There were just the same old dozen or so earlier today. More on this later.
Apr 272012
"Windows 8 on the desktop—an awkward hybrid" on ars technica #win8
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Apr 252012
The link is to a very thorough overview of Windows 8, well-written with lots of useful screenshots.
Keep in mind: Windows 8 can best be compared to Windows 95 in terms of how radically it alters "the way we’ve always done things." As with every version since Win95, there are remnants of older components that Microsoft leaves un-updated. It’s always jarring and potentially irritating to encounter these rough spots. However, this is a new platform, a new style of interface that will evolve for years to come. Overall, with notable exceptions, Microsoft has done a good job of updating the system in a way that almost equally support touch, mouse, and keyboard.
On the other hand, the app selection stinks. Developers need to get on the move.
Windows 8 on the desktop—an awkward hybrid By Peter Bright
Let’s run through the most common interface elements and see how Windows 8 fixes old problems—and creates new ones of its own.
Apr 172012
Bernalillo’s library has ebooks to lend out. Unfortunately, you can only check them out for 10 days and can’t renew. Note that many computers run the free Kindle software — you don’t have to own a Kindle.
How To Check Out Library Books for Your Kindle – How-To Geek
Thousands of libraries across the United States offer digital lending for Kindle devices. Read on to see how you can enjoy the benefits of free library books on your Kindle.
Just like you can check out physical books from your local library, at over 11,000 public libraries you can also check out ebooks for use on your Kindle. It’s simple, free, and best of all there’s no risk of late fees because the digital books simply expire the day they are due.
How To Check Out Library Books for Your Kindle – How-To Geek
A few fresh apps in the Windows Store
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Apr 162012
The new Windows Store has a paltry selection so far. I read somewhere it numbered 99 apps before today. I think that’s an overestimate. Nevertheless, there are some new apps, a few of which are actually worth a look and bode well for the future.
My favorite of these is The Big Picture from the Boston Globe. The Big Picture is a regular feature of large and usually beautiful or amazing photos. Much as I love the photos, the webpage is awful, eschewing any effort to lay things out for easy browsing. Mind you, I don’t care for complex "slideshow" sites that use 35 pages for 35 photos, but the BP site has the opposite problem. The app, however, is excellent, making it easy to view one photo per screen with easy transitions using touch, mouse, or keyboard. This is the only new app that support sharing. Excellent.
Discourse is a news reader. I like the layout and some of the preselected feeds. I wish there were an easy way to selectively pull from Google Reader.
FlipToast is noteworthy as the only social media app. It has some nice features, but I want to customize what is displayed. It handles upcoming birthdays better than Facebook. FlipToast crashes or freezes often on my tablet.
It’s too soon to rave about Inrix, the traffic app, but I’m impressed it has any data for Albuquerque, NM. I’ll try to determine how reliable and current that data is.
I’m interested in webcam apps but I don’t have the Microsoft camera required by the LifeCam Dashboard. I’m not interested in the Channel 9 developer info, though I hope it aids in the development of even more apps.
I don’t care for games, so I have nothing more to say about the other apps.
Apr 162012
Windows 8 is the newest version of Microsoft’s operating system. It will ship in two retail versions, a pre-installed not-for-sale-separately version, and a high-end corporate version. It appears that most users will be fine with the basic version.
For Windows 8, Microsoft cuts product lineup to two editions | ZDNet by Ed Bott
For PCs built around x86 and x64 processors, the lineup has been trimmed to two. Yes, you read that right. Windows 8 will ship in two editions:
- Windows 8 is the default consumer edition, replacing Windows 7 Home Premium. It includes the ability to switch languages on the fly, a feature that was previously available only in the most expensive Enterprise/Ultimate editions.
- Windows 8 Pro is a superset of Windows 8, with the addition of BitLocker encryption and support for Encrypting File System, client Hyper-V virtualization, the ability to boot from a virtual hard disk (VHD), the ability to join a Windows domain, support for group policy, and Remote Desktop host capabilities. That complete package of features is currently available only in Windows 7 Ultimate and Enterprise.
For Windows 8, Microsoft cuts product lineup to two editions | ZDNet
Windows 8 will come in four flavors – Liliputing
Windows 8 Store: with 99 Metro Apps, is it Behind Schedule? – Forbes
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Apr 152012
Interesting analysis worth reading. To me, the app situation is abysmal and distressing. I can’t write 25% of my book until something decent comes out.
Windows 8 Store: with 99 Metro Apps, is it Behind Schedule? – Forbes by Patrick Moorhead, Contributor
Over six months later, 99 apps are available in App Store. Should the ecosystem look at that as a success, failure, or something else? The answer to that question depends on the measuring stick you use. …
[T]here are only 99 apps, no social media apps, no productivity apps and no commercial video service apps like Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Instant Video. Six months into the development cycle, how should we view the apps and the store? …
While the purpose of this analysis is to look at the new Metro applications, I wouldn’t be doing Windows justice if I didn’t talk about desktop applications, too. According to Mary Jo Foley in ZDNet, she reported in 2010 that Microsoft confirmed there are 4,000,000 Windows apps, including 800,000 Windows 7 apps. That is an insanely impressive number of apps. …
Microsoft doesn’t need 180,000 Metro apps at launch to be successful, but they must launch with at least 5,000 of the highest quality, popular apps that exist. I want to point out that Windows 8 on desktops and notebooks can lean on the approximately 4M Windows desktop apps and do just fine.
Windows 8 Store: with 99 Metro Apps, is it Behind Schedule? – Forbes
Kupa X11 tablet Windows 8 Preview (review) – Liliputing
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Apr 082012
Thorough review of a Windows 7 tablet running Windows 8 Consumer Preview. Also, a decent overview of Win8 itself. Lots of photos.
The folks at Kupa sell a tablet called the X11 which features a 10.1 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display, a capacitive touch panel for finger input and an active digitizer for use with a stylus, and a low power 1.5 GHz Intel Atom Z670 Oak Trail processor.
The Kupa X11 gets up to 10 hours of battery life, which is something you’d expect from an iPad or Android tablet, but the Kupa X11 runs Windows. You can buy one for $699 and up.
Right now the company sells the tablet with Windows 7. But Kupa loaned me an X11 preloaded with Windows 8 Consumer Preview recently so I could test it with Microsoft’s upcoming tablet-friendly operating system.
Bear in mind, the Kupa X11 is currently aimed at professionals that need the versatility of a tablet as well as the ability to run Windows software. That’s why it comes with premium features such as a fingerprint scanner and digital pen.
That’s also why the tablet can be a bit chunkier and heavier than an iPad or your typical Android slate.
Mar 242012
Two sites I used to compare touchscreen monitors.
- Touchscreen Monitors Review 2012 | Best Touchscreen Computer Monitor Comparisons – TopTenREVIEWS
- Retrevo Monitors
Retrevo can be used to compare all kinds of gadgets.
1 copy of Win7 For Seniors sold on Amazon.ca on 3/11. “It has jumped to 3,811 from a previous SalesRank of 66,072.” ONE book->big jump.
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Mar 122012
Every sale matters.
Semantic zoom is a pretentious phrase. It’s not a zoom, it’s a toggle. #win8
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Mar 102012
Full screen on, full screen off.
Computer Hardware Chart – Technibble
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Mar 092012
I’m a nerd, not a geek*, so I can’t recognize all the stuff I find inside a computer. This chart has come in handy again.
Computer Hardware Chart – Technibble
Computer Hardware Chart – Technibble
* A nerd is into software, a geek is into hardware.
Some people will be afraid. Some will click Remote Desktop or Xbox Companion first. I would display a large dot, square, or arrow (glowing, pulsing, throbbing) in each corner until the user has clicked in each corner one time.
A gripe I’ve had with several versions of Windows
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Mar 042012
It might have been Windows 95 that introduced two new options I love and always use: (1) single-click to open an item; (2) checkboxes to select multiple items. Both of these are Folder Options.
When these options were first introduced, I accepted that the change might confuse people. Now, it is maddening that these options are not selected by default, even in Windows 8, so full of changes people may not like. Single-click to open is familiar to every Web user. Touch users, as well as mouse users, need a way to select multiple items and checkboxes (if they are large enough and obvious) are an easy way to do so.
So, imagine my disappointment when I access the Win8 desktop and find these options still set to 20th Century mode. More ironically, one has to switch to the Start screen and type File Options to change this. Puh-lease, Microsoft!
Thorough review of the Photo app preview in Windows 8 Consumer Preview
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Mar 032012
I use Windows Live Photo Gallery every day and like it a lot. I’ve been nervous about the new Photo app. All of the Live programs are going away.
Windows 8 Photos app brings "fast and fluid" to picture management by Ars Technica
Windows 8 Consumer Preview’s handling of photographs is a slick, centralized, and very much a tablet-like experience. The Photos app gives users fluid, near-instantaneous access to your pictures, for which the app is to be credited, but certain common features are missing at this point, and others that are included don’t work evenly across the app.
When you pull up Photos from the Metro interface, you are shown four discrete boxes: one for your locally stored pictures, and one each for your SkyDrive, Facebook, and Flickr accounts. Clicking on each of these boxes takes your through a short login process, and after you’ve given the program your credentials, the home Photos screen will populate each box with photos pulled from that account.
Windows 8 Photos app brings "fast and fluid" to picture management