Ask Paul: August 16 (Premium)

Happy Friday! Here is another round of questions and (attempted) answers to start off the weekend.

A Microsoft Galaxy?

simont asks:

Do you think Microsoft will eventually sell a Microsofted version of the new Samsung Phones or are they now really really out of the mobile market?

It’s very clear that Microsoft has wanted to do so for years now. I’m guessing Samsung is the reason it’s not happened. Certainly, it would confuse consumers about the Galaxy brand, etc.

So, I guess I’ll say it’s certainly possible. But it’s as possible that Microsoft will launch its own Android smartphone line and that its experiences with Samsung will be the impetus for that.

No subscriptions

lwetzel asks:

What is the best solution to handling my personal photos and music without having to subscribe to anything?

These are big topics and there are a lot of variables. But broadly speaking, Google is the best solution in both cases. Google Photos lets you store unlimited photos and videos for free. (Photos are up to 16MP and videos up to 1080p HD; content above those resolutions will be downsized.) And Google Music lets you upload your music—up to 50,000 songs! (UPDATE: Now it’s 100,000 songs. –Paul)—to the cloud for free and access it from anywhere.

I wrote about Google Photos back in 2015 and I wrote about Google Play Music in 2018.

Intel NUC revisited

vernonlvincent asked:

Once upon a time, Paul was using an Intel NUC computer. I’m curious if you’re still using it and how well it’s working. Does it have Thunderbolt support and, if so, are you using an EGPU? Related – do you have a recommendation for a NUC-type PC with Thunderbolt support?

This came up a few weeks ago (in Ask Paul: August 2). Long story short, because it’s louder than I’d like, I haven’t used it as much as I would have otherwise, and I’ve not yet tested an eGPU yet, sorry. I will do so.

Merged MSAs revisited

prettyconfusd asks:

Back in the day of the outlook.com ‘gold rush’ I snapped up a [email protected] address but it’s a separate account to my main MSA (a classic @hotmail.com account) – any guidance on how to merge them and any pitfalls to be aware of? Especially if the outlook.com address was then made the default on the account?

There’s no way to merge Microsoft accounts, sorry, and when I asked about this recently, I was told that they were aware of the need but had nothing to say about the topic at this time. Sorry.

(Like you, I have a classic Hotmail.com account and a newer Outlook.com account. I’ve kept using the older one, but with a custom domain.)

Mobile browsing on the desktop

Anlong08 asks:

Do you know if there is a browser plugin (for any of them) that lets you get a mobile version of a site if available? We just got a Surface Pro 6 for my wife to replace her iPad mini2. It occurred to me that the greatest hindrance to using it as an iPad replacement whilst lounging on the sofa is the desktop version of websites and the tiny browser tabs.

This is an excellent idea, and I’m embarrassed to say it’s never occurred to me. You can find the full answer on how to do this courtesy of Chris Hoffman at How-To-Geek. The short version is that the extension you want is called User-Agent switcher for Chrome or the new Edge.

As an aside, while setting up Windows she left Cortona talking the whole time. Don’t know if this has been there and I just missed it but the voice prompt for accepting the EULA is pretty funny.

That sounds like torture. You may want to do something nice for her. 🙂

Lite OS

AnOldAmigaUser asks:

News about Lite OS seems to have ceased. Are there any updates as to when it is expected? Will it target both ARM and Intel?

To be fair, it hasn’t been completely quiet: The Lite OS Start menu leaked in a Windows Insider build three weeks ago, and that’s honestly the biggest news I’ve seen in a while, given that it confirms that the prototype UI I saw last year is becoming real.

But I hear you: I’ve often wondered about the slow boil nature of this release and whether Microsoft is having any reservations about it. I had expected some news at Build. But nothing.

Granted, the chance of failure here is huge: If this thing really is just a Microsoft-based Chrome OS type system, the mobile app story will sink it, just as it did Windows RT and S mode. So I’m not sure how Microsoft can make this one work.

Android anti-virus

Shane asks:

After listening to the podcast Andrew recommended ‘Hackable’ im going back to pen and paper, only joking, well just lol. But It has raised many questions. But firstly its about Android phones and anti virus software. Phones now are mini computers and you have , need that software on them. So should, do you need it on phones. And do you have you ever used it on phones.

I’ve not, and I don’t think we’re ever going to see a mobile market for anti-virus as we did for Windows. (Don’t misunderstand that. There are Android-based AV apps. I just don’t think the market will be as big or as necessary.) Frankly, this is the type of service that should be provided by the system. And it is: Google’s Android Security Center website explains all of the platform security features that Android provides.

As far as I’m concerned, it works this way on Windows today, too: Windows 10 comes with Windows Defender, but it’s moved into the background now and you don’t ever see an interactive application anymore. It’s just a system service. This is the way it should be.