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 we...