Ask Paul: July 13 (Premium)

Happy Friday the 13th! Here’s what I believe is a record number of Ask Paul questions.

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jimchamplin asks:

Krystal or White Castle?

I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never tried, or even heard of, Krystal. I will correct that as soon as possible. But White Castle has never been a thing where I’ve lived, so I’ve only gone there randomly on trips. I think the last time was somewhere in Ohio when I bought my dad’s car and drove it cross-country in 2015. Naturally, I took a picture. Which you can see above.

Nuke OneDrive from orbit

Darekmeridian asks:

Is there a way to wipe OneDrive and start over? … Does Paul or anyone know of a trick to erase the whole thing maybe and have it sync from my HD a nice well organized set of my files?

As KingNerdTheThird points out in a comment, the easiest way to do this is to open OneDrive in a web browser, delete all your files (though you may want to retain the top-level Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos folders), and then empty the Recycle Bin.

Uninstall/reinstall built-in Windows 10 apps

cwfinn asks:

If a UWP app, such as Mail, Store, Calendar, etc. becomes corrupt, why can Microsoft support “reinstall” it while we “unwashed masses” can’t uninstall/reinstall like any other UWP app?

I don’t know the “why” of this. And wright_is mentions a set of command line commands for removing any UWP app from Windows 10. I’ll follow that up by noting that the built-in apps are available in the Store, so you can reinstall them if they are removed.

I’ll also point out that Windows 10 does at least have a way to do an in-place uninstall/reinstall of UWP apps, including those built-in to Windows 10. To find this, navigate to Settings > Apps > Apps & features, locate the app in question (say, Mail and Calendar) and then select it. Then, select “Advanced options” and find the Reset button. (You can’t just uninstall most of the built-in apps from this page.)

Health hacking/intermittent fasting

Zinger asks:

Looking forward to a Health Hacking update. Last we heard you were going to try intermittent fasting. Your posts prompted me to research Keto. Weight down 10% in 8 weeks. Thanks!

Yep, sorry for the delay on this. Like many, I’m looking for that magic bullet that will push me past that inevitable stage of any diet, where you just kind of stall. And intermittent fasting appears to be that solution. That said, I’ve not really lost (or, thankfully, gained) any real weight in months. So I don’t really feel qualified to write to this topic just yet. Which is the why of the delay.

As I noted recently in Reading List: Favorite Audiobooks of 2018, So Far, I strongly recommend that anyone interested in this topic, or in losing weight generally, read The Obesity Code: Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss by Dr. Jason Fung.

Also, we finally did find doctors here in Pennsylvania, and I’ll be getting my first check-up here in August after our home swap. Perhaps that will trigger an update as well.

Why Surface “Go”?

Daishi asks:

Why “Surface Go”?

I feel like I’ve been taking crazy pills, because to me this just seems like a terrible name, but nobody else seems to want to mention it.

So I’m wondering if in your conversations with the company about it anyone explained why they chose that name over just, say, the Surface?

Many people commented that this name rhymes with Surface Pro, and I’m sure that was part of it, or at least a nice branding alignment. But the real reason is that “Go” implies the point of this highly-portable device: It goes with you, “from the road to your couch,” Microsoft said.

Future of Xamarin

christian.hvid asks:

A developer question: do you have any updates or insights regarding the state of Xamarin? As you know, Microsoft recently upset the Xamarin community by releasing a new Skype app written in React Native. Would you say this was just a development team in Prague going rogue, or is it part of broader strategy? I know Microsoft is sometimes all too willing to seek street cred by dissing their own development tools, but undermining a high-profile investment like Xamarin is bordering on disloyalty. Unless it’s sanctioned of course.

I don’t have any inside information about their plans for Xamarin, but I do sort of feel like this technology gets sidelined over time. The goal here, obviously, is to provide a way to create cross-platform apps from a single code base, in this case that target Windows, Android, and iOS. But what’s missing is the web, and that platform is important for many apps too. React Native (or whatever whatever PWA) is emerging as a way to target every major platform, not just Windows and mobile.

But … I don’t know, sorry. Xamarin doesn’t just disappear. And Google literally just released its own mobile app-only solution, called Flutter, which likewise doesn’t target web. There is certainly room for all kinds of solutions aimed at different needs. And with regards to Skype and React Native, maybe that’s just a case of that particular solution needing a web component, so that’s what made sense for them.

Surface Pro 3 vs. Surface Go

rvanallen asks:

Still running a Surface Pro 3 and quite useful for secondary tasks. I’m wondering, however, if it fails would the Surface Go (128 drive / 8 mem) be an acceptable replacement? Agree Surface Go Type Cover add-on keyboard travel and spacing can be an issue and one of my concerns.

According to Microsoft, Surface Go performs better than Surface Pro 3, which seems like a bit of a stretch to me, but there you. It has some advantages over SP3, like its silent, fanless design. And some disadvantages, like its more cramped keyboard.

I’m eager to actually use Surface Go over time to see what the performance is really like. That may help settle this.

Why no live event for Surface Go?

JHeredia asks:

I’m really curious as to why MS isn’t announcing hardware the way they used to, with a live steamed event and a pumped Panos? I suppose you got the pumped Panos at the briefing you were at, but I kind of miss the excitement of those events and watching the whole thing unfold and get detailed. But it seems more and more like they’re just going with these digital/social media/blogger announcements, like Surface Hub 2 and Surface Go.

Do you know why they’re going this route now, and do you have any opinions on whether it’s a “better” way to do it or not? Announcing at a live streamed event does definitely resolve the embargo issues at the very least…

I could only speculate. But I don’t think this marks a new way of doing things. Microsoft generally has live, in-person events for major releases. And does this kind of thing for less major releases. In the case of Surface Hub 2, it made sense to me: There was no actual hardware for us to look at and use anyway. Surface Go, however, is open to debate.

And on that note, this is something Mary Jo and I were just talking about privately. We both think that Surface Go is about as interesting as coming chipset updates to Surface Laptop and Surface Pro, and we both feel that those releases will be accompanied by a live announcement event. So why wasn’t Surface Go handled that way?

My guess is that it was because the hardware wasn’t yet available in big numbers. They had only a few pre-production units, which warranted several short 1:1 (or in our case, 2:1) meetings with press and bloggers, because doing it all at once would have swamped the few available devices for hands-on time. I believe there were only two or three Surface Go PCs at our meeting.

Anyway, this is something we do wonder about too.

Resetting an Android phone

Finley asks:

You may have made a post on how to do this but I am too lazy to look.

How would you recommend resetting my android phone?

The recommended approach is built right in to Android and it works like Reset this PC. (Settings > System > Advanced > Reset options > Erase all data [factory reset].) Android is actually pretty sophisticated about all this, and if you had signed in with your Google account, which you should, you can optionally restore from a previous backup when the phone comes back up.

Given the average 2-3 year lifespan of an Android phone, that approach will probably work fine for most. With my Nexus and Pixel phones, I’ve often had to use Google’s more complex command line tools to flash them to specific ROM versions in order to test (or remove) early Android developer preview releases. (As in this example.) This isn’t recommended for the general public, and it’s something that may not even be available on many non-Google phones.

New Surface Studio

lvthunder asks:

When do you expect a new Surface Studio? On the Microsoft Store all you can get is the highest end one. The other two are out of stock?

Microsoft usually holds a Surface hardware event in October, and that seems like the logical time for that upgrade.

Surface dongle

Daninbusiness asks:

Any idea why the official surface usb c adapter is such a ridiculous joke of a product? It’s so huge for one port!

Someone else claimed thermals as the reason. But I have no idea. I think it’s ridiculous too.

The future of Win32

madthinus asks:

The last time Microsoft extended Win32 API’s in meaningful way, it was in Windows 7 with task lists and progress indicator in Taskbar. Most existing applications that was still being actively developed supported this within months. Is it time for Microsoft to embrace their legacy and revisit the decision not to expand Win32? Maybe add support for native OS Dark mode support, High DPI API support and maybe better live tile / Store integrations.

I also think it is time they bring the Store container forward and allow developers to use the container to package apps that does not go to the store, but maybe use the store as an platform for updates to apps, even if you did not get the app from the store.

Do you think they will embrace these types of decision in the wake of the defeat of the store and UWP?

With Terry Myerson gone, we’re starting to see a less hard-line approach to the Store, Store apps, and Microsoft bringing new functionality to what were previously considered legacy technologies. But Win32? That is probably a step too far. I don’t see Microsoft ever treating Win32 as a first-class technology. But it doesn’t have to, since .NET technologies like WPF work across all supported Windows versions. I think that level is where we’re going to see further changes.

Future Macs

STPFan82 asks:

Any indications what the new MacBook and Mac Mini specs will be? Will MacBook Air be discontinued?

I don’t have any particular insight into future Macs, though I am following this as eagerly as you might be. The latest I heard was that the MacBook Air will be replaced with a 13-inch MacBook, which makes sense to me. And that new MacBooks and Mac Minis will arrive this fall.

Surface Go: Tablet or laptop?

davidD asks:

Do you think the Surface Go will be marketed as a laptop like the other models (most versatile, most powerful etc), or something else?

As KingNerdTheThird pointed out, Microsoft is displaying Surface Go sans keyboard in the family shots, suggesting that they are finally moving on from the misguided and terrible attempt to position all Surface portable PCs as “laptops.

Further evidence can be found in the taglines for each product on the Surface website:

• Surface Go is “portable power”
• Surface Laptop is “style and speed”
• Surface Pro is “ultra-light and versatile”
• Surface Book 2 is “powerhouse performance”

Aside from Surface Laptop, which uses the term in its name, the word laptop no longer appears everywhere. Our national nightmare is over.

Ongoing site issue

davidD asks:

Is there an update of a fix for the issue I rasied a year ago?

No, there’s no update, and this one is personally frustrating to me as I run into it every week when I’m working on the show notes for Windows Weekly. My understanding is that this is a WordPress problem. But I will ping Tim about this. Again. (It’s not his fault.) Site search falls into the same category, and it s likewise a WordPress issue: I often just use Google to search our own site.

BWW + Teams

RawkFox asks:

?Will you be giving Microsoft Teams another go after this week’s announcements?

Unlikely in the short term. Where we’re at right now is we have several big projects we need to complete at specific times over the next few months. And we can’t waste time struggling to use new tools. But I bet we do take another look eventually.

Surface Pro support

harmjr asks:

My SP4 is not recognizing my type cover keyboard (first gen Alcantara) this just happen yesterday. Do you know if other are having this issue? I tested my type cover and its working on another SP4. Any suggestion on what to do? I have rebooted, done windows update still nothing.

I’ve never heard of this type of issue, so I guess I’ll just recommend the obvious: Try cleaning the contacts on your SP4 with alcohol. Try testing another Type Cover on your SP4. And then when that doesn’t work, contact Surface support. Sorry.

Cloud backup

madpapist asks:

Are you still using an online cloud backup service (Crashplan, Cloudberry, etc.) ?

Yeah, I’ve backed up my NAS to Backlaze with Cloudberry and am basically just maintaining that. As I’ve noted elsewhere, I don’t need/use traditional backup with any of my PCs.

Updated Surface Ergonomic keyboard?

jwpear asks:

Heard anything about an updated Surface Ergonomic keyboard with fingerprint ID and ability to connect via USB and Bluetooth just like the pain-inducing Modern Keyboard with Fingerprint ID?

No, sorry. I get the feeling that Microsoft and maybe the broader user base prefer camera-based Windows Hello to fingerprint readers. Like you, I’d rather use a fingerprint reader. I just use a PIN on my desktop PC.

Surface and 8th generation Intel Core CPUs

briantlewis asks:

Now that Apple has finally gone 8th gen, what’s the line on the Surface Pro and Surface Book making a jump?

As I noted above, Microsoft normally holds an October Surface event. And that is when I expect them to finally make this overdue transition.

Ask Paul volume

Tiny asks:

When you get almost 30 “Ask Paul” questions, do you use an expletive?

I literally said “oh f#$% me” out loud when I saw that, yes. 🙂

That said, I’m surprised this isn’t longer: I haven’t been keeping my replies deliberately short but this one isn’t working out to be the longest Ask Paul so far.

Nintendo Switch

simont asks:

I am behind on my listening to First Ring Daily, but did you decide if you were going to buy a Switch and what reasons did you have for eventually buying/not buying one.

I haven’t bought on yet. I’m still not sure if I want to do this in time for the home swap. Mostly because I’m not sure I’ll even want to play video games while we’re away. But I will probably get a Switch at some point, and I will be looking for some game purchase tips when I do. I’ll at least put up a forum post when that happens. (We leave for the home swap next Friday.)