Category: Personal Thoughts

Daily posts are going to occur less and less… although they are critical to page rank, I just don’t have the time I had hoped for. I also may be moving publication times for my usual posts from 6 AM to noon (Eastern).

It’s easy to spot a “H8er.” There are people out there who will not give Windows 8 any credit, mostly because it’s a Microsoft product. Some just because they don’t like change. But the people who irk me are the ones who criticize it, but have never laid hands on it. And those people, the H8ers? They’re easy to spot. I called a few out in the comments of a recent BetaNews article. Here are some of the things I had to say.

First, with regards to not being a brand loyalist: “Maybe, and – I get that this could be an impossible stretch – but just MAYBE Brian Fagioli just isn’t a brand loyalist? Maybe he genuinely LIKES Google Music AND Windows 8???? Maybe he doesn’t think that because he likes a music service that means he must live his life on a Chromebook!?”

I continued: “I know… it’s a stretch that there might be people out there who use more than one brand of device.
If it makes you feel any better, those people must all also be swimming with STDs.” I was clearly joking about that last bit, of course, and the author of the post (Fagioli) responded, clarifying but in essence agreeing with what I described: not being locked in to any one “ecosystem”.

Addressing a few complaints based on theory from screenshots, I explained busted a few myths for the commenters: “You can pin any icon to the Start Screen, even if it’s not a Live tile – you don’t have to dig through the ‘all programs’ menu. “To launch the calculator on any Windows 8 computer, you simply type “calc” and press enter. No more bringing up the run menu, or clicking the start button – the start screen is a giant Run prompt.”

Further: “I’m a Windows 8 user who thinks the whole thing needs improved. The name “WINDOWS” indicates a multi-tasking ability that is sorely lacking from the Modern UI experience (and no, snapping apps to the left or right doesn’t count). But it’s easy to spot someone who doesn’t like it but hasn’t given it a fair shake. Windows 8 has a steep learning curve, but once you learn it, it feels like everything you do is just more productive.”

In closing on that thought: “It’s easy to laugh off Microsoft – but the jokes are old. It’s not 1997 anymore. Linux has gotten stale. Microsoft is innovating for the next several generations.”
When asked what benefits I found in Windows 8, I promptly devised a list:

1. Direct sky drive integration with multiple applications.
2. Live Tiles.
3. Push Notifications (no matter what your smartphone may have you thinking, no Windows desktop OS had these, prior).
4. (Windows Server 2012) the ability to perform a chkdsk on the C: drive without requiring a reboot.
5. “Universal design” – all apps can benefit from a similar experience, take advantage of features such as:
6. In app searching via the charms bar.
7. In app settings (again, in one location).
8. Touch not required, touch pad can be effectively used.
9. App Results (Start Screen as Run prompt).
10. Old familiar keyboard shortcuts stll work (Windows Key + E, Windows Key + R, for example).
11. A free mail app fully compatible with everything from Exchange server to GMail.
12. A free calendar app akin to those found on mobile devices, which allows syncing of appointments, meetings, and To-Dos.
…

In closing, I added this: “Again, at first I thought it was “change for change sake” – but the more I use Windows 8, the more I like it. Remember, when Windows 95 came out, nobody knew what a Start Menu WAS. We all asked Microsoft what was wrong with the Xerox/Apple/IBM/Windows 3.1 interface of folders on a desktop? Then we wondered if Microsoft BOB was going to take over the world with skeuomorphism. Then we joked about clicking on Start to Shut Down.”

“–then we just got used to it.”

I’ve been holding out for a good Windows Phone. Windows Phone 8, so far, isn’t drastically different from 7.8, from what I’ve seen. Sprint’s lack of Windows Phone 8, or what people are calling poor or sloppy CDMA support from Microsoft, is also killing me slowly. I’m long overdue for an upgrade and have been tempted by the beautiful design of the HTC One, or the refinement of the Samsung Galaxy S4. But I continue to wait. I want to invest myself in a single ecosystem, to be embedded in a platform. I’m not interested in a Mac, and a Chromebook is laughable.

Recent experiences with Windows Phone have put a sour taste in my mouth, and after watching the Google I/O 2013 Keynote, I’m reminded how important it is to constantly be improving your platform. I hear rumors of “Windows Phone Blue” but just a name. More about iOS7 changes being drastic. But Windows Phone? The changes seem like they never come, and even when they do, the poor end users either wait forever or are forced to hack the update onto their phone.

I feel like I’m grasping at straws, anymore. Microsoft talks about how they have 80% of the top 25 apps, and thousands more. But the Windows Phone Marketplace is tiny. And finally getting the apps is different from having had those apps. Seeing the radical improvements in Google Now, even since its launch, just make me wonder what it is that my phone is doing in my pocket all day? It could be doing much more.

I just wonder if I’m missing out on substance, or buying in to hype? I think I’ll see what iOS7 offers up, and wait for some more news on Windows Phone Blue before I commit to this generation of devices… which still seems like a life-time away in the technology-timeline, but it will just have to wait.