Ask Paul: December 8 (Premium)

Thanks to everyone for the questions this week. The answers are a bit shorter than will usually be the case because of my travel schedule, sorry.

Also, I had to skip over some questions from non-Premium readers. And it was disheartening to see spam comments appear in the Ask Paul thread. I must have not marked it as Premium, my bad.

Tiny asks:

Do you keep a daily schedule for when you write, when you research, when you post on the website, etc.? If you feel that it is too personal, feel free to ignore. I’ve often wondered how you find time to do so many (mostly quality) articles.

Oddly, I only fairly recently—in the past year sometime—started keeping a more fixed schedule, and I now block off 8 am to 11:00 each day (and 9:00 am to 12:00 pm on weekends) for what I call “deep work,” which doesn’t mean “deep” so much as “uninterrupted writing.”

But the reality of this kind of thing is that it could and does happen anytime, and I long ago became comfortable with the notion that sometimes it comes and sometimes it doesn’t. I write seven days a week, almost without exception. At least something.

Maybe a more detailed “how I write” post is in order. But I’m lucky in that I can churn out words. No promises on quality. But the volume always comes.

Lewk asks:

Google announced Android Go, a cut down version of android for low-end handsets aimed at Emerging Markets. Why is this just low-end and Emerging Markets? Why not make this available on higher-end devices in an established markets? I too would like a data-saving version of android that cuts all the cruft out of the OS like unnecessary animations.

Yeah, I will never understand this kind of thing. It reminds me of the health warnings you see on food, where it’s fine for most people, but not fine for pregnant women. You can see where a lot of other people might want to avoid that food too.

Any other Always Connected PCs?

harmjr asks:

Any sub 10 inch tablets/machines showed off at your ARM event?

No, and I was surprised by the lack of hardware support at the announcement. Maybe it was just the timing, with CES right around the corner. But it does make you wonder.

Chromebook Qs

Sprtfan asks:

Probably a long shot, but have you tried Minecraft on your Pixelbook? If so, does it run well? How does it compare to the Windows 10 edition?

I have not, sorry.

Also, I read your articles on Chrome OS and Windows 10 S. I was able to make some comparisons between the two from the articles but I’d also be interested in more of a direct comparison between them. A Pros/Cons for each and a direct comparison of what one can do vs the other and what they both do or don’t do well. The upcoming release of some Windows on Arm devices has renewed my interest of Windows 10 S but Android apps coming to Chrome OS has also.

This is an excellent idea. I accept. 🙂

Can you even buy a Windows 10 S PC?

AnOldAmigaUser asks:

Besides the Surface laptop, is it actually possible to buy a Windows 10S machine? I cannot even find them on the Microsoft Store.

Besides Surface Laptop, there are no mainstream Windows 10 S laptops out there. As someone noted in the original thread, it is possible to find the education-focused Windows 10 S machines that were announced in the Spring. Why anyone would want such terrible PCs is beyond me.

That said, the two Snapdragon-based PCs that were just announced both look great, and will be available in the next 3-4 months.

Windows Server on ARM

hrlngrv asks:

Re Hawaii, my favorite breakfast there is waffles with coconut syrup and Portuguese sausage. Is it still a regular offering?

I did see something like this but since we were stuck in a hotel with a fixed breakfast every day, never got to experience it.

Re ARM vs Intel processors, any word about ARM-based Windows servers? How about ARM-based mini PCs similar to NUCs? Or is ARM’s Windows future restricted to laptops?

Nothing like that. Windows on Snapdragon is Windows 10 (for PCs, not servers) only. And for Always Connected PCs specifically.

Windows on ARM support lifecycle

SRLRacing asks:

Phones typically only get about 2 years of security patches if you are lucky. Do you think the support cycle and ability to get updates for Windows 10 on ARM will be the same as we are used to on x86 based machines?

No, because that support comes from Microsoft, which provides a 10 year support lifecycle for Windows. The PC and mobile markets are very different; this is one of the nice advantages on the PC side.

x86 apps on ARM

johnl asks:

How are x86 applications run on the Snapdragon 835? Is Windows or the ARM chip performing the translation between x86 instructions and ARM instructions? Running x86 applications on ARM was a major story a few months ago with Intel threatening to sue Microsoft and Qualcomm… why hasn’t this aspect of the Snapdragon announcement been discussed much over the past few days?

The emulation software is Microsoft’s, not Qualcomm’s. In fact, Qualcomm told me that they had nothing to do with it. According to Microsoft, it’s based on the same WOW (“Windows on Windows”) software that it uses to run x86 apps on x64 PCs.

I doubt that Intel would ever sue its biggest partner (Microsoft). And suspect that Intel thought Qualcomm played a bigger role in the emulation when they discussed a legal possibility.

Nintendo Switch

Polycrastinator asks:

Curious as to why you’ve never really written about the Nintendo Switch. I have to admit to being biased here, as I have one and love its versatility. Plus I would be really interested to know what a shooter addict such as yourself thinks of Splatoon, which is the most fun I’ve had with a shooter game.. well, ever.

No good reason. I think the Nintendo Switch is a wonderful idea—I’ve never even tried it—and I really enjoy the fun/creativity that Nintendo brings to the industry. I meant to get one, had one on pre-order for months, finally gave up. And a year went by. I have no answers here, sorry.

Microsoft on Android

rmlounsbury asks:

Are you using Cortana on the Pixel 2 XL at all or just going with Google Assistant as part of your daily usage/work flow?

I use both, actually. But on my Pixel 2 XL, Google Assistant is the default. I’m testing a more Microsoft-centric approach (Microsoft Launcher, Cortana as the default assistant, etc.) on a secondary phone. There’s an editorial in my head about “stock” vs. customized; short version: I prefer stock.

I’ve more or less settled on a combination of technologies from Microsoft (O365/Microsoft Launcher namely) and Google (Chromebook Pixel, Android). I suspect that ultimately Google Assistant will win out as my main digital assistant platform since i’ll probably end up with Google Home in the house. But baring that is there any good reason to use Cortana at all beside the Windows 10 continue on PC functionality (which I can now get via Edge browser on Android if I choose)? Maybe future W10 Timeline functionality?

You need to use Cortana at least in a secondary role if you want to use the PC/phone integration stuff fully in Windows 10. I agree that Google Assistant will likely win out over time. But these things aren’t mutually exclusive; you can mix and match assistants.