Windows RS5 & 19H1 - Okay if the update works

It's been over a month since I've posted anything regarding Windows 10 - either the upcoming Redstone 5 - 1809 release or the 19H1 builds...

 So two reasons - first on the 19H1 side there have only been 3 builds released in the last 40+ days and to be honest they've all been kind of a yawner as MS have been focusing more effort around the RS5 release builds.

 I tried my first RS5 update in a while on my Dell Venue 8 Pro and I really can't report on anything - because it won't install.   I had previously been on Build 18219 of 19H1 and the Venue continued to fail to install the latest 18234 build.

 So this morning I downloaded the production RS4 - 1803 build and performed a fresh install - then joined the Fast Ring.   While the latest RS5 Release build 17755.1 update showed up immediately - it failed at the end of the download stage - not moving on the Installation phase with a 0x8844018 error.   

 To me this kind of reinforces the issues with Windows 10.  If MS can't figure out how to perform a successful update over a fresh build with no apps installed - then there are bigger problems out there.   

 In addition - the new features I see coming out are also pretty boring.  Features like ToDo, Sticky Notes and Snip & Sketch are to me gimmicks at best and simply redundant.   The MyPhone app is similar - do I really care about it - no.

 Windows 10 still remains a hot-mess of varying generational UIs with add on features that few use.  

 According to news outlets MS is planning the 1809 release sometime in early October - probably around the time of the recently announced hardware event on Oct 2.  So that means insiders will see release code in the next two weeks.  We'll probably also see Office 2019 on Oct 2 as well.   

 As far as 19H1 is concerned - I will reduce my Insider efforts to 1 machine as I don't see much value in the Insider Program anymore.  

 The needle has stopped moving...







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ASUS RT-AC68U Router & WDS - a nice solution for a large home.

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
Read more

Solar Storage - 2023 Update

  A few years back I published a 2 Part post discussing Solar Energy systems.  The discussion focused on all the due diligence and prep work needed and what were some of the key considerations around designing and implementing a solar system. One of the discussion points was around solar storage or batteries.  What were the use cases for batteries and if they were a good investment and should you incorporate them into your design. Back in 2020 - the math around batteries said no - that you wouldn't be able to break even on the cost of a storage system over its normal warranty life of 10 years. So here we are three years later and so I figured it was time to revisit.   There are two primary uses cases for solar storage.    First is what's called peak offset or peak shifting.  This is a concept where you utilize stored solar generation to run your home during what many utilities call Peak Periods that are part of a general category of rate plans known as Time of Day (TOD) plans.
Read more

Home Automation Platforms + Matter - Early Observations

For those of us who have been involved in automating homes by adding "smart" devices from light switches to thermostats, cameras, sensors, controllers, etc - there was always a challenge with managing the wide range of devices. While each OEM had their own app that would allow you to control their devices - you'd often end up with anywhere from 4 - 10 apps that were required to manage the entire home.  And depending on your product choices you also had to have hubs to communicate from your Wifi network to other RF networks like Zigbee or Z-Wave.  With many of these "hubs" they had native support across multiple vendors or you had to add plugins or provide specific OEM support. Some OEM apps were great, some sucked, but it became challenging to provide a solution for a client where they could easily manage their home on their own.  Between having to maintain multiple credentials/logins across the apps and even communicating which app controls what - it sometimes
Read more