Welcome to the September edition of Take Ctrl! In this 12th edition of Take Ctrl, we cover the biggest announcements of the last month from Microsoft, Google and OpenAI.
Read on for this month’s news and views that matter from the world of business technology.
We’re putting the spotlight on mergers and acquisitions this month and highlighting how Seeto can help your business navigate the complexities of M&A easily and securely.
The Seeto Take takes a break this month.
Need To Know Now
Microsoft 365
Clipchamp at the bit
Attention future content creators, Microsoft is bringing its cloud-based video editor Clipchamp to Microsoft 365 commercial customers. Creating great, branded video content is about to get easier and faster.
Looping you in from your desktop to your SaaS universe
Microsoft Loop, Microsoft’s take on Notion, is now available to 365 subscribers in public preview and, what’s more, Microsoft has not only released a Microsoft Loop desktop app on the Microsoft Store, but enabled integrations with Atlassian’s Jira and Trello products - Microsoft is definitely trying to make Loop happen. It’s a swish product, but the Seeto team are asking themselves “what does this mean for OneNote?”
Seeto customers, reach out to your TOM to enable the public preview.
Read more about enabling the Public Preview at Microsoft Tech CommunityRead more about Loop for Desktop at XDA DevelopersRead more about Atlassian integrations at The Petri IT Knowledgebase
UI Candy
Microsoft Office is about to get a new theme. Having teased the new default font, Aptos, last month, we can reveal that you’re about to love teal, which you’ll find in headings, tables and graphs. It’s a strong new identity with strong, moody colours and heavier lines. Existing documents won’t change and those pining for the current Office theme, rest assured it remains available in Office as “Office Theme 2013-2022”.
(Anti-)Trust no-one
In a move to stave off another anti-trust lawsuit in Europe, Microsoft 365 will soon be available without bundled Microsoft Teams at a lower price. This satisfies a regulator, but may not offer much value to customers. The Seeto team asks, how much cheaper will it be once you’re paying for Zoom, Slack and 365? Is it really worth it?
Google Workspace
Keep it on topic
Q&A moderation has landed in Google Meet. This enables meeting hosts to review and approve questions before they’re shared with meeting attendees. It’s available on the web and mobile devices, in meetings and in-domain live streams. Nobody wants inappropriate, off-topic questions disrupting their event.
Read more at Google Workspace Updates Blog
Brand, beautiful brand
Producing beautiful forms and presentations just got easier in Google Workspace. Organisations can now add default branded templates and themes to Google Slides and Forms.
Read more at Google Workspace Updates Blog
Squiggle in the box, please
E-signatures in Google Docs will soon be available in a by-application-only beta, open to Google Workspace subscribers with Business Standard or above. This feature could become a significant disruptor for businesses needing casual e-signatures and it will be interesting to see whether Microsoft makes a similar move in this space.
Read more at Google Workspace Updates Blog
Offset your Workspace carbon footprint
You can now track the carbon footprint associated with your organisation’s Google Workspace usage. Google aims to run on carbon-free energy, 24/7, in all data centres and cloud regions by 2030, but they’re not there yet. In the meantime, your business can offset the carbon footprint associated with its Google Workspace usage. You can find out about Seeto’s approach to carbon offset at seeto.co.uk/about-us/sustainability.
Read more at Google Workspace Updates Blog
Security and Privacy
Negligent behaviour
Microsoft is under fire in the wake of the July breach in Azure. Security scanning software, Tenable, CEO, Amit Yoran, has come out as a vocal critic of Microsoft’s security record, calling it “even worse than you think”.
US cybersecurity framework update looks to benefit all sectors
The US standards body, NIST, has released a major update to its widely-used Cybersecurity Framework. Less well known in the UK than our national Cyber Essentials standard and the international standard ISO 27001, it is a competent and comprehensive standard for understanding, reducing and communicating cybersecurity risk.
Read more at the US National Institute for Science and Technology
Monitor your staff if you must, just don’t rely on their consent
This month’s data protection SNAFU, the Government Culture, Media and Sport Committee advised businesses to get consent before monitoring staff. Evidently not avid readers of the EU Data Protection Working Party’s written opinions, it should be noted that you can’t get informed consent from employees because their consent is not considered to be freely given due to the imbalance of power.
Fortunately, the 2017 opinion provides comprehensive guidance on ; at least until the data protection falls in the pursuit of profit, economic growth and/or inflating Conservative donors’ share prices.
Read more at The RegRead the Article 29 Data Protection Working Party opinion on data processing at work
Update WinRAR
Thanks to a high-severity vulnerability in WinRAR, arbitrary code could run when files are opened. Update now.
Is your startup at risk?
Although a prime target for hackers, few startups are prepared for the risks they face. Sifted has lined up the top five cyber security mistakes threatening your startup and ways to reduce your risk. If you’re worried about your startup’s cyber risk, speak to Seeto about a Security Health Check.
Read more at Sifted (Possible paywall)
Slack
Slack redesign incoming
Slack is redesigning with a view to being a better messaging app and taming the chaos of your workday. It’s set to be Slack’s biggest redesign and might be divisive. The Seeto team thinks it might be an improvement on the current focus on channels, but the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.
Artificial Intelligence
No ChatGPT for you, UK worker
Over 60% of organisations in the UK have either already banned, or are considering banning, the use of ChatGPT and other generative AI tools. The Seeto team wonders if providers will ever do enough to bring these businesses along for the ride. We expect small businesses will take advantage, whereas large businesses will likely be extremely risk averse and ban it until their risk appetite and the benefits other people are getting from the tools that they’re missing out on balance.
Google releases AI pricing
Those hoping Google’s Duet AI would undercut Microsoft’s Copilot pricing will be sorely disappointed. Google’s Duet AI is now available to Google Workspace subscribers for the princely sum of $30 a month. We agree with The Verge: “that’s a lot to pay for a set of still-very-new AI tools”, even if it offers help with spreadsheets and could make you look better in meetings.
ChatGPT for Enterprise
OpenAI has announced an enterprise-grade version of ChatGPT, offering unlimited access to the GPT-4 engine and additional customisation. Enterprise ChatGPT offers improved security and privacy, as data entered is not used to train the model. Pricing isn’t publicly available, so it’s unlikely to come cheaply.
Windows
Goodbye, Cortana
Farewell, but will anyone notice? Microsoft has discontinued the Cortana app for Windows 11 in a new update. Cortana could never compete with other digital assistants and Microsoft is now putting its digital assistant focus into AI, these efforts we’re now starting to see appear in Windows Copilot.
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Recent OS Updates
Last updated 8 August 2023
Windows
The latest available Windows 10/11 OS updates are:
- Windows 10 version 22H2 (10.0.19045)
- Windows 11 version 22H2 (10.0.22621)
macOS
The latest available macOS updates are:
- macOS Ventura 13.5.1
- macOS Monterey 12.6.8
- macOS Big Sur 11.7.9
Check out how to update the operating systems on your Mac here.
iOS and iPadOS
The latest available iPhone and iPad operating systems are:
- iOS 16.6
- iPadOS 16.6
Check out how to update the software on your iPhone or iPad here.
Android
The latest available Android security patch level is 2023-09-05
Learn how to check and update your Android version here.
