Technology Ramblings

So I recently decided to upgrade my granddaughter's PC.  She had been using an 9 year old Dell Dimension 9100 I bought way back in 2005.  That device over the years went from being my primary computer to a Home Server to a VM Host and finally to my granddaughter.  I decided the stick with the desktop format versus and All-in-One (AIO) or laptop.  My granddaughter already uses an iPad2 as her "tablet" device and while I like the AIO format and own an HP TouchSmart device circa 2007 - I wanted something a little easier to upgrade and less expensive.  It always surprises me the premium for AIO considering the components used. So after some due diligence I bought a Dell Inspiron 3647 Small Form Factor (SFF) desktop and new 22" 16:9 HD monitor.  All in it cost me less than $500.  That included an 4th Gen Core i3 processor with 3M of L2 Cache on H81 chipset running at 3.5Ghz, 4GB of RAM, Intel 4600 Graphics and a 1TB 7200 RPM HDD - Running Wind...

So writing this post from Windows 10 Tech Preview newest build 9879.  This is the second update to W10 since the initial release.  From the standpoint of using a preview build of an OS, Windows 10 has proved itself to be stable and fast.  But in my opinion not any more or less stable and fast than Windows 8.1 update 1 that I run on the same machine. Versus running W10 in a VM - I decided to go ahead and dual boot my machine to get a more day-to-day feel.   Here are my thoughts in terms of using W10.. It feels like Windows 7 with an updated UI and Start Menu.  Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.   And here's why... With the elimination of the Modern UI for desktop computers, the biggest thing I noticed is that I rarely run the modern apps.  Since they are part of the Start Menu and Live Tile updated, when I want a quick glace of news, weather, finance, etc, you just click on Start and take a quick look.  It is sli...

On November 11th, MS is going to announce their first Lumia Phone.  The preliminary indications are that this will be a Dual-SIM phone with a lower end SnapDragon 400 Processor with 1280 x 720 screen, 1Gb RAM and 8Gb storage + SD expansion. So who is this phone for ?   Certainly not the US market.   The US carriers really don't like Dual-SIM phones and while you can go buy some from companies like BLU - they are rare. Also why would MS release yet another low end phone.  This year the 630/635, 735 and 830 were released.  The 635 - of which I own 2 - where the direct upgrade path for the 520/521.   The 735 while a nice phone is not available on any carrier in the US and may only be available on Verizon sometime in early 2015 and the 830 from the initial reviews appears to be a very overpriced device with relatively unimpressive specs and only available from AT&T. So my belief here is that this phone will be an EU or Asian phone and will probab...

A few weeks back I wrote about my initial impressions of Windows 10 Technical Preview. One of the areas of note was the absence of the Modern UI work space.  While the Modern Apps still exist, the UI itself has effectively gone away for desktop machines.   At the time I then asked the question - why have the modern apps at all ?  I like the live tile concept for things like news feeds, weather, etc., but be be honest the overall UI experience on a desktop of Modern apps is somewhat mixed.   In my opinion MS has a challenge on their hands.  When Windows 8 and the Modern UI was introduced, there was a lot of negative feedback and confusion on usability between Modern and Traditional desktop apps.  Especially when you couldn't close a Modern app in the traditional "X" method and had to press the Windows Key which sent you back to the Modern Start screen but then had a different experience when you closed a traditional app... Folks...

So a couple of weeks back I posted my thoughts around the fate of Windows Phone. So there are a few updates to report.. Microsoft did address one of the areas I mentioned as a area to improve and that was branding.  MS announced that going forward the Windows Phones developed by MS will be called Microsoft Lumia.  So much like the Surface line - at least now there will be a true MS branded phone.   But then MS turns around and stumbles badly.  It was reported that the new 730/735 phones announced at IFA will be delayed in the US until early 2015. So that means that MS will only have 1 new phone the 830 at 1 carrier - AT&T for the holidays.   While the 635 is also "new" it was released in July - so while there will be some uptake it will mostly be from 520/521 owners looking to upgrade.   So I fully expect to hear how bad WP sales are in Q4 and a drop in US market share. This is really disappointing to hear.   While MS states they are being ...

Back in January I posted that 2014 would be a make or break year for WP.  WP maintained about a 5% market share in the US... 90% of all WP sold were Nokia Entry level phones like the 520/521 dominated sales Since then not too much has changed... WP still maintains a 4.7% market share in the US according the Kantar WorldPanel.  Nokia still represents over 90% of WP sales.  In the US it's over 95%. Entry level phones still dominate the portfolio.  According the AdDuplex over 47% of WP sales in the US are at the 520/521 and 630/635 entry level devices and many of the higher end devices barely register on their pie chart or are barely in the top 10. This week Verizon announced the "retirement" of the Lumia Icon or 930 series device that was released in Jan.  So in less than a year Verizon retired it's flagship WP device.   Even prior to that - other blogs and WP sites have mentioned how Verizon didn't even carry the phone in many of th...

So with surprisingly little fanfare, Microsoft announced Windows 10 on Sept 30 and released a Tech Preview on Oct 1. It was obvious from the announcement that MS is trying to put Windows 8/8.1 behind them as quickly as they can.   But did they ? What bothered me a bit about the announcement itself was watching Terry Myseron.  While the approach to the announcement seemed relaxed, Terry didn't appear that way.  Reading from his prompter and not looking that comfortable.   Additionally, while MS discussed their 1.5b Windows users and the great breath of customer experiences and platforms, the approach with Windows 10 to me seemed to be more like Windows 8.2.... So of course I downloaded and loaded the Tech Preview on a standard desktop I have.  Here are some of my initial impressions. The install process was traditional Windows 8-like.  The one challenge I have is that my particular desktop is a Core i7 with an ICH10R controller....