners we are on hand to provide first line support to Accounts users - both Home and Business.
To find out more contact us on 01268 548636

Business Accounts - cross platform

We are getting excited by accounts systems!! Sad, but true. We have not been so keen on this subject since the mid 1980s.
Back in the early days of personal computers, businesses saw the benefits of having a computerised accounts system on their office computer. The benefits of inputting the data as you get it. being able to get regular Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet reports.
Back in those heady days the main contender in the PC market was Pegasus, a very professional but quite expensive package; and then came Sage.
Over the years Sage have become the de facto industry leader in the UK, but they do have an issue. Their product only works on Windows machines. Their support costs are high for many small businesses. Their latest offering has problems on domain based networks due to folder access rights.
So what might the alternative be? We think we might have found a good alternative to Sage. Accountz offers an easy to use suite of business products, Basic, Professional, Enterprise. These products run cross platform, which means you can access and update the data from any computer that runs either Windows, Linux, MAC.
We installed the product on a Ubuntu Linux computer, transferred the data files to our Windows 2003 domain server, accessed and updated the data from a Windows Vista workstation. We could then operate the system from either our Vista workstation of the Linux one depending on our whim.
Why does this get us excited?
It means at last that we can offer lower cost solutions to small businesses. Linux comes free of charge. Ubuntu Linux runs straight out of the box.
If any of this is of interest to you then call us (UK only) on 01268 548636 to discuss your needs.

Accounts systems

Are you an accounts user? Are you locked into Sage? Are you paying high levels of support? Are you looking for accounts packages on non-windows platforms?
We have recently been investigating alternatives to the Sage Accounts programs. Not the we have anything against Sage as such. As a business system it does the business. The support desk in UK based and they have a lot going for them.
But what alternatives are there? Well, there is TAS books but that is now part of the Sage empire and we suspect product convergence over time. There is quick books but we know of no business using that system.
We have however recently investigated two particular alternatives.
The first, Accountz, is based on an installed program which runs on Windows, Linux and Mac systems. We have tested this out in the single user version. We tried to test to destruction. We created the data on an Ubuntu Linux system. We then copied the files across the network onto a Windows 2003 server mapped drive. We then installed to product onto a Vista computer and were able to access the data on either the Vista or Ubuntu system. It worked! This makes it very interesting from a Linux point of view - a topic we will return to in another blog.
The second, Kashflow, is a web based accounts system. There are no programs to use, simply use your favourite web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera) and you are away. The data is stored on the companies London based web server and mirrored to a backup server. Because of this the program is available on both Windows and Linux platforms, which makes it equally interesting to us as Linux users.
Both systems have a respectable UK installed user base.
For further details of this visit our website www.hillierconsultants.com or phone (UK only) 01268 548636 or email sales at our office.