Ask Paul: September 28 (Premium)

I’m back from Ignite and have finally recovered. So here’s a final Ask Paul for September.

And speaking of Ignite…

Follow-up from last week

Last week, I received some questions about OneDrive and said that I expected to see Microsoft’s Stephen Rose at Ignite and would ask him if I saw him. Well, I did see Stephen, and exactly where I expected to, which was pretty funny. He was nice enough to answer these questions directly.

Have you ever been able to find a full-function OneDrive sync client for Linux?

Microsoft is not making a Linux client for OneDrive: The user base is far too small, and it would be a lot of work and support with little benefit. He recommends just using the web version of OneDrive on Linux.

Have you heard any whispers about adding differential sync to OneDrive?

Differential sync for all files, not just Office documents, is coming to OneDrive in the months ahead.

Do you think Microsoft will introduce “encryption at rest” for OneDrive Personal? As I understand things, it is currently only available for OneDrive for Business.

According to Stephen, this feature is already available in OneDrive.

RSS feed for First Ring Daily

naven87 asks:

Why isn’t the FRD RSS feed updating for Pocketcasts and maybe others?

I asked Brad about this and he said the issue was fixed.

(That said, this isn’t really an ideal place for site support questions, and I don’t really have anything to do with the back-end tech stuff. Please email [email protected] for this kind of thing: This puts the issue in Tim’s queue, creates a support ticket, etc. and will ensure a timely response.)

Microsoft Edge sync issues

Kevin_Costa asks:

Do you have sync problems with bookmarks (and bookmark folders) in Microsoft Edge? I have 3 PCs and an Android phone, and the syncing is so unreliable that makes me angry! This (and other minor things) prevent me from using Edge daily. Sometimes some favorites sync, but the folders don’t, and vice-versa. Even the folder name don’t sync correctly, showing just “New Folder” on the other devices.

Hm. No, this isn’t something I’ve seen before. I do use Chrome as my default browser, but I use Edge as well, and it looks like it’s all synced up across PC and mobile.

Sorry … Does anyone else experience this?

Microsoft, held to a higher standard

AnOldAmigaUser asks:

Why do you hold Microsoft to a higher standard, than other companies, when, clearly, those companies do things not in the best interests of their users?

As he notes, I ended up answering this unknowingly in my article Integrity (Premium). That addresses why I hold Microsoft to a higher standard. It kind of comes down to experience and trust, and I feel like the other companies I mention there—Apple, Google, and Samsung—routinely fail in one or both of those metrics.

iPhone XS cellular reception

jprestig asks:

I’m seeing reports pop up about LTE and WiFi reception issues on the Xs and Xs Max iPhones. It seems to be mostly Verizon users complaining about the issue and some people are pointing the blame to the Intel modem being used. Do you think this is a real and serious issue yet? Or just the normal “new iPhone complaints” that seem to appear every year? I’m wondering if this will be another ‘antennagate’.

Not that this matters too much, but I’ve not had any connection issues with the iPhone XS over the past week.

But it is a fact that Apple artificially slowed down iPhones with Qualcomm-based modems last year so that the experience matched that of the iPhones based on the slower Intel modems.

Also true, Apple and Qualcomm are both competitors—they make the two best-selling and best-performing mobile processors—and engaged in a years-old set of patent infringement lawsuits. Most recently, Qualcomm charged that Apple illegally gave Intel details about Qualcomm modems so that Intel could catch up, technically, and Apple could stop having to buy parts from a competitor. (Apple has similar issues with Samsung.)

So … is this the makings of a conspiracy “gate”-type thing? Maybe. But Apple fans tend to be compliant, and when something as major as Antennagate is just laughed away by Apple, the press, and its users … I mean, come on. I bet this amounts to nothing, even if it’s true.

Which is sad.

macOS Mojave

ggolcher asks:

Are you planning on doing a review of macOS Mojave? Last time you shared your thoughts was with a hands-on in June with the developer preview.

I intend to do another “hands-on” post, more of a mini-review than a full review, yes. I had kind of zoned on the timing of the release, I would have brought my Mac to Ignite if I had thought about it.

Windows monetization balance

StevenLayton asks:

Given the strong feelings on the way that Microsoft is using Windows as an advertising billboard (I’m thinking about their own products, not CandyCrush, etc), if you were in charge of Microsoft how would you strike the right balance between keeping customers aware of new and current Microsoft products, services and features, and not destroying the Windows experience? How do they do it? Where should they be doing it? Do you think there is any ‘good’ advertising in Windows 10?

First, let’s step back for a moment and think about why Microsoft is putting crapware and advertising in Windows 10. It’s literally about money.

On the business side of the fence, Microsoft sees regular monthly/annual income from Windows thanks to volume licensing. This is ideal on a number of levels, of course.

Meanwhile, income from consumer Windows licensing has plummeted for many years, and for a variety of factors, the key two being that PCs are more reliable than ever and that users spend far more time on mobile devices than PCs now. So the PC buying cycle has been stretched out ever longer: Most users just don’t upgrade that much. They don’t need to.

This isn’t actually all that new, but it’s getting worse over time. At first, Microsoft tried to overcome this with different versions of Windows (in the XP) days that targeted certain use cases (tablets, media center PCs). Then they came up with multiple product versions (SKUs), with the idea that certain user types—gamers, power users, whatever—could be up-sold to more expensive versions. But with this working less well over time, the firm began experimenting with other ways to monetize its non-upgrading user base.

The most obvious way to do this is to promote your own paid services within the product. And I’m actually OK with that: If Microsoft wants to mention that you can get more paid OneDrive storage, for example, when you first encounter the OneDrive app, that’s fine, generally speaking. Microsoft is also seeing decent adoption of the consumer versions of Office 365. And if a PC ships with those Office apps and they can try the Office 365 up-sell when you run one of them, again, fine.

But Microsoft has taken this approach, increasingly, to extremes.

It has added and expanded its use of in-app advertising, a model that may or may not work on mobile, but absolutely does not work in Windows on the desktop. Some of the ads are nonsensical. For example, I would understand telling me about the mobile versions of Microsoft News when I use that app on Windows. But I saw a full-screen ad for News on mobile when I used Weather. Guys, seriously.

At least I can skip the apps if this bothers me. But worse than that is the ads that pop-up all over the system, next to the taskbar, or in the Start menu, or wherever. This stuff is intrusive, and Microsoft’s pushy attempts to get us to use Edge, in particular, make many, myself included, far less likely to even look. It seems desperate.

But the absolute worst is that Windows 10 actually ships with crapware.

Think about that for a moment. After spending decades lashing out at the PC makers who invented this model thanks to the low-margin nature of that business, Microsoft has actually preempted them and put crapware right in the OS. That is the single shittiest thing that it has ever done to Windows, both for the PC makers and for users. It’s inexcusable. (Yes, you can remove it all. No, I should not have to do that.)

I have heard that there is a movement internally to put an end to the crapware. Don’t hold your breath: It will take time and may only impact versions of Windows that ship to businesses. But I’m hoping that the new oversight of Windows by a group of adults in Azure will cause some real change that will benefit all of us.

Outlook.com and custom domain

SherlockHolmes asks:

Any news on the domain personalized E-Mail Adresses on outlook.com with an Office 365 subscription?

This functionality is now available in Outlook.com, but with two caveats.

First, you must use GoDaddy as your domain registrar, which is not ideal, but not a deal-breaker.

Second, you must be an Office 365 subscriber.

You can find the controls in Outlook.com settings > Premium:

That “Learn more” link goes to this page on the Office website.

FIDO, again

Polycrastinator asks:

Has Microsoft given any timeline for when they’ll be supporting FIDO2 other than “soon?”

No, sorry, though maybe there was a mention of it in a session at Ignite this past week. But I assume this is something that will be tied to a Windows 10 version, so if it’s not in version 1809, perhaps we’re looking at next Spring.

As a reminder, I wrote about this back in April, and it is perhaps notable that Yubico just announced a new generation of its FIDO-compatible security keys.

What can Microsoft do in the consumer space?

Daishi asks:

In your Integrity piece this week you mention your “mounting frustration at Microsoft’s perceived lack of direction around Windows 10 specifically, or its consumer strategy generally” and this made me curious, what is it that you actually want Microsoft to do in the consumer space? I mean beyond removing ads and crapware from Windows, stopping adding ‘gimmicky’ feature and slowing the rate of updates, which are all statements about what you want them not to do, what are the proactive, positive actions you would want Microsoft to take as part of a consumer strategy?

I don’t feel that Microsoft will ever have a big presence in the consumer space akin to Amazon, Apple, or Google. Nor should it try. But Microsoft should focus on its core strength, productivity apps and services, where it can most easily leverage the work it’s doing for business customers. I feel like it’s pretty much doing that.

Many will point to Xbox (or even Minecraft) as the great exceptions. And Microsoft is, of course, enhancing Windows specifically for video games, which I don’t feel is wrong-headed. These things are representative of the right type of consumer effort for Microsoft, too.

Windows is mature. If you look at what Apple added to macOS in Mojave, you see a similar take on what should be added in a new version: Nothing “big” or flashy, but a lot of small updates that collectively make a positive difference.

The Windows Insider Program needs to change

MartinusV2 asks:

After watching your podcast First Ring Daily 482: Surface Is Back on the Menu, Brad said things about Insider Program that I agree with. I try to send Feedbacks when I find things that seem odd to me or try to suggest things. Sadly I do that because I am not on the Insider Program.

I’ve been pushing the notion that the Insider program is broken for quite a long time. It lets a tiny loud minority call the shots on product enhancements, and ignores the needs of the other 90+ percent. I wrote about this back in July in Windows 10 at 3: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, and, yes, the Insider program made the “Ugly” category:

“Windows Insider program. This one pains me because, like so many things, the Insider program was started for all the right reasons. In this case, a desire to reverse the hyper-secretive policies of Steven Sinofsky. But the Insider program has failed us: It gives too strong of a voice to the enthusiasts that would be attracted to this kind of program, thus skewing the focus of the product horribly. And this needs to change: Windows should be designed for its most numerous users, not its loudest users. (To be fair to Microsoft, it did start an Insiders program for business. But we don’t hear much about this, and I suspect that engagement is low.)”

I spoke to Brad Anderson about this problem at Ignite and he had some good news. I will be writing about that soon.

Since Microsoft has a lot of Azure virtualization, could they let some Insiders try the latest version of Windows there so that we can give feedback before the official version gets out?

They could, I suppose, but I can already hear the argument that Microsoft needs Windows 10 running on real PCs in order for most of the feedback to be meaningful.

Since you said that key Microsoft peoples listens to your feedbacks, can we send to you are grips about Windows and pass them to Microsoft directly? 😉 You have become our Microsoft resistance leader 😉

I certainly collect a lot of feedback from people in comments, via email, and on Twitter. I’m not asking for this job, of course. But it’s a side-effect of what I do.

No more Office mobile on Windows 10?

Lewk asks:

I’m curious about your thoughts on Neowin’s article this week claiming that Microsoft will no longer add new features to the Windows 10 Office Mobile apps. I ask only because I have seen first hand evidence completely contrary to this report … is it possible Neowin misunderstood Microsoft and in fact Microsoft were referring to the Windows 10 Mobile (WindowsPhone) Office apps only? Or do you think this report is correct, and Microsoft are dumping the UWP versions on PC as well, in favour of the Win32 ones only?

I was wondering the same thing. I had set aside that post, expecting to see that it was incorrect.

That said, with full Office in the Store and working on even Windows 10 in S mode and Windows 10 on ARM, there is less reason for the Office mobile apps on Windows. And I have to wonder if the so-called “simplified ribbon” addresses the one legitimate complaint for people on smaller devices, especially given that this ribbon looks just like the version from the Office mobile apps.

Basically, I don’t know if this is accurate. I could see it going either way.

I will ask.

UPDATE: Here is a Microsoft statement.

“The Office mobile apps for Windows have not been deprecated. But for mobile, we are currently prioritizing development for the iOS and Android versions of our apps; and on Windows, we are prioritizing Win32 and web versions of our apps.”

Will write this up separately.

Tech “journalism”

christian.hvid asks:

I really liked your “Integrity” article, but I also found it a bit worrying for tech journalism in general. You note with some disappointment that “Apple, Google, and Samsung . . . have zero interest in working with me” – but that’s not just you. I can’t think of any tech writer with a deep level of access to those companies, at least not nearly in the way that you and dozens of others have with Microsoft. Tech companies pride themselves on being open and transparent, but in reality they’re getting more and more opaque. Do you believe there’s a real future for tech journalism if it’s all about reiterating press releases and expressing personal (and usually premature) opinions?

I’ve been worried about this for years. There is so much wrong, it’s getting worse all the time, and the future is dim.

Just pick up any news app/service—Apple News, Google News, Microsoft News, whatever—and see how many “articles” are really just slideshows of pictures with short text blurbs. It’s going downhill, fast.

What I didn’t write in that article is that I know a guy from Samsung PR personally. And he is a piece of shit of a person: He promised to get me (and Brad) into the review process and to events and then stopped answering our questions. But he told us, point blank, at CES this past year, that the PR for tech companies actually prefer the toading rah-rah blogs over honesty because all they do, literally, is repeat the company line. They act like an unpaid outside PR firm for whatever company. This is a huge problem with Apple, especially. But we see it in the Microsoft world, too. You all know which blog(s) I mean.

How can I fight this? I can’t. All I can do is do what I do. Point out the most terrible examples. Keep trying with the Apples, Googles, and Samsungs of the world. And keep pointing out that you are not a journalist just because you write for a blog. Anyone can put up a blog. That’s great on one level. But it’s also led to this.