Weekly Review - XP Support / Cloud Computing & 20% VAT Rate Change

(1) WINDOWS XP SUPPORT & CLOUD COMPUTING

Having lost at least 3 days' work last week continually re-booting my XP laptop (for reasons below), it was interesting to see today that Microsoft have made an announcement about "extended support" for XP. From 13 July support will continue, but only for XP on the latest Service Pack3. This means Microsoft will continue to issue security updates, fixes, patches and driver updates for XP SP3.

Any XP PCs that cannot for some reason be upgraded to SP3 will need to be replaced (an upgrade to Vista or Windows 7 would also not be practical - in any case upgrading a PC is generally inadvisable, as older ones are not designed for the newer operating system)

I've kept XP principally to run Word 2003 (which I prefer over 2007, and it provides better compatibility with both 2003 and 2007 used by others). Those around me are using Windows 7. Other than perhaps a bit of speed advantage, there is no magnet affect to suggest it is worth the effort of changing.

In fact the loss of use of the laptop highlighted that I would have been far better off if all my applications were cloud based. I could have then used any other internet-enabled device to continue working. Having been "positive but cautious" about the cloud for some years, my aim now is to migrate to the cloud and leave Windows behind altogether. But there are lots of compatibility hurdles and cloud risks (see separate articles) before I can make the switch.

Why leave Windows behind? The fault has proved elusive, but appears to relate to wireless networking. I've switched to my 3G dongle and all is well (for now), though I can no longer use network services such as network printers. I suspect there has been a "Windows Update" that has screwed a setting. It certainly highlights:

1. The risk of taking upgrades like these "blind" (as is often the case with both PC and cloud computing)
2. The need to have secondary methods for all critical aspects, such as internet access

Hopefully the cloud and telecoms industries will progress quickly to bring the risks down to acceptable levels. Roll on the revolution!


(2) 20% VAT RATE CHANGE

Another "exciting" but important announcement this last week was the new standard VAT rate for the UK of 20%, to apply from 4th January 2011 (the Tuesday after the Bank Holiday). For many B2B (Business-to-Business) companies this will mean the first day of a new accounting period, but for retailers, etailers and some B2B it will be part way through a period.

It is tempting to think that this is otherwise just a repeat of the rate change this last January. It isn't:

• On the commercial side, the last increase was a reversal of a previous decrease. This time it is a real increase, and new approaches will be needed for pricing etc
• On the systems side, software vendors will have chance to put better solutions in place than when a few days' notice was given in 2008. This may mean software upgrades and/or changes to their advice. Many vendors didn't have specific functionality for aspects such as credit notes and un-despatched orders last time. Furthermore any business that has changed their systems in any way during 2010 will need to look afresh at the rate change issues.

I published an article last week that looks at these issues in more depth.

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