Living with Windows 8

I’ve been running a version of Windows 8 now for approximately 2 years and I’ve been quietly collecting my thoughts while Microsoft put together its formal marketing strategy around the “post-PC era” and its new “touch-first” operating system.  I’m not interested in debating Windows 8 vs. iOS/Android.  From a feature comparison, they are competitive (period).  So the rest is opinion on ecosystem, specifics, individual need, etc.

payday loans

Instead, I’d rather share my personal experience with Windows 8, how I use it and why I believe in Microsoft’s strategy.

History

When both the iPhone and iPad were released, I -like many others- bought in to what was then a non-existent world of apps, social networking and productivity in my pocket.  I loved it and told everyone I knew that I loved it.  However, from day one, on both devices, there were limitations in what I could do.

I was a HUGE music buff, but certainly didn’t have the budget to support buying every song I liked.  I also noticed that my iPhone (and later my iPad) turned into great notification & web browsing devices…For example, I would receive an email, that required a decent response, and I found myself digging out my laptop to respond.  A lot has changed since then though.  Subscription services like Spotify and Pandora are mature and Bluetooth keyboards are paired with about 1 out of 4 iPads I see.

What I love

Xbox Music
After leaving the Apple ecosystem, I found myself in Zune and have never looked back.  Not only was the Zune software significantly better for exploring music.  Also, with Zune, and now Xbox Music, I only pay $9.99/month and I can stream OR download all the music I want.  I build playlists for working out, writing code (yes I still do some), social gatherings, etc.  Not only does it work great on Windows 8, but it’s built in to my Windows phone and our Xbox too.

Messenger / Skype
The built-in messenger is pretty cool.  Skype is obviously great and well adopted across the world.  At first glance of the Messenger app, it appears like you would only be able to chat with fellow Windows 8 users, but if you link up your Facebook account to your Microsoft account, you have access to all of your Facebook friends too.  This feature is a home run on my Lumia 920 too.  It blends messages that come via Facebook, Messaging (same as Windows 8) and txt messages.  In both cases, it lets me carry on a single conversation thread with a person no matter what platform they are on.

Live Tiles
Live tiles may seem like a minor thing until you realize how much time you spend opening apps just to see IF there is anything in them you want to see (Weather, Mail, Calendar, Facebook, Twitter, News, etc. etc.)  I turned my live tiles off the other day just to test my use of them and I was blown away at how much I felt disconnected.  The live tiles really provide a lot of information that make your device personal and informative.

Xbox SmartGlass
SmartGlass is still relatively new, but the existing functionality paired with potential are amazing.  You can control your Xbox (music, TV, movies, etc) from your Windows 8 device.  I’m not a huge gamer, but we are already seeing SmartGlass “companion” video and games come out.

Share and Search
We’ve heard enough of the Charms in Windows 8, but I seriously lean on the Share and Search features of Windows 8 in almost every app.  My largest “consumer” usage covers Browser, Music, News and Recipe apps.  Search and Share have ways of tracking your frequent actions so they are easily available.  For instance, I share news articles with several colleagues (typically the same ones) and share recipes with my mom and wife.  With 3 taps, an email is sent off (without having to retype email addresses each time) and I continue on working in the app.

These are just a few ways Windows 8 has been successful to me.  With updates coming in “Windows Blue”, the integration between Xbox, Windows 8 and Windows Phone will be even tighter.  (details to come)

 

Posted on April 19, 2013 in desktop, general, productivity

0  

SharePoint Yammer Roadmap

Microsoft recently published a blog detailing some SharePoint, Yammer, Office 365 roadmap disclosures.  I won’t repost the entire link, you can read it for yourself, but wanted to highlight a few key items that are important.

http://blogs.office.com/b/sharepoint/archive/2013/03/19/yammer-and-sharepoint-enterprise-social-roadmap-update.aspx

 

Enhancement Schedule
As we move into 2014, we’ll continue updating Office 365 with new social enhancements roughly every 90 days. We’ll start by simply deepening the connections between Yammer and Office 365 services, but over time these incremental enhancements will combine social, collaboration, email, instant messaging, voice, video, and line of business applications in innovative new ways.

Another reason why cloud services are perfect for delivering constant innovation to your organization

Newsfeed or Yammer?  Which should we use?
This summer, Office 365 customers will be able to replace the SharePoint Newsfeed with Yammer if they choose.  Is that the right choice?  In my opinion, yes…Yammer all the way.  Because Yammer is a service, it gives Microsoft an easy way to innovate quicker.  Also, Microsoft is making huge investments to integrate Yammer in as many products as possible.  SharePoint, Office 365, Dynamics, etc.  Yammer’s cross-platform mobile apps and external communities make it prime for instant social collaboration.

What about on-premises deployments? “When it comes to the cloud, we’re “all in,” but we’re also realistic.  We have a large on-premises installed base that’s important to us, and we’re committed to future releases of the server.” 

However, on-prem deployments will be subject to similar historical release schedules (every 3 years) with some service pack updates along the way.  For organizations that need to provide modern capabilities as markets (and employees) demand, cloud services are still the best way to go.

 

Posted on March 20, 2013 in cloud, productivity

Tags: , , , ,

0  

Bye Bye Reader

If you haven’t heard, Google (“do no evil”) is shutting down Google Reader, among other apps on July 1.  Speaking for many colleagues, Google Reader was an integral part of my social and news gathering process.  I have SEVERAL apps (mobile, traditional, etc.) that use Google Reader as the aggregation back end and it begs the question, what is my alternative.

Until I find the next best thing, I am compiling a list of alternatives that I will begin evaluating and sharing feedback here.  Also worth noting, I am not including “desktop” applications in my search.  FeedDemon is probably one of the best here for Windows.

 

NOTE: My search started out great, but due to an overwhelming amount of people looking for alternatives, most of these sites are not working appropriately any more.  Check back in the next day or so.

 

News Blur – http://www.newsblur.com/

Limitations in free account (only 64 sites is not going to cut it for me). However, I haven’t hit that limit yet and have found the site very intuitive and gives me a near Google Reader experience. Haven’t found any apps that support this (Windows specifically). For now, this is my tool.

 

Feedly – http://www.feedly.com/

Great – only that it is Firefox add-in, iOS/Android only.  Seems to be VERY popular on Twitter as an alternative.  When I load the add-in, it still asks me for a Google account.  It appears to be importing my feeds, which is ok now…but after Google Reader goes away, curious what the experience will be like.  The interface is slick and appears to offer me a comparable experience.  No Windows apps, but for others this won’t be as much of a problem.

 

 

Good Noows – http://goodnoows.com/

Simple, slick user interface.  Allows for Google Reader OPML import.  Several options to customize the layout of the page.  Good list of sources to pick from.  Doesn’t appear to have any mobile app support, but the browser experience on my Surface is not bad.

 

Q. Sensei Feedbooster – http://feeds.qsensei.com/home.html

Could not create an account. Navigating the site was awkward.  Seemed like I was logged in, but couldn’t click on anything, could not login, manage feeds, etc.

 

The Old Reader – http://theoldreader.com/

Looks promising. However, (no surprise) they are throttling their imports.  It also appears that they do not support tagging.

 

Netvibes – http://www.netvibes.com/en

Looks great – but pricing seems outrageous.   Logged in with Facebook and am working on adding content.  Doesn’t appear to be a Google Reader or OPML import feature.  It seems overly complex in comparison to Google Reader.  There appears to be an API, but my guess is that not many apps will support this.

Posted on March 13, 2013 in cloud, education, general, productivity

0  

Windows Store App: PictureThis!

I’ve been on a “shameless plug” tour this last week, sharing my latest app submission to the Windows Store.  Wanted to share the app through a blog post and also announce that I will be sharing a few of the lessons learned from this development experience as well.  So take a peak at the app, leave a good review and check back here for some updates on Windows Store development.

Install PictureThis! – http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/app/picture-this/dff4de15-a5e1-4dd5-ad04-f7cf669ee239

 

Posted on January 3, 2013 in application platform, desktop, general

Tags: , ,

SharePoint Saturday (Fall 2012)

SharePoint Saturday returns to Minnesota the first Saturday in November.

Join SharePoint architects, developers and information workers for our next ‘SharePoint Saturday’ event. SharePoint Saturday is an educational, informative and lively day filled with sessions from respected SharePoint professionals and MVPs. We cover a wide variety of SharePoint topics with sessions for Information Workers, IT Pros and Developers. We also offer a SharePoint 101 track and hands-on labs! SharePoint Saturday is FREE, open to the public and is your local chance to immerse yourself in SharePoint!

There will once again be 8 concurrent sessions running in order to offer more content than ever before. Stop by the event site to see the schedule, sessions, and speakers.

The Hands-On lab sessions are returning, as well as the Intro to SharePoint track targeted to people wanting to understand what SharePoint is, how to be successful with the SharePoint platform, how together requirements and understanding ROI.

Date: November 3rd, 2012
Time: 8:15 AM – 4:30 PM
Cost: FREE

Normandale Community College
9700 France Avenue South
Bloomington, MN 55431

registernow

Posted on October 1, 2012 in application platform, education, productivity

Tags: , , , ,

0  

Windows 8 Developer Hackathon

As a follow up to Day 1: Windows 8 Developer Bootcamp  Microsoft is hosting a second FREE developer focused training event

Combining the broad reach of Windows, best-in-class developer tools, a re-imagined user experience, support for new chipsets, and a built-in store with industry-leading business terms, Windows 8 is the largest developer opportunity – ever. Also re-imagined, with new support for IaaS, FREE web sites, industrial strength caching and a powerful, comprehensive API, Windows Azure is ready for your application – today.

Our Hackathon is an open Windows 8 and Windows Azure code fest, where you’ll put what you know into practice and be eligible to win some great prizes! Code to your heart’s content, with Microsoft experts available to guide you through every step of the process. It’s the perfect opportunity to get your dream application underway, or to finish that app you’ve already started.

This full-day event will be filled with coding, sharing, plenty of food, and perhaps the occasional Lightning Talk on topics determined by your apps and questions.

http://www.erickraus.com/event/201210-windows-8-developer-hackathon/

Posted on September 21, 2012 in application platform, cloud, desktop, education

Tags: , , , ,

0  

Windows 8 Developer Bootcamp

Here’s a great opportunity to get some FREE hands-on experience developing Windows 8 applications.

http://www.erickraus.com/event/201210-windows-8-developer-camp/

Training Overview:

Combining the broad reach of Windows, best-in-class developer tools, a re-imagined user experience, support for new chipsets, and a built-in store with industry-leading business terms, Windows 8 is the largest developer opportunity – ever.

Our DevCamp covers Windows 8 RTM from top to bottom, featuring sessions that run from introductory to intermediate as the day unfolds.Bring your PCs installed with Windows 8 RTM,Visual Studio 2012, your apps and your cool ideas and get ready to create!

Also, stick around for Day 2: Windows 8 Developer Hackathon

Posted on September 21, 2012 in application platform, cloud, education, innovation

Tags: , , , ,

0  

Virtualization with Windows Server 2012

Microsoft just recently announced the release of Windows Server 2012.  You can find more on this announcement here ( microsoft.com/ws2012 ).

I wanted to take a moment to highlight some of the improvements in Server 2012, specifically around virtualization.  It is a fair statement that Microsoft has been playing a catch up game with virtualization over the first few years of the product existance.

That changed significantly, with Hyper-V on Server 2008, when customers saw an enterprise class hypervisor emerge.  It further improved with the release of Windows Server 2008 R2.   And now…with additions to Hyper-V on Server 2012, Microsoft is leading the industry in hypervisor specifications.  Have a look:

===========================================================================

Windows Server 2012 Standard/Datacenter Editions with Hyper-V Enabled

===========================================================================

 

Windows Server 2008 R2

Windows Server 2012

Improvement Factor

Logical Processors Per Host

64

320*

5x

Physical Memory per Host

1 Terabyte

4 Terabytes*

4x

Virtual Processors per Host

512

2048*

4x

Virtual Machines per Host

384

1024*

2.7x
       

Virtual Processors per VM

4

64

16x

Memory per VM

64 Gigabytes

1 Terabyte

16x

Maximum Virtual Disk

~2 TB

64 TB*

32x
       

Nodes in a Cluster

16

64*

4x

Virtual Machine in a Cluster

1,000

8,000*

8x

*= Industry Leading

 

Posted on September 5, 2012 in cloud, datacenter, virtualization

Tags: , , ,

0  

Windows 8 has Released to Manufacturing

Windows 8 has officially Released to Manufacturing (RTM).  I wanted to share a recent blog post with information regarding this milestone, but call out a few important dates for those people eager to get their hands on Windows 8.

Blogging Windows

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2012/08/01/windows-8-has-reached-the-rtm-milestone.aspx

Important Dates

  • August 15th: Developers will be able to download the final version of Windows 8 via your MSDN subscriptions.
  • August 15th: IT professionals testing Windows 8 in organizations will be able to access the final version of Windows 8 through your TechNet subscriptions.
  • August 16th: Customers with existing Microsoft Software Assurance for Windows will be able to download Windows 8 Enterprise edition through the Volume License Service Center (VLSC), allowing you to test, pilot and begin adopting Windows 8 Enterprise within your organization.
  • August 16th: Microsoft Partner Network members will have access to Windows 8.
  • August 20th: Microsoft Action Pack Providers (MAPS) receive access to Windows 8.
  • September 1st: Volume License customers without Software Assurance will be able to purchase Windows 8 through Microsoft Volume License Resellers.

Posted on August 1, 2012 in desktop, innovation, productivity

Tags: , , ,

0  

Azure IAAS Crash Course

Check out this great compilation of learning material on Azure Infrastructure as a Service.  It covers Azure Virtual Machine and Virtual Networks fairly extensively.

http://michaelwasham.com/2012/07/09/windows-azure-iaas-overload/

Enjoy.

Posted on July 10, 2012 in cloud, datacenter

Tags: , , , , ,

0