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With the annual Jamf Nation User Conference (JNUC) taking place this week in Denver, we can expect more news about Apple in the enterprise. The event, which has become a traditional launching pad for Apple/enterprise news announcements, is expected to attract Apple IT pros from around the world, as it does each year.

What to expect at the show? That’s not always predictable. After all, who else remembers when then-IBM CTO (now Cisco CIO) Fletcher Previn finally proved Macs are cheaper to run and more productive to use when deployed at scale? 

Changing enterprise tech, one seat at a time

Not every announcement can be as significant as that one six years ago, but the event is always proof positive of Apple’s growing status in business. That growth is beyond skin deep, with recent analyst reports showing that Apple’s Mac sales are rising at the highest rate in the business. 

Amid all these changes, one thing taking place is a steady proliferation of device management and security companies aimed at the Apple-in-the-enterprise ecosystem. That’s great, as it means there is a plethora of alternatives, each offering something that might be a useful answer to the needs of your business; it also means that side of the Apple environment is becoming more competitive.

The growing Apple enterprise ecosystem

We’re bound to hear more partnership news from JNUC. For example, last week we learned about an integration between Parallels and Jamf Marketplace that will make it much easier to migrate Windows-based businesses to Macs by supporting easy deployment of Windows as virtual machines. Just two weeks ago, we learned of a similar arrangement between Jamf and automated support system Moveworks. More recentl,y Ukrainian developer MacPaw, announced a similar partnership for the deployment of optimization and then automation tool CleanMyMac Business.

These and many other partnerships effectively turn Jamf Marketplace into a useful enterprise-focused Apple App Store. (We’ll also likely learn more about the work Jamf has been doing with Managed Service Providers and channel partners.)

Not just who does it, but what we do

Like so much of Apple’s enterprise story across the last decade, it’s not just the wider business-focused Apple ecosystem that’s expanded, it’s also the scope of what’s happening in the space. 

One way to reflect on this is to consider the number of sessions made available at JNUC 2025 compared to the same event a decade ago; while that one had “over 40” sessions, this year’s expo hosts 162 of them. And, of course, the company’s offer is also mutating from a one-size-fits-all application approach to more AI-friendly services and services access tools and solutions.

That’s a clear reflection of the increasing depth to which Macs, iPhones, iPads, and the rest are proliferating in business. Logically, the more deployments occur, the more questions need to be resolved — and that’s reflected in the number of answers available at JNUC 2025. The growth in Apple’s enterprise status is also reflected in the growing number of security products and services made available for the platform.

While the platform remains inherently far more secure than anything else, that doesn’t mean it can be left unsecured, particularly for business users — especially as ill-informed authoritarian governments erode digital security with a war on encryption.

More players, more games, more competition

Jamf might have been the first big hitter to emerge from the evolution, but it’s by no means alone: Moysle, Addigy, Fleet, Kandji, Hexnode and others — including Microsoft InTune — are all growing in the space. 

Apple recently reflected this growing complexity when it introduced tools to make it easier to migrate between MDM systems. It means IT can more easily move between device management systems than before, useful for price negations and takeovers when two MDM systems become one.

They say competition is a good thing, but it may not always be the case. After all, in a tech market driven by the needs of big business, competition may lead to consolidation, changing the offer even while the names remain the same. It’s certain whispers on the JNUC show floor will reflect that, given recent speculation that Jamf might be up for sale. That will matter to the JNUC “vibe,” which has for years been renowned for being the most Macworld Expo-like jamboree in the business. Will that side of the corporate culture pay the price of any such sale? Or will an acquisition, if there is any truth to those rumors, help accelerate the evolution of the Apple-based enterprise by giving Jamf additional resources to scale?

Perhaps we’ll find out during the JNUC keynote on Tuesday. 

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Source:: Computer World

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Even without the latest monthly jobs report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics because of the US government shutdown, other sources made one thing clear: employers are still making cuts and remain reticent to hire.

Private employers shed 32,000 jobs in September, according to a report from global HR and payroll solutions provider ADP.

Pay gains were largely unchanged for those who retained their jobs at 4.4% year-over-year; pay gains for people who changed jobs last quarter were 6.6%. 

“Despite the strong economic growth we saw in the second quarter, this month’s release further validates what we’ve been seeing in the labor market, that U.S. employers have been cautious with hiring,” said Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist.

Larger employers (with more than 500 workers) were more apt to hire than mid-size and smaller organizations, according to ADP’s data. Large companies in the US hired 33,000 people in September, while mid-sized firms (with 50-499 employees) let 20,000 workers go and small companies (fewer than 50 employees) let go of 40,000 workers.

One bright spot for hiring was “knowledge workers,” which includes technologists. Hiring of those workers increased by 3,000 last month. Education and health services jobs also saw significant gains, as 33,000 new workers were hired.

ADP

A ‘market under pressure’

Ger Doyle, regional president for ManpowerGroup in North America, described the hiring-firing shift as “a pivot” and “not a pause.”

“September reveals a market under pressure, with signs of continued softness,” he said. “Even without today’s BLS report, the labor market isn’t silent; it’s speaking through real-time signals. The labor market is reshaping in real time, and opportunity lies in how organizations reimagine entry points, invest in internal mobility, and build their workforces for what comes next.”

Hiring is slowing, with new job postings totaling 2.04 million, down 8% month over month and at their lowest level since December 2022, according to Doyle. Open roles have dropped to 6.86 million, down 10% — their lowest point in four years.

“September, typically a turning point for the labor market, hasn’t brought the lift we expected,” Doyle said.

Through ongoing surveys, ADP measures “employee sentiment” or how people think and feel about their jobs and employers. Its latest data showed knowledge workers’ motivation, in particular, remains high. In September, that motivation score climbed one point to 136, a sixth straight record high.

“People are holding onto their jobs and appear motivated to work,” said Mary Hayes, director of People and Performance at ADP Research.

Companies are shifting focus inward, with more employees staying put and internal moves up 11% year-over-year. External hiring is down, signaling a growing emphasis on career development and lateral mobility, ManpowerGroup’s data revealed.

Skills vs. resumes

The World Economic Forum predicts that while 92 million jobs will be displaced globally by 2030, 170 million new ones will be created. That’s why companies must shift to skills-based hiring rather than relying solely on resumes, according to Sibyl McCarley, Chief People Officer at HR tech provider Hirevue.

When considering new hires, 80% of corporate executives will prioritize skills over degrees, with half planning to increase freelance hiring this year to close the gap in AI and other skills, according to a new study from freelancing platform Upwork.

“When roles emerge that didn’t exist five years ago, past job titles alone won’t tell you who’s qualified,” McCarley said. “Organizations that embrace this forward-looking approach will be better positioned to compete. That being said, we are seeing reductions in entry-level positions that are instead being fulfilled by artificial intelligence [AI].”

Many organizations, she said, are now weighing AI as an alternative to workers before backfilling roles. While the larger impact is still limited, each lost job is personal and leaders must respond with empathy, she said. If AI-driven displacement accelerates, there need to be serious strategies in place to support those affected, McCarley said.

Broader economic forces, such as President Donald J. Trump’s tariffs, policy uncertainty, and the rising cost of capital investments, are contributing to workforce disruption, McCarley added.

Ben Johnston, COO of small business lender Kapitus, said US businesses are grappling with tariffs that raise costs on imported goods, potentially making domestic manufacturing more competitive long term. But in the short term, those tariffs risk driving up inflation and disrupting global supply chains, threatening jobs across the manufacturing, wholesale, and retail sectors.

AI is also beginning to displace workers, especially in white-collar jobs. Companies are currently investing heavily in AI technologies that can analyze data and quickly make decisions that once could only be made by humans, Johnston said.

Companies are using AI to gather and analyze data from the web, internal systems, and third parties — tasks once done only by humans — mainly in white-collar roles like analytics and underwriting. And as robotics advance, AI could soon take on physical tasks in blue-collar jobs like driving, factory work, and even home healthcare, Johnston noted.

ManpowerGroup’s Doyle agreed, saying as roles evolve, especially under the influence of AI and automation, the expectations for entry-level talent are changing.

“The ability to orchestrate, adapt, and work alongside emerging technologies is becoming a baseline requirement,” he said. “For many, the first step into the workforce now looks very different than it did even a year ago.”

Source:: Computer World

In what may be a defining move for enterprise tech purchasers seeking a smooth way to manage a welcome migration from Windows to Apple, Parallels Desktop has rolled out integration with Apple-focused mobile device management provider Jamf Pro.

Parallels Desktop is a market-leading emulator for macOS that lets you run genuine instances of Windows (and other operating systems) on your Mac. The virtualization is rock solid, regularly updated, and improves each year. 

The fastest version of Windows runs on a Mac

Cast your mind back a couple of years and you might recall that the development team behind Parallels was astonished when Apple introduced the first Macs to use Apple Silicon; they found Windows virtual machines ran faster on those Macs than Windows itself runs on some PCs. One tester went on the record to say running Windows for ARM on an M1 Mac using Parallels Desktop 16 was “the fastest version of Windows” they’d ever used at the time.

The combination lets you use a Mac to run and access nearly all those legacy Windows services that have locked you into those systems for years. This can help organizations close a major gap: supporting employee preference for Macs, while still delivering essential Windows applications without the compliance or security headaches.

What does the integration mean?

The tie-up between Jamf Pro and Parallels answers that pain point, and makes it easier to automate deployment and updates, reclaim licenses when devices are reassigned, and apply consistent security and compliance policies across both macOS and Windows environments. 

What that means, really, is that enterprises working with both platforms — or actively migrating to Mac — can bridge many of the annoying problems found when moving between the platforms. Because Macs run Windows, too.

So, what does this integration provide?

You can deploy Parallels Desktop from within Jamf Pro’s built-in App Catalog.

IT can pair deployment with configuration profiles, which means you can automate license key provisions — so those Windows licenses can go to those who need them, rather than sitting around gathering update fees while contributing little else.

You gain compliance tools, including standards alignment from the console and granular control over updates, access, and data sharing with enforced security policies.

And, of course, Declarative Device Management on the Mac adds yet another layer of protection across your systems.

Once you have Windows working on virtual machines on a Mac, you also gain a more secure computing experience, in part because even if the Windows volume succumbs to one of the many viruses that infest that platform, your Mac volume will take the strain. But with Parallels’ management portal, IT can keep a beady eye on the condition of all the installs, helping ensure consistency, compliance and early warning of any vulnerabilities.

What next?

I’m the AppleHolic so of course I see major merits in this offer. To my mind, it supports the ongoing momentum in the Apple-in-the-enterprise space, an environment now seeing an acceleration in the adoption of Macs.

The great thing about the combination of Jamf and Parallels is that the move brings together two trusted names in the macOS space, combining virtualization and device management expertise in a good way. And while the combo can’t claim to counter every argument against wider Mac adoption, it’s certain to help convince some business customers they can migrate, the support to do so exists, and many legacy apps and services can come along for the ride — pending their inevitable replacement by cross-platform, mobile-friendly alternatives.

What’s behind all of this is momentum, in part built around Apple Silicon. The decision to put M-series chips inside Macs continues to pay big dividends, and these systems have enough power to handle running Windows alongside the host Mac OS. It means that if your employees would prefer to run Macs instead of Windows, they can do so. And in combination with Jamf Pro, your IT team might eventually recognize that, just like when iPod came to Windows, the combination of Mac, Parallels, and Jamf is a glass of water in the enterprise computing desert.

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Source:: Computer World

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The authoritarian, surveillance-loving UK Labour government remains deeply committed to magical thinking, slamming yet another encryption-busting “Technical Capability Notice” (TCN) on Apple, according to the Financial Times. 

The difference is that this time it says it only wants to damage the privacy and security of the UK’s subject population. “The UK government has issued a new order to Apple to create a back door into its cloud storage service, this time targeting only British users’ data,” the FT reported.

It’s not over till it’s over

Snap back in time and you’ll recall the UK Home Office secretly demanded that Apple create a worldwide back door into encrypted iCloud data. Apple responded by withdrawing its Advanced Data Protection service from the UK market and opposing the request in a top-secret UK court. The original order also extended to users outside the UK, so the government also faced opposition from privacy and free speech advocates and the US government as the move trampled on the Constitutional rights of US citizens. 

The latter seemed to have an impact. 

In the end, we believed the UK had pulled back, particularly as its overreach was deeply dangerous, would invite imitation from other repressive governments, and would deeply damage data security with the potential to undermine international business transactions. 

The widely understood argument is that if one back door exists, every hacker, surveillance fetishist, tech-addicted stalker, criminal, gangster, or enemy nation would spend vast resources locating that door and exploiting it.

Anyone, absolutely anyone, who has any insight into how digital communications works will tell you the same thing. Any weakening of encryption opens a Pandora’s box of harms and will not keep you safe.

UK.gov wants all your data

Unfortunately, the Keir Starmer government is big on hyperbole and short on sense, so the Home Office has returned to the fray, filing a September TCN insisting Apple build encryption back doors that only target UK subjects. 

It can make this egregious request because the subjects of the UK crown have no constitutional rights to protect them, (despite much-repeated hokum concerning the Magna Carta) and US politicians are unlikely to care so long as US citizens aren’t affected by the rule. 

The thing is, technically it’s impossible. There is no real way to create a back door or to weaken encryption of UK user’s data that does not also impact others — if nothing else, the existence of that door means it will be abused, and digital criminals are quite sufficiently well-resourced to find that weakness, exploit, and extend it. Just look at the existence of the highly profitable surveillance-as-a-service “industry” for proof. In other words, the UK’s demand still undermines the rights enjoyed by US users. 

Dangerous overreach

The other thing is that the UK plan can’t work. Anyone who understands technology and values data privacy will simply add additional encryption to the files they store online, using tools like Cryptomator. That means the only people who will be affected by the rule will be ordinary folk, rather than criminals. That suggests the UK agenda is not about crime prevention, but more likely concerned with wider exploitation of the data made available. Such intentions don’t appear to have been discussed in public, which hints the UK public would probably reject them if it knew. 

That’s the worst thing about the UK’s determination to continue down this dangerous road; not only is it refusing to listen to common sense about the dangers of weakening data protection, but it is also making moves that would be unpopular with no transparency at all. 

For the government, the danger here is that it will be remembered for putting in place the mechanism for dangerous authoritarianism (including Digital ID) without scrutiny, transparency, or legal recourse. 

What Apple said

In a statement provided to Computerworld, an Apple spokesperson said: “Apple is still unable to offer Advanced Data Protection (ADP) in the United Kingdom to new users and current UK users will eventually need to disable this security feature.

“ADP protects iCloud data with end-to-end encryption, which means the data can only be decrypted by the user who owns it, and only on their trusted devices. We are gravely disappointed that the protections provided by ADP are not available to our customers in the UK given the continuing rise of data breaches and other threats to customer privacy. Enhancing the security of cloud storage with end-to-end encryption is more urgent than ever before. Apple remains committed to offering our users the highest level of security for their personal data and are hopeful that we will be able to do so in the future in the UK.

“As we have said many times before, we have never built a back door or master key to any of our products or services, and we never will.”

What the UK said

The UK Home Office told the FT that it does not comment on such matters, including, “for example,” confirming or denying the existence of any such notices. “We will always take all actions necessary at the domestic level to keep UK citizens safe,” it said. 

Except, of course, in this case its actions will not keep UK citizens safe, leaving their data at risk and potentially impacting the entire digital value chain — all without transparency, discussion, or public mandate.

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Source:: Computer World

Once upon a time, a word processor was little more than a blank canvas for your finger-transmitted musings: You’d open up the program, type whatever you wanted — and, well, that was pretty much it.

These days, dealing with documents has practically become an art. And even though Google Docs is among the more approachable options out there (paging Microsoft Office Ribbon…), the service has grown surprisingly multilayered as of late.

For the most part, that’s a good thing. Docs is still generally quite easy to use, and it packs more than enough punch for most common word processing purposes. But sometimes, the layers of complexity can lead to cloud-sized headaches that are anything but light and fluffy.

Today, we’ll think through some of the most common Docs challenges and the fastest ways to fix ’em. Whether you’re responsible for only your own Docs usage or you act as the go-to troubleshooter for your office, friend group, or family (be it on an official basis or in one of those lovely unpaid “tech support” positions), this is the reference you need to solve whatever woes may come your way.

Note that most of the issues described here are specific to the Docs web interface for desktop browsers, which is far more fully featured and complex than the service’s mobile app equivalents.

Google Docs problem #1: Edit regret

Documents often represent hours upon hours of precious work — and once they’re gone, ideas aren’t always easy to get back. So what happens when a member of your team (who may or may not be, erm, you) makes a change to a Google Docs document that you later come to realize was a mistake?

Sure, there’s the universal Undo command — Ctrl-Z (or ⌘-Z, on a Mac), which can also be found in Docs’ Edit menu — but that works only if you’re the one who made the edit in question and if you just did it. If someone else is to blame, if you’ve navigated away from the document since the change got made, or if you’ve made a bunch of other changes since then that you do want to keep, Undo isn’t gonna do you a lick of good.

So here’s the fix: Remember to rely on Docs’ robust Version History system. You can find it in the File menu or by using the Ctrl-Alt-Shift-H (or ⌘-Alt-Shift-H) keyboard shortcut.

There, you’ll find versions of your document that were autosaved at different points and can be zapped directly back over as full replacements for the current version of your document.

The complicating issue, though, is that those versions are saved only sporadically, which means you may or may not find one from the precise point you’d like to restore. The best way around that is to manually force Docs to save a version anytime you reach a milestone or you’re expecting major changes to be made. That way, you always know you have a quick ‘n’ easy way to get back to the way things were before — or at the very least to view your pre-shakeup version as a point of reference.

To manually force Docs to save a version of your document, open the File menu, click “Version history,” then select “Name current version.” Give the version any name you want — I’m partial to Clancy, myself, but feel free to use something more descriptive — and then that exact state of your document will always be available and easily identifiable within the main Version History menu.

Relying on Google Docs’ Version History feature can be a real lifesaver,  especially if you remember to manually save and name versions before  major edits are made.
JR Raphael / Foundry

Google Docs problem #2: Case craziness

Have you ever pasted over text from an email, a web page, or some other source and then realized parts of it were in a wacky ALL CAPS format? Or maybe you’re working on editing a document and need all the headings to exist in title case in order to look correct. Whatever the, ahem, case may be, save yourself the hassle of manually transforming all that text and let Docs do the heavy lifting.

Just highlight the text in question, click the Format menu at the top of the screen, then click “Text” followed by “Capitalization.” There, deep in the Docs menu structure, you’ll find a one-click tool for changing whatever text you selected into all lowercase, all uppercase, or title case — with no time wasted and only minimal effort required.

Google Docs problem #3: Auto-format frustration

By default, Google Docs performs some formatting magic that’s meant to be helpful but can often be annoying. For instance, the service will automatically capitalize the first word of every sentence you type, it’ll change all the quotation marks you enter from the standard straight-quote style into the controversial curly-quote style, and it’ll add a hyperlink onto any web address you enter into a document.

Docs also changes standard three-character ellipses (…) into single-character ellipses (…), using a Unicode symbol for that piece of punctuation. It adjusts normal numerical fractions (like 1/2) into single-character symbols (like ½), too, and it changes certain abbreviations (like c/o) into their single-character Unicode symbol equivalents (like ℅).

For certain purposes, those changes might be pleasant — but just as often, they’re obnoxious. Fear not, though, for you can disable every one of those behaviors and tell Docs to leave your original text alone.

The secret resides in an easily overlooked two-part preferences menu. To get there, click the Tools menu at the top of the Docs desktop interface, then select “Preferences” from the list of options that comes up. There, you’ll see a list of options for some of Docs’ more basic text substitution habits.

You can disable basic text substitution patterns in the Docs “Preferences” menu.
JR Raphael / Foundry

That area allows you to turn off the auto-capitalization, allegedly “smart” quote transformation, and automatic link formatting, among other things. As for the fractions and other more advanced forms of text substitutions, you’ll need to click on the “Substitutions” header at the top of that same window to find ’em — and then uncheck the box next to any substitutions you want to blast away.

The “Substitutions” section of that menu lets you take total control over how Docs messes with your text.
JR Raphael / Foundry

Ahh…the glass is suddenly looking 1/2 full instead of ½ empty, isn’t it?

Google Docs problem #4: Default font disappointment

Speaking of Docs defaults, maybe you aren’t entirely thrilled with the fonts or font sizes Docs generally offers. Maybe you’re more of a Courier New kind of person — or maybe you like your headings to be huge, blue, and single-spaced.

Whatever manner of font and spacing style you prefer for your current project, you don’t have to resign yourself to manually making all the changes every time you start a new document. Instead, just edit Docs’ font defaults to make ’em look and work exactly the way you like.

The simplest way to do that is to create some text that you want to use as your default for one format or another — normal text, title text, subtitle text, or one of six available heading styles. Once the text looks exactly the way you want, click the Format menu, select “Paragraph styles,” and select whichever type of text you’d like to follow that appearance from here on out. Then, just look for the option to update that text type to follow your current formatting.

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JR Raphael / Foundry

All you’ve gotta do is select that option, then do the same thing for any other text formats you want to adjust. Once you’ve got everything set, click Format once more — and this time, select “Paragraph styles” followed by “Options” and then “Save as my default styles.” All your adjustments will then be saved to your Google account, and any new documents you create from that point forward with that specific account will use those styles instead of the standard Docs defaults.

Google Docs problem #5: Grammar police overreach

Docs loves to tell you when you’ve got something wrong with your grammar, which can certainly be useful at times. But it can also be incredibly irritating — if, say, you deliberately bend the rules for certain reasons or rely on highly stylized approaches and find yourself distracted by all the squiggly red underlines pointing out things that aren’t actually problems. (Been there, done that.)

If that frustration sounds familiar, give yourself a break by disabling Docs’ grammar suggestions — whether permanently or just for a little while, on an as-needed basis. You can find the command to do so in the Tools menu, under “Proofread” and then “Proofread settings.” Just uncheck the box next to “Grammar” to deactivate it.

You can also turn off automatic spelling suggestions in that same place, if you have a brand name that uses an uncommon spelling and constantly gets corrected. (Alternatively, you can use the “Personal dictionary” option within that same top-level settings menu to add specific terms into Docs’ vocabulary and keep it from thinking they’re mistakes.)

And if you find any other sorts of Docs writing suggestions to be more irksome than helpful — corrections related to word choice, voice, conciseness, or sentence complexity (geez, what kind of person would create a long and winding complex sentence in an important document and not keep things as concise as possible or maybe use some awkward wording choice decisions or any other such issues and not realize it themselves without the need for corrections being made by their word processor?!) — you can disable any or all of those in that same area.

Google Docs problem #6: Bullet point blues

Who doesn’t love lists? Docs makes it easy to add bulleted lists into your documents, and it even has a handful of formatting options within its Format menu, under “Bullets & numbering,” in case the basic black dot isn’t doing the trick for what you need.

Those default options are pretty limited, though, and if you have anything specific in mind, they probably won’t include the symbol you want.

But wait! Docs also allows you to insert almost any symbol imaginable as your bullet list indicator. You’d just never realize it, as the option to do so only appears after you’ve created a list. (Go figure.)

So try this: Create a bulleted list within a document, either by looking in the menu we just mentioned or by using the Ctrl-Shift-8 (or ⌘-Shift-8) shortcut. Then, with your cursor on that list, open up the Format menu and look under “Bullets & numbering” again. This time, you should be able to select the “List options” item — and once you do, you can select “More bullets” to select from a sprawling range of bullet symbol styles.

You’ve got all sorts of bullet point options within Docs — if you know how to find and activate them.
JR Raphael / Foundry

That same menu will also allow you to adjust the numbering on a numbered list, in case you ever need a list to revolve around something other than numbers alone (like “Item No. 1,” for instance) or need to have a list start on a number other than 1.

Google Docs problem #7: The envelope enigma

For as capable as Docs has gotten over the years, one feature it’s curiously still missing is the ability to format a page as an envelope or as a sheet of labels for proper printing. If you need either function for your work, you’ll need to turn to a third-party Google Docs add-on to get it.

The aptly named Create & Print Labels add-on will handle everything you need. Add it onto your account (or ask your admin to do it for you, if you’re on a company account without direct add-on access) and then look in the Extensions menu at the top of any document to find and open it.

Click the “Create label” option within its submenu, and you can then simply select the specific type of envelope or label you want to create — as well as optionally selecting an accompanying Google Sheets spreadsheet with data you want filled in on the envelopes or labels for fast ‘n’ easy printing.

Envelope and label formatting in Google Docs is surprisingly easy — once you have the right add-on installed.
JR Raphael / Foundry

Create & Print Labels is free for use with a limited range of standard label formats (which will probably be plenty for most casual purposes). For access to all available formats and features, the add-on runs 30 bucks a year or $80 for a lifetime license.

Google Docs problem #8: Word count inconvenience

If you work in an area where word count is critical, take note: You don’t have to dive deep into Docs’ menus (or futz with the Ctrl-Shift-C or ⌘-Shift-C shortcut) every time you want to check in on your current document length.

At some point, Docs gained the ability to show you a running total of the words in your document as you go. Once activated, the count appears in a handy little box in the lower-left corner of your screen. Clicking it will expand it to show your total page count, too, along with your character count (both with and without spaces).

With Docs’ persistent word count option enabled, you’ll always see a running word count in the lower-left corner of the screen.
JR Raphael / Foundry

To turn that feature on, click the Tools menu and then select “Word count” — or use that Ctrl-Shift-C or ⌘-Shift-C shortcut we mentioned a moment ago — and then check the box next to “Display word count while typing” in the pop-up that appears.

Google Docs problem #9: Missing menu item madness

Last but not least, no way around it: Docs has a lot of options, a lot of menus, and a lot of options within menus (and options within menus within menus, for that matter). It’s not quite an Office-Ribbon-caliber nightmare, but it can be a lot to process — and finding the command you need isn’t always easy.

If you’re ever hunting for a certain menu item within Docs, save yourself the trouble of digging and instead hit Alt and the forward-slash key (/) together. (On a Mac, hit the Option and / keys together.) That’ll pull up a fast-search box that’ll let you type a few letters of the command you’re looking for to find anything in a flash.

Bonus Google Docs problem: Word weirdness

There’s just one more Docs-related fix to address, and it’s related to the way the service interacts with Microsoft Word files. To explore that issue and get into some other relevant experience-improving suggestions, head over to the previous chapter in my “fast fixes” series: “8 fast fixes for common Google Drive problems.”

This article was originally published in May 2021 and updated in October 2025.

More Google Docs help:

How to use Gemini AI to write (and rewrite) in Google Docs and Gmail

How to use smart chips in Google Docs and Sheets

Google Docs power tips: How to add charts, citations, and more

Make your own business templates in Google Docs

3 clever tricks to turn Google Docs into a collaboration superhub

More Google Workspace tips and tutorials

Source:: Computer World

By Hisan Kidwai Wordle is the super fun game from the NYT, where you put your vocabulary to the…
The post Wordle Hints, Clues & Answer for Today: October 2 appeared first on Fossbytes.

Source:: Fossbytes

By Hisan Kidwai Octordle is a word-hunting game similar to Wordle, where instead of finding just one five-letter word, you…
The post Octordle Hints & Answers for Today: October 2 appeared first on Fossbytes.

Source:: Fossbytes

Microsoft is facing a last-ditch campaign against its decision to end support for Windows 10 later this month. The software giant has already made concessions to European consumers by extending support for an additional year, and US customers are wondering why the same extension can’t be applied across the Atlantic. Businesses and consumers alike are hoping for a last-minute change of plan.

The campaign is being led by PIRG, a consumer group that is looking to persuade Microsoft to think again about its decision to withdraw support from Windows 10 on October 14.  Businesses around the world will be facing the prospect of no further security updates if they are still using the older operating system.

Microsoft had hoped that the majority of users would have adopted Windows 11 by now, however the latest research has revealed that slightly under half of all Windows users have switched to the new operating system. There has been a reluctance to move because Windows 11 requires a particular hardware configuration, and not all Windows 10 machines support it.

Nathan Proctor, a senior director with PIRG, said that it had been pressure from the group that led to Microsoft’s decision to grant the European concession, as well as being behind the decision, taken a couple of years ago, to allow education establishments to have additional support.

While European consumers have been given another year of grace, there is still some unhappiness within business. “We have customers asking us why they haven’t been given an extra year of support in the same way that European consumers have,” said Alex Pearce, chief strategist for Microsoft at reseller Softcat.

He also believes that, despite the favorable conditions, education establishments won’t necessarily have the best deal. “As Microsoft brings in more and more security features, Windows 10 users are going to be left behind.”  He said it was a particular concern, as there were plenty of indications that education organizations suffer a higher proportion of cyber attacks.

There are plenty of other worries for businesses. Proctor believes that most companies have already upgraded their desktop software, but he warned that it wasn’t just about PCs. “Look at medical equipment,” he said, “it could be that a hospital has MRI machines that are linked up to Windows 10 machines. If the decision is taken to upgrade all PCs to Windows 11, what’s going to happen to that [MRI] machine? Is it still going to work?”

He said that there were three reasons why PIRG was looking for an extension. “First of all, there’s the environmental waste in dumping computers, as well as the effect of mining for rare earth minerals to power new machines. Then there’s the cost to consumers to upgrade and, finally, there are going to be major security problems when these machines aren’t updated.”

Pearce is bracing himself for disruption after October 14 since, he said, “we know that there are certain features that aren’t going to work.”  He expects that the public sector will be particularly hit; “they haven’t got the money to complete all the upgrades,” he said.

Although it’s late in the day, Proctor is hopeful that Microsoft can be persuaded. “We have two more weeks to pile pressure on Microsoft. I’m hopeful that we can get some concessions,” he said.

Source:: Computer World

Microsoft on Wednesday unveiled a corporate reorganization of its commercial business, appointing Judson Althoff as CEO of the division. Althoff, formerly the company’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer, will take on the new role to more tightly integrate sales, marketing, operations, and engineering under one roof.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told employees through an internal message the leadership changes are designed to help customers and partners harness AI for productivity, while sharpening Microsoft’s focus on AI innovation. “We are in the midst of a tectonic AI platform shift, one that requires us to both manage and grow our at-scale commercial business today, while building the new frontier and executing flawlessly across both,” Nadella said in his post.

AI, Nadella said, can drive major productivity and growth — and Microsoft’s role is to help customers and partners use it to transform how they work.

srcset=”https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Judson-Althoff-.jpg?quality=50&strip=all 1807w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Judson-Althoff-.jpg?resize=300%2C203&quality=50&strip=all 300w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Judson-Althoff-.jpg?resize=768%2C519&quality=50&strip=all 768w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Judson-Althoff-.jpg?resize=1024%2C692&quality=50&strip=all 1024w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Judson-Althoff-.jpg?resize=1536%2C1039&quality=50&strip=all 1536w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Judson-Althoff-.jpg?resize=1031%2C697&quality=50&strip=all 1031w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Judson-Althoff-.jpg?resize=248%2C168&quality=50&strip=all 248w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Judson-Althoff-.jpg?resize=124%2C84&quality=50&strip=all 124w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Judson-Althoff-.jpg?resize=710%2C480&quality=50&strip=all 710w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Judson-Althoff-.jpg?resize=532%2C360&quality=50&strip=all 532w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Judson-Althoff-.jpg?resize=370%2C250&quality=50&strip=all 370w” width=”1024″ height=”692″ sizes=”auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>Judson Althoff will take on an expanded role at Microsoft as CEO of the company’s commercial business.
Microsoft

Takeshi Numoto, Microsoft’s chief marketing officer, and his marketing team will join the newly created organization, with Takeshi reporting directly to Althoff as CMO; Numoto will still also report directly to Nadella on all-up business models, planning, consumer marketing, and corporate brand and communications.

“I don’t see this so much as a tectonic shift at Microsoft as more an understanding that increased focus and organizational alignment is required for Microsoft to continue to thrive in an AI world,” said Jack Gold, principal analyst at J. Gold Associates, LLC. “It’s sort of equivalent of starting a focused subsidiary with its own executive running the show.”

Microsoft’s move is also not unprecedented; similar shuffling is becoming more common because of AI’s impact. Oracle, for example, recently appointed Co-CEOs for similar reasons, and more companies may follow as AI leadership demands focused, streamlined executive teams.

“There is a lot of this going on in the industry, as companies structure for growth in diversifying business areas,” Gold said. “Having an exec running a critical business area like AI, while the remainder of the exec team focus[es] on growth and new business opportunities makes sense given the amount of focus required.”

In January, Nadella reaffirmed Azure as central to the company’s AI focus, re-branding it “CoreAI,” amid executive shifts. Analysts at the time said Nadella’s statement reflected no meaningful changes to Microsoft’s AI strategy.

Over the past year, however, Microsoft has increasingly handed out CEO titles for leaders of major divisions, including Phil Spencer (Gaming) and Mustafa Suleyman (AI). It has also used the CEO title for past acquisitions like LinkedIn and GitHub leaders, though the latter dropped the role after Thomas Dohmke’s resignation in August. Dohmke left as Microsoft moved GitHub’s platform into its CoreAI division.

Nadella said the latest reshuffling lets him and engineering leaders focus intensely on AI, data centers, and product innovation. “This isn’t just evolution, it’s reinvention — for each of us professionally and for Microsoft,” he wrote.

Source:: Computer World

By Hisan Kidwai A new generation of AI slop is about to be unleashed, as OpenAI has just debuted…
The post OpenAI Debuts Sora 2 Video Generation App & New TikTok Competitor appeared first on Fossbytes.

Source:: Fossbytes