Ask Paul: December 7 (Premium)

Happy Internet Tidal Wave day! As you might expect, given this week’s blockbuster news, there are many questions about the future of Microsoft Edge. So let’s dive right in.

Will Edge replace Edge?

Dan1986ist asks:

Since Edge as it is now is tied into Windows itself like IE, can Microsoft replace it with this alleged Anaheim browser, if they replace Edge entirely? Or will it more likely be an add it into Windows alongside Edge and IE thing?

I have to speculate a bit here, but from the wording that Microsoft has used, both in the vague, corporate-speak blog post by Joe Belfiore and in the more detailed post by the Microsoft Edge team, it appears that the new Microsoft Edge will eventually replace the existing version in Windows 10. Until that happens, I expect it to be a separate web download. But it’s too early to say whether the two versions of Edge might run side-by-side.

Why is Windows 10 version 1809 so unreliable and buggy

jimchamplin asks:

We all know that 1809 has been a disaster, with huge errors causing very large issues. Am I the only one though who’s noticing lots of smaller, amateurish, beta-quality problems? UAC prompts often ask for the admin password instead of PIN. The window borders have an error on UWP software where the top line of pixels is darker than the other three borders if titlebar colors is turned on. They’re still off if it’s turned off. Likely linked to the fact that the checkbox for titlebar colors now for some reason changes the borders. Because Windows 10 didn’t have low enough contrast between foreground and background windows.

Okay, I really buried the lede here, sorry. My question is: What happened? A small number of big bugs, okay, that can happen. But the whole release is just awful. Death by a thousand paper cuts. How did 1809 get released being so damn bad?

You’re hitting on a lot of the high-level issues I have with Windows development in particular and with Microsoft software in general, its inability to finish the job. Fit and finish has never been a priority at Microsoft because of a corporate culture that does not reward that kind of work. So the A-teamers are always moving on to the next big thing.

This is worse for Windows 10 specifically, because it’s no longer a priority at Microsoft. So the impact of the best and the brightest heading on to greener pastures is even worse.

The good news? This year’s problems were so bad, so widely reported, and so damaging to the credibility of both Microsoft and Windows that I feel like there will have to be a mandate from on high to right this ship. I think 2019 will be a better year for Windows.

Will the new Edge by a Store app?

simont asks:

With Edge possibly being replaced by the Anaheim browser, do you think Microsoft will make it a store app for more rapid updates (For good or for worse).

I don’t believe that Microsoft Edge can be implemented as a “real” (e.g. UWP-based) Store app without losing a lot of functionality. But I can only guess at how it might be delivered. Since it will be made available to Windows 7 and 8.1, and those versions will be pure Win32/desktop applications, it makes the most sense for the Windows 10 version to be identical. That said, I could see Microsoft making it available via the Store as a Desktop Bridge-type thing.

Xbox One for kids

Sprtfan asks:

I’m getting my kids an Xbox One S for Christmas. Do you have any “must have” accessories or games that I should get? Kids are between 10-13 so some age appropriate coop games would be great. The last system I bought was a Wii so if anyone has any recommendations I’d appreciate it.

I will echo the recommendations of others and strongly suggest Minecraft. My kids are a lot older now—Mark will be 20 in April for crying out loud—so most of what he likes would likely be inappropriate. If you’re OK with shooters, Fortnite and Overwatch both offer cartoon graphics that make them seem less violent.

This might be a good one for others to check in on.

Edge mobile vs. Edge desktop

dcdevito asks:

With MS rumored to be changing the rendering engine to Edge, it would seem all the major tech companies are going to lighter frameworks and mobile type platforms (Microsoft with this news along with UWP, Apple with Project Marzipan and pushing the iPad Pro, Google with Android apps on Chromebooks), do you think this is the best path forward for computing in general? As a PC kid growing up in the late 70s/80s, this makes me sad. Am I alone here?

This is an interesting topic. The general notion here is one of simplicity vs. complexity, but with the understanding that you lose some functionality when you go for simplicity. Mobile computing offers many advantages over desktop computing, but most mobile apps are still a far cry from the power and functionality we see in the best desktop applications, etc.

Is this the best path forward? Ultimately, yes. Though I do mourn the loss of certain things, as you do, as we make this progression. I guess I’d compare it to the automobile industry, and the early days in which you basically needed to be a capable mechanic to even own a car. These days, automobiles are exponentially more complex than the first cars, but they’re also infinitely simpler to own and maintain. Did we lose something moving from hand-crank starters and stick shifts to vehicles that can parallel-park for you and avoid pedestrians? Sure. But the advances outweigh the negatives.

Making something simpler and easier is a noble goal. Doing it while meeting the needs of all users is hard.

Future of S mode

Finley and Shane ask:

What impact will Chromium based Edge have on S mode or similar attempts? Is this a right step in a majority browser based PC computing?

I’ll need to speculate, again. 🙂

Sometime in 2019, we’ll have a standalone version of the Microsoft Edge web browser that is based on Chromium. What will take longer, however, is transitioning Windows 10’s use of EdgeHTML to Blink/Chromium. And it is interesting to me that the Edge team’s detailed blog post never mentions this, never, in fact, mentions EdgeHTML at all.

The issue for Windows 10 is that there is a class of Store apps that rely on EdgeHTML. And it’s not clear how or when that transition will happen. We just know that making the standalone browser is the first priority. So it’s reasonable to assume that Windows 10 won’t really transition away from EdgeHTML until 2020. Which means that S mode doesn’t really change until then. And neither that Store requirement that web-based apps use EdgeHTML.

I’m curious how this impacts Windows 10 Lite, which will likely not be called Windows anything. Will Windows 10 Lite be based on Chromium too? That makes more sense than basing it on EdgeHTML, for sure. But I suppose it’s a matter of timing.

Anyway, S mode is what it’s always been: A goal or a destination. It’s still not something that makes sense today. We’ll have to see how Chromium changes that, whenever it happens.

How did mobile Edge impact desktop Edge?

harmjr asks:

Do you think the popularity of Edge on iOS and Android helped in convincing them to make this move to use Chromium in Edge.

I would put it like this: Microsoft’s experience having to use the native web rendering engine on each of those platforms proved to it that innovating at the user experience/features level was viable. And that not worrying about the underlying web rendering engine, which works great on both Android and iOS, was quite freeing. Taking that experience and making the bold step they are making on the desktop is another thing entirely, however. That is a really bold move that I applaud them for.

Predictions for 2019

christian.hvid asks:

With the new year coming up in a few weeks, have you ever considered taking a page out of Bob Cringely’s book and make 10 bold predictions for 2019 (half of which you’ll have to apologize for or explain away next December)?

No, thought Andrew and I do a predictions show on What the Tech each December. The truth is, I’m not very good at predictions. So it’s always surprising to me when something I think should happen actually does happen.

That said, I am working on a State of the Union-type thing for Premium members that will be tied to this site’s fourth anniversary in January. This is more of a look at how much the industry has changed in those years, but there is an element of looking forward as well.

Cross-departmental cooperation at Microsoft

Pierre Masse asks:

Tom Warren spoke with Jon Friedman, the head designer of Office and this guy said that now there is a collaborative effort going on between the Windows, Office, and Surface design teams. Do you think that we are living a new era in Microsoft and that the reign of inconsistency and half-baked design is over? Can we hope for a UI that will not make our inner OCD howl to the moon?

This type of cross-departmental effort is something that comes and goes at Microsoft depending on the leadership and needs of the day.

That said, it’s fair to say that this kind of thing hit a historic low under Steven Sinofsky and has been making a comeback ever since. And with this year’s big changes in Windows, and the emergence of Microsoft 365 as a sort of cross-departmental effort for the client, there is hope for better consistency and design across multiple products.

Will Microsoft ever embrace the “finish the job” mentality? I see no sign of that. But I welcome any changes along these lines. And if you look at what’s happening in just Windows—you know, if you can look past the upgrade reliability issues—you’ll see it there for sure. They’re no longer pushing nonsense features and have done a lot to fine-tune things recently.

If this kind of thing does bother you, I feel like you’ll always have something to complain about. Some old icon or Control Panel app or whatever. Windows is just a big, legacy mountain of code. Really cleaning it up is a thankless and impossible goal.

Using a single example to disprove a general point

anderb asks:

You said on twitter that ‘Chromium being open source negates all of your worries’ in response to someone concerned about Google being the gatekeeper of Chromium.

Based on the comment history in the 3-year-old Chromium autoplay ‘bug’and the Chromium developers refusal to implement a ‘feature’ that Google clearly does not want, how are those fears negated exactly?

Two things.

Something not being fixed in Chromium doesn’t mean that Microsoft can’t fix it in Microsoft Edge.

I’m also not clear on how this proves that this one feature hasn’t been implemented because Google demanded that to happen. But again, Google doesn’t own or control Chromium. And even Chrome, which is owned and controlled by Google, has started moving towards this specific functionality by allowing users to disable auto-play audio, including that triggered by auto-play video.

When will we see a Snapdragon-based Surface PC?

Daishi asks:

With the 8CX appearing to be a no brainer for a second gen Surface Go, how long do you think it will be before the refresh arrives?

The availability timeline is the one bit of obvious bad news for the Snapdragon 8cx: The first PCs aren’t expected until Q3 2019 (e.g. July or later). So I wouldn’t expect any Snapdragon-based Surface PC before late 2019.

That said, my early experience with the Snapdragon 850-based Lenovo Yoga C630 has been pretty positive from a performance standpoint. This chipset could very easily have been used in the Surface Go with no negative performance consequences. That said, compatibility with 64-bit Win32 apps is problematic. And the price might be too.

Why bring Edge to Windows 7 and 8.1?

SherlockHolmes asks:

So the question I have is: Why is Microsoft offering the new Edge to Windows 7 or 8.1 users? And more: How?

Microsoft’s decision to ignore its other supported versions of Windows with Edge never made sense to me. And it has obviously backfired. But I can only speculate as to the “why (now)” and “how.” I assume that it will create a single desktop application that works on all supported Windows versions. And that doing so was a major request from its corporate customers, many of which have stuck with the aging IE browser.

Legacy Windows apps in the Store

Lewk asks:

Microsoft stated that they would release their legacy apps, like notepad, paint and calculator (Which currently ship bundled with Windows), to the Windows store. Is this something you believe they’ll still do? Is the reason they haven’t is because they’re considering open sourcing these apps like they did with Windows Live Writer?

I’ve heard very recently that these apps will be open-sourced, so it’s possible that the thinking has changed. I will report back when I know more, but that’s the latest. But it kind of makes sense, given what’s happening elsewhere at Microsoft.

Is Edge really coming to Windows 7 and 8.1?

MattHewitt asks:

Has Microsoft explicitly stated that Edge will be released for Windows 7? “Delivered to all supported versions of Windows” doesn’t necessarily mean Windows 7 support in my eyes if the new Edge isn’t officially released until after the January 2020 end of extended support for Windows 7. Doesn’t shipping a new browser for a soon-to-be unsupported version of Windows seem a bit crazy?

Yes. But it was crazier not to do this in 2015. Regardless, Microsoft told it was doing so explicitly. And it has stated so publicly, too, noting that “we will evolve the Microsoft Edge app architecture, enabling distribution to all supported versions of Windows including Windows 7 and Windows 8, as well as Windows 10.

Again, I suspect this is related to Microsoft’s corporate customers, many of which will continue running Windows 7 for years to come (and will be paying for support as they do).

Windows on Linux

MartinusV2 asks:

Well Paul, with all the changes that are happening right now, your Linux OS core of Windows idea is no longer far fetched. Could Microsoft be able to port Win32 to Linux?

There is a certain “anything is possible” vibe at the moment, for sure. The technical hurdles of Win32 on Linux are hard to even enumerate, but if you buy into my theory that “Windows is a thing that can run all Windows apps,” we have to include drivers on the list too. Just running Windows desktop applications isn’t enough.

Ultimately, maintaining the existing full Windows as-is while simultaneously pushing forward with Windows 10 Lite or whatever is probably the best route forward. As much as I’d love to see something bolder happen.

What’s next for Satya?

ggolcher asks:

It seems with Satya Nadella in charge and Windows having new leadership that Microsoft is no longer hesitant to shake things up. After this bombshell change of Edge going Chromium, what would you predict will be Microsoft’s next bombshell announcement?

As noted earlier, I’m not very good at predictions. So bear with me here.

Something like using Chromium for Edge falls into a category like “things I think Microsoft should do but I know it never will.” But they did do it. So if we apply this thinking to something bigger—Windows—what might that look like?

Open sourcing … Windows 10?

Normally, I’d say there’s no way. There is too much embarrassing legacy code in there. Whatever. But … you never know. It would be an interesting attack on Linux, frankly.

Health hacking update

Clarkb asks:

Dec 10th marks 1 year since you posted your Health Hacking: Diet and Nutrition article. Wondering what the collective weight loss has been over the past 12 months from those that were motivated by your posts? Put me down for 45lbs lost this past 12 months, thanks for the knowledge and motivation.

First of all, congrats.

As for me, my two-year diet anniversary was December 4, so I did weigh myself. And … it’s the same. I’ve not lost weight all year. Which is troubling, but not unexpected: I went into this knowing that my body resists any effort to lose weight past a certain point. And I’ve always failed in the past.

As I’ve noted elsewhere, though, I will continue to eat healthily. I’m not returning to donuts and French fries and beer. There are some steps I can take—like intermittent fasting—and some I struggle with, like alcohol (mostly wine). But I will keep trying.

I was thinking about going full Keto for a month after the holidays to jump start things again, since I’ve really just been doing low-carb this past year. But I’d like to get the intermittent fasting thing going more reliably. I think I eat something for breakfast 2-3 times a week. But I want to stretch that out more.

Outlook.com and Go Daddy

SherlockHolmes asks:

Hi Paul, could you ask around if it will be possible to use outlook.com Domains without have to move to GoDaddy? Thanks.

That is not currently possible. (People who previously configured a custom domain for Outlook.com Premium can still use that domain with whatever registrar.) But I will ask Microsoft if it plans to offer more choices in the future.