Ask Paul: December 17 (Premium)

Happy Friday! Here’s another great set of reader questions to usher in an early start to the last weekend before the Christmas holidays.

Quick follow-up on Wirecutter alternatives

Two weeks ago, zahrobsky asked me about alternatives to The Wirecutter, which is now behind a paywall. I was not aware of any free alternative to this publication, but I still recommend it, and I pay for it myself. And while I still haven’t found anything quite like it, I did come across a publication that is sort of—not really, but sort—like The Wirecutter that may be of interest. To be clear, this isn’t as trustworthy or clinical, and it’s not based not on in-depth testing of multiple options per se but rather on enthusiast/influencer recommendations. In other words what they use themselves. It’s called The Strategist, and it appears to be owned by The New Yorker (or perhaps the conglomerate that also owns The New Yorker). Their electronics section is at least interesting. It’s likely that many of the things they discuss were given to the author by the company that makes them specifically to get coverage, but at least some of the articles involve long-term usage, etc. It’s … something.

But yeah, The Wirecutter is much better and on a whole different level.

The future of OneNote

jeroendegrebber asks

Is there any news on the future of OneNote? A while back you reported about Microsoft planning to stop with OneNote for Windows 10, etc but little seems to have happened. Do you have any insight in this?

There’s no new news that I’m aware of, but looking at the last update, from August, it appears that the desktop OneNote client will receive a “series of updates over the next 12 months,” so through August 2022. And that “these updates include a visual refresh [which I assume will resemble the visual refresh the core Office apps just received], the latest Microsoft pen and ink advancements, a new navigational UI layout option that can flex for customer preferences, and more.”

As for OneNote for Windows 10, it will continue to ship in Windows 10, and it can be downloaded from the Store in Windows 11, but it will not receive any new features. Those are all happening—or will happen–in the desktop client.

But there’s another hint from that August missive about the timeframe. I wrote that “sometime in the second half of 2022, Microsoft will begin alerting OneNote for Windows 10 users that it’s time to move over to the revamped desktop client. That suggests that it won’t complete this transition until late 2022 or early 2023, which is a surprisingly long time.”

So 2022 might be the year when we finally start seeing these changes to the desktop client.

Microsoft in 2022

spacecamel asks:

I have seen more stories about what Apple may or may not start selling next year but I have not seen any previews for Microsoft.

Well, sure. Apple is primarily a hardware company and its coming updates always leak, probably related to the size and scope of its supply chain.

What should we be expecting from them next year that we should be looking forward to? Is there anything that you are excited to see them release?

I’m not personally aware of anything happening with Microsoft hardware in the coming year, but we can look to the big hardware refresh of 2021—and specifically what didn’t happen—for some hints. The biggest one, and this is the only thing I’d say I’m excited about, is the Surface Laptop 5 update, which I assume will come in both AMD and Intel variants again. And the AMD part is the most interesting because it’s the most promising but as always been a generation behind.

I also expect to see an updated Surface Pro X, perhaps using a variant of the recently released Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3. But after that, I just have questions. Will Microsoft ever update Surface Studio or just give in and finally release that Surface display everyone wants? Will any of the products that were released in 2021 get minor refreshes? How about a Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 dock? And what about Surface Duo? Is it even worth refreshing that? (And how committed are they to this device, really?) Will Surface Neo appear, but running normal Windows 11?

Speaking of which, from a software perspective, I am very, very interested in seeing when and how Microsoft updates Windows 11, and what changes it makes to address the complaints.

Pixel Buds A-Series

harmjr asks:

You tired the Pixel Buds and didn’t like them have you found a solution you like?

Well, I tried the Pixel Buds A-Series and I really liked them, actually. I ended up returning them because they didn’t meet my specific needs. But in a twist, Google sent me (and many, many others) a free pair of Pixel Buds A-Series earbuds because of the Pixel 6 preorder disaster. I haven’t opened the box yet, because I’d since purchased a (cheap) pair of EarFun Free 2 wireless earbuds and they work well enough for my needs.

But … Oddly, those earbuds are not available on Amazon right now. Not sure what’s up there. But the Pixel Buds A-Series are just as good, and if you have a Pixel, it’s a nice match.

International travel

cottonwood asks:

Aside from the upcoming return trip to Mexico next month, are you planning other international travels in the new year? I’ve really enjoyed hearing about your experiences (and seeing the Instagram posts) that come from these trips – thank you!

Thanks! Nothing else planned yet, in part because a move could happen and that’s all still unclear. But I suspect we will at least go back to Mexico by mid-year as well. One of the things we’ve really liked about Mexico is the ease of travel to/from there: It’s a day flight, not overnight as with Europe, and it’s only one time zone away, not several as with Europe. It’s just a lot easier. And less expensive. So that might be our travel focus for a while.

Windows 11/Edge vs. the world

madthinus asks:

Following on from Chris’s interview / discussion this week on Windows Weekly. How do you feel about the topics raised and his responses?

See below.

As a reader of the site and as a long time listener, I was once again taken with his ease to discuss these topics in a very frank way. Also, kudos to both you and Mary-Jo for asking the questions you did ask. I might not have liked some of it, but at least it felt like it was honest.

Right. That’s the thing with Chris, and the reason we love having him on the show. He’s not afraid of the big, controversial topics, and he discusses them in a frank and honest way. It’s kind of amazing, and it’s a clarity we just don’t see elsewhere at Microsoft. At all.

As to how I feel about it, you can check out today’s First Ring Daily, where I kind of summarize my thoughts on this. But it goes something like this: I get that there is a delta between the expectations of some users—“I chose this browser, it should be the only browse that appears, ever”—and the business needs of Microsoft. And that Microsoft has to kind of thread that needle. And I do agree that the coming “choose as default” thing that will appear in Windows 11 in the future solves most of the problem, in that in associates the four most common web file types and web protocols with your browser of choice. The issue, to me, is that “my browser of choice” means “my browser of choice,” and I don’t see any reason for it not to appear when I click a link in Widgets, Cortana, or Start Search. And I think some users will be confused, and perhaps even angry, when the browser they did not choose appears anyway. Some probably won’t even notice.

More broadly, my concern is that Microsoft took a simple interface from previous Windows versions and made it convoluted and confusing in Windows 11 on purpose. There is no excuse for showing the user a list of installed apps when they choose to make another browser the default. That is just user-hostile. And that coming update to Windows 11 will not fix that.

Here’s what would, sort of, at least in the confines of the fact that the link types noted above will always open in Edge anyway: When the user installs the browser they want and is prompted to make it the default and chooses Yes, Windows 11 should open Settings and navigate not to Apps > Default apps but to Apps > Default apps > [browser name], where that “Set as default” button (or whatever) will appear. It’s not perfect. But it’s … better. Slightly.

Issues with Windows 11?

helix2301 asks:

Recently I bought another laptop a Dell XPS this is my second one the other one still running on 10 for a bit both laptops have been great and thank you I found the review on your site and went with them and never been happier with a windows laptops. I would recommend the dell xps dev version to anyone. The new one came with 11 which is fine I wanted to mess with 11 but besides the new look and feel it has not given me any issues using 11 over 10 the last few weeks.

While I know many people have expressed issues I consider myself a power user I use Firefox as my browser I don’t use the windows store that much I download everything right from web. I guess I feel bad I am not having the problems many people are having. I did have to move the taskbar to the left like I am sure most people do and I installed fences by stardock. As a developer I thought I would have issues should I be?

Should you be having problems? 🙂 I mean, I’m glad you’re not. And honestly, for the most part, I don’t either. I do still right-click on the Taskbar expecting to see a menu with “Task Manager” in it, remember that’s gone now, and then right-click Start to find it. But for the most part, no, it’s fine. And it will obviously get better over time.

As referenced in the above question, we had Microsoft CMO Chris Capossela on Windows Weekly this past Wednesday, and I was fascinated to hear him kind of repeat what I had said about Windows 11 in my review, that most average users—i.e. most users—loved the simpler, prettier, and more modern Windows 11 UI, and that it was power users who were complaining because they have very specific workflows and some things were now missing as part of that simplification.

What I wrote at the time was, “Windows 11 also introduces a stunning array of functional regressions that, admittedly, will mostly impact power users who are comfortable with some of the more byzantine keyboard and mouse shortcuts that Windows has provided for years.” And Chris said that Microsoft was evaluating that feedback and the inference there is that it would add back at least some of the missing features over time.

For me, there are two ways to look at any product: for my own needs and then for the broader needs of others. And I feel like Windows 11 today does meet most people’s needs. And it mostly meets mine too.

The other consideration is that if you’re going to make something harder/worse/whatever for some audience, choosing power users is the right way to go, especially if you’re making it easier/better/whatever for the wider mainstream audience. After all, power users can adapt, and they know where to turn. Average users would just be lost if you screwed it up for them.