How crazy is our world? A user experience lead from Windows 8 actually thought it was OK to publicly criticize the Windows 11 user experience. That’s ridiculous: we’re still living with the damage caused by that revolting disaster, and while the issues with the Windows 11 user experience are real, they pale in comparison to…

Yes, support for Windows 8.x is ending soon. But Windows and its users are still living with the mistakes of that era. And always will be. A lot of people have opinions about which version of Windows was the worst. Many of them are wrong. Some will point to Windows Me, which is ridiculous given…

For years, Microsoft had worked closely with its biggest partners to maintain and expand a symbiotic PC ecosystem based on Windows. This relationship was so successful that it catapulted Microsoft to fame, fortune, and infamy. But it required work from both sides, with Microsoft and the PC makers meeting regularly to discuss upcoming technological advances…

With the Windows 8 Consumer Preview behind them, Steven Sinofsky and his lieutenants prepared for the final stages of the product’s journey to release. They would focus on three core areas: Shoring up the OS fundamentals to ensure that Windows 8 performed as well and as efficiently as possible. Improving the quality of the built-in…

On February 29, 2012, Steven Sinofsky stepped onto a small stage at the Hotel Miramar and introduced the Windows 8 Consumer Preview. This was a make-or-break moment for Sinofsky and his controversial new operating system. And despite growing internal misgivings about the direction Windows 8 was taking at Microsoft, he seemed to pull it off.…

There is an incredible moment in the September 2005 Microsoft reorg that bears scrutiny given the events that unfolded afterward. In the post-announcement Q & A session, many of the questions for the group on stage---Steve Ballmer, Bill Gates, Kevin Johnson, Jim Allchin, Jeff Raikes, and Robbie Bach---regarded surging new competitors like Apple and Google,…

At 8:00 am on October 27, 2003, Microsoft opened the doors to Hall A at the Los Angeles Convention Center, and a melee ensued as the assembled developers and other geeks literally elbowed and fought each other for a prime position near the stage. The goal? To bear witness as Microsoft chairman Bill Gates revealed…

With the weight of Microsoft’s security problems on his shoulders, Bill Gates delivered a Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2002 keynote in early January that focused on the future, not the past. And that future consisted of new types of PCs and other devices, all powered by Microsoft software. This was a fundamental shift, he claimed.…

On January 6, 2001, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates delivered the keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. It came just two months after he delivered a similar keynote address at Fall COMDEX, also in Las Vegas, and that was a tough act to follow, as Gates had given attendees there the…

In honor of the late Donald Rumsfeld, I’d like to address what’s happening with the Windows 11 hardware requirements, at least right now in this slice of time. As we’ve already seen, and as we’re no doubt going to experience repeatedly going forward, things are going to change. The problem, of course, is Microsoft’s inability…

Amazon Luna, currently in early access, is an inexpensive choice for more casual gamers. The best news? Controller connectivity is excellent. You may recall that I had some latency/lag issues with Google’s Stadia, though the right combination of hardware---like a Chromecast Ultra with a wireless Stadia controller or, even better, a Chromebook with a Stadia…

In Living with Game Streaming: Google Stadia (Premium), I noted that I had tested Stadia, Google’s game streaming service, using several different configurations. This is true, but something had been gnawing at me since posting that article, until I finally realized what it was: I hadn’t tested one important Stadia configuration. And as it turns…

Leo, Mary Jo, and Paul discuss the first Windows 10 Feature Experience Pack, Android apps coming to Windows, a massive set of updates to Teams, and much more.

I’ve been gaming exclusively on Xbox since the release of the Xbox 360 in 2005. But two console generations later, the world is changing. And cloud-based game streaming is on the cusp of eliminating the key advantages of game consoles when compared to PC gaming, and many are providing the same all-you-can-eat benefits we see…

As many of you know, I’m not a fan of using multiple displays, but doing so can be particularly problematic with a docked laptop configuration. Given this, I went into the next phase of my experiment of using a laptop fulltime with a bit of trepidation. And after weeks of experimenting, I’m pretty much back…

Given my history and how much I write, I can’t work on just a laptop: The constrained and non-ergonomic keyboards on such PCs cause carpal tunnel-like stiffness that could develop into a real issue over time. So I need to connect an external mouse, keyboard, other peripherals, and a display, or at the very least,…