Ask Paul: February 21 (Premium)

Happy Friday! There are some great questions from readers this week about Windows 10X, the new Office app, and much more.

Office app vs. Office apps

ggolcher asks:

Short and simple from me this time: with a unified Office app being released for mobile phones, where does that leave the individual apps?

JustMe likewise asks:

With the release of Microsoft’s unified Office app, will the individual apps eventually just disappear?

My original answer started off like this:

“Microsoft says that the individual apps will continue forward, and I think that makes sense: It seems like the single Office app is the perfect solution for most on phones whereas the individual apps would make more sense (again, for most) on tablets. I would imagine there’s no extra work on Microsoft’s part to maintain the standalone apps, plus some on phone may prefer those too.”

But. Microsoft revealed that this new Office mobile app would come to tablets eventually, too. And if you read their post, it says that they have “combined” Word, Excel, and PowerPoint (and some other Office experiences like Lens and Sticky Notes) into a single app. It doesn’t say that these are subsets of the full standalone app experiences.

So…

Maybe not so short and sweet: if they’re different, how do the features of the unified Office app in Word mode, for example, compare to the individual Word app?

This is an interesting thing to compare because it can give us an idea whether the new unified app provides all of the functionality of the standalone apps. And if it does, that suggests that Microsoft will eventually kill off the standalone apps.

Looking at Word vs. Office, the basic UI is the same: Same look and feel and same four icons at the top, plus Back and the More menu. And that more Menu offers the same commands—Save, Save As, History, and Print—in both apps. Well, Word has a Settings command, too, but that’s handled elsewhere in Office.

Both apps feature the same editing experience, with the same toolbar buttons (Bold, Italics, etc.). One minor difference is that the top toolbar disappears in Word when you’re editing, but it’s still visible in Office. That could be a phone difference or whatever (I’m looking at two different devices side-by-side.)

The only other difference I can spot is that Word lets you sign-up for the Office Insider program and presumably access new features more quickly. But that could change, and whether Word (and the other apps) do go away, it would makes sense to add Insider access to Office.

Microsoft has provided virtually no guidance here (big surprise) and so I’m hoping you can help.

Yep. In this case, I kind of get it, and I feel like there will be some backlash if/when they remove the standalone apps. Plus, it’s possible that Excel and/or PowerPoint have differences. I have to think the plan is to eliminate the differences, move the Office app forward with new features, and eventually deemphasize, stop updating, and then cancel the standalone apps. That’s just a guess, but I think it’s the most obvious outcome.

Office furniture

Oasis asks:

Please do a mini article on the furniture you purchase for your office or at least post the model numbers…

Makes sense, since my office has turned into a mini-IKEA. I was already using a white IKEA standing desk and a white IKEA file cabinet. But I just added two IKEA KALLAX shelf units, which you can see behind me on podcasts. Fortunately, I took pictures of their tags while at the store so I could find them in the warehouse. So I know exactly what they are:

KALLAX Shelf Unit (44 1/8 x 44 /18 white) – $79.99

KALLAX Shelf Unit (30 3/8 x 57 7/18 white) – $69.99

There are also a variety of Drona bins ($3.99 an up) that fit inside the holes in these units. I bought several of them in different colors and materials.

I had to search around the IKEA website for the other older parts. The standing desk is, I think, is no longer offered, and I can’t recommend it anyway as it’s a bit wobbly. But it’s a white BEKANT unit, probably like this model but with a manual stand-up crank. The little filing cabinet, likewise, doesn’t appear to be available anymore. I don’t see anything quite like it; it’s white with four drawers (one large), and no knobs.

None of this is anything special, frankly. It just gets the job done.

Edge extensions

davidD asks:

I’ve just downloaded the new Edge (I know, I’m behind). Regarding extensions, should I download from the Microsoft or the Chrome Store, both extensions I previously had on Edge( eg LastPass) & any new extensions.

It shouldn’t matter. I’ve been using the Chrome Web Store instead of Microsoft’s for no good reason, but you can mix and match, too, if you find extensions that Microsoft doesn’t have. (I use at least one, Simplify Gmail, that’s not in the Microsoft Store.)

That said, I’m suddenly wondering if the coming extension sync feature will require using the Microsoft Store. I’m guessing no, but I’ll experiment with it when possible to find out.

Stadia vs. xCloud

sabertooth920 asks:

Is there’s any reason to go with Stadia over waiting for XCloud? Honestly, I can’t see any compelling reason.

I can’t either. This is Microsoft’s game—sorry—to win. I wrote more about this topic late last year.

What was your take on the Mookie Betts trade?

I don’t like seeing teams tanking on purpose for some future draft pick lottery, but I’m especially not used to seeing the Red Sox do that. They’re going to be terrible this year.

Windows 10X and containers

deanbates asks:

Thanks to your and Brads commentary, Windows X was such as expected. I was particularly pleased to hear your predictions of a container based OS were confirmed. However I’m surprised and somewhat confused that all WIN32 applications will run in a shared container rather than sandboxed from each other.

Yeah, I was surprised by this as well.

Does this mean that one mistakenly installed WIN32 application with malware could infect the other applications in the shared container? If the OS or user needs to destroy the container due to infection what happens to the other applications. Perhaps I’m missing something, any additional information you could provide would be great. Many Thanks.

I can only guess at this point, but I assume this was an architectural and/or performance requirement for that legacy code to even work in containers. Basically, the Win32 container is a self-contained Windows PC. Just being able to destroy it and start over is a useful feature, assuming that’s the case.

Obviously, the goal is for users to need fewer Win32 applications over time. This at least gives us a step towards that future while letting us use our existing applications in a way that is still (presumably) safer overall than the current system.

Surface Pro 7

Simard57 asks;

I saw a surface pro 7 bundle at Costco for under $800. I5, 8gb, 128 gb ssd, keyboard and pen. Good deal?

That’s an incredible deal, and for those unfamiliar with Costco’s liberal return policies, it’s even better than the obvious. Normally, the Surface Pro 7 in that configuration costs $899.99, though it’s on sale right now for $699. But that’s before you add a Type Cover ($129 to $159) and a Surface Pen ($99). So you’re still saving about $150 off of the normal Microsoft sale price, or $350 off the normal price. It’s a great PC either way.

Groove

will asks:

Curious why Groove is still in Windows 10 after Microsoft killed off the service? I understand the need for a media player in Windows 10, but why not call it something else?

And JustMe asks, too…

Looking at the new icons Mehedi recently posted, it would appear that Groove is getting a new icon. Why? Is there a plan to “revamp” Groove in some way? Is Groove, like UWP (sorry, couldnt resist 🙂 not dead?

Well, it’s still a decent name for a music app, I guess.

I happen to really like this app, and I feel like it’s one of the few truly great UWP apps in Windows 10. But yeah, it’s been stripped down a lot since the services all disappeared, and the Spotify advertisement isn’t so elegant. Still, it’s simple and it does work.

Future of Windows development

BigM72 asks:

Looking back over the Windows story over the past decade – WinRT, UWP, Windows 10 S and also stories on the top ten applications installed on Windows PCs (Office, Chrome, iTunes, IIRC) – it seems Windows developers have stuck largely to creating Win32 apps (and not even much creation, it’s maintaining and updating the existing portfolios of applications).

In a world where developers are focused on Win32 applications, without MSIX packaging and not UWP apps; how much benefit does the containerization bring? There’s no opportunity for tombstoning and power-saving if you need to keep the Win32 app running, in-container security is still equally vulnerable as today? Based on what we know right now, how do end users realize the benefit without a shift in use towards UWP apps?

One of the many interesting things about the Win32 container in Windows 10X is that it does actually impose some changes on that environment, and these changes will break things in the name of reliability and battery life. That’s why Microsoft says that it will run “most existing Win32 applications.” If you watched the Developer Day event they had recently, you might have caught one of the presenters adding that they were considering an option that would let users configure this between better compatibility and better reliability.

Right now, I can only imagine two possible ways that containers help noticeably move the needle in experience:

1) Making it more seamless to have a hybrid PC running a combination of local and cloud-based applications (especially given the RDP-like interaction model between host OS and applications)

2) Some kind of convergence story for Windows and Android applications (each in their own containers on top of a common hypervisor) (This would certainly help reduce inevitable consumer confusion between the Surface Neo and Duo too)

Both of those make sense. At a high level though, I think the container work in Windows 10X is just about compatibility, and about solving the problems that previous efforts (Windows RT, Windows 10 S/S mode, and Windows 10 on ARM) never did by bringing forward legacy applications.

I do think the goal over time is for most users to mostly use more modern apps, whether it’s web, UWP, or even Android, even though there’s no evidence of that work. But Xamarin Forms has to play a role here since you can make a single project that creates nearly identical apps for both Windows and Android. Xamarin’s pretty rough right now, but that could go a long way towards solving the Neo/Duo divide.

Where do you think Microsoft is headed with Windows beyond what we know so far?

I feel like Windows 10X is the last major modernization effort we’re going to get. A Windows that doesn’t run legacy desktop applications isn’t just not Windows, it’s not at all popular or viable, and this is the key to moving the platform forward. But there’s no one future for developers. It seems like the goal is to let developers use whatever tools, languages, frameworks, and environments they want to build modern apps that run on Windows. And I don’t see Microsoft trying to push a single solution—like it did with UWP—ever again.

More Windows 10X

madthinus asks:

With Windows 10X now in the open, and the insider craziness dialed back, is a better picture emerging of what is happening in Windows land?

I like what I see, but there are still big questions. The first is performance: That Windows 10X virtual machine is dog-slow, and not just for Win32 apps. We need to see how this works on real hardware, and how it improves over time.

The second is compatibility with Win32 apps. Microsoft has plans to improve this over time, too, but how well it works out of the gate is important. I hope it’s good.

The third, and this is tied to the first two, is whether Windows 10X requires some new PC architecture (as with those new Intel chips with big and little cores) or whether it works on existing PCs too. And, vice versa, if traditional Windows 10 versions will work on the new architecture.

The broader question, of course, whether any of this matters. I don’t see dual-screen PCs and devices generating a big upgrade wave, and I feel like the real impact of Windows 10X will be on traditional PCs in the future. But that’s riding on those first two questions. And we can’t answer them until we get Windows 10X on actual hardware.

Tracking protection

JustMe asks:

Given your recent experience with ads/tracking and ad blockers, apart from a VPN and perhaps logging out of your Gmail and other online email accounts (think Yahoo), what can you *reasonably* do to limit tracking without breaking required Web functionality?

I don’t have any way to back this up, but it seems like the only way to do real tracking protection in a browser is to use extensions as well. I already use an ad blocker (usually) and I have used tracking protection extensions like Ghostery in the past. I feel like I was a bit naïve to trust just Edge, and will use anti-tracking extensions going forward as well.