All
Systems Go!
By Eric Price
Our Annual Checkup on Computers & Creative Tech
O
nce again, it’s time for
your annual computer
checkup with Dr. Eric!
(Ed.’s note: Eric is neither
a real doctor, nor has he
ever played one on TV.)
In an era where computer hardware
and software changes have become evo-
lutionary as opposed to revolutionary, it’s
continually more challenging to get too
fired up over the latest and greatest gad-
getry. But fear not faithful readers, as I shall
endeavour to both excite and entertain
you as I comb through press releases and
technical bulletins gleaning interesting
tidbits and insights to share with you.
Not Dead Yet!
By now, I assume most of you are aware
that Windows 7 will be reaching its end-
of-life, which arrives on Jan. 14, 2020. With
Windows 7 having first arrived on the
scene in July of 2009 – a dinosaur’s age in
the operating system domain – it has long
seen better days, and by now, I would ex-
pect most of you PC users will have already
moved on to Windows 10.
Of course, Windows 7 will continue
to run after that date, but it will suffer the
same long and painful death as other op-
erating systems before it. Security updates,
OS improvements, and bug fixes from
Microsoft will cease on that date. As well,
you can expect increasingly diminishing
support from third-party software and
hardware companies. Drivers, as well as
newer versions of programs that will run in
Windows 7, will become scarcer as com-
panies will not want to dedicate precious
resources to supporting a dead OS.
Though Windows 7 has been super-
seded by both Windows 8 and then 8.1,
neither of those two operating systems
ever really gained any serious traction in
the market. With both OSes having already
lost much of their support, Microsoft has
left you little choice but to have migrated to
Windows 10. Though there is still no formal
mention of a replacement for Windows 10,
Microsoft continues to release major up-
dates to the OS about every six months.
Let’s look at where Microsoft is current-
ly with the update cycle for Windows 10.
How’s Your Blood Pressure?
major upgrade to Windows 10 since its
initial release in 2015, and with Microsoft
already having discontinued support for
earlier updates, you need to make sure you
are running at least version 1803 from spring
2018.
Only a month or so behind schedule,
version 1903 was finally deemed fit for
public release in late May with the rollout
being very slow this time around. Hope-
fully this update will contain fewer of the
surprise pitfalls found in the October 2018
update, which left more than a few users
with either data loss or the aggravation of
being unable to work for days.
Though Microsoft made few new
friends last update, there is hope they may
As of press time for this issue, the May 2019
update for Windows 10 (version 1903)
had recently launched. This is the seventh
Tech Tools Revisited:
SkyTracks
Montreal-based SkyTracks.io’s music collaboration tool allows musicians from around the globe to
contribute seamlessly on one track in real-time. Through DAW integration apps and the company’s
customized web interface, it’s easier to build a song from the ground up without all contributors be-
ing physically in the same studio. The company launched in 2015 to help musicians exchange audio
files online and has since added extensive recording and editing features. It’s a monthly subscription
service with Basic, Pro, and Studio tiers. www.skytracks.io.
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