Having now spent a month using Microsoft 365, I can say it has been a learning curve. Not everything I use and do has been as simple as I expected. One example being mail merges. I use this function quite a lot in one way or another, but this month I have struggled. It seems the online version is not able to run merges. At least not as far as I can see. That being said, it is possible to use the desktop version. Annoying, but workable.
Overall, I have been quite impressed with the services offered by Microsoft and for the price, I am not complaining. In comparison to Google, Microsoft has most of the same useable applications (Word / Docs, Excel / Sheets, PowerPoint / Slides etc).
Moving on to password security. I covered this some time ago, but with a recent spike in identity theft, I am going to touch on the subject of password security again. When choosing a password, make sure you use symbols as well as letters and number. For example, if your password was password the security scores would be 3 out of 10 on a password security checker, swap some of the letters for numbers and add a symbol. Pa$$w04d- comes back as a 9 out of 10. A longer password would make it more difficult to crack. And remember, never share your password. Never write it down. Change passwords at least everything 6 months and use different passwords for everything. That can be a problem if you have a bad memory, so there are apps that can help with this also.
One of these apps is “LastPass”. This can keep all your passwords secure and available anywhere from your mobile. It also has a password generator as standard, and many other options to help keep everything running. I especially like the option for seeing if any of my passwords have been compromised online or in the dark web. LastPass has a free version, but an alternative is BitWarden. Free and jammed full of tools and options. There are many other apps, some built in to your browser (Edge or Chrome), but if you want something more, take a look around on google for “password manager”. Read the reviews, and see what people say.
