Technology Ramblings

On Sept 21, MS released Windows 10 Redstone 2 branch build 14931 to fast Ring Insiders.   This was a PC only build as MS is still working on some PIN related problems with 14926 for Mobile. 14931 only lists two fixes for the build... We fixed the issue causing people to experience a black screen when signing out and switching to another user account and unable to log in to that account.  We fixed the issue causing the built-in Windows 10 apps such as Calculator, Alarms & Clock, and Voice Recorder to not work after updating to a new build.  In addition there are new Insider versions of the Maps, Feedback Hub, Sticky Notes and Skype Preview App that adds SMS capabilities.   14931 installed fine on both my PC, Laptop and Tablet.  I hadn't tested or experienced the two issues that were called out - so no comment there. While there was not a new Phone build this week I have noticed a number of app updates.  In the last week - Movies & TV...

Recently Dan Rubino over at Windows Central post what he describes as a pre-review of the HP Elite X3.  Dan got his hands on one and made it his daily driver for a week. While there were some aspects of the X3 he really liked, for example the rounded edges, screen, battery life, etc, the device also experienced several issues especially crashes with the camera app, etc.   Also advanced features like Windows Hello support for fingerprint and iris scanning don't work.   A lot of this is related to the fact that the X3 seems to be ham stringed by the OS.  While not called out specifically it sounds like the X3 is shipping with the Threshold II build 10586 and it's associated cumulative updates and that 10586 was not focused on the newer SnapDragon 820 CPU, Adreno GPU nor capable of supporting Windows Hello or NFC.    To me part of the reason the X3 was slow to release was that it really required Redstone 1 - 14393 or >  to properly run, but unles...

On Wednesday Sept 14, MS released Windows 10 Redstone 2 Branch build 14926 to Fast Ring Insiders for both PC and Mobile. This build included about a dozen or fixes for PC and a little over half a dozen for Mobile.   Installation on PCs and my Lumia 735 worked smoothly.  But my Dell tablet running 14915 had issues.  The 14926 build never downloaded because the Windows Update service was hung and could not be manually stopped or started.  Even using known work arounds to try and revive the service, it remained hung and required a system reset to finally get things working. The one area I was interested in seeing if there was improvement was with WiFi on Mobile.  Under build 14915 - I started experiencing WiFi hangs that required regular reboots to get working again, only to have it hang later in the day or overnight.  To me at this point in the Windows 10 cycle - these types of basic device handling issues is unacceptable.   Sure these are test bui...

Today - several of the MS company watcher sites reported that MS will be holding a Fall Hardware event sometime in late October.  While the exact date has not been announced - insiders are saying on or about Oct 26 in NYC. Basically this event is going to provide MS the opportunity to highlight their Windows 10 offerings for the Holiday selling season.   One of the rumored new products is the platform code named Cardinal - the Surface branded All-in-One desktop.    Few details and many rumors abound regarding Cardinal in terms of what models/screen sizes (21, 24 or 27") will be available and if it will utilize the Pixel Sense technology from Surface Hub.    What I do expect is that these devices will support 4K screens, latest Intel Core i5 & i7 CPU, M.2 SSD and 802.11ac wireless as well as Windows Hello cameras and Continuum.   I also expect them to be relatively expensive compared to their peers from Lenovo, HP and Dell with the up...

With it's typical annual build up and fanfare, Apple announced the latest edition of the iPhone - the iPhone 7. Regardless of the "secrecy" that Apple tries to apply to it's new phones, effectively every prediction about the new iPhone was confirmed, including the somewhat controversial elimination of the 3.5mm headphone jack.   Apple has a history of eliminating "legacy" features like floppy drives, CD/DVD drives, etc - so this a somewhat logical next step for phones.  I think the new AirBuds are ridiculously priced @ $159 and with just 5 hours battery life aren't very practical.   Is the iPhone 7 better than it's predecessors ?  Yes.  Looking at it purely from things like performance, capabilities, etc., the iPhone 7 is an evolutionary step up from last years 6S models - so inline with Apples approach. But the big question is - will it sell in enough numbers to reverse the decline in unit sales that have impacted Apple in the last few qu...

It's been amazing to watch the evolution of the PC over the last 30 years or so. From early consoles style devices like the Apple II and Commodore Amiga through the TRS-80, IBM-PC, Compaq Luggable, just to mention a few. But as commodification of the components became the norm and standards like ATX, Mini-ATX, Micro ATX motherboards came out, we ended up with this pretty common theme.  Full height Tower, Mini Tower, SFF.   There was a little bit of a revolution with the All-in-one that tried to eliminate the CPU "box" all together and more recently we seen the micro-PCs like the Apple Mini and Intel NUC. Well today, HP at the IFA announced 2 new takes on PC Design.  The first is called the Elite Slice.  The Slice starts with a NUC style CPU in a 6.5" x 6.5" x 2" stylish square.  Versus the NUC it comes complete with CPU, RAM, SSD, etc - so more of a complete system than the DIY Kit approach of the NUC.  It takes it's look from the most recent ...

In the weeks following release of the Windows 10 "Anniversary" edition based on build 14393, MS and more importantly it's customers have experienced pain with 3rd Party Web Cams and Freezing. This has generated a number of press releases, community threads and vendor posts regarding disabling devices or correcting issues.  Even with the most prominent partners like Logitech, there has been a lot of pain. Similarly many SSD based machines where experiencing freezes and hangs based on certain firmware and driver compatibility issues. This has gotten to the point - that since it's release on August 2, there have been 6 cumulative updates to the Anniversary edition that have bumped the build number to 14393.103. Not what MS was expecting for a milestone release like Redstone 1.  When you compare it to the previous milestone release - Threshold 2 back on Nov 5, 2015 it wasn't until Mar 2, 2016 that the patch level build reached 10586.122.   So not the smoot...

On August 31, MS released Windows 10 Build 14915 to Fast Ring Insiders.  This is the third release of the Redstone 2 branch and was available for both PCs and Mobile. Build 14915 contained about a dozen or so fixes for both PC and Mobile.   For me the biggest was regarding Cortana text-to-speech which is what I use for listening and replying to text messages.    MS still calls out that Adobe Acrobat will crash on launch - but I have noticed that clicking on PDFs works.   At the same time - MS also released another set of firmware upgrades that addressed some of the notable battery issues with Surface 3.   14915 installed fine on all of my desktop, tablet and mobile devices.  I have not experienced any freezes or blue-screen hangs that others have been reporting - with any of my platforms.   The only feature update per-se was regarding what MS likes to call Delivery Optimization for Updates.   Basically this is a peer ...