Ask Paul: February 22 (Premium)

Happy Friday, everyone.  Here’s the final Ask Paul for February! Where does the time go?

The future of Windows … when?

kshsystems asks:

You have spent a lot of time talking about Microsoft’s attempt to operate “Windows as a Service”. What I think Microsoft seems to be ignoring is that Windows 10 has one foot in the past and one foot in the future. The result is a mixed bag for the end user and for the developer. Microsoft has put a lot of investment in hypervisor and container technology. What do you think about Microsoft putting some of this to work? E.g., move the deprecated APIs, Win32, MSI, etc. into a container as a compatibility box for “old” apps, and leave a clean 64-bit, Appx modern surface for native apps?

Two things come to mind.

To give Microsoft a bit of credit, it’s astonishing that a codebase as old and complex as Windows 10 can actually be updated at the frequency it is updated. We often talk about the two big feature updates we get each year, which makes sense since they are literally Windows version upgrades. But we also receive at least one—and usually two, these days—cumulative/quality updates each month, and several other updates each month as well. It is amazing that there aren’t more problems.

Two, I think that is exactly what Microsoft needs to do. I don’t know how or why this hasn’t happened yet. But if you think back to my comments about Windows 10 S being a step too far, the basic issue there is that it was a one-way street: You were either all-in with modern apps only or you had to leave. That’s a terrible design, aside from the fact that it treats Windows users like children.

More recently, I wrote about Microsoft’s addition of Sandbox to Windows 10 19H1, noting that it seemed like a step in the direction you’re describing. “I’ve always believed that Windows should offer a way—perhaps in S mode only—in which any application downloaded from the Internet is somehow wrapped in a container, or virtual environment, or whatever, and isolated from the system, seamlessly, for the user,” I wrote. “In other words, downloaded applications should be sandboxed.” Windows Sandbox, admittedly, does not address this need. But again, it seems like a step towards doing so.

So why don’t they just do this?

I have a guess: What Microsoft really wants is for Win32 and the desktop to magically just disappear and for Windows to transition into a platform that looks, works, and is updated like iOS. When you think about it, iOS is really just macOS with all the desktop stuff stripped out, but with added touch-based functionality and a secure mobile apps platform. They’ve been so hell-bent on making that happen that they’re ignored what customers really want and need. And your solution—whatever form it takes—is exactly how Microsoft can achieve a win-win in which the platform itself is more sophisticated, secure, and reliable, and customers can still run the apps on which they rely.

Things are changing at Microsoft, of course. And the events of the past year give me hope that what you describe will finally happen.

New iPad mini

simont asks:

Assuming the long-rumored iPad Mini 5 gets released with an A10 or A10X chip, are you going to replace your iPad Pro with one?

I begrudgingly replaced my iPad mini (4) with a new 9.7-inch iPad because the battery life had deteriorated dramatically, the performance was slow, and it was pretty banged up. I didn’t want the bigger iPad because I really prefer the iPad mini size/form factor. But Apple never updated the mini in the interim, so the current device (still rev 4) uses a processor (A8) that is four generations old (the current iPhones use an A12 chip). And I just couldn’t deal with spending that much money on something so out-of-date.

The 9.7-inch iPad is pretty great, honestly. But I still prefer the smaller size of the mini and have said that I would upgrade to a rumored new mini if/when it was released. But that was based on the assumption that it would ship with the same processor—an A12 or A12X as the then-current iPhones/iPads. (Today’s 9.7-inch iPad uses an A10 processor, but this is supposed to be upgraded at the same time as the new mini, perhaps to an A11, A12, or A12X.)

There’s a bit more to it than the processor, too: I had assumed that the new mini, like the next 9.7-inch iPad, would feature an improved design with smaller bezels, etc. (The new 9.7-inch iPad will allegedly have a 10.2-inch display, presumably in the same size body.) But more recent rumors state that the new mini will use exactly the same form factor as the gen-4 mini. And will use an A10 or A10X processor, similar to today’s iPad. Worse, it will have a “lower cost” display panel.

So as of today, I’m not sure. No matter what form the new iPad mini takes, I’ll wait on it once it’s released. And if it is sale-priced incessantly over time like current iPads, I’ll consider “upgrading” at that point. But as it stands now, it looks a bit disappointing.

Window management over multiple displays

jwpear asks:

Will Microsoft (or app devs) ever get window management right for multiple monitor situations? Invariably, when I’m away from my desk long enough for the monitors to sleep (3 mins or Win+L and then sometimes), I come back to find that none of my app windows, many of which are Microsoft apps, are placed or sized the way I had them. Often, they’re all positioned back on the primary display and sized incorrectly. This is a huge productivity killer for multiple monitor configurations. It’s not clear if this is an issue with Windows, the apps, or the monitors.  Seems to be a hardware detection issue, but I’m not sure who is responsible. I haven’t looked at the Windows SDK lately to see if apps can detect which monitor they’re on and actively reposition themselves back on that monitor. Honestly, I think this should be the responsibility of the OS as it feels like something that could be abused if left up to the apps.

I don’t have any information about whether this will ever happen. My gut tells me no, however. This is based on how Microsoft has handled two bits of functionality that I feel are somewhat related: Multiple (physical) displays and multiple (virtual) desktops. Both are, to put it accurately, half-assed in that neither offers obvious—let alone sophisticated—functionality. For example, virtual desktops are useful for power users, but they don’t survive reboots, so you have to manually recreate them several times per month. That makes it a non-starter for many.

The reason for ignoring this kind of thing, I think, is because the firm has been more focused on the modern apps platforms and other new features that make Windows look/work more like a mobile platform. But looking on the bright side, Microsoft has shifted to fit and finish work in Windows 10 over the past year or so. And more specifically, it has worked to make long-problematic features like high DPI support work better and more seamlessly. So I suppose there is still hope.

Office questions

will asks:

Several months back Microsoft announced new Office icons for the Office suite however nothing has shown up yet. I know this was asked before but I am curious why such a long delay for something like an icon? (UPDATE) Just today when I signed into Office online all of the icons are new…so I guess slow progress.

There you go. 🙂

There were rumors at Ignite that Office 365 would move to PWA apps for the core apps and to pay attention to Build this year. Have you heard anything about this?

No, though that new Office app in Windows 10 is a PWA. I don’t see Microsoft moving its core desktop applications to PWA, it would necessitate a complete rewrite and those new web apps could never completely duplicate the desktop versions. It’s more likely that Microsoft will use PWA for new Office apps, like Teams. (Which they’ve said they are doing.)

Ripping CDs

eeisner asks:

Paul, I’ve been inspired by your photo scanning project to help my dad with something somewhat similar. My dad has a large collection of CD’s, many of which are bootleg concerts which do not exist on any streaming services. I’d like to help him upload these CD’s into Google Play so that he can get them on his S8, but the idea of ripping hundreds of CD’s one at a time sounds fairly miserable. Do you have any thoughts on how to make this process quicker and more efficient?

While I’m sure there are still services that will do this, the fact that these are bootleg CDs means such a thing would never work: You’d still have to connect up the song lists with the files, and that’s a manual job. I did take the time to rip my CD collection several years back—and did so more than once—and, yeah, it’s a bit of work. But I don’t see any way around that with bootleg CDs in particular, or other CDs that simply don’t show up in online services. The good news? Modern ripping software is much faster now and you only have to do it once.

Is the Office app really available everywhere?

Dan1986ist asks

Is the new Office app that replaces My Office actually available to everyone not just those current testing 19H1 builds because Windows Central has an article saying that? Is this information accurate?

Another reader noted that his 19H1 machine has the new Office app while his other PCs on older builds still use My Office. I was still seeing My Office, too, even on 19H1, and my theory at the time was that Microsoft had locked the 19H1 apps to the shipping versions because it’s so late in development. And then I looked this morning and see that it’s changed to just Office (the new app).

So I suspect this is just one of those things where the app rolls out over time to users.

CEO v. CEO

Daekar asks:

Is it just me, or is DJ Koh a lot easier to like than Tim Cook? I always look forward to hearing his part of Unpacked for some reason I can’t actually put my finger on.

I find DJ Koh to be open, honest, and transparent, and aside from the whole “English as a second language” thing, which requires me to actively think about what he’s saying and almost translate it on the fly, I vastly prefer him to Tim Cook. By comparison, Cook is all faux humility while he brags about Apple’s non-existent innovations years after his competitors already delivered the same features. And he never stands on a stage and says that Apple screwed up, like Koh does. Nor does his company listen to customers or solicit feedback overtly in any way.

These things are probably subjective. I’m sure some people love Tim Cook for whatever reason. He’s not a jerk, I just think he’s fake.

To be fair, both Samsung and Apple are gigantic corporations that only exist for one reason, which his pulling money out of your pocket as quickly and frequently as possible.

Cabin fever

madthinus asks:

I recently took a 7-month sabbatical. One of the interesting issues I have encountered in the time home was cabin fever. I was wondering if this affects you and how you manage it?

This is probably a personality thing. Oddly, it’s also something that’s come up with my wife a few times recently when she’s noticed and then told me that I hadn’t left the house for some long time frame, like a week or more. She gets out a lot more than I do, but by the time Friday comes, she just wants to go out, usually to dinner. And I’m always fine with that, but I just don’t need it as much. She can’t understand this.

It could be related to work as well. I write for a living, and I have been working from home since 1994. So it’s weirder for me to actually go someplace every day. (You may have heard me tell the story of my time visiting Israel in 2000; a co-worker called my hotel room to find out where I was because we had to go into the office again. My (joking) response was, “Go into the office? I just went there yesterday!”)

I also often joke that I leave the house infrequently, but that when I do, it’s to go on what is usually a big trip, either for work or internationally. And when I do get out in the world, perhaps with co-workers or other bloggers/writers at an industry event, it’s always kind of a fun family-reunion type thing. I really enjoy those moments. But I’m usually in some weird non-balance between traveling too much and not traveling enough.

I will say that I’m looking forward to the end of winter. I’d like to walk outside more, but I can’t stand being out in the cold, so I don’t do that in the winter. Just getting outside for 30-45 minutes a day can really help.