Russell Smith

This Week in IT, a new report says UK government employees only saved 26 minutes a day with Copilot, AI could mean you get a pay rise while others lose their jobs, and organizations are looking to repatriate certain cloud workloads. Links and resources Episode overview This episode focuses on AI’s impact on productivity and…

In this episode of Petri Dish, Russell interviews Henry Shapiro, co-founder of ‪Reclaim AI. Reclaim AI helps users manage their schedules in Google Calendar and Outlook by synchronizing multiple calendars and automating tasks like scheduling, rescheduling, and prioritizing events to improve productivity and work-life balance. Henry also discusses the challenges faced developing features for Outlook…

Microsoft wants organizations to migrate to Windows 11 before October 2025. And to help things along, they have released a new backup tool, called Windows Backup for Organizations, that aims to smoothly migrate user settings for devices not connected to a corporate intranet. What is Windows Backup for Organizations (WBfO)? Microsoft announced this week that…

This Week in IT, Microsoft is releasing a new backup tool for Windows ahead of Windows 10 end of life later this year, updating apps could be set to become a whole lot easier, and there’s some important updates for orgs using Microsoft Intune. Links and resources Episode overview This Week in IT, Russell discusses…

Microsoft announced Administrator Protection for Windows 11 at its Build 2025 conference. Administrator Protection will affect how developers create applications for Windows 11. What is Windows Administrator Protection? Windows 11 Administrator Protection provides local administrators with more protection without putting limitations on functionality they might need to get their jobs done. Microsoft revealed in its…

This Week in IT, I look at the most important Build announcements for sysadmins, including a big update to Windows 11 security, updates to the Windows Subsystem for Linux, and Microsoft 365 Copilot announcements. Links and resources Episode overview This week in IT, Russell looks at key announcements from Build 2025, focusing on security updates…

PowerTree is a free tool that is now available to download for PowerShell 7+ on GitHub. It’s similar to the Windows tree command but provides advanced filtering, sorting, and display options that make exploring and documenting file systems more efficient. For example, unlike the tree command in Windows, with PowerTree you can: Install PowerTree PowerTree…

Despite Microsoft’s ambitions for Windows 11, users are not impressed and organizations are reluctantly migrating from Windows 10 as it reaches end of life. Stardock’s Brad Sams thinks users can be productive with Windows 11 — if you give organizations better control over the desktop experience. It’s no secret that Windows 11 got off to…

This Week in IT, Microsoft changes its support policy for Microsoft 365 Apps on Windows 10, Windows 11 version 24H2 is now broadly available — but not without issues, and I look at the updates to Teams in the May update. Links and resources

In this episode of Petri Dish, Russell talks to Brad Sams, General Manager at Stardock, about Windows 11, its initial challenges, and the solutions offered by Stardock’s software products to enhance user experience. The conversation touches on the evolution of Windows 11 and the role of Stardock in addressing user needs. Episode overview

This Week in IT, Microsoft teases putting one of the best features of Windows Server behind a paywall, Arch Linux is now officially supported in Windows, and Windows Recall and improved search finally get launched on ARM Copilot+ PCs. Links and resources Episode overview This Week in IT, Russell discusses:

In this episode of Petri Dish, Russell welcomes Stephen Rose, a modern work and AI consultant formerly with Microsoft. They discuss Microsoft’s recent announcement regarding Copilot and the Spring Wave 2 features. Episode overview Microsoft Copilot overview Copilot aims to integrate AI tools into everyday work processes, allowing users to search using natural language. The…