Cloud
Microsoft: The Future of Skype is Conversational Bots
- Paul Thurrott
- Dec 14, 2016
-
14
comments
The future of Skype is bots, Microsoft asserted, noting that this "tidal shift" would usher…
Thurrott Daily: December 13
- Paul Thurrott
- Dec 13, 2016
-
20
comments
Today: Bioshock series comes to Xbox One backwards compatibility, please ignore the idiot, Bing's top…
Ask Paul: Does the Office 365 Personal to Office 365 Home Workaround Still Exist?
- Paul Thurrott
- Dec 12, 2016
-
11
comments
Good news: You can still use an Office 365 Personal offer to add time to…
Microsoft is Bringing Skype Translator to Calls to Mobiles and Landlines
- Paul Thurrott
- Dec 12, 2016
-
0
comment
Microsoft recently announced that it is taking the final steps towards broader availability of its…
How I Use Microsoft OneNote
- Paul Thurrott
- Dec 10, 2016
-
30
comments
Following up on last week's OneNote posts, I thought I'd open up my own notebooks…
Microsoft is Bringing Visio to iPad, iPhone, and the Web
- Paul Thurrott
- Dec 08, 2016
-
9
comments
Expanding on its previous pledge to bring Visio to iPad, Microsoft revealed this week plans…
, Cache works on both Windows 10 PCs and iPhone, and "allows you to drag text snippets, images, web pages, files, URLs, notes and nearly anything else you might need into the app and then instantly have it available on your iPhone." Contrary to our original understanding, the Windows version of Cache is *not* a UWP app, though it does look like one: [As Rafael found out in October, it's just a .NET/WPF app](https://www.thurrott.com/windows/windows-10/83698/hands-cache-latest-microsoft-garage) and you just download it from the web like any other Windows desktop application. Rafael's initial hands-on was based on leaked code, but this week, I was allowed an official peek at the still-in-beta app, which is still available in both Windows and iPhone flavors. (Presumably, it will come to at least Android should it move forward into public usage.) That said, it doesn't appear that much has changed since October. But let's get what it *is* out of the way first. Cache has been liked to everything from Reading List---an add-on app for Internet Explorer in the Windows 8 days---to [Pocket](https://getpocket.com/), a useful service I use every single day. Back in August, [WalkingCat noted that Cache seemed "kinda similar" to OneClip](https://twitter.com/h0x0d/status/767892390963060736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw), another Microsoft Garage project, albeit one that never materialized. Today we know that [Cache is indeed OneClip, but with a new name](https://twitter.com/h0x0d/status/788905643180642305). But how does it relate to OneNote, an admittedly heavier tool that can also be used for similar purposes? Microsoft describes Cache as, yes, a visual bookmarking tool," one that helps you "centralize all related content around your projects and ideas." Nebulous, I know. The parallels with OneNote are hard to escape. Cache lets you "have all your content organized around the projects or tasks [that] are important to you. It brings everything (files, emails, webpages, images, and more) to one place, regardless of the app it was created in." Projecting the understood intent of this tool, then, it seems that the rough idea here is the same as with OneNote, where you are using a single tool to collect information that you will later transform into a document or communication of some kind. But OneNote and Cache differ in the implementation details: Where OneNote is organized like a paper notebook, Cache uses project-centric organization. And as a more modern tool that was built specifically for the needs of today, it looks and works a bit differently than does OneNote. Put another way, Cache seems designed for the UNIX-like single-task-based app model that is common in mobile, whereas OneNote is still an old-school monolithic desktop application at heart. OneNote is literally about notes, though you may of course bundle or link to other content types. But Cache is about collecting multiple content types in projects. Some of which may be notes. Asking why Microsoft would duplicate functionality like this misses the point. "Microsoft" isn't collectively doing a thing here. This is a Microsoft Garage project, which means two things: It is driven by a single human being. And it is specifically designed to address a modern need. So if it happens to duplicate functionality from a legacy Office application, as it does, so be it. This is Microsoft experimenting with mobile. Throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks. As Rafael did before me, I spent a bit of time pulling different kinds of content into a sample collection I created in the Windows application. (Cache uses collections instead of notebooks or sections.) And as you might expect, the content opens elsewhere when you select it: Word documents open in Word, text documents open in Notepad, and so on. That said, basic image types like JPEG open right in the app for some reason. And text snippets---like text dragged from a web page---also open right in Cache. One nice bit: You can dock the app to the side of your desktop so it's always there when you're doing research and want to drag things over to it. That works pretty well. I was given access to the iPhone app as well, but I've not yet heard back from Apple to get the TestFlight-based access I actually need to use the app while in beta. (I use TestFlight for other pre-release apps, too, like Bear, a writing tool, and Google Chrome.) But I feel like I've waited long enough on this post, so I'll address the mobile experience when I can. I'm not 100 percent sure "where" Cache data is stored, and I do wonder if it relies on the source of the information you're caching to stay where it is. For example, if I drag a document into Cache and then delete that document, does the cached document no longer work? And if it does work, where is it stored? Until this thing is better baked, I won't bother to figure this out, and of course I'd like to see the mobile app in action and compare the workflow speed and efficiency to that of OneNote.](https://thurrott-assets.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/web/2016/12/cached.jpg)
A Quick Peek at Microsoft Cache Beta
- Paul Thurrott
- Dec 07, 2016
-
3
comments
Cache is a secretive Microsoft Garage project that first leaked a few months ago. But…
Thurrott Daily: December 5
- Paul Thurrott
- Dec 05, 2016
-
10
comments
Today: Get ready for WinHEC, developer support for symlinks is finally coming to Windows 10,…
Office on Android Picks Up Cloud Storage Service Integration
- Paul Thurrott
- Dec 01, 2016
-
1
comment
Microsoft announced today that it has finally added Cloud Storage Partner Program (CSPP) support to…
Office 365 November Updates Focus on Collaboration
- Paul Thurrott
- Nov 29, 2016
-
6
comments
Microsoft has added new collaboration features to Office 365 this month. Key among them are…
A Personal History of Microsoft OneNote
- Paul Thurrott
- Nov 29, 2016
-
31
comments
Codenamed "Scribbler," Microsoft OneNote was announced at COMDEX 2002 and would ship as part of…
A Few Tips for Integrating OneNote Into Your Life
- Paul Thurrott
- Nov 28, 2016
-
40
comments
OneNote is the best note-taking solution in the world, and it's available for free for…
Skype for Business Offers Deeper Integration with iOS 10
- Paul Thurrott
- Nov 28, 2016
-
2
comments
Thanks to new integration capabilities in iOS 10, Skype for Business calls can work the…
The Essentials: Tools To Write
- Brad Sams
- Nov 24, 2016
-
21
comments
The Essentials is a new weekly column where I talk about what we (Paul and…
Instagram Adds Live Videos and Disappearing Photos
- Paul Thurrott
- Nov 21, 2016
-
6
comments
Instagram announced today that it is adding live videos and disappearing photos to its photo-sharing…
Thurrott Daily: November 20
- Paul Thurrott
- Nov 20, 2016
-
21
comments
Today: Microsoft to tie executive bonuses to company diversity goals, Red Hat thinks Microsoft is…