Technology Ramblings

Today - December 17, MS released it's second Cumulative Update to Windows 10 Mobile build 10586.  This one is called 10586.36.    As I mentioned in my original November 18 post on Windows Mobile 10 - there appeared to be a lot of last minute releases and while I did not really experience any problems with my Lumia 635s & 735 - obviously some folks did and it also appears there were a few issues with the new 950/950XLs as well.. So first there was 10586.11, then 10586.29 and now 10583.36.  Also the expected release of Windows 10 Mobile to non Windows Insiders has also been delayed until January... So what's going on ? To be honest I'm not 100% sure.  But I have a few thoughts about this issue. As I mentioned I had no issue with any of the above mentioned builds on my Lumia 3x series devices.  All downloaded and installed with no issues and I had no problems with either.  As with regular Windows 10 - MS has been pretty tight lipped about what the fixes are - so no

I recently took advantage of an MS Holiday offer and purchased Office 365 Home for my family for $89 for 1 year.  For years and years I relied on my TechNet subscription (which I still truly miss) to allow me to install MS Operating Systems and Applications on my various test and home machines.   I wanted to keep my families systems current and wanted to get them to Office 2016 - which I had been running various evaluation builds up until it's release this October.  But I knew the evaluation periods were running out and I needed to address this.. To me I think this bundle is one of the best values that MS has.  I've stated many times that versus going out and buying 5 copies of MS Office at some $400 / copy - the Office365 Home approach of paying $89 or $99 / year for all 5 PCs, plus all iOS and Android devices and 1TB of OneDrive space per user just cant be beat.  I also like the flexibility of the annual subscription.  If for some reason I want to change I can just stop

On Dec 16, MS began the public testing of the next Windows 10 Branch codenamed Redstone with the release of build 11082 to Fast Ring testers. As I suspected back on November 7 with the final release of the Threshold branch 10586 - that there would be a few weeks break.  So it ended up being 5 weeks but here we are... As has been the case through the later releases of TH2 - the Redstone 11082 build showed up quickly in Windows update and installed with out issue on my desktop, laptop and tablet devices.    From all appearances MS has gotten the build deployment and update process down cold.  And considering what a user used to have to go through to update a Windows version - this new process is completely painless.    The machine I am writing this post on has been under continuous upgrade for over a year - so maybe 20+ builds and I've never had a serious problem.  The only change that I ever needed to make was to update the video card to support WDDM 2.0 and DirectX 12.  I a

On Nov 18, MS released Windows 10 Mobile build 10586 - the release version of TH2 for Mobile devices. The release coordinates with the availability of the new 5 series Lumia devices the 950 & 950XL and also synchronizes build numbers with Windows 10 Desktop. In an earlier post on Nov 1, I mistakenly stated that 10581 was the "RTM" release.   But then I started reading from other sources that 10586 was the build that would be on the 5 series and was wondering when it would show up for Windows Insiders.   Well now it has.    As with all recent Windows 10 Mobile builds - I installed it on both a Lumia 735 and 635.   In both cases the download and install went flawlessly.  And while MS did post a potential issue with upgrading over 10581 that had performed a reset, I had not done that, so was good to go.   But it is a little disconcerting that MS was still having those types of issues this late in the game.   Also at this point it's harder to spot all of the fixes

Today, Nov 16, 2015 - MS made the new Lumia 950XL available for pre-order on it's Microsoft Store site for $649 unlocked.  MS is running a special bundle where they are providing the Display Dock for free "while supplies last". The slightly smaller Lumia 950 is available for pre-order Nov 17 on AT&T and available in stores on Nov 20.  The price is $549 and AT&T is selling the Display Dock for $99.   MS states the 950 will be available in their stores on Nov 25. To me the 950/950XL marks the end of the Lumia line.    For those who remember the first Lumia that came from MS's partnership with Nokia was the 800, released in Sept of 2011, the 710 followed shortly there after in Jan of 2012. In 2012 the 610/510 & 900 also came out.   What was interesting is that these devices started at the Windows Phone 7.5 release.   Prior to that - the Windows 7 lead products were the HTC 7 and Dell's doomed Venue Pro.  Even Samsung has a Windows 7 phone before s

On Thursday Oct 5, MS released Windows 10 Build 10586.  Build 10586 marks a key milestone in Windows 10 as it is the formal release of the "Threshold 2" branch of Windows 10.   This branch started immediately after the formal Windows 10 release in July.  As always I installed the build on a few desktops, laptops and a tablet.   As with several previous builds the update download and update process was very smooth and it installed with out errors on all platforms. The first thing you notice with 10586 is the lack of an "Evaluation Build" moniker which just like with Build 10240 back in July indicates a release build. In my opinion this build is what Windows 10 was intended to be.  It does provide a platform that both Windows 7 or Windows 8 users can work with and the updates to the MSN and other Native OS apps provide a pretty good experience overall.  It is a night and day difference when compared to 10240. It runs well on both new and older hardware and mos

I recently had a newer Asus RT-AC87U Router die.  The wireless chipset never seemed to work well and first the 5Ghz bands started to fail and then the 2.4Ghz failed leaving my 25 wireless device household high and dry. So after some due diligence I decided to replace with 2 of the older RT-AC68U and implement a Wireless Distribution System (WDS) configuration. In the past - I've mentioned an open source router OS called DD-WRT.  The Asus routers come pre-installed with their version of DD-WRT.  Asus does utilize their own UI overtop DD-wrt and overall I do not like nearly as much as the traditional UI - but core dd-wrt capabilities are there.   Additionally you can flash the RT-AC68 with native DD-WRT if your so inclined. In my previous configuration I was also using an older Linksys 4200 running dd-wrt configured in Client Bridge mode that allowed clients to connect to the Linksys as well as use some of the bands to connect back to the RT-AC87U. While it worked - I felt that

On Oct 29, MS also release build 10581 for Windows Mobile devices.   I installed on both a Lumia 735 and 635. As with regular Windows 10 - build 10581 showed up in Windows update, downloaded and installed smoothly and without incident on both devices.  There was no need to go back to WP 8.1 as with the 10549 and 10572 and I installed over both 10572 and 10536 with no issues. As with regular Windows 10 - the Windows 10 Mobile TH2 branch is effectively complete.  In fact it appears as though 10581 is the RTM release of Windows 10 Mobile. It shares the same 1511 Version ID as Windows 10 Build 10586 and the Cumulative update. Even on a small RAM device, 10581 runs smoothly and the loading, resuming, screens that were very prevalent in earlier builds are effectively gone. Also as with desktop Windows 10 - you have to insure you go into the store and update apps.  The app teams seem to be a constant state of updates and it almost feels as though there are bi-weekly updates to many ap

On Oct 29, MS released build 10576 of the TH2 Branch to Fast Ring Insiders.  As always I installed on a number of systems including desktops, laptops and tablets. As has been the case now for the last several TH2 build releases build 10576 easily showed up properly in Windows Update, downloaded quickly and installed without incident on all machines.  So kudos for MS for getting this process solid and stable. I have not performed any Windows 10 updates from Windows 8.1 recently - so don't have any valuable comments in that regard.   As has also been the case, MS has continued to also update many of the store apps and it seems like an almost continuous release of updates to either MSN apps, Photos, Groove Music, Mail and Calendar, etc.  But on thing that does seem a little disappointing is that with all the updates, several of my live tiles on some machines just don't keep themselves updated - which to me is the point of a live tile.  I'm not 100% if it is a timeout thi

On Oct 12, MS released build 10565 of the Threshold 2 branch of Windows 10 to Fast Ring folks. I installed it on my typical list of devices - from Desktops, to Laptops and tablets. On all devices the availability of the update and the installation process was problem-free which is a nice sign.  Compared to some of the pain involved with earlier TH2 builds it was nice to have a group of clean upgrades. Overall build 10565 continues on the polishing effort I experienced with build 10547.  As I stated back on my 9/22 post about 10547 - Windows 10 is starting to look and feel the way Windows 10 should have been back in July.  And that's a good thing.   Like many it made me wonder why MS actually released Windows 10 as build 10240 back in July as it is a dramatically different experience today. This build along with sister builds of Windows 10 Mobile are all focusing towards the availability of the new Surface Pro 4, Surface Book and Lumia devices here in the upcoming weeks.  

On Oct 14th, then the 20th MS released two new Windows 10 Mobile builds 10549 and 10572. In both cases you had to revert to Windows 8.1 first and re-install Windows Insider app to get the builds.   I performed this exercise on my Nokia Lumia 735. Luckily in both cases, the entire process took less than two hours which was huge improvement over the experience I had with 10536 which took the better part of 8 hours end-to-end. MS claims with 10549 that they were testing their Windows 8.1 to 10 upgrade process and therefore that was the requirement - but I would say that for the vast majority of us Insider Fast Ring folks who were at 10512 or 15036 previously it was still a nuisance. One step I did not do this time with either 10549 or 10572 was to perform a Phone Reset after the upgrade.  I simply used the 3.01 version of the Windows Device Recovery tool to flash my device back to 8.1, then let the store update all the apps, installed Windows Insider and registered, the updated.  

On October 6, MS had what many described as their "Big Bang" event around Microsoft hardware specifically focused to support Windows 10. There were two new laptop/tablet devices in the Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 as well as 3 new phones the Lumia 950, 950XL and 550.   Finally there was the new Microsoft Band and Hololens VR headset. There have been many reviews and specs released so I'm not going to drill into them all here.   The focus of this post is on the question will the combination of new Microsoft branded gear and Windows 10 change the market and as well the perception of Windows. Microsoft recently announced that since it's release in July - that over 110M devices have been activated with Windows 10 and they expect 1B devices activated by 2018.   Overall the new devices have really nice specifications and are more powerful and more effective than any of their predecessors.   But will be combination change the market ? So let's first look at

On September 18, MS released Windows 10 Build 10547.  This is part of what is being called the "Threshold 2" release of Windows 10.   Some in the press are calling this the true Windows 10 release as it will coincide with MS's "Big Bang" announcement coming up on Oct 6.    Big Bang will be the announcement of the Surface 4 Tablet as well as two new phones - so MS's first Windows 10 specific devices.  There will also be a number of formal announcements from other OEM partners, like HP, Dell, Lenovo and others regarding their Windows 10 target devices to capture holiday sales. So on to the build itself.   As always I loaded 10547 on a couple of desktop machines a laptop and a tablet device.  Versus recent builds - the download process was much faster and the upgrade process also seemed a bit quicker.  The build also seemed to to include more MS native Windows 10 apps than previous builds - so you didn't spend as much time in the Store afterwards upda

As with many enthusiasts I have several machines and several of those dual boot.  Also like many enthusiasts, I maintained separate Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 environments until I felt that Windows 10 was reliable enough to become my daily driver... During the pre-RTM Windows 10 Insider Program, MS upgraded and renamed several key apps.  Groove Music & Movies and TV are two that come to mind.  So here is the interesting thing.  They have never been updated or renamed in Windows 8.1.  In fact open the store in Windows 8.1 - and search for Groove Music and nothing appears.    MS has created an all new store experience for Windows 10 and has left the Windows 8.1 Store alone.  In fact I would say MS has turned their back on it. MS is in such a hurry to put Windows 8.x behind them that I believe they will practically stop supporting the product and especially the Store and the Apps.    This is what I am describing as the app cliff..  Meaning that any current versions of Window

After a frustrating week running Windows 10 Mobile Build 10536 on my Nokia 735 - I returned home and found it running very well thank you on my daughters Nokia 635...    It was obvious after checking the 635 that the previous method of upgrading that went from 10512, to  10514.0, then 10536.1000 and finally 10536.1004 just did not take on my 735.  Even after a phone reset - things just weren't right... So after some deliberation I decided to take the big step and use the Phone Recovery Tool to go back to Windows 8.1 and then upgrade to 10536.1004 again... The good news is this method seemed to have worked well, the bad news is that from end-to-end the process was nearly 8 hours.   First I installed the recovery tool and connected my 735 - the 1.75GB download was slow, but the actual flash upgrade went very well.  All in about an hour... Then you had to launch the store and update all 18 apps - about another hour. Then I reinstalled Windows Insider activated Fast Ring and

After several disappointing delays and some flogging in the blogs - MS released Windows 10 Mobile build 10536.  To be very specific the build is 10536.1004... I installed over build 10512 on a Lumia 735.. To get there was a very frustrating process.  It involved applying 3 major updates, 10514.0, then 10536.1000 and finally 10536.1004.    This ridiculously convoluted path was required because 10536.1004 would not install directly over 10512.   If you wanted to return to WP 8.1 and then update you could go direct to 10536 - but either path was a waste of time and effort and a lack of understanding on MS's part of their own Fast Ring Community. While all 3 updates did apply - it took over 4 hours from the time I first checked for phone updates until everything downloaded and applied.  That is absurd - yes it is a test build - but the distribution and deployment should never take this long.. But then I noticed that most if not all my 3rd party apps were broken.  From Good M

Many folks are looking at the press reports coming out about Windows 10 and considering updating their existing Windows 7 or 8 machines to Windows 10. But as much as MS touts a free and clean update process - with any OS upgrade there is risk. In fact in the early weeks of Windows 10 release - it was reported that some 50% of upgrades failed for one reason or another.    S o here are a few best practices and lessons learned over the past year being a part of the Windows 10 Insider Fast Ring group to help mitigate those risks.. First - review the current state of your OS and make sure you can upgrade to Windows 10.  From an OS level you must be at a minimum of Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1 Update.   Check your system properties to make sure you are there.  If not you will need to run Windows Update and get there.   Next review the current state of your hardware.   Here are the MS minimums... Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster. RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB