Ask Paul: April 15 (Premium)

Happy Friday! Here’s another great set of reader questions to kick off the weekend a bit early. I think we all share the same concerns.

12th-Gen Intel Core processors

thejoefin asks:

Have you had any ‘hands on’ with Intel 12th gen devices?

Yes. But only one of them is relevant so far: I’m currently testing a Lenovo Yoga 9i that’s based on a 12th-Gen Intel Core mobile P-series (28-watt) chipset, the Core i7-1260P. Previous to the official 12th-Gen reveal, HP let me briefly look at a 12th-Gen-based Elite Dragonfly G3 (here and here), but that was more about assessing the updated design than the innards, which were locked down and not served by proper drivers.

Do they seem like a major improvement, or more of the yearly incremental evolution of performances and battery life?

I’ve not noticed any major improvements in performance or battery life so far, but then I also haven’t measured either formally yet either. I was hoping to bring this laptop to Mexico City on Monday, but we had to cancel that trip—a necessary piece of governmental documentation hasn’t arrived in time, and we can’t finalize our apartment purchase there until it does—and I was hoping to use that trip to get a better handle on real-world battery life.

But don’t take that as a negative. The instant-on performance is terrific and the fact that a hybrid chipset like this is working normally is good news, especially given the weird issues we saw with PCs based on Intel’s more limited hybrid chipset releases in the past. The fact that they’re transitioned their entire mainstream chipset family to this architecture, and also expanded it with new product families with different thermal designs, is impressive. I really like that they made this step forward, and I think it’s the right direction.

With regards to the Yoga, I was planning to publish the review before the end of next week in Mexico, but I will do so from here instead.

App stores

helix2301 asks:

I wanted to ask your thoughts on the Microsoft Store I recently got accepted into the Store Preview program and my question is where do you think Microsoft stands with their store vs Mac App Store. I remember a few years ago you and Andrew talking about how Apple Mac Store was no where as big as iOS App Store which is understandable 100 million macs vs 1 billion iPhones.

It is interesting to me that the Mac App Store never really “took off” in the same way that Apple’s mobile app store did. And there were, of course, major differences between the Mac App Store and the Windows/Microsoft Store (on PC) at the inception of each: where the Mac App Store didn’t require a new app platform, the Microsoft version did. (Only Metro-style/Modern/Universal/Store apps were originally available in the store in the Microsoft side.)

Today, of course, that is different, and there are multiple app types available from the Microsoft Store, including traditional desktop apps. That makes the Microsoft Store more interesting, of course, but the two stores are now more similar today in some ways as a result. (I know the Mac App Store offers Catalyst apps as well as traditional Mac apps, for example. Not sure about web apps, but probably not.)

The central issues with both stores are the same, too: PC and Mac users are used to getting software from the web, for one thing, and the stores introduce yet another way to update software. Granted, this is at least theoretically better than each web-downloaded app offering its own updating scheme—getting rid of updater utilities that launched at Windows boot time was a key selling point of the Windows/Microsoft Store—but it’s not clear that casual users understand this or care. From my perspective, that does matter, and I also like the more liberal licensing you get through the Store, where you can install a purchased app on multiple PCs.

Ultimately, I think the perception issue here is that people think “app store” on mobile, which limits the appeal of web apps on mobile. And people think “web” on PC/Mac, which limits the appeal of walled garden app stores. (There are exceptions. Gamers may think “Steam” when it comes to games, for example.)

Microsoft has 1.5 billion Windows machines do you think they have any chance capturing marketshare do you think its a conditioning thing like Windows users just used to downloading apps. Do you think its the openess of Windows vs the iOS store which you have have get apps through the app store. If thats the case that would make sense why the mac store never took off like apple thought it would. But Androids people use Google store and thats open platform. Just wanted your thoughts.

After a rough start, Microsoft has done the right thing with its app store by lowering developer fees and opening up the platform to every type of app imaginable. And you can see the result when you open it: where the Windows 8 app store was this panorama of crappy apps made largely by amateurs, the Microsoft Store at least looks and feels like a professional operation stocked with professional apps and games. (And, for some reason, movies and TV shows. Maybe that should be in the Movies & TV app, but whatever.)

Whether that translates, finally, to success—seriously, we’re hitting the store’s 10-year anniversary this year!–is a matter of conjecture. Microsoft has done what it should do. We’ll see if it’s enough to overcome the user base’s inertia. And that engagement problem I keep mentioning: most people don’t sit down at a PC and wonder what wonderful new apps and games might be out there. (That said, I don’t do that on mobile now either, and I bet the app store engagement numbers have fallen overall in recent years on the Apple App Store and Google Play too.)

I don’t have any hard numbers on the Mac App Store, but I assume engagement is low there too and that most users only use it because they have to: they get a notification when there are updates to built-in apps like Pages and Keynote, or key Apple apps like Xcode. I suspect attempts to turn Linux package managers into app stores haven’t been all that successful or interesting to users either. I just don’t think people browse for new apps on desktop systems.

Duopoly

crunchyfrog asks:

The Surface Duo 2 is now $500 off direct from Microsoft or Best Buy and $700 off for the original Duo and as far as I know, none of the major carriers have picked either model up yet. I know that some folks are into this device but I personally view it as a marketing failure. How many iterations do you expect Microsoft will be willing to produce before they pull the plug?

The problems with Surface Duo are manyfold. But to me, the central issue is the debate over the merits of dual displays. But whatever: even fans of the Duo would likely admit that a two-screen design is a placeholder until folding display technology is viable, at which point Microsoft will finally move on to what its competitors are already doing. And then … what? Microsoft isn’t exactly a go-to brand in the Android space. I assume the point here is to attract enterprise customers and, to a lesser degree, Surface fans. Could this business make sense over time?

I don’t believe so. We were talking about the consumerization of IT over a decade ago, but these days, most people simply use their own phones. We have the management infrastructure in place to separate work and personal data on devices and remotely wipe just the work data. And while this is just an opinion, I think the era of some businesses supplying phones to their employees is ending. And for those companies that still do this, why on earth would they go with a Microsoft device when their employees want/expect iPhones and Samsung handsets?

Additionally, if/when Microsoft does pull the plug on Duo, do you expect they may replace it with another design or simply exit the mobile space… again?

We can only speculate. But there’s a line of failures from Zune to Windows Phone/Lumia to Duo that seems pretty obvious and almost preordained. I have never understood Microsoft’s fixation on home-built hardware, and one thing that its enterprise customers will always do is require that employees use Microsoft software and services on whatever devices they do use. That’s in Microsoft’s wheelhouse. Devices are not.

Futility

hrlngrv

My 1st question is snarky: are there any activities with as little demonstrable value as submitting problems or requests in the Feedback Hub?

LOL.

Honestly, probably yeah. I mentioned in the Premium newsletter recently that I complain to Google 2-3 times per week about articles in the Technology section of Google News that are not technology articles, and I’ve never once heard back, nor has my complaining made a single iota of difference. And I have complained about a home in my neighborhood that’s listed as a business in Google Maps—which is not possible given the zoning—so many times that they’ve blocked me from complaining. I guess in that case at least I got some response. Not what I wanted, of course.

But for anyone who cares about Windows and Microsoft, the Feedback Hub is a particularly useless afront for sure.

My rather more serious 2nd question: what do you believe MSFT needs to do for enterprises to embrace Windows 11?

I don’t think there’s anything it can do. Microsoft has decided to go forward with this simpler (and subjectively pretty) user interface, and businesses are simply on a countdown clock to when Windows 10 is no longer supported. (Plus, an additional 3-5 years, I bet, as Microsoft will no doubt offer paid extended support for its biggest customers.) By that time, the Windows 11 hardware requirements, which are onerous today, will be a lot more acceptable, and PCs based on 7th-Gen Intel Core processors (and their equivalents) or older will be antiquated and will be replaced anyway. And so businesses will do what they always did, and just upgrade at their own speed.

And to be fair, one issue I and others have raised—the training and/or help desk support required because some features are missing or moved elsewhere—may not be as serious as feared. Users are on the one hand creatures of habit, and we all expect UI to be what we’re used to. But we can also adapt pretty easily to different UIs, too: we may use an iPhone and a Windows PC, for example. Microsoft will make minor functional updates as we go forward, but I think most people will adapt quickly enough regardless. And if businesses are waiting years to upgrade, that will give IT time to offer quick How-To guides for the transition when needed.

But it doesn’t matter. Windows 10 and 11 are roughly identical for the most part, and those businesses that have a mix of both for some time will probably be fine. This isn’t like the fire drill that happened when everyone skipped or hated Windows 8 and had to move quickly to Windows 10. The move to Windows 11 can happen at a more leisurely pace and it’s not necessarily a defeat. It’s almost more a commentary on how good Windows 10 is and thus how stable the platform really is overall.

Fixing Windows 11

SherlockHolmes asks:

So after me switching back to Windows 10 I just wanted to ask you what are your thoughts about Microsoft changing back to old settings on those things:

Lightning round time! (These are all opinions of course…)

Making it easier to choose the default apps

They’ve already made this change in the Insider Preview Program, so we presumably will see it in stable at or before the first Windows 11 feature update. Granted, it’s not exactly what customers and competitors are asking for. For example, when you use the coming new UI to make, say, Chrome your default browser, it only switches 4 of the available 12 file/link associations to your new choice, and it leaves the rest associated with Edge or other applications. And Windows 11 will still use Edge for certain things, like when you click on a story in Widgets or a web-based result in Start Search. So Microsoft has done the minimum here, and I don’t see it taking further steps unless it’s forced to by antitrust regulators.

Bring back old functions in general

Based on Microsoft’s recent revelation about the Windows 11 Taskbar, this will be a mixed bag and best and will probably never rise to the level most of us are hoping for. Looking just at the Taskbar, there are so many missing features, and I’m sure Microsoft will continue to use telemetry-based justifications for never bringing back most of them.

Stopping on always pretend that Microsoft knows what’s best for their customers

This will never happen.

The sheer number of times I see some pop-up interface ask me whether I’d like to use “the Microsoft defaults” or “the Microsoft recommendations” in Windows these days is incredible. Even PC makers get in on this game: HP and Lenovo (at least) have both displayed UIs about some feature specific to their PCs and there was a checked option box about using Bing for search results or whatever. This will never stop.

Expanding the life circle on Windows 10 Enterprise (like they did on Windows 7)

100 percent. Given the slow upgrade cycle for Windows 11, there will still be a high percentage of enterprise PCs running Windows 10 the year that Windows 10 support ends. The question, I guess, is whether Microsoft is more aggressive on the time frame and/or cost of that additional support. But I don’t see this not happening.

Giving real choices in how something works in Windows

This falls under that slippery slope thing: Microsoft has long been jealous of the control that Apple, in particular, has over its platforms, and it has been moving in that directly steadily ever since. This will only get worse over time, and while we will see temporary wins when customers complain, we’ll also see more attempts at control, like forcing users to use Microsoft accounts when they sign in. The future is more controlled not less. And the justification will be that that’s how all modern mainstream platforms are. It’s for your benefit. Because Microsoft knows best. (See above.)

This is all somewhat depressing. But technical people/power users should be able to work around most of the limitations. And we can of course look at rival platforms, though most suffer from similar problems.

I’m working on my Windows 11 Field Guide and while I’ve sort of restarted this project a few times, I think I’ve arrived at the right format, which is basically focusing on what’s new and figuring out the workarounds to the problems. It’s kind of a how-to for living with this stuff.