Windows 8.1 For Court Reporters
A Two Part Webinar Suite Presented By: Wil Wilcox & Keith Vincent
Google “Is Windows 8 good or bad,” and you’ll get lots of widely differing opinions. Some are funny, some caustic, some promising, some daunting, but for most of us they all add up to confusion, especially if you have a need to go computer shopping. Windows 8 isn’t Vista—or even Bob (anyone remember Windows Bob?)—but it has kicked up a thick cloud of dust, and left court reporters wondering whether they should move up or go into denial.
Back when PCs were king, Windows ran on almost all of them. But turn around once and the world changes. Overnight the mobile segment exploded and a bloodless coup ensued: The PC was overthrown and now most devices being shipped are tablets or smartphones. Way most. Of the 2.35 billion PCs, tablets, and mobile phones shipped in 2013, only 305 million, or 13%, were PCs.
In the hyper-expanding tablet and phone market, Windows ran on virtually none of these new devices, less than 5%. Clearly, Microsoft had to do something or risk being marginalized. The answer was Windows 8, a slimmed-down Operating System with a dual interface designed to run on devices with diminished resources (think tablets and phones), as well as good, old PCs.
So, yeah, Microsoft hurried it out, which is why we already have Windows 8.1. Most things rushed out arrive with problems, and Windows 8 was further evidence of that truism. Though the traditional Windows desktop (most of it), was still there, imbedded in a tile within the new interface, most users never found it because the ways and workings were so strange and frustrating.
There was no start button, things seemed to work differently, and, worst of all, it was hard to figure out. So the usual advice, step away from the bleeding edge, was, indeed, good counsel. But in the end, Microsoft needs this new version of Windows to succeed because they need a unified Operating System that runs on PCs and phones and tablets. So they have both the motivation and the money to do it.
In fact, they already are. Windows 8.1 is a significant improvement and more updates will follow. As it turns out, there are lots of things for court reporters to love about Windows 8.1. But let’s start at the beginning, so to speak. When you boot up, you can see what you’ve been seeing for generations of Windows: a start button and your traditional Windows desktop, not a screen full of mystifying tiles.
There’s much more than that, though. You can customize your start screen, and use OneDrive to back up and store your transcripts. You can set up a Microsoft account that allows you to sign into any of your W8.1 devices and have them use the same layout, apps, and settings, and you can work in up to four apps at the same time.
But here’s something that ought to really get your attention. All of us have lost years of our lives waiting for Windows to boot up or shut down. Well, consider this: Depending upon the drive type and RAM memory installed, W8.1 boots in as little as 10-15 seconds! And shuts down even faster. Ever had a program crash in the middle of a proceeding and had to wait what seemed like an eternity for Windows to restart? Not anymore.
Then there’s this for you realtimers. All of the litigation-support software developers have a version that runs on Windows, but only a couple of them have an app that runs on an iPad. Fewer still on an Android. This is where a unified Operating System pays big dividends for our profession. As a realtime reporter, you can hand your clients Windows tablets loaded with Bridge, Bridge Mobile, CaseViewNet, Case Notebook (LiveNote), LiveDeposition, Summation, DeNoto, or any other Windows-based client program. And you can output in CaseView format and communicate with all of them.
Windows 8 stumbled and started slowly, but its market share is now growing rapidly. For those of us who do heavy-duty work on PCs, make no mistake, it is the future, and it’s looking brighter all the time. Join us for a two-part webinar series given by Wil Wilcox and Keith Vincent and learn what Microsoft has in store for all of us. In these two presentations, Wil and Keith are going to show you just how much there is to love about Windows 8.1, how easy it is to use, and how powerful it is.
All of our webinar presentations are offered as live events first. We record each webinar and the edited, produced recording is made available within ten days of the live event. All of our registrants can watch the live presentations, the recordings, or both, and we keep the recordings available for 90 days. Whether you view them live or watch the recordings, you can earn CEUs, too.
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