Windows 8.1 Overhaul Coming Soon - "Start" Return?

MICROSOFT LISTENS - THE START BUTTON IS DUE TO RETURN, & MORE WITH 8.1

The masses spoke out, and Microsoft listened! The new version of Windows 8.1 coming this year will give back what everyone misses the most, the Start button. Not only that, we'll be getting even more significant updates.

Right when everyone thought that that Windows 8 would spell the demise of the legendary dominant operating system, the proposed changes may put them back solidly in control. Microsoft’s Jensen Harris and Antoine Leblond presented an update in San Francisco on May 29th that has everyone excited at the BUILD developer’s conference.

We'll have to wait until the end of the year for this monumental rollout, but it will be worth the wait. I've held off on updating my desktop and laptop, but I'll be ready to get on board once Windows 8.1 is officially released.

So to all my fellow geek friends who have told me how much they despise Windows 8 for being such a tremendous left turn off the beaten path of their familiar operating system, there's hope! Let's take a brief look at some of the changes that are significant.

PROPOSED CHANGES AND ADDITIONS COMING WITH WINDOWS 8.1

• The "Start" button will return, allowing Windows to come back to its most familiar basic functionality.
• The customizable lock screen will have a single full-screen image,  becoming what they call “the world’s best cloud-powered photo frame.”
• The start screen will have 2 new sizes allowed, bringing the total to 4 sizes.
• The Start layout will allow installed apps to roam between Windows 8 devices connected to the same Microsoft account (very nice).
• The Metro-style PC Settings section will be expanded to include all the Windows settings that were formerly part of the desktop Control Panel.
• You will get a completely new "Windows Store" design.
• You won't get the huge list of search scopes when you click the Search charm which will rid you of the need to go through all of them one at a time. It will have one search box and a unified results list that has all of your apps, files, settings, and content from the web and Wikipedia apps.
• You'll get a new touch keyboard with improved autosuggest, new gestures, and much easier functionality for putting in your own numbers & symbols without changing the keyboard layout.
• The touch keyboard has an improved autosuggest capability and supports new gestures, making it easier to insert numbers and symbols without having to change the keyboard layout.
• There will be no more manual updating for Windows Store apps. It will be done in the background as normal maintenance.
• Updates for Windows Store apps will be applied automatically as part of Windows 8.1’s background maintenance process. That’s a significant shift from Windows 8, which requires manual updates to the new apps.
• You get new snap "behaviors" for Metro-style apps. You can arrange up to 4 Windows 8 apps side by side, with variable widths. No more being stuck with 320-pixel snap widths. This will be a big help for the new Win8 tablets coming out this summer.
• There will be a pile of new apps coming, and the existing ones will get updated. The XBOX Music app that everyone hates will get an overhaul, and more tools for the Photo app.
• Synchronization between Skydrive and Windows 8.1 is coming, so you'll be able to sync between all of your cloud aps and folders.
• You'll be able to bypass the start screen and go straight to your good ole desktop. Plus, you'll be able to sync the backgrounds between the Start screen and desktop so they look the same.
• File Explorer will get a significant overhaul.

So there you have it! I think this should have happened from the jump, but it's better late than never. In the meantime, I'm sticking with Windows 7 and putting off turning my life upside down. In the words of Sweet Brown, "ain't nobody got time foh dat!"

Hats off to you, Microsoft. You're using your heads now. Change is good, and it's inevitable. But we're gonna need you to just slow it down a bit and work with us change-resistant people. Mkay??? Greeeaaat.

Carlton Flowers
Worry-Free Windows Watchman

"MOP" Up Your Work Life! My Favorite Free Online Productivity Sites

MAXIMUM ONLINE PRODUCTIVITY - MY MOST USED FREE ONLINE RESOURCES

Trying to clear up the clutter of your life and become more efficient in your daily tasks? You can "MOP" up your daily routine with some of these valuable resources... all online, all free!

Taken from my presentation to the Missouri State Capital chapter of the Society of Government Meeting Professionals, this is a collection of my most used online resources to make my work life run more efficiently. And hey, this might be a super silly/corny acronym, but I came up with this on the spur of the moment and it made me chuckle. So it stuck!

Download the PDF by clicking on the link below or the picture, or right click and "save as" to a location on your hard drive. Then get to mopping.

Do you have a favorite website that you use often? We would love to hear about it! Share it in the Disqus comments section below!

Carlton Flowers
Exhalted WebGeek Pontiff

"Maximum Online Productivity" PDF download

Could LTE Bury The Dinosaur Cable Coax?

WHY THE DAYS OF HIGH SPEED CABLE INTERNET ARE NUMBERED

I'm enjoying surfing the net on my home computer at speeds upwards of 28Mb/s. It's fantastic. I never thought I'd be enjoying such high speeds.

To my surprise, the Mediacom company is offering 2 packages that are even faster that what I currently have: a 50Mb/s Ultra, and 105Mb/s Ultra Plus.

That's insanely fast, as far as I'm concerned. Just a few years ago, the techie prognostocators said we'd never see Internet speeds of even 50Mb/s like Europe, because the US is too spread out and we don't have a majority dense tightly packed city population like they do with a great copper wire network.

But as awesome as it sounds to surf at 105Mb/s on your home computer with Mediacom, they might be obsolete within a couple of years. Chances are, they are topped out on how far they can go with increases in speed packages.

To get the Ultra Plus 105Mb/s package, Mediacom had to do a lot of hardware upgrades to their network. They worked hard on updating modems, switches, and the fiber optic lines. But they also had to find a source of available bandwidth to run the data.

From what I know, I believe this came from decomissioning 2 different sets of available bandwidth from their analog television channel offerings. They had to trade out the use of those frequencies, and add them to the existing 2 frequency ranges that they were already using in order to create the 105Mb/s package. Each range has a capability of pumping out roughly 25Mb/s of data.

Long story short, it looks like they are topped out. All the while, the big mobile network providers are rolling out LTE (Long Term Evolution) 4G service across the nation, with no wires, providing download speeds as high as 54Mb/s. Which do you think has the most capability for expansion? The topped-out big fat wire from the cable service provider, or the wireless LTE network?

Things will get interesting once we see the full rollout of LTE service right here in my home town. Once AT&T (my provider) tweaks the system and can reproduce the super high speeds that we already have in St. Louis and Kansas City, I might run out of reasons for keeping my cable modem.

The only stumbling block will be data charges. Can a mobile service provider dole out enough data for download at a reasonable price that can compete with the cable company? Right now, the answer is no.

Even at the lowest level for Mediacom, called "Launch", you get 150Gb of total data to download for your 3Mb/s service. Each package increases the amount you can download for the month, ending at 999Gb with Ultra Plus.

As we know, the cell service providers like capping us greedy data downloaders off at 250mb, 3Gb, and 5Gb. That pales in comparison. This could be the saving grace for Mediacom's high speed cable internet service... for now.

Carlton Flowers
Data Hog

Microsoft Surface Tablet - A Message To The Crack Heads

MY MESSAGE TO THE CRACK HEAD CRITICS OF THE MICROSOFT SURFACE TABLET

Last week I had the opportunity to get my hands on the new Microsoft Surface tablet computer. It's the first time I've seen this device out in the wild.

After playing with the Surface for fifteen minutes, I was mesmerized. It definitely earned a spot on my gadget wish list. But what I want to know is what kind of crack is being smoked by the critics who have lambasted Microsoft over this device.

What is wrong with you people? Are you stupid?

Anyone who has owned a Windows-based PC or laptop, like myself, would LOVE this device. I can see this replacing my big heavy 17" laptop when the time is right.

The Surface has the best of both worlds: it is a thin, light tablet but it is also a fully-functional laptop computer.

The keyboard/case made a great impression on me. I cannot stand typing on the Apple iPad. Without a physical feel for keys, I just can't find a use. But the keyboard case that comes with a Surface solves this issue. The keys are raised, but they don't move. You can touch them, but without the right amount of pressure they will not respond.

That's a big thing. You can rest your fingers on the keys and not have to worry about activating characters on the screen before you are ready. You can get the keyboard/case in two different thicknesses: 3mm and 5mm.

What I really loved about this device was the operating system, Windows 8 RT. Again, I don't get all the criticism over the new environment rolled out by Microsoft. It does so many new convenient things I can't name them all. Just swiping from off-screen to the active desktop unveils several new navigational and functional features.

People are attacking the Microsoft Surface like it is the biggest blunder to date. But I look at this in the same way that I view the Samsung Galaxy Note II. There are tons of people who find it useless, but a very strong niche of people that it hits a sweet spot for.

I don't see this as a perfect laptop replacement, but I want something lighter, more portable, and versatile than my current laptop. The Surface seems to be that device.

I have yet to find a tablet device that you can connect a USB mouse to. The operating system was created to support touch, and also to support mousing. You cannot mouse with an iPad, period. It's not even designed to allow it.

For the tasks that I need to perform, an iPad is out of the question. But with a Microsoft Surface, I could get my design work done, and have the full freedom of manipulating spreadsheets with a mouse. Plus I can enjoy the device as a touch tablet.

Call me nuts, but I love this device. I'm definitely in the niche of people who would find this a valuable device at $600. I'll be looking to buy one in 2013 and have it serve as my main portable computer, and retire the laptop.

Do you think that I am the crack head for loving the Microsoft Surface, instead of the critics who constantly cut it to shreds? Post your thoughts in the comments section!

Carlton Flowers
Diving Under The Surface

The Windows 8 Shocker - I Didn't See This Coming

WINDOWS 8 COULD BE GREAT AS UPGRADE FOR OLDER SYSTEMS

I hadn't thought one single minute about Microsoft's newest operating system, Windows 8, until I did a little bit of reading recently. Apparently, this new release will run on older computers, up to about 4 years in age.

Not only can you load Windows 8 on older computers, but it will also speed up your machine and make it run more efficiently. To ice the cake, the cost will only be $40 per license!

This is a pretty radical change in pricing strategy for Microsoft. Plus it's a whole new paradigm in the evolution of their operating system. While everyone has started to write them off as the dinosaur headed for extinction, they come up with a new OS that is completely different in design and not a memory resource hog.

The Microsoft Windows 8 Release Preview page lists the minimum system requirements as the following:

• a 1GHz CPU
• 1Gb of RAM for 32-bit systems
• 2Gb of RAM for 64-bit systems
• Microsoft DirextX 9 graphics card with WDDM driver

That's really a basement level hardware requirement for running Windows 8. Computers as much as 4 or 5 years old could meet these hardware minimums. I know I have 2 or 3 computers just in my basement sitting and collecting dust that could run the new operating system.

This is a huge plus for people with older systems still running on Windows XP. But from what I am hearing, you can even download and install the new Windows 8 on a machine that does not have a legitimate version of Windows running on it.

This is a smart move on behalf of Microsoft. I imagine a significant amount of people will go legit and upgrade their computers due to the lowest price they have ever offered on a windows version since the days of Windows 3.1, plus considering how much of a jump this would be from an older version.

If you want to get the most out of Windows 8, here are a few things you might want to add to your current system:

• a touch screen monitor to take advantage of Windows 8 mult-itouch
• a multi-touch capable mouse
• screen resolution of 1366x768 to snap apps
• high speed internet access

You can also get a multi-touch capable tablet and run Windows 8. That's yet another major advantage. You would have the same operating system running on your tablet and your PC or laptop. I'm almost tempted to consider this instead of getting an Android tablet (which I already am not convinced would be a wise investment).

Stay tuned for more reports as I get my first computer loaded with Windows 8! It will be exciting!

Carlton Flowers
Breaking New Windows (haha)