
STELLAR TIMES A monthly newsletter from Orion Business & Accounting Solutions

April 2008 Edition

Sage Insights,

Odds and Ends from Orion:

In May, I'll be heading out to Washington DC for the SAGE annual Partner Conference called Sage Insights. It's always a great event and I will keep you posted on what we learn about the future direction of the MAS90 product line.
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For those on Level 4.1 and Level 4.2. Sage has been consistently releasing a new service update for 4.1 and 4.2 on a monthly/bi-monthly basis. Level 4.1 is on service update number 18 and Level 4.2 is on service update number 14 (both of these are their Microsoft Vista compliant releases). These updates are available to you as part of your Client Care subscription with Sage. If you need help installing any of the service updates or have any questions, please give us a call.

Till next month,

THIS MONTH'S FUN FACT

April has National Cowboy Poetry Week
In 2003, the U. S. Senate officially recognized "National Cowboy Poetry Week."

In his accompanying remarks. resolution sponsor Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) said "Many think cowboys are a thing of the past, but I can tell you otherwise. In many western states like Montana, cowboys gather around a campfire and swap stories just as frequently as they did one hundred years ago. This oral tradition is now captured in written form as well, and several websites are dedicated solely to preserving and disseminating cowboy poetry and its history. My resolution will recognize the contribution of cowboy poetry to our history of the West, but also to mark it as a thriving tradition that continues even today... it is important to understand that cowboys live and breathe a unique culture which few may be exposed to. I would encourage all my colleagues to take a walk in their boots one day, and read a little cowboy poetry."
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I couldn't have said it better myself.

for more info - www.cowboypoetry.com

Microsoft Vista News

Microsoft has announced that Windows XP will be going Off Market.

Microsoft originally announced over a year ago that Windows XP would be going off the market in January 2008. XP was later given an extension to June 30, 2008 . That deadline is approaching, which has led to much discussion as to what going "off market" means, exactly.

So let's take a stab at clarifying what's going to happen by answering some frequently asked questions about XP going off the market.

Will XP really no longer be available after June 30th? Sort of, Microsoft will stop selling the XP operating system and purchasing a new computer with XP preinstalled will likely be very difficult, as well. However, XP will probably still be available for the foreseeable future in the aftermarket retailers and the auction style sites (like Ebay). (If you plan on staying on the XP platform, you may want to consider purchasing some XP licenses or stockpiling a few new PC units for the future).

Will I be forced to upgrade to Vista soon? No. But it will get harder and harder not to, especially since new software and peripherals are likely to stop working with XP. However, this transition could take years to complete.

Will my XP machine stop working in June? No, but Microsoft will stop releasing non-security software updates to the masses on April 14, 2009.

Will Microsoft shut off product activation for XP after June? No, that would be very unlikely. While no one has said this will happen, it's conceivable that Windows could shut down product activation for XP at some point. But that would only happen after XP reaches its end-of-support term (when all XP support plans expire - sometime in 2014).

Can I install a Vista Upgrade on a PC that has Windows XP? Yes. Providing that your hardware specs meet the required minimums, you can upgrade from XP to Vista.

What does this mean to the normal MAS90 user? Right now, probably not much. But if you are planning any changes in your network environment, you should start planning now for the eventuality of moving to Vista (MAS90 is only supported on Vista Business edition, Enterprise Edition and Ultimate Edition).

Will MAS90 work in an XP and Vista environment? Yes. As long as you are on the correct level of MAS90 (4.10.1.15 and 4.20.0.7 or higher). So, you can have some workstations on XP and some on VIsta and still run MAS90.

For questions or more information contact Jim Steele at 248-893-1060 or jimsteele@orionbas.com.

Spring 2008 Promotions!

MAS90 Clients on an expired Sage Software Maintenance Plan – receive a 20% savings when they renew!

Now is the time to get your Sage MAS 90 and 200 back on a Sage Software Maintenance Plan! By renewing now, most customers will be positioned to receive version 4.3*, which will include the tremendous benefit of Paperless Office, in addition to many other customer-requested enhancements. Lapsed customers* * who renew their ClientCare Plan by June 30, will receive a 20% savings off of their renewal cost (discount is applied to entire renewal amount plus late fee).
*Sage MAS 90 and 200 version 4.3 is scheduled for summer release.
**Customers must have had an expiration date of 6/30/07 or prior to qualify for this promotion.

Purchase any one offering from a Sage MAS 90 or 200 module promo pack and save 20% on any of the modules within that pack. The four available promo packs include: Manufacturing, Distribution, Services, Business Productivity.

Sage MAS 90 and 200 customers who purchase any one offering for the following module promo packs will save they buy any other modules within that pack. Customers who already own one of the modules in the promo pack automatically qualify to receive the discount on the other modules in that pack.

Manufacturing Services

1. Inventory Management
2. Bill of Materials
3. Materials Requirements Planning
4. Work Order
5. Business Alerts

Services

1. Job Cost
2. Sage TimeSheet – MAS 90 Edition
3. Business Alerts

Distribution Business Productivity

1. Inventory Management
2. Purchase Order
3. Sales Order
4. Credit Card Processing
5. Return Merchandise Authorization

Productivity

1. Accounts Payable
2. Business Alerts
3. Visual Integrator
4. Credit Card Processing

For more information contact Jim Steele at 248-893-1060 or jimsteele@orionbas.com
Promotions here are valid through June 30th, 2008.

This month's Windows Tip : Quick Launch Toolbar (Windows XP)

If you like using the Quick Launch toolbar but wish that it did not take up so much room on the taskbar, you can easily move the Quick Launch toolbar to any other location on the desktop. You can move it to the top, left, or right edge of the desktop. Here’s how:

Right-click on the taskbar and select the Lock The Taskbar command to unlock the taskbar.
Position your mouse pointer over the dotted vertical divider on the left edge of the Quick Launch toolbar.
When your cursor turns into a double-headed arrow, just click and drag the Quick Launch toolbar to any edge of the desktop and drop it.

After you drop the Quick Launch toolbar, it may appear as a window. If it does, just perform the drag-and-drop operation again making sure that toolbar anchors to the edge of the desktop. You may then need to resize the toolbar. Once you have it positioned where you want, right-click on the toolbar and select the Always On Top command so you can always access the Quick Launch toolbar just as you do the taskbar.

Orion Business & Accounting Solutions
23900 Orchard Lake Rd
Suite 170
Farmington Hills, MI 48336-2513
Phone: 248-893-1060
Fax: 248-893-1063
Email: jimsteele@orionbas.com
URL: http://www.orionbas.com

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