Ask Paul: August 9 (Premium)

Greetings from Sweden. This week’s Ask Paul is a day early because we’re flying home tomorrow. It’s also one of the longest yet.

Keto and Europe

drjohnnyray asks:

Do you have problems staying Keto on these 3 week visits to Europe?

Short answer: No, not at all.

Longer answer: This requires a bit of clarification.

I marked the 20-month anniversary of my dietary change while in Sweden, as I started this diet on December 4, 2016. And while it’s fair to say I was on a fairly strict keto diet for the first half of 2016, it’s even fairer to say now that my diet since that time is really “low-carb” and not keto.

The non-keto things I consume include corn (on the cob) and rice (with sushi only), which are both interesting exceptions because the way your body processes these items prevents the normal insulin spike. I also drink alcohol, meaning wine and hard liquors, but never beer in any quantity. About four weeks into a heat wave that, for us, spanned both the US and Europe, I figured I could have a beer as it had been such a long time. But I couldn’t drink it. It was just too filling.

And that’s the interesting thing about keto/low-carb. It’s not really a restrictive diet. When you remove sugars from the food supply—sugar is not food—you stop craving them. And beer just holds no interest to me now.

There are things I would eat, I guess. Like bread or pasta or potatoes or whatever. But I don’t really crave them either. And with the keto/low-carb thing gaining in acceptance, ordering food without bread or potatoes is never really that confusing to people anymore.

And Sweden specifically is very meat-centric. In fact, I have added salads and other vegetables to meals on multiple occasions here since these things are often hard to find (potatoes, which are terrible for you, are most common).

Anyway. No, no issues at all.

Unrelated fun fact I learned just this summer (not in Sweden): You can eat corn on the cob raw, and it tastes great. It’s a bit like eating an apple and seems more like fruit than a vegetable.

Comments on Thurrott.com

jr.flynn asks:

Why is it that if I delete a comment that comment still populates my ‘activity’ feed? The comment will be gone from the article or thread but remains in my user activity section.

prefer to keep all online presence reduced as much as possible, so while I may choose to participate in a conversation about a topic I will often remove my comments after the intended audience has the chance to read and respond to them.

In a world where you can be fired for internet comments from 10 years ago, I would like my deletes to actually remove that comment from all areas, short of that I will be forced to stop commenting altogether and become another silent observer. So from that standpoint it would be a really convenient thing if you allowed users to remove all threads and comments with a single action.

I have no idea, sorry, but I agree with you that they should be deleted from your feed. I have forwarded this to Tim, who will know why and can fix this. I’ll report back (probably next Friday).

Surface Go and the future

Simard57 asks:

I am considering the Costco configuration that has 4GB/128GB SSD + keyboard as casual consumption tablet that can do light work. You have recommended the 8GB versions. I understand going only with 4GB means less can be done simultaneously but I do not anticipate doing heavy work. Am I missing something?

I would rather see you get the 8 GB version without a Type Cover than get the 4 GB Costco bundle (which includes a Type Cover).

Why? The future. I have always regretted going cheap on device purchases. When I have to buy a device, like an iPhone or Android phone, which I can’t really afford but will pay off over the next few months, I almost always get the cheapest version, probably out of guilt. But also out of rationalization: It’s good enough.

It’s not good enough: Get 8 GB of RAM. The you of 2019 or 2020 will thank you.

Just my opinion. There will be tons of people claiming that 4 GB is just fine for their needs. I feel like these people are delusional. But you can always return it—Costco is great that way—after an honest evaluation. And prove me wrong along the way.

Surface Go vs. Surface Pro/Laptop

skborders asks:

Would you recommend buying an older Surface over the Surface Go (other than Screen size)?

Yes.

And with no qualification. Especially right now, when Surface Pro (2017) and Surface Laptop are on sale.

A Surface Go with 8 GB of RAM, 128 GB of storage, and a normal Type Cover will cost $650.

Today, an on-sale Surface Pro (Intel Core i5, 8 GB, 128 GB) with a Type Cover will cost $930, $200 off the normal price. That’s almost $300 more, but it’s a much better—and much more future-proof—PC.

Surface Laptop is even better bargain on-sale: The Core i5, 8 GB, 128 GB version in your choice of colors is now just $799. That’s just $140 more than a Surface Go that I feel is a non-starter out of the box and will be increasingly frustrating to use over time. The performance and battery life differences are astonishing.

Thurrott.com dark mode

bleeman asks:

Is there a possibility that at some point Thurrott.com will support dark mode? Just about every app and site I go to has this option so it’s always an eye opener when I come here (Unless of course that is the intent, to make sure we’re awake when reading ;-))

Yes. We do talk about this. The issue is just one of priorities. We’re focused right now, as a company, on making some long-overdue architectural and user experience changes to Petri.com. And we have plans for Thurrott.com for the fall. I will push this by Tim, Tina, and Brad again. But it is on the list. Mehedi is desperate for us to completely overhaul the Thurrott.com UI. That, too, is on the list.

Windows vs. Mac

PhilipVasta asks:

I’ve heard you say that you prefer Windows over macOS, but I’ve never heard your particular reasons for this.

I wrote about this a bit when I used a MacBook Air exclusively on a business trip this past May. I have been using Macs since 2001, and while I am, of course, interested in what Apple is doing to evolve this platform, I have always found Windows more familiar (which is underrated) but also more efficient because of things that are just missing on the Mac. A key example is the lack of full keyboard support, which is important for me, personally, since I’m a writer and like to keep my hands on the keyboard. When you’re presented with a dialog or other window in Windows, you can navigate through every single control on it using the keyboard. You can’t do that on the Mac, where only some controls are supported in the key z-order. I find that frustrating.

For more on this topic, please check out What I Use, Build 2018: MacBook Air (Premium) and Quick MacBook Air Check-In (Premium).

Microsoft and productivity

PhilipVasta also asks:

Do you think Microsoft’s message as the “productivity company” really holds weight?

This is one of the best questions I’ve ever received, and I apologize up front for keeping this one short as I intend to write more on this topic soon.

But the short version goes like this: No, Microsoft’s position as a productivity company for individuals, especially, is a red herring. It’s something that its fans point to as a key strength but it is, in fact, illusory. Productivity apps and services are a commodity, and most people will find that free solutions (Google’s, whatever) are good enough. Are, in fact, often pretty great. And as more and more people gravitate towards non-Windows platforms, the allure of Office and other Microsoft offerings will fade. It’s already happening.

(Yes, yes. I know there are people who need Excel or whatever. That kind of audience should be considered power users, and it’s small and increasingly unusual. It’s like gamers who need high-end PCs. They exist. But compared to the total user base, it’s a small audience.)

Microsoft talks a lot about digital transformation, and it is itself transforming its own business. Office and related productivity offerings are interesting for two reasons: They represent the past, and they represent something that Microsoft can milk during this transformation. But when Microsoft emerges on the other side of this change, Office, like Windows, will be very much diminished. There will be more people using others apps and services. It will just take longer than it did with Microsoft’s consumer offerings.

And that’s fine, for Microsoft: It has a strong future in the cloud. For now, we have to play this game where we pretend any of this stuff even matters. Long term, it does not.

More soon on this topic.

Google account

AnOldAmigaUser asks:

So, I am probably going to replace an ailing Lumia 950, with a midrange android phone, rather than paying up for an iPhone or Samsung. This will require setting up a Google account, which I have avoided until now. I do not particularly need a new email address, so I was thinking of using one of my more primary personal emails for the account. If the goal is to minimize Google’s access to information, am I better off using a gmail address only for access to the Play Store, then setting up email with a third party app to use the email accounts I actually care about?

You got some accurate advice in the comments about using an Outlook.com account as a Google account, and that does work.

My advice, however, is to set up a unique Gmail account/email address and actually experience Google’s products and services to their fullest. I do vaguely understand the desire to limit Google’s access to one’s personal information. And more concretely, I know that many have a visceral reaction to this stuff. But don’t bite your nose to spite your face. With Google, some people make bad decisions for themselves in order to protect some vague privacy threat.

Google is a lot of things. But for all the concerns about privacy, or ads, or whatever, the company has one thing going for it: Its products and services are often excellent and best-of-breed. Gmail is much better than Outlook.com. Chrome is much better than any other browser. Google Maps is the end of that conversation. And so on. Go into this open-eyed, for sure. But go into it open-minded as well.

Building a new PC

StevenLayton asks:

I’m looking into building my first PC in about 10 years, and plan to base it on either high-end or the mid-range spec machine on the pcper.com hardware leaderboard.

I obviously need to buy a copy of Windows for the machine, and quick search of Amazon.co.uk brought up a few options, but the reviews are conflicting on whether they were a ‘legal’ version.What is the correct legal way to purchase a copy of Windows 10 for a home built PC?

If it costs less than $99-ish, it’s almost certainly illegal. Someone commented about different countries having different laws, which I’m sure is the case. But in the US, you can buy an OEM or retail version of Windows 10 Home for about $99. (OEM versions are not illegal in the US if you’re building a PC.) And an OEM or retail version of Windows 10 Pro for about $145. (Versions with a USB key are more.)

Lastly, I expect to keep the machine for a while and in the future I might dabble with some VR. How do I know whether the components are VR ready?

Microsoft has different hardware specification requirements and recommendations for Windows Mixed Reality and Windows Mixed Reality Ultra, and I’d start there. This is the cheapest and most seamless way to experience VR/MR on Windows, and is a good place to start.

Android skinning and customization

christian.hvid asks:

I have yet to meet a single Android user who choose Samsung because of TouchWiz/Experience, HTC because of Sense, or Huawei because of EMUI. It appears that user preference is invariably based on hardware differentiators – be it features, design or price/performance. UX skinning is something you accept and learn to live with, but not something you particularly desire.

My question is this. Some argue that skinning is just corporate narcissism and that everybody should embrace stock Android ASAP. Others claim that customization actually drives innovation for the ecosystem as a whole, and prevents stock Android from becoming stagnant. I’d be interested in hearing your take on this – is Android skinning mainly bad or good? And will it still be a thing five years from now?

This is another excellent question, and by “excellent” I mean something I’ve been thinking about and will write about soon. So…

Short version: Skinning Android has always been done to differentiate, as you note. The reason companies do this is that once a hardware maker accepts the real Android license—meaning AOSP plus all the Google apps, services, and default requirements—they are stuck. That license is not free. And it prevents them from ever shipping a device that does not have “full” Android on it. This is part of the EU’s current antitrust lawsuit against Android.

The problem that Android device makers face is similar to what PC makers face: How do you differentiate when the software is the same on every device? With Android, they have two unique choices: Skin the UI and duplicate Google apps and services where possible, both of which Google allows. It’s their deal with the devil.

A few months back, you were arguing that Samsung is likely to embark on a “phased transition to Tizen” … But is there any evidence at all that Tizen is gaining traction beyond smart TV:s and home appliances? And if not – if Samsung has indeed surrendered to Google – then why are they still wasting money on bad replicas of Google’s apps and services?

So this is nicely tied to your first question.

Samsung, as a full Android licensee, cannot remove Google’s apps and services from Android. So it must duplicate as much of that as they can, and boy have they. Samsung has its own web browser, its own digital assistant, its own Store. But all of that has to sit there next to the Google stuff, thanks to that licensing requirement.

My comment about Samsung working to eliminate Google/Android from the equation is a corporate goal. And who knows? With the EU about to force Google to stop the licensing practices that prevents Samsung (and other OEMs) from shipping all the Google stuff and their own replacements, things will change. That could be as simple as removing a few Google apps from its flagships to something more radical, like shipping a phone or two with a very limited Google software stack. We’ll see. But this EU thing might be the best thing that ever happened to Samsung.

On these topics, too, more soon.

EU vs. American tech companies

wright_is asks:

Why do US sites report EU monopoly abuse investigations as anti-US, when they affect companies like Google, yet completely ignore the stories where European businesses / cartels or companies from other non-US lands get pulled up in front of the EU courts for the similar infractions?

Please excuse our American ignorance. We are in a decidedly xenophobic era right now, and many see everything in terms of an “us vs. them” viewpoint. I am hoping this is a temporary, evolutionary blip, and that we can get past that.

That said, credible US-based news reports have noted that the EU’s policies are not anti-American, and that antitrust regulators there have gone after far more European firms than American firms. The issue, of course, is that the American tech giants are so big, and impact so many peoples’ lives. So these cases seem outsized, when in fact they are just commensurate for the companies, given their sizes.

Also related, the US press (and commentators) keep stating, in the Google Android case, that Apple should also be subject to the same rules, yet neglect to metion that the reason they aren’t is that, they have less than 15% market share in smartphones and 0% market share in search, so they don’t fall under the monopoly position abuse rules?

I’m not sure what to say to this. Apple doesn’t have a monopoly in any market, and its smartphone marketshare outside the United States is probably in the single digits. (It’s about 14 percent overall worldwide, I think.) The rules change when you have a monopoly, and I think that is one thing that is pretty consistent in antitrust law in the US and EU.

I guess I’d just chalk that up to ignorance as well.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Tablet

ne0kn1ght asks:

Hey Paul, Thanks for all you and the team do. I’m hearing some good things about the Lenovo X1 Tablet Gen 3. I’m looking at replacing my Surface Pro 3 and the capabilities and the form factor look really good on the new X1 Tablet. Any way you could do a review on it vs the Surface Pro? I know you have reviewed other Lenovo products and it would be great for those of us that are in the enterprise IT area to get your feedback on the pros and cons of this device.

Thanks … A few people have asked me about this, unless, of course, this is just you asking me repeatedly. 🙂 Kidding. But yes, I will ask Lenovo to review this product.

Europe

ggolcher asks:

What was your favorite part of your trip to Europe?

This one is hard. There is so much to like.

Stockholm is beautiful and surprisingly diverse and accepting of immigrants. It’s efficient and clean, and the people are friendly. The food is excellent. The public transportation is incredible. Everyone speaks English.

When our kids were younger, Stockholm would have been a non-starter. It’s just not much of a vacation spot for kids. But as they’ve gotten old, they enjoy these trips on a different level, and they like the walk/sight-see/cafe/eat-out thing that my wife and I enjoy a lot more. So that’s been nice.

Least favorite?

We seem to hit Europe during a historic heat wave every summer, but this was the worst one yet. And of course, many homes here (including the one we’re staying at) do not have air conditioning. There is one fan in the entire house. And guess what sold out during this heat wave? Right. Fans.

The 19-ish hours of daylight is weird. 🙂 But interesting.

Surface Go reviews

madthinus asks:

Is it just me or do you also find it disingenuous that all the review units for Surface Go is the higher end model? The part that bugs me is that the base unit is arguably significant differant than the review units going around.

This is very typical: Hardware makers want the best reviews they can get and reviewers want the best hardware they can get. I’ve often been denied review units of low-end versions (Microsoft has done that repeatedly). But this year, Lenovo, in particular, has been very good about offering lower-end PCs. Maybe this can change.

The low-end Surface Go is what gets people in the door. But no one should buy that, and it is both predictable and obvious that most people who were lured by the $400 price tag will actually spend $550 and walk away feeling good about that decision. It’s more psychology than disingenuous. Maybe.

Smart home tech vs. home swap family

Polycrastinator asks:

How did you document and make usable your smart home devices for the folks staying at your home? Did you hear back if they had any difficulties with those devices?

We create a “book” for the house that explains everything. For this year, we actually removed a bunch of smart home components. But we left the Philips Hue lights up with no explanation. And the Google Home devices, too, as we figured they might enjoy them. But we explained that there is no recording equipment, especially cameras, anywhere in the house. And that they are free to unplug anything.

I left the Apple TV attached to our TV and removed some apps. And configured it to require a password for purchases. That kind of thing. (They have an Apple TV here, too, and we’ve watched some of their purchased movies. I hope they’ve done the same.)

Humorously, on one of the first couple of days we were here, I started getting pop-up messages about Xbox achievements for a Forza game. I guess the kids figured out the Xbox. 🙂 That’s fine. Go nuts.

We’ve been in regular communication with the family from Sweden, as is always the case. These trips follow a familiar pattern of figuring things out, asking questions, and being amused or entertained by the other family’s reaction to things that to us (or them) are just normal. But nothing specific about the smart home stuff.

OneDrive vs. Google Drive

sabertooth920 asks:

Why OneDrive over Google Drive?

I use both, technically, but my Google Drive usage is almost exclusively for photos.

I use OneDrive for work, mostly, and because it integrates seamlessly with Windows, the platform I use every day for work. I think they both work similarly. And that those in the Google (Android/Chrome OS) ecosystem would see similar advantages to Google Drive there.

Battery life

Daishi asks:

Given how hopelessly inaccurate their estimates for battery life on the Surface Go have proven to be in real world use, do you think Microsoft should have developed a more realistic battery test for Windows 10 machines by now?

Sure. But the issue here is that no other hardware maker would use that test. So they test it as Apple, HP, Lenovo, and others do. These things are inaccurate but comparable, I guess.

That said, Microsoft does provide a comprehensive battery report capability in Windows 10 (powercfg /batteryreport from an admin command line) and you can use that to get real-world results. Because I couldn’t perform my usual tests for the ThinkPad X1 Yoga I just reviewed, I wrote about that in my review. I will do this going forward as well.

I would like to see a standard for battery testing. Something like the fuel economy ratings for vehicles, something that was actually accurate.