Technology Ramblings

So the Windows 10 Creators Update is here.  Based on Windows 10 build 15063 - that will eventually be referred to as 1703, MS completed the 2nd of the Redstone branch milestones.    Mostly likely there will be a cumulative update added to the base 15063 build as was just the case with Mobile that received 15063.2 yesterday.   The update is scheduled to begin rollout on April 11 to current Anniversary Update production users and will "take several months" to deploy. So the $64 question for most folks is - should I upgrade ? Generally the answer is yes.  MS did improve the OneCore component of the OS and continued on it's path of transitioning from the ancient Control Panel to settings along with improving many of the native apps. If you have a device that supports Touch, Pen input you'll also see nice improvements with improved apps like Sticky Notes and Sketchpad along with Ink capabilities in apps like Maps.  In some ways I feel that...

On March 21, MS released Windows 10 build 15063 to Fast Ring insiders.  The build was for PC and Mobile.   On March 23 the release was also deployed to Slow Ring. As with several of the most recent builds - there were just a handful of fixes and by all educated guesses - 15063 does appear to be the Creators Update release. The watermarks are gone. One interesting note is that MS called out in very bold text that you can not update directly from the Anniversary Update (14393) to 15063.  If you use the WDRT tool - you must first update to 15055, then update again to get to 15063. MS also released 3 different cumulative updates to 14393 this month in preparation to allow "production" users to upgrade directly to Creators Update. This also included notices that the Creators Update was coming soon. As with the Anniversary update I expect there to be some .xxx cumulative updates deployed with 15063 in the coming week so that the final version may be something li...

One of the many mobile devices I own is Samsung Galaxy S7.  While from a general feature performance standpoint it is an excellent device, there is one area where Samsung has fallen down and that is keeping current with Android. I tend to purchase unlocked devices - personally I have always felt that it is the best approach - allowing me switch carriers easily if needed and not locking me into payment plans or contracts.  My Galaxy S7 is one such model the SM-G930U.   My device current runs Android Marshmallow 6.01 and has security patches through Dec 1, 2016.    Google released Android Nougat (7.0) back on August 22, 2016 and is already at 7.1.1 but yet my device has yet to update.  In fact Google is already well into development of Oreo or Android 8.   Samsung is the market leader in smartphones - selling over 311M devices in 2016 alone.  More than the entire PC market and nearly 100M more than Apple.  As Google's largest "custome...

On Friday Mar 17, MS released their 3rd Windows 10 build of the week with 15061.   This again was a PC only build.  Mobile remains at 15055. As with 15058 and 15060 earlier in the week - 15061 contained a small number of fixes.  Evaluation build watermarks are still evident - so I was wrong thinking that maybe 15060 was the creators update.   At the same time the 15058 build was made available in ISO.   The update installed quickly and easily on my laptop and tablet but was very slow to download on my desktop.  All eventually applied okay.  While my laptop and tablet also allowed my to login in okay - it took several attempts on my desktop.  I would consistently receive user profile service errors and even after multiple shutdown, power up cycles it still would not work. Eventually a plain restart correctly the problem.  And so while I'm not experiencing any errors per se.  I am experiencing some of what I call nuisance errors th...

During the week of March 13th - MS did two very quick Windows 10 releases - builds 15058 on the 14th followed by 15060 on the 16th to the Fast Ring. These were right behind 15055 that was released on Mar 10 - so literally 3 releases in less than a week.   These were PC only releases.   Mobile remains at 15055 for now. Both 15058 & 15060 did not contain a huge number of fixes when compared to some of the previous builds (less than 10 each), but did try to address some key issues that Insiders were experiencing with 15055 such as Login issues and Edge taking over key defaults from 3rd party tools. Both updates downloaded and installed cleanly across desktop, laptop and tablet. As I mentioned in my post on 15055 - while that build contained a lot of fixes it definitely felt like a step backwards from 15048 and 15058 & 15060 have tried to correct that. With that said - I can't say with 100% confidence that my systems run any better than they did with 15048 - which ...

On March 10, MS released Windows 10 build 15055 to Fast Ring Insiders - this was both a PC and Mobile build. Build 15055 contained some two dozen + fixes for PC and only about 3 for Mobile.    The build did seem to download and install fine across all devices.   One comment I can make is that with the new UUP process designed to reduce download sizes is that MS has effectively added additional steps in the update process - that doesn't necessarily improve end-to-end update time. So now you experience the following... Initializing Updates - a short phase that seems to build a list of updates to be applied Preparing for Download - a new phase that is the heart of UUP where the machine is examined and builds the manifest of what is to be downloaded Downloading Update - so the actual download itself Preparing Update - so expanding the download - then restart  Configurating Updates - yet another pre-update staging Working on Updates - the actual applic...

On March 8, MS released Windows 10 Mobile build 15051 to Fast Ring Insiders. Obviously this was a mobile only build.   This build did not have an extensive list of fixes listed - only 8 - but overall for my aging Lumia 735 it was the best Windows 10 build I've experienced.   It is very obvious that the Redstone II branch is winding down and that some of the debugging code and other typical constraints are being lifted from the builds.  Not only did the build download and install relatively quickly, but the end result runs extremely well.  Smooth and fast.    MS did call out one potential issue with background OneDrive Camera Roll sync - but I did not experience that issue.   They stated that it would be fixed in a future build - so this is not the release build. With all of that said, when the Creators Release does happen it will be my last Windows 10 Mobile build.   First like with some of my PCs, my old Lumia just doesn't have the ha...

Just two days after releasing Windows 10 build 15046 for PC.  MS released builds 15047 for Mobile and 15048 for PC. The builds were all about fixes with about a dozen for PC and 10 or so for Mobile. The update downloaded and installed easily across all devices - desktop, laptop, tablet and phone.  The build runs well and seems as complete as the Creators Update is going to be. In my post on 3/1 - I suggested the possibility of 15046 being the release build - so obviously I was wrong.  What was interesting however is that the evaluation watermark returned with 15048 - suggesting there are still more builds to come in March.  I'm thinking however that there will only be a couple more. I have to believe we are very close to release if the estimated release date of April is to be met.  There is typically at least a two week gap from the last builds Insiders see to production release.   We'll see what the coming weeks bring.