Windows XP SP3 and Office 2003 support ends April 8, 2014. So, what does this mean to you?

Those of us in business environments are going to be the most affected, especially if you are in industries that require your company to maintain certain compliancy's. CPA firms, Law Firms, Banking and other Financial Institutions, Investment Advisors, Medical Offices and other facilities. If you fall under HIPPA requirements this is going to be an issue for you.

But are these the only issues? No! Software companies are constantly updating their software and they are going to stop support of their software on XP based systems. They will not want to expose themselves to the exploits that will become rampant after the end of support by Microsoft. But it isn’t going to be just software but also hardware manufacturers will also stop creating drivers for the products to be supported on this older technology. We have seen it with every discontinued Microsoft Operating System. So begin thinking about want you are going to do to get yourself up to date before it is too late.

The DOJ is poised to really slap Apple for its eBook price fixing case

The terms of the proposed settlement in the Apple e-book price fixing case were published on Friday by the Justice Department. An article by Neil Hughes posted at www.appleinsider.com stated that:

The DOJ said the change would allow consumers on the iPad and iPhone to "easily compare Apple's prices with those of its competitors." Currently, Apple takes a 30 percent cut of all in-app purchases made through App Store software, and does not allow developers to circumvent this rule by linking to a website for purchases.

According to the DOJ statement:

"Under the department’s proposed order, Apple's illegal conduct will cease and Apple and its senior executives will be prevented from conspiring to thwart competition in the future." - Bill Baer, assistant attorney general in charge of the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division”

The result of this would be that Apple would be required to terminate its existing e-book agreements with the (5) major publishers that were originally cited for conspiring to fix prices. Those publishers were Simon & Schuster, Hachette Book Group,  Macmillan, Penguin Group, and HarperCollins Publishers. This settlement may also include other digital media products that Apple sells as well including music, movies, television, etc…

It will interesting if the proposal made public on Friday will be approved by the court but if it is, there could be some serious ramifications to Apple in the near future hitting them directly on the bottom line.