Author Archives: Andrew Sherman

Last Tuesday, did Microsoft actually announce they were extending the EOL (End Of Life) date for Windows 10 that some news outlets have reported? Sort of. What Microsoft announced was a couple of new options for individuals to be part of the Extended Security Updates for Windows 10 program that will run until Oct 2026.

For individuals: An enrollment wizard will be available through notifications and in Settings, making it easy to enroll in ESU directly from your personal Windows 10 PC. Through the enrollment wizard, you’ll be able to choose from three options:
– Use Windows Backup to sync your settings to the cloud—at no additional cost.
– Redeem 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points—at no additional cost.
– Pay $30 USD (local pricing may vary).

The new options are to subscribe to Windows Backup or use Microsoft Rewards points. Unfortunately, none of these options will fully work for libraries. All three options require the PC to be logged into a Microsoft account to work. This is problematic for the patron/public PCs. Users of the patron/public PC would have full access to the Microsoft account being used. Having Windows Backup enabled means any changes made to Windows settings or files created on the PC will be retained. This defeats the purpose of reboot/restore software (DeepFreeze, SmartShield, CleanSlate, etc.) that cleans and secures the patron/public PC when it is rebooted.

For staff and personal Windows 10 PCs, enabling Windows Backup is a workable solution to get another year of secured use from a Windows 10 PC. I use this feature on my personal PCs since it’s a free and easy method for automatically backing them up.

If you have any questions about this or other technology, please contact me.

Andrew “Sherm” Sherman
Library Technology Support Specialist
Nebraska Library Commission
402-471-4559

Does your library use Microsoft Office? If so, are you paying the annual $100+ subscription for Microsoft Office 365? If you are, you may want to take advantage of the free Microsoft 365 Business Basic licenses for a “Public library that provides general library services without charge to all residents of a given community, district or region.” This offer is good for up to 300 library staff! To enroll for this offer, the library will need to set up a Microsoft for Nonprofits account. If the library has purchased $40 Office Standard licenses through TechSoup recently, the creation of a Microsoft for Nonprofits account is part of this process.

It’s important to understand differences between Office 365 and Office Standard so the correct version is acquired for the right PCs. Office 365 is the subscription “cloud” version of the Office apps that allows access to them on any device the subscriber logs into with their Microsoft 365 account. Office Standard only has to be paid for once and is installed on a single PC and can only be used on that PC. Office Standard does not require the PC be logged into a Microsoft 365 account to be used making Office Standard the best choice for use on patron/public computers. Office 365 is best for computers used by library staff. The other nice feature of Microsoft 365 is the 1tb of OneDrive cloud storage provided to each user. OneDrive also make it easy for library staff to share their files with each other and back these files up.

If the library doesn’t need to have Office Standard on all of the patron/public PCs, the free and open source LibreOffice (formally OpenOffice) software suite is a good alternative. LibreOffice will also allow you to continue to edit Publisher files since Microsoft has dropped that app from their office suite.

If you have any questions about this or other technology, please contact me.

Andrew “Sherm” Sherman
Library Technology Support Specialist
Nebraska Library Commission
402-471-4559