Ask Paul: August 24 (Premium)

Happy Friday. Here’s a final “Ask Paul” for August that neatly highlights how I don’t have all the answers.

2FA and Microsoft accounts

Polycrastinator asks:

Do you have any advice on setting up 2 factor authentication for Microsoft accounts if you use multiple devices? I switch phones occasionally, and while I’ve gotten things set so that I get a numeric code on multiple devices, it’ll only push notifications to one, and I don’t see an easy way to change which device gets those push notifications. How do you handle this, as someone who has to switch devices regularly?

Google handles this nicely: You can use multiple devices for 2FA alerts (which I do) and you get alerts on each. But with Microsoft Authenticator, I don’t know of any way other than to manually run the app on secondary devices, sorry.

Social media

Polycrastinator also asks:

What do you make of the NYT article on Facebook use and assaults on immigrants in Germany? I know this isn’t your normal beat, but I found this to be really concerning. It’s preoccupied me since reading it. Do you have any thoughts on this? I’m used to having an idea on how to fix a technological problem, but damned if I can see a way out of this.

There are all kinds of stories like this these days. For example, Russia apparently used social media to broadcast inaccurate information about vaccinations as a way to divide Americans. Social media companies, like web hosters back in the day, have consistently argued that they shouldn’t be held accountable for the content they host. But that’s fallen apart over the past few years as evidence of election meddling has become overwhelming.

We’re moving toward the dystopian future you see in a lot of science fiction stories, from the Foundation novels to the Alien movies, where companies, not countries, call the shots. That said, I don’t have any ideas on how to fix this. I do feel like the big Internet companies, not just social media firms, but companies like Google, need to be heavily regulated.

Read text messages aloud on Android

RWilson asks:

Do you know if there is a way to configure Cortana on Android to bring back the old Windows phone feature to read incoming texts (you got a text from …. would you like to read it or ignore it) I know you can ask Google Assistant to read the last text message, but it’s not quite as integrated as the WP was and it’s the one feature my wife misses from her Lumia!

This is currently in beta but my understanding is that it doesn’t work over Bluetooth. I’ve never actually used this functionality. Does anyone else use this?

Windows 10 and telemetry data

Sprtfan asks:

Can you elaborate some on how what Google is doing [with location data collection] is just like what Microsoft does? I always thought that Windows 10 telemetry data that was collected was different than what Google collects and how they use the info is different as well. Was I wrong to think that?

Yes. Microsoft and Google collect data for the same reasons and they both obfuscate or even outright hide exactly what they collect for the same reasons. And as I noted in Google is Sued for Location History Deceptions, they also both make it very difficult for users to turn this stuff off and then have it replicate across devices. For example, if you turn off all the ads in Windows 10 and then Reset the PC, they all come back.

The reasons for this behavior are two-fold: First, yes, this data collection is used to improve the products in question. But that’s not really the primary reason for this collection, nor is what these companies are doing altruistic in any way. What they’re really doing is learning how their users use products and services so that they can maximize the monetization of those customers.

In Google’s case, this comes via advertising, which many seem to have a problem with. (I sort of do too, and I can’t really explain why.) In Microsoft’s, it has failed at ad-based monetization for the most part, though it keeps trying. So they’ve used strategies like bundling crapware that has in-app purchases and pop-ups that point users towards other Microsoft products and services. Thanks to decades of experience, Microsoft knows the power of defaults.

With Windows 10, Microsoft has come under fire again and again for its heavy-handed and deceptive privacy violations from regulators from around the world. So the firm has engaged in what I call “privacy theater,” where they change the wording on some OOBE screens or slightly better explain what data they are collecting. In the latest versions of Windows 10 there’s even a “Diagnostic Data Viewer” tool that a) you must know about, b) must enable, and c) displays data in human unreadable XML format. That is not being transparent.

OneDrive and data sync

matsan asks:

How can we tame OneDrive so it doesn’t sync GB of data silently in the background?

Background: the company my S.O works for are on Office 365 and OneDrive. About a week ago someone at her work thought it was a great idea to put some installer ISO:s onto the shared OneDrive. Her laptop (and the computers of her 30 co-workers…) started to sync that and burned quickly through the amount of data (130 GB) we have monthly on our LTE connection – a $125 lesson learned when buying additional data to get through the month.

This happened even though her laptop has the WiFi configured as “Metered Connection”. We have seen sometimes that the “Metered Connection” setting is lost and once we have seen a “Pause OneDrive” notification, but not lately. Searching the net these settings seem to be related, but not quite.

Since we’re moving into an “Always Connected PC” era of sorts, getting this right seems important. But that “metered connection” capability is exactly what’s supposed to prevent this behavior. I’m not sure what to say, and I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced this.

Anyone else ever see this?

Surface Go on ARM

hrlngrv asks:

Will there ever be an ARM-based Surface Go, or would Intel throw an epic temper tantrum?

An ARM-based Surface PC is inevitable, and I’d be surprised is the next Surface Go wasn’t ARM-based.

Microsoft needs a new NT

chrishilton1 asks:

Microsoft has spent the past several years creating Windows 8 and layering on top of Windows 7 the modern UI and interface, including support for a new breed of Store apps and a new settings interface to (partially) replace the old control panel. Assuming Microsoft can solve the x32/x64 based app compatibility, (presumably through invisible virtual environments), will there come a time where Microsoft can remove all the legacy code from Windows and ship a streamlined OS. This may overcome some of the performance issues on devices like Surface Go which have to contend with running most of the legacy W7 code underneath the core OS. I say this as I recently had to repair Windows Update with the help of MS support, and it surprised me to learn how much WinXP code is still under the hood of W10. If Google is spending time writing a ‘new’ OS Thinking About Google Fuchsia (Premium) is MS doing something similar and looking to the future?

Microsoft has been working on modernizing Windows for years, as you note. And a big part of the most recent work has been around at least hiding the ugliness/complexity of the old Win32 world from users. I don’t believe that Win32 can ever really disappear, as it is the core of everything in Windows, including newer platforms like .NET and UWP. But if the question is whether Microsoft can successfully transition Windows to a place where Win32 is rendered safe via whatever technology—virtualization, as you mention, whatever—then, yes, I do think so.

Windows 10’s S-mode is a step in that direction. And technologies like Desktop Bridge, where Win32/desktop-style applications are basically packaged in a UWP app container and made to be simpler to manage and less dangerous are a key piece of the puzzle too. But this has always been a chicken/egg thing, and Windows 10 S/S-mode as currently delivered by Microsoft is too extreme for today’s users. And I’ve been preaching a middle ground approach during this transition period.

A Microsoft version of “Fuschia” is interesting, and it should remind everyone of what the software giant did with NT (then Windows NT) back in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. I would be surprised if there wasn’t at least some effort along those lines. But then, what’s the point? If Microsoft can “fix” Windows and buy it another decade or more of life, that might be all they need to do. It’s not clear that Microsoft investing in a major new client platform makes any sense at all for the company, given its current strategy.

Android apps on Windows

spacecamel asks:

Would Microsoft consider adding native Android app compatibility into Windows similar to what ChromeOS has? This would be one way for Microsoft improve their app store. Considering Android apps are Java and Microsoft has their “bridge” technology, I would think this is one feature that people would want in Windows 10.

As a commenter pointed out, Microsoft was planning on implementing this very thing and canceled the project after it discovered that Android apps ran too well on Windows and represented a threat to UWP (and, in effect, to the Microsoft-centric developer community).

One might argue that UWP has lost and that doing this now might make sense. But in line with the previous question, one might likewise argue that this ship has sailed anyway, and what’s the point. I kind of see both sides of this.

I will say this: Android apps on Chrome OS solve a problem. They let customers use that one app that they can’t get on Chrome OS and that helps people make the transition and adopt the platform. So it’s a win for both Google and its users. On Windows … I guess it would keep some people on the platform. But with Apple adding iPad app support to the Mac, you’re not going to get a lot of Mac users migrating to Windows because of Android apps. It’s not clear what the benefits are to all that engineering work and then the constant updating it would require.

Office 2019 beta for consumer

johnlavey asks:

With The Office 2019 Suite imminent, does Microsoft plan on issuing a beta version to Office Insiders and any other groups?

I’d been wondering about this since Office 2019 was first announced, because Microsoft has always been very clear about the “for businesses” bit but never explicitly mentioned any consumer betas. Indeed, it was first announced on the business-focused Microsoft 365 blog and tied to last year’s Ignite.

Given the schedule—Office 2019 will reportedly be finalized within the month—I have to guess and say that there will be two possible outcomes here. One, that Office 2019 will simply appear in consumer form next month or soon thereafter, in both Office 365 and standalone packages, without any beta. Or two, that Office 2019 for consumers will trail the business release and we’ll see a beta there first.

My bet is on the former guess.