Ask Paul: November 6 (Premium)

Happy Friday! Here’s another great set of questions from readers to kick off the weekend and, um, let me keep testing Xbox Series X|S. For science!

Xbox Series X|S audio/video

BeckoningEagle asks:

Since the Xbox Series X does not have optical audio out, can I plug in the HDMI port to the TV and then have audio from the TV return through the ARC to the receiver? There is an issue with some receivers and 4K and I want to bypass the Home Theater’s receiver for video, but not for audio.

I don’t have a way to test this, sorry: My 4K TV does support ARC, but I don’t have a receiver. Another reader indicated that this should work, but I’m not sure myself.

Surface and Windows 10

jwpear asks:

Have you heard any update on Microsoft’s plans to unlock recent Windows releases for the Surface line of devices? There doesn’t seem to be any new news on 2004 since July. It’s November. Why is Microsoft so quiet on this? Are they just going to skip 2004 and go straight to 20H2 for the Surface hardware?

I’ve not heard anything about this from Microsoft, but that makes sense: They would not publicly admit to having a problem like this, because it’s so embarrassing and unnecessary. But as another reader pointed out, I don’t think this is about obsoleting hardware, and given how high-profile the problem is, I think they’ll get on top of it. Even Google, for all its hardware ineptitude, ships its own OS (Android) upgrades immediately on its own hardware. This is exactly how it should work with Surface. I just don’t understand it.

X or S?

madthinus asks:

If you had to spend your own money: X or S?

This one is somewhat skewed because I literally just purchased a 4K/HDR gaming display. But if we can pretend that never happened, I’d likely have gone with the Xbox Series S in the short run to save money and because the experience is still an upgrade over Xbox One X.

But … it’s also not that simple. Microsoft does have the Xbox All Access program, and given how things are going with Xbox Game Pass (which is included with that subscription for two years) and the relative monthly price difference between the two, the Xbox One X—via Xbox All Access—would be my choice.

Put another, if I were buying outright, I’d go Xbox Series S, but I like paying for it over two years and would choose Xbox Series X via Xbox All Access.

Maybe. Probably.

Xbox Series S with external optical drive

zvonimirm asks:

Can you try to connect external USB DVD/BD Drive to Xbox Series X or S to use as a DVD/BD player? This will make Xbox Seriese S ideal choice for living room.

Microsoft says that this won’t work, sorry.

OnePlus 8T + Bluetooth Audio

peterc asks:

Hi Paul, As your reviewing the Oneplus 8T at the moment I’d be interested to know how it’s Bluetooth audio quality is holding up? Does it compare well to the other handsets you’ve been using/reviewing recently?

I’ve been using the OnePlus 8T with the Samsung Galaxy Buds+ earbuds and the sound quality is identical to that with previous handsets (including the iPhone 12, go figure).

But speaking of Bluetooth, I still can’t get my Fitbit Versa 3 smartwatch to sync with the OnePlus 8T, and it’s getting frustrating. I can pick up any arbitrary smartphone and sync with the Versa 3 on the first try, but the OnePlus 8T just won’t do it. I’ve been through all the troubleshooting steps and can’t figure out why it won’t work.

The Harvester

AnOldAmigaUser asks:

What type of Whiskey is used in the Harvester?

For those unfamiliar, we discussed the Harvester, which is my wife’s recipe, on a recent Windows Weekly.

The recipe is:

4 parts whiskey
1.5 parts apple cider
1.5 parts cranberry juice
1 part lemon juice
1 part simple syrup

– Shake over ice, serve over ice

– Garnish with a maraschino cherry, lemon slice, or both.

– Can use 3 parts apple cider and no cranberry juice or vice versa if you prefer

I asked my wife about this, and her initial answer won’t help anyone: We have a friend who makes his own whiskey and we use that a lot for cocktails. (See the photo above.) Putting that aside, we happen to like Jameson, the Irish whiskey. And she says that it doesn’t make sense to use an expensive in a cocktail, and that anything inexpensive should work fine.

Windows vs. macOS on ARM

AnOldAmigaUser also asks:

Do you think that Apple has an inherent advantage in porting MacOS to ARM not only because they control the hardware and software; but because MacOS does not contain the same amount of legacy cruft as Windows, and was not built specifically for the Intel architecture?

Yes and no.

macOS actually dates back to NextStep, of course, and that was originally designed for Motorola processors, just like the original Macs. Over time, it was ported to a variety of architectures, including Intel and PowerPC, and Apple has continued to quietly support this cross-platform capability internally.

But Windows is no different. Today’s Windows dates back to NT, which was started in the early 1990s, several years after NextStep. It was cross-platform from the start and shipped on several incompatible platforms for a while in the 1990s before Intel basically took over and Microsoft started introducing Intel x86-specific optimizations, something the original NT team would never have allowed. (These changes played a big role in letting NT take over from MS-DOS/Windows as the mainstream Windows product.) But the architecture of modern Windows was what made Windows 10 on ARM possible in the first place, so I’m not sure how to rate Windows vs. macOS in that regard.

The fear for Windows fans, of course, is that bit about Apple controlling both the hardware and the software: This makes it easier to optimize its own platforms, because it can adapt the hardware to match the needs of the software, and not just the reverse. Microsoft has to work with partners—Qualcomm in this case—to do this with Windows. That’s not just inefficient, it’s just never going to be as good.

Honestly, my biggest concern when I think about this competition isn’t technical. Instead of releasing a half-baked Windows 10 on ARM product a few years ago, Microsoft should have waited until it was fully compatible with existing software and drivers and it offers the same or similar performance as does Intel hardware. We’re still not there, and we won’t even be there next year, I bet. But Apple waited, and while we won’t know for sure that they’ll launch with products that absolutely meet those requirements, I think it was the right approach.

Standing desks

bschnatt – 42 minutes ago

I don’t think I’ve ever heard you mention standing desks. I have been using the “Flexpro Hero 37 Inch Standing Desk” for about 2 years, and it’s terrific. It’s big enough for a dual monitor configuration (plus keyboard and mouse), sits only about 4 1/4″ off your desk when not in use and can rise high enough to accommodate even tall people (I’m 6’4″ – although I wouldn’t recommend it if you were taller unless you got a taller desk!). The desk is stable even at its height. (I don’t use it every day, but it’s great to have when I can tell I’ve been sitting too long…) I have a complicated setup (HDMI switcher, USB switcher, audio cables running everywhere), so it took me a couple days to find the best arrangement to keep the wires from pulling out / apart when I lift the desk, but it’s all good now, and I wouldn’t trade it for gold now 😉 From what I’ve seen, you don’t use standing desks which is surprising considering how much you sit during the day…

Oddly enough, my current desk—which I bought when we moved to Pennsylvania—is actually a standing desk. I just never use it that way. It’s an IKEA Skarsta, and I don’t recommend it, as it’s kind of chintzy and wobbly. It also has a manual hand crank for raising and lowering the desk, which is tedious. I bought it to save money and see whether such a thing would be good for me, and figured I’d get a motorized model if so.

I’m of two minds with standing desks. I feel like just standing up sometimes is healthier than just sitting all day, but finding a routine that works—where you’re standing part of the time and sitting part of the time—is difficult. And with that hand crank, I just gave up.

Some may think that just standing isn’t any better for you than sitting, but there are benefits: When you sit all day, you put weight on your hips and that can lead to issues.

What’s even better, of course, is moving more. This is something I don’t do either, and among my Fitbit’s many issues is that it’s supposed to alert me to move every hour, and most days I don’t even notice an alert once. The problem for me is that the type of work I do requires concentration and sometimes time just goes by without me really noticing.

Anyway, I’m glad that works for you. It’s more than I’m doing. I need to work on this.

By the way, I asked my wife about this and she said she was thinking about getting a ball seat because that’s supposed to be really good for your hips and core strength.