Microsoft Windows 10…

In June I emailed you to say don’t update your pc’s to Microsoft’s new Windows 10 operating system just yet until I had tested Mercury Systems and its sub-components to ensure the programs still work correctly after the update.

I am happy to report that two machines now are running Mercury Systems over Windows 10 without a problem.

• Machine #1 is a laptop of mine, originally running Windows 7 with Mercury Systems already installed
• Machine #2 is a customer’s brand new pc running Windows 10 pre-installed by the manufacturer, with Mercury Systems installed afresh.

In both cases Mercury Systems installed and ran without issue, including vital sub-components such as Crystal reports.  Whilst you could argue that only two machines running Windows 10 isn’t considered comprehensive testing, it’s looking good so far.

As far as Mercury Systems is concerned, I have no problem with you upgrading your pc’s to Windows 10, should you choose to do so.  Windows 10 would be a good option if you are currently using Windows 8 or 8.1, as I think Windows 10 is much better.  For additional peace of mind, for 30 days after upgrading, Microsoft will allow you to roll back the installation to the earlier operating system if you need to.

It may still be best to wait for another month or two before upgrading, as any major issues immediately after release will be found and fixed by Microsoft during that time.  So far, Microsoft is releasing the update free-of-charge to Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 customers, and I don’t know how long this offer will be available for.

A new feature to help with selecting existing clients…

As you know, when creating a new client record you are supposed to first open ‘List Clients’ and check whether the client is already contained within the database (to avoid duplicating the client).  This can take some time.

I have now added a new feature that will allow you to open the ‘New Client’ screen first, type in the client’s surname as usual, and then press return (enter).  This will open a ‘Quick-Find’ screen and automatically shortlist the matching client records.  If the client is found, simply double-click the record to load that client into the Client Details form.  If the client is not found, press escape to close the Quick-Find screen.

Hopefully this will shave a few seconds off creating a new service job or sales invoice.

This new feature will be included in the next update, which will be released towards the end of July.

Up-coming changes to Client Interactive History, Job History, Job Private History and Send Email Log screens

Some important changes are being made to the above-mentioned screens.  Effectively, these separate screens will disappear and be replaced by one ‘super’ screen that will centralise all history, communications records and activity for a selected client and/or job.  The new screen will more clearly show history entries made at client level, job level, and messages sent to the customer via SMS or Email, giving you a more concise view of client / job interaction.

These changes will be included in the next update, which will be released towards the end of July.