Ask Paul: May 8 (Premium)

Happy Friday! Here’s a great set of diverse reader questions to kick off the weekend a bit early.

From G Suite to Microsoft 365

SherlockHolmes asks:

Not a question per se but I wanted to asked you how is your companys move from G Suite to Microsoft 365 going? Im asking because my company is in the same process. Im working for the catholic church in Germany and we have a lot of E-Mail inboxes to move.

We’re just starting this up now, starting with Teams this coming Monday. So I don’t have much to report yet. I will say that this is happening outside of the Thurrott.com domain—that is, in my case, I’m just getting a new email address at our corporate domain (really, an old email address I never use)—so I’m not sure whether this will impact me all that much, beyond using Teams instead of Skype for work calls and FRD.

OnePlus and auto-brightness

Simard57 asks:

I have a OnePlus 7t that i am happy with but one thing that i wish were different is the brightness level when in auto mode. If i manually set it brighter, it will fill to where it wants it instead of what i set it to. How can i make auto mode work better for me?

You are highlighting one of my key complaints about OxygenOS, and I never found a way to make it work: Auto-brightness (or what OnePlus calls Adaptive brightness) is always too dim in low lighting conditions, in my experience. It drives me nuts. I don’t know of a good fix, sorry.

WINK out

Simard57 asks:

Looking to replace my WINK lights and hub because they are going to start charging a subscription. What are the advantages of having a hub instead of controlling directly from my Amazon Echo? PS – I got the WINK starter kit because it was a cheap and easy way to try home automation. it is “OK” but has had some issues. I am ready to replace it due to the subscription fees.

I can’t think of any real advantage per se, beyond not having to pay a subscription fee. But I have found that I prefer using the apps from each smart home provider (the Hue app from Philips Hue for the lights, for example) over a centralized controller. That said, having a central interface for this stuff is the dream, and if you just want voice control, Amazon Echo, Google Home/Assistant, or Apple Siri/HomeKit whatever could do that for you assuming your smart home equipment was all cross-compatible, which most of it is. If you’re using Amazon, you should be all set, compatibility-wise, with whatever pieces you choose.

Panos from home

will asks:

Curious if you saw the video that Panos posted on the launch of the new Surface devices, and what your thoughts were on the video? I know it was on Instagram, not sure where else.

Yeah, and anyone hasn’t seen it, you can view it here.

One of the things that’s interesting about the pandemic and all the stay at home stuff is that we’re seeing famous people in their own homes and in more natural conditions. I’ve enjoyed a lot of the music that’s been broadcast during this time, for example, and feel that there’s a real humanizing effect to the whole thing that is positive and even calming.

This video has aspects of that, I guess. That room looks a wood mausoleum to me, but whatever. We all have different tastes.

I assume what you’re not saying is whether the bit with his daughter was forced, awkward, and not impromptu. And … I see both sides of it. For good or bad, Panay has made videos of his children part of his presentations all along, so the appearance of a daughter here is a continuation of that. That she would be randomly walking around the house carrying a Surface PC and coincidentally interrupt him while recording an important work video is, of course, hard to believe. But I don’t think it matters either way. Ultimately, this won’t change anyone’s impressions of the guy.

Sonos

sabertooth920 asks:

Do any of the new Sonos products Interest you, in terms of adding them to your home set-up?

Sonos is on this short list of companies in which everything they announce is interesting and I start adding things to virtual carts and then (usually) decided not to buy anything. The truth is, I don’t need any of this stuff.

The Arc is a replacement for the higher-end Sonos sound bars. I already have a Sonos Beam, which is their entry-level sound bar, and it works/sounds great. It’s new, too. So no need to replace that.

I purchased two Sonos Play:5 speakers from Brad this year, and I would never replace those with two new units (at $500 a piece!!) regardless of whatever improvements they might have. But the new versions have no improvements I need or want anyway. So that’s an easy one.

The one bit I am interested in is the Sonos Sub. I had hoped that Sonos would release a lower-end subwoofer to better pair with the Sonos Beam (lower cost, mostly). But instead, they just replaced their $700 Sub with a new version. I can’t spend that much on a subwoofer. I’m sure it would sound a bit better. But … $700. Yikes.

So … no. I’m good for now.

I ran an old version of Windows and you’ll never believe what happened next

jMawgDog asks:

I’ve recently completed the book “Showstopper!”….which was such a great read by the way. It got me nostalgic for the “good old days”, so I fired up my NT 3.51 and 4.0 VMs. As I used these systems for an hour, I began thinking, “could I work for a week inside those aged operating systems?” Likely not, especially due to my reliance on the web. But…could you? As a writer, do you think you could do 50%, 75% etc of your work week inside either OS? More of a curiosity question…unless you’re feeling brave in quarantine and want to try and post an article! 🙂

Oddly enough, I went through this process last year while writing that Programming Windows series, and I did spend a bunch of time using older Windows versions, especially Windows 2000, which I feel could be entirely viable today. I could absolutely do all the writing I need to do with that and Office 2000 or whatever (I tried Office 95 as well, perfectly usable). But yes, the issue is the web, and you can’t install a modern and secure web browser on these platforms. And that makes it a nonstarter.

A better Windows UX

vernonlvincent asks:

Besides Curtains (from Stardock) – are there any interesting utilities and “UI-UX” apps that you think make Windows 10 more modern. For example – I’m using one called TaskbarX that centers the apps pins to the Windows taskbar (like in Window 10X).

I use both of those and those are the two I recommend to others. Here are the links for those unfamiliar:

Stardock Curtains

TaskBarX

Those are the only two I use on my own PCs, and I like the combination quiet a bit. But beyond that, I’d at least look at Stardock CursorFX, which provides Fluent mouse cursors, Stardock SoundPackager, which provides modern sound schemes, and Stardock Groupy, which implements that Sets (tabbed application windows) feature that Microsoft abandoned. If you’re not happy with the Windows 10 Start menu for some reason, there are lots of choices, but given the Stardock theme here, let’s just say Start10 as the obvious choice.

Headphones vs. headphone jacks

eeisner asks:

With the sad disappearance of the headphone jack, I’m in need of some new headphones. I’m a bit of a music snob (but not quite audiophile bad). What are your thoughts on the true wireless headphones? Are the Galaxy Buds Plus or Pixel Buds 2 worth buying? Is the audio quality any decent on these, or do you think the better solution is traditional wired headphones with a type-C adapter?

So, I just went through my own transition away from traditional wired headphones because that’s the way the industry is going. And because I switch between devices that use USB-C (Android) and Lightning (iPhone), I feel that wireless headphones are the way to go. That said, I still use some wired headphones in some conditions. And I still haven’t found an acceptable replacement for the Bose noise-canceling headphones that I love so much. Fortunately, I’m not flying right now so it’s not a pressing concern yet.

I can’t recommend what I do, because I use different headphones at different times.

But when I walk, I’ve been using Google Pixel USB-C earbuds, which are wired and inexpensive and work really well. (While using the iPhone, I used Apple’s wired Earpods, which are only OK.) The issue with walking is that too many headphones mask too much of the outside world and I can be startled if someone runs past me from behind. It’s happened too many times.

When I was going to a gym, I went through a couple of different wireless headphone sets. I have the previous-generation version of the Beats Wireless Earphones, which actually have a wire connecting the two sides, but I find that useless since they won’t fall to the ground if they come off. Plus, they have a ear wrap (or whatever it’s called) so they’re not falling off your ear anyway.

Those work pretty well. But I prefer true wireless earbuds. I got a free pair of first-generation Samsung Galaxy Buds when the Note 10 Plus came out, and I really liked them except that they would ring a little warning tune as I walked because they thought they were being dislodged when they weren’t. This made them unusuable for walks. But it was OK at the gym, and that issue never came up when I was on an elliptical or using weight machines.

When the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G came out, I got a free pair of the second-generation Samsung Galaxy Buds+, which have even better battery life and solve that weird issue I had with originals. So I could walk with the Buds+, but I found that they were a bit too good at masking outside sounds. Thus, I wear those wired headphones then instead.

I do really like the Galaxy Buds/Buds+. They require an Android app for updates and configuration, so they’re just dumb earbuds on iPhone. I suspect that the new Pixel Buds are good. But since the Samsungs are cheaper, I guess that would be my choice. I’ve not tried the new Pixel Buds.

Not sure if this really answers your question, but headphones are tough. In my experience, there just isn’t one right answer for everywhere/every time you want to use them.

Adding to your list, please watch the last 4 episodes of The Clone Wars on Disney +. You won’t regret it, and it may motivate you to watch some of the better arcs of the show. Some incredible Star Wars right there.

Oh, I will. 🙂

Maps in Windows 10

hillcountry asks:

Why does Microsoft still have a Maps app in Windows 10? I suppose it made sense when Microsoft had a mobile platform, but why keep it now? Do you think Microsoft will ever bring their Maps app to Android?

I don’t think there is a good reason to bring Microsoft’s Maps app to Android. But I suspect it’s in Windows because Windows PCs are used out in the field by first line workers, and some of them need this functionality. I can’t imagine very many individuals are sitting at their PCs using Maps.

Windows 10X vs. battery life

hrlngrv asks:

Re Windows 10X, a common claim is that running Win32 software in containers would save battery life. How?

Unless the container emulates slower, less powerful hardware, how would such software, in a given period of time, make fewer calls, use less CPU time, RAM fetches, disk and port reads except by performing fewer of them in number, i.e., as if running on slower, weaker hardware? Would that change when such software was running as the active window?

I don’t believe that running desktop applications in a container will improve better battery life; in fact, I’m sure the opposite is true. But the goal here is for users to not run desktop apps as often as possible. So in the same way that Windows 10 in S mode allegedly provides better battery life, so too would Windows 10X … until you ran desktop applications. In that case, you’d see higher resource usage all around, and I would assume diminished performance and battery life. But just having that capability is the important bit.

Madthinus does bring up an interesting point, however: The system could automatically suspend the Win32 container when those apps were not in use, and that would immediately suspend whatever background processes were running too. So maybe this could be architected in a way that helps battery life overall. Just not when you’re literally using one of those apps. (Suspend/resume on the Win32 container would have performance implications, too, of course.)

This is one of many reasons why we need the ability to run Windows 10X on existing PCs. I’d love to test this via the Windows Insider program and have a better understand of where it’s really at.

Panos, Windows 10, and innovation

madthinus asks:

For all of Panos talk about innovation, I am not seeing it in 20H1 or 20H2? There is very little in these two releases. The biggest feature in 20H1 for me is Direct X 12 Ultimate, but nVidia only have beta support at this time and AMD and Intel needs to launch products first. Is there anything in these builds or in 20H2 that shows us a hint of what is to come. Or will all of this only start to land in 21H1? Or is it ultimate, what I think it is, lip service to Windows, a product that empowers businesses to get the job done and Microsoft just remembered that bit of inconvenient truth again?

So I did write about this topic in Panos, Word by Word (Premium), but my key takeaway is that I believe he conflated two different kinds of Windows 10—i.e. Windows 10 for desktop and Windows 10X—in his “accelerating innovation” post. And after carefully reading and re-reading that, I think he was referring only to Windows 10X in the bit about innovation in the second halves of 2020 and 2021.

If you accept that both Windows 10 for desktop and Windows 10 “are” Windows 10, then what he wrote is fine, if vague. But I hope that this doesn’t mean that he is stepping back from the current Windows 10 for desktop release schedule in which the H1 releases are feature packs and the H2 releases are just cumulative updates with fixes and longer-term support. I think this system makes sense.

As for innovation in Windows 10 version 2004, I’m not sure what to say. I don’t think we need much in the way of innovation in this product, and that Microsoft’s bets for the future are better served by 10X. And I do think that’s what he really meant.

Xbox Series X gameplay

Maciek asks:

Any comments after the last Inside Xbox show? I know there was no Call of Duty announcement, so you’ve probably missed it 😉 , but I’m sure you’ve at least seen the recap. To be honest, I was very disappointed. Xbox was doing an excellent job providing us with more and more information about Xbox Series X. No theatricality, no nonsense, just pure data about the capabilities of the new platform. So when everybody from Xbox team teased us with ‘first look on gameplays on Xbox Series X’ I was expecting just that.

I watched it live, and I loved it. I was blown away by the quality of the graphics, which are best seen by viewing the YouTube version in 4K, which I did. It was so good, I sent the link to a few friends via Skype and made sure they watched in 4K.

So I’m not sure what disappointed you. This was the first look at actual Xbox Series X gameplay as expected, and it was like a mini version of what we usually see at E3. Microsoft says they’ll be doing more of this each month, too, which seems fine to me.

We saw ‘in-engine’ (so probably running on a high end PC) cutscenes of games coming out on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, XSX, etc. I’m not angry about the quality of those games (this is subjective, and some of them actually look interesting) nor that they are not Xbox exclusive (we knew beforehand that this show was all about 3rd party, that was made clear). But lying is a rare thing for the Xbox team. It was very disappointing. Do you know what the heck went wrong?

You’re suggesting that these videos were fake, and were made on PCs and not the Xbox? I don’t know what to say to that.

The promise of Xbox Series X is simple: 4K or better resolution all the time and 60 fps or better all the time. And if what they showed is what this looks like, great. The big difference in AAA gaming now compared to say 10 years ago is that the same engine is used for everything, whereas in the past, cutscenes were of higher quality than the game play, and it was obvious. Today, those transitions are much more seamless.

Anyway, I thought it was fantastic.

Pinned browser tabs

Zinger asks:

Thanks to your tip I’m using pinned tabs in the new Edge browser. Are these pinned tabs supposed to survive restarting Edge or restarting the PC? Usually they don’t for me but I could swear they used to. If not, how would you suggest producing a set of 4 or 5 tabs that I want to keep opened (and pinned)? Collections? Thanks!

The trick is that you must close that window last if you have multiple browser windows open too. And you also need to use the setting “Continue where you left off” in Settings and more (“…”) > On startup in Edge.

If you do mistakenly close this window when you have other Edge windows open, you can get it back via History, either immediately or the next time you open the browser.

This and other great Windows 10 tips can be found in the Windows 10 Field Guide, if you’ll excuse the plug. 🙂