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...

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 c...

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...

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...

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...

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 hardwar...

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. Whil...