All posts tagged Microsoft

Digital Sketching

Martin · 2 years

I've been using a Surface Book for my digital sketching since the device launched, back in 2015/2016, and it's served me well. For a first-generation device, it's a great machine. Were it not for its waning battery life and increasingly slow feel, I'd probably keep using it.

So I've been eyeing an upgrade for a while now, following the release of the Surface Book 2 and then the Surface Book 3, but noting several issues with each iteration of the hardware: pen input jitter, battery volatility, specs that aren't even close to cutting edge, etc. It's been disappointing watching the Book line be relegated to the back of the pack.

I'd hoped this year we'd see a refresh that made an upgrade worth it - even at a premium cost - but I don't see any updates on the horizon, especially with the global chip shortage looking like it'll continue on into next year.

Where does that put me? Well, if you remember some of my really old blog posts, I'm eating crow. I'm trying out an iPad Pro as a replacement.

It's Microsoft's loss, honestly. I've been an evangelist for the Surface Book since I've owned one, and I still like the device. But it just doesn't make sense for me to wait another 6-12 months for a half-step upgrade. Especially when it might still have the same issues people are facing now. Especially with the less accurate pen input. Especially when it will likely cost more.

I might come back to the Surface Book in the future, but for now, I'm going with an iPad Pro for digital drawing. Let's see where that takes me.

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I played the new Microsoft Flight Simulator very briefly on my computer last year, and it was impressive. Flying around Sacramento was really neat, and the ability to change the flight conditions and see things look just about how they do in person was incredible.

Still, it ran a bit poorly, and after an update or two, the game wouldn't load and needed to be re-downloaded to get fixed. Not wanting to pull down another 100GB, I figured I'd try the game again once it was released on console - which I assumed would be a more stable, if less graphically intense, experience.

Judging from the video of the game shown during Xbox's E3 event this year (above), this might be the best of both worlds. The game looks beautiful, and is being heavily optimized for the upcoming console release. I can't wait to take to the skies again!

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New Phone On The Way

Martin · 12 years

So I'm finally getting a new phone, and taking the plunge and getting a smart phone, no less. I'm replacing my old LG Chocolate with an HTC Trophy, which as I am typing this, is currently riding shotgun with some anonymous FedEx driver, getting ready for glorious times ahead with Marty.

In case you're not up on your phones, the HTC Trophy is a Windows Phone 7 phone. I tried out the iPhone 4, and though I like my iPod Touch, I just can't get that far in with Apple at this point, and it annoys me that everyone has them. I also tried a handful of Android phones, and while I liked some of the features they offered, it all seemed a little janky. I think I'm just kind of tired of thumbing through pages of tiny icons.

Finally, I tried out Windows Phone 7, and frankly, I like it. It's different, but not pointlessly so. It's got a sharp look, and it's all simply coherent and snappy. Also, since I had an upgrade coming from Verizon, and since they were doing some kind of online promotion, I got the new phone for only $50. This is my golden parachute for if it doesn't work out, but I have high hopes for it and don't expect that to happen.

But before you get all huffy and start hammering out a comment on why I should have gotten Phone X instead, let's share a moment reflecting on the things I won't be missing about my old LG Chocolate. If we can't love the same thing, let's hate the same thing, alright?

The navigation wheel.

Visually, the shiny navigation wheel on the face of the Chocolate is actually interesting. It makes the phone look like it will be fun to use and lends it a foreign air of functionality. You don't know what the wheel does or how it would feel to use it, but you suspect that it makes things easy, and that there might be many hidden uses to that wheel that your mind couldn't possibly have imagined. The wheel even gives the phone a retro-iPod look.

Sadly, the wheel is not awesome. Not even remotely. Instead of being a touch-based input, like the iPod of old that it pays homage to, or even the other four buttons on the face of the phone, this wheel is exactly that: a wheel. It's a piece of shiny plastic that your thumb has to actually rotate to work, and it's not easy to find the right place between way-too-sensitive and turning-the-wheel-around-three-times-to-get-the-menu-to-move-ahead-one-item.

When the phone is unlocked but no menus are invoked, the wheel also has the added benefit of opening the useless calendar widget. This widget does nothing but show the current date and time, which you could have already seen on the home screen behind it, and it runs poorly to boot. So poorly, in fact, that if you accidentally leave the widget open for long enough for the phone to lock again, it stops actually telling the time, freezes up, and then the phone actually takes a minute or two to close it later when you realize what happened. As you might imagine, this is loads of fun when you're trying to make a call quickly or you just want to see what time it is.

The awful spell-checking

Or more precisely, the spell-checking dictionary auto-add feature, which is impossible to access. Though there aren't that many words that aren't in the dictionary by default, occasionally you have to enter your own words in the LG Chocolate 2, which isn't all that painful an experience; you just put the phone in a different text entry mode, type the word, and then continue your text. When you do this, the phone adds your new word to its internal dictionary. So far so good. Later on, when you use the word again, it's easy to use because the phone will help you fill it in automatically.

Unfortunately, the auto-add feature isn't particularly smart, so there are many instances where you don't want it to add something, because you're not going to type it all the time, but it goes ahead and does it anyway. Further, it remembers capital letters and treats periods and commas as part of words, so if you are using a word for the first time at the beginning or end of a sentence, the dictionary entry for that word will always be that way.

There also doesn't seem to be a weighting system for how often you use words, so for example (and this is the one I hate the absolute most), one time I pressed the buttons 9, 6, 8, 1 to type out the number "968y" with a comma at the end. Now, every time I type the word "you", (also 9, 6, 8) and then add a period to the end (1), the Chocolate 2 replaces my perfectly ended sentence with "986,". Nevermind the fact that I've typed 9, 6, 8, 1 hundreds of times now, and only once have I ever wanted it to be "968,". It suggests this to me every time. And so far as I can tell, there's no official way for going in and deleting the entry from the phone's internal dictionary.

If LG added this feature to the phone to make me want to throw it as far as I possibly can every time it happens, then let me be the first to say that they did a fine job of it. A damn fine job.

The missing 4 key

I think this one was probably a sign that my time with my LG Chocolate 2 was drawing to a rapid close, but a few months ago I was furiously texting, and I felt something odd happen beneath my left thumb. The hitherto solid, mostly immovable, and always reliable 4 key finally decided it was time to abandon ship, severed its bonds with the glowing rubbery button below, and ungracefully fell to the floor below. Since then, it's been weird typing words that use the letters g, h, or i.

I don't blame 4 for finally giving up. I don't really even text that often, but I probably would have fell off the Chocolate 2 long ago, if I were 4. I'm proud of him for sticking around as long as he did.

Non-sending text messages

Over the course of the last half year or so, my Chocolate 2 has become increasingly unwilling to send out my text messages, sometimes making me cancel the text and try to send it two or three times before it works.

It's an annoying problem, and it's made worse by the fact that one often doesn't watch his phone after pressing the Send button to make sure the text actually gets sent - it's assumed that it is, the phone is locked and put away, and the Text Messenger goes on his merry way. Quite often I respond very quickly to texts, only to find out an hour or so later that my efforts at fast text turnaround were in vain; the message did not actually go through, and the person expecting a response is now pissed off, and/or wondering what happened to me. If I want to snub someone by not responding to their text, I'd rather do it on my terms, than have my phone decide for me when such snubbing is appropriate. Especially since my phone does not seem to be good at making these kinds of decisions.

I'm hoping this isn't a problem with Verizon itself, but nobody else I know who has Verizon has this problem, so... there you go. I think this problem might actually stem from my dropping the phone a few times during its years of service, but hey, then it's a design/engineering problem. Still not my fault. Things that are my fault wouldn't fit well in this list of faults anyway, now would they?

Crap OS

Maybe it's called Qualcomm BREW, or maybe it doesn't even have a name. Regardless, I'm calling it Crap OS because it's a crappy operating system. From the aforementioned calendar widget issue to the many times where I haven't been able to delete messages from the phone (because the inbox got too full... that makes sense, right?), I've experienced a lot of annoyances with this OS.

About the only thing I like about Crap OS is that it's generally simple, and since Verizon seems to have it on all of their non-smart phones, it makes it easy to pick up and use virtually any of those phones, once you know your way around. My phone also had a few themes to change the feel of the OS, and they actually worked pretty well too, I will say. Still, I don't think I'm going to be lamenting the upgrade any time soon.

Let me close this list by saying that, despite my ranting here, I actually don't hate the LG Chocolate. It has many flaws, like just about any phone. But it served me well.

Anyway, that's the long and short of it. A new phone is on the way, and I'm pretty excited about it. I'll report back here (and elsewhere, I'm sure) when I get it. Anyone else out there have an HTC Trophy?

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Though I would normally shun someone who would buy an operating system on launch day, a week ago I bought, downloaded, and installed the newest version of Microsoft's OS, Windows 7. It's nice to have a modern OS on my recently assembled machine, and though the transition from XP was a bit jarring in some respects, any unexpected problems have been minimal so far. Overall, I'm glad I made the switch.

Of course, I went into this only after reading a lot about the upcoming OS and playing around with the beta version for a while. Despite its many criticisms, Vista represented a big leap forward in terms of the underlying systems of Windows, and a lot of growing pains for the platform were felt upon its release. Most of the issues that plagued Vista in its early days have been resolved however, and this makes for a far more comfortable Windows 7 experience.

Here's a quick run-down of how the (mostly painless) upgrade process went for me, from my old rig turning into a massive paper weight to the re-birth of Windows on my new machine.

If you completed the homework assignment, you've already read about my old computer breaking down, and my quest for parts to rebuild a new one. Gold star for you. If not, you can read about it here - there's no use in going into that much detail about it again.

Once the new computer was built, I put a minimal number of games on it, but held off on installing a massive amount of other software. My reasoning for this was twofold - first, I would save myself a great deal of time backing up data for the Windows 7 install, which was only a month away, as well, I would be avoiding any licensing problems that would arise from too many installations of protected software. This happened anyway, but I'll get into that later.

After a month of having only two major games on my computer, World of Warcraft, Windows 7 launch day finally came. I failed to find a copy of Win 7 Professional in stores (Best Buy only had upgrade copies, and Office Max/Office Depot had nothing but Vista), so when I got home from work I jumped onto Microsoft's online store and bought a digital copy directly. Since Win 7 Pro comes with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, I was given the option to download either. I chose the 64-bit version and started the 2.3Gb download. It took about two and a half hours to finish.

I burned the ISO file to a DVD and dropped the stuff I wanted to save onto one of the other hard drives in the machine, and then I restarted the computer and began the install.

Having so recently done an XP install, I am happy to report that Windows 7's install process is much more streamlined, and possibly even faster (I didn't time it, but it seemed to take about 20-25 minutes). Win 7's disk partitioning and pre-install setup is now done in a much more modern environment, with mouse support and a slick GUI. It asks only a minimal number of questions, and lets you set up the details later on once the install is finished. I was impressed by the speed and simplicity of the whole thing, especially compared to the old XP installer. Ars Technica actually has a great 15-page review of Windows 7 up, including a good portion on the new installer.

Once 7 installed, the system restarted one last time, and before long I was staring at a shiny new OS, all ready for my antics and exploits. Not too much had to be tweaked for the system to be the way I like it, either. UAC is relaxed in Win 7, so the interruptions aren't as annoying. The OS also seemed to find drivers for just about everything in the system, save for the GPU. That was really the only piece of system software I've had to install so far.

The only trouble I've really had with Windows 7 so far rests on the software side of things. On the first install of my Adobe software, something happened (I think I left the system waiting for the next disc for too long at some point) and the installation failed. All the programs seemed to install fine, but their licensing software was broken, so I had to re-install them. Then I had to call up the Adobe licensing support line because I'd already used my allotted two installs and wasn't able to de-activate my old computer's software before it died.

Aside from that, and a couple of times where a program crashed or froze, I've had no problems. Some of these issues may stem from the fact that I am running mostly 32-bit applications/games on a 64-bit OS, so I've expected a few hiccups.

Overall, however, things have been great. I'm finally able to use more than 4gb of RAM (I've got 6gb of RAM in triple channel mode now), and most everything seems to run solid. The improvements to the taskbar have taken me a lot less time to adjust to than I thought they would, and I actually feel like the new features, like Aero Peek, have helped me be more productive with my machine.

I'll probably have more to report as my collection of games and software trickles onto the new computer, and I start using it for other multimedia purposes - but for now you can consider me impressed.

And of course, glad that I don't feel like a sap for being a day one adopter.

Building A Better Xbox

Martin · 15 years

Back when the Xbox 360 was on its way in, I was convinced that Microsoft was making a huge mistake. The original Xbox never quite seemed to catch on, and with only a 4-year lifespan, it hardly seemed to have been given a chance. So in 2005 when the Xbox 360 was launched in North America, I looked on with only casual interest, with no intent to buy. I've always maintained a decent gaming PC anyway, so I never felt like I was missing out on much.

When Gears of War was released however, I stepped into Wal*Mart with plans to buy the game for my brother for Christmas and was so impressed with the game, I walked out with a brand new system instead - and I've never regretted it since. I've now got a solid library of games, and use the machine almost every day. Turns out that the Xbox brand is pretty good after all.

The console has been about for almost 3 years now, and the time is approaching to start thinking ahead. When the inevitable next version of the Xbox rolls into town, how can Microsoft ensure that it will be at least as big of a success? By following my list of suggestions, of course!

Better hardware

Not only should Microsoft work to ensure that the next Xbox has less instances of hardware failure than the Xbox 360, but it should also include a few upgrades to the current 360 hardware. These include:

  • Blue-ray disc drive (preferably a quieter drive than the 360's DVD drive as well)
  • Larger, mandatory hard drive for all SKU's
  • Built-in wireless (not essential, but would be nice for some

There's not all that much that really needs to be added, and if it makes the cost of the system skyrocket, I'd prefer they stick to the same scheme they used for the Xbox 360 - keep the extra components as add-ons which can be bought and used as needed.

Keep It Simple

One thing that I really like about the Xbox 360 is the fact that it works, and works well, right out of the box. There's no huge set up, and no need to configure the system much before you jump right into the games. This is a small, but important detail, and one which I hope Microsoft doesn't skip over for the next Xbox - especially if more advanced hardware is included in the package.

And even though I'd like to see some big upgrades to the innards of the next Xbox, I'd rather not have the machine try to be an all-in-one home entertainment solution. Microsoft has done well keeping their gaming box relevant and fun by making it primarily about gaming, and I think that's a smart course to take, especially considering how poorly all-in-one devices have done with consumers in the past.

Good Value

I believe that one major attribute to the success of the Xbox 360 was the fact that system prices were kept within a reasonable range, via price cuts and varying SKU's. Sony's initially ridiculous pricing for the PS3 didn't hurt either. If the next Xbox is to succeed again, it should be carefully priced to avoid seeming cheap, while staying within grasp of people who earn an average income, between $300 and $400.

Value also comes from what's inside the box, and the improved hardware mentioned above could mean additional worth. Backwards compatibility is also important to this - I'm a lot more comfortable with replacing my current game system with a new one if I can play most of my old games on the new rig. It should go without saying that Xbox Live Arcade games, Gamerscore, and Gamercard should transfer over to the next system with nary a hitch.

A good game lineup is also an important part of the value for any system, and as long as Microsoft keeps up a good relationship with quality developers, either via special treatment or other means, they should have no shortage of good games moving into the future.

Give It Time

The final important factor in making the next Xbox a hit has a lot to do with the current Xbox 360, and how long the system is kept alive. I think Microsoft should extend the life of the 360 well into 2009 or 2010. The 360 is currently having no trouble keeping up with rival PS3, and the extra time should give the Xbox team room for making good improvements to the next system's hardware and software, testing, and nailing down a solid, stable release. This could ensure that there's no console shortage fiasco (or at least, not such a big one), and could also give manufacturers time to get component pricing under control - which could mean lower initial prices.

Sony is Microsoft's biggest competitor right now, and they've pledged a 10 year lifespan for the PS3. This gives ample time for Microsoft to put together an awesome, inexpensive gaming rig without casting the Xbox 360 aside too quickly.

I'll be looking forward to the next Xbox, and because of the success of the Xbox 360, I'm sure many others will be as well. Here's to hoping for a bright future!

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