Technology Ramblings

On May 31 and then June 6 respectively MS released Windows RS5 builds 17682 then 17686 to Fast Ring and Skip Ahead insiders. These two builds started to return some level of stability to RS5 - which in my experience across my various test platforms was pretty much a mess. With several of the previous builds - of all my test machines only my basic desktop configuration - a Dell Inspiron 3647 with no touch, pen or hello capabilities was able to consistently download and install updates without some sort of GSOD or other failure.   Even 17682 had real problems with my laptop - an HP Elitebook 745G3 which runs an AMD Pro12 8800-R7 CPU/GPU combination.   Drivers would not install properly or at all and you often had to spend an hour or more post update - correcting those kinds of basic hardware support items. From a feature perspective 17682 continue to improve on the Sets feature - if your device actually had it enabled.   Two of my machines do and yes ...

In recent years - I've stated that for many use cases - alternative OS like ChromeOS make a viable alternative to Windows or MacOS PCs. So I decided to put my money where my mouth is and purchased a Google Pixelbook. I took advantage of a promotion and was able to purchase the Core i5 unit with 8GB RAM, 128GB NVMe drive for $749 a $250 discount from the normal $999.  It also comes with a 2400 x 1600 display, 2 x USB-C ports.   I also purchased the pen for a very unreasonable $99 (should be more like $40).   Here is the Good, Bad and Ugly I've experienced - under the use case of making this the primary daily driver for work.. The Good... The Pixelbook is an extremely solid device and while incredibly thin, it has substance and weight.  There are no fans - so it is extremely quiet.  It boots in less than 10 seconds. The keyboard is a chiclet style and a bit firmer with less key travel than normal but it works okay.   But you have to...

On May 24 - MS released their 12th build of the Redstone 5 (RS5) branch of Windows 10 to Fast Ring & Skip Ahead Insiders.   Build 17677 was the first build in the last 5 or so that wasn't a nightmare to install.  Across all 3 of my test platforms - desktop, laptop and tablet the build downloaded and installed without drama.   In all 3 cases the end-to-end process took from 60 - 90 minutes. Of all the devices - my 5 year old Dell Inspiron 3847 running a 4th Gen Core i3-4150 w/ 4GB RAM along with a Samsung EVO 850 SSD and Intel 3160 WiFi card actually runs the the best.   There is little to no lag launching apps and while it doesn't support capabilities like Hello facial recognition, touch or pen, it is a good overall test bed device.  My more powerful AMD based laptop still is experiencing performance that I didn't have with RS4 and shouldn't have with 4 Cores, 16GB of RAM, NVMe SSD, etc.   Being set to Skip Ahead mode...

According a recent report by Bloomberg News - MS is working on a budget tablet under the Surface brand with a $400 price target.  Powered by an Intel-M CPU the device is targeted to entry level users. So MS has tried this before - First with the Surface 3 - which was actually a 10.8 variant running an Intel Atom CPU and second was via a number of OEM products back in the Windows 8/8.1 Era with products like the Dell Venue Pro (which I own) and HPs Stream line.   But with the combination of slow sales and Intel's decision to drop the Atom line - those products faded. While some of vendors did continue to support 8" - 10" form factor tablet most moved to Android as the OS. You can actually buy a range of Windows 10 based tablets today from folks like Chuwi and their Hi - Pro line - in 8" - 12" sizes.  Some models are even available as dual-boot Windows/Android and come with LTE capabilities.  The various models support either Intel Cherry Lake or MediaTek CP...

At it's I/O Conference - Google announced the availability of the public beta of Android P.   While the spectrum of supported hardware did open up a bit - it's still a somewhat limited portfolio.  And missing as always is the single largest Android OEM - Samsung.    One of the reasons I chose my Pixel 2 XL device was to have the ability to join Android beta programs and get a first hand view of the latest from Google. So after a quick registration - the 1GB+ update downloaded and installed easily. For a beta the build I'm running PPP2.1800412.013 has been very stable and fast.   From an app compatibility & usability standpoint - I've only experienced two issues so far. First is with ATT's Visual Voice Mail app - it simply does not work and it's kind of not surprising as ATT kind of sucks at apps.   The second is the lack of a clear all or "close" app functionality when browsing through app History. I've had no issues with ...

Windows 10 has entered it's 7th branch cycle - known as Redstone 5 (RS5).  The build releases started back in February with 17604 for Skip Ahead members. Since that time MS has performed 11 releases - most limited to Skip Ahead users and not until build 17661 did both Fast Ring and Skip Ahead receive the builds.  The most recent being 17672 released May 16.    As I've documented in previous posts - the road so far has been pretty bumpy and 17672 was no exception.    I use 3 platforms as my testing pool.  An Dell Venue 8 Pro tablet with an Intel Atom CPU, an HP Elitebook 745 G3 Laptop with AMD CPU and a Dell Inspiron 3847 Desktop with Intel Core i3.    Of the 3 only the Inspiron has been able to perform what I describe as relatively normal updates.  The Elitebook and Venue have really struggled.    While all 3 suffered from the ridiculous "preparing to install" delays that came with builds 17661 and 17666 - I experienc...

In a recent interview with TechRadar - Windows GM Erin Chapple of MS kind of shrugged off the first wave of new Always Connected PCs (ACPCs) introduced in March by HP, Asus and Lenovo..  in her words "We're about choice in the ecosystem and working across our partners".  This was a pretty touted new platform when MS and Qualcomm first stood up to announce the partnership and the initial plans were for a 2017 release.    These devices did not fair well in their initial reviews and I like many didn't really promote their purchase. While presenting a potentially compelling combination of always on LTE and 20+ hour battery life - unfortunately they experienced pretty bad performance and confusing app support.  Some like the HP model were also pricey with a $999 starting price and top models over $1,200. And so while an improvement over the Windows RT devices of 5 years ago - this may be another experiment that will fade to black. During my initial take on ...