Tag: computing environments

Return to portable computing

simonmackay 24/05/2021 Computer setups, Computing Tips, Current and Future Trends No Comments

Dell Inspiron 14 5000 2-in-1 at Rydges Melbourne (Locanda)

Portable computing with a laptop like this Dell Inspiron 14 5000 2-in-1 after those COVID lockdowns is something to think of

There is a slow return to laptop-based portable computing at offices or “third places” in jurisdictions who have successfully tamed the COVID-19 coronavirus plague and have allowed increased freedom of movement. It is becoming more so as the vaccines are being rolled out to more people in more neighbourhoods; and more of us take the opportunity to get these shots in our arms as they become available in order to limit COVID’s effective spread.

This includes an increase in returning to offices for meetings or part-time work there or heading to cafés, bars and libraries to work there. Some workplaces are even examining the idea of mixed on-site / off-site working arrangements such as working some days of a workweek on-site and others remotely. This kind of work, known as hybrid working, is being encouraged by local governments as a way to keep the CBD or major business areas active during the workweek even though workplaces are seeing more of the benefits of remote work.

Even if your work ends up being “home-based” including those of us who run our own businesses from home, you will end up engaging in more portable computing. This could be to use that café or library as an “away from it all” workspace or even to make use of co-working facilities for that same purpose. Those of us whose effort has a public-facing storefront of some sort may want or will have to use our laptops at that location for some IT needs. This is more so as we make use of these storefronts more as they can be opened up to the public more frequently.

Making sure your laptop computer is ready for increased portable computing

What you may be thinking of is how to make sure your laptop is ready for this kind of computing. This is more so if you were using your laptop at home due to the requirement to work or learn form home.

One issue that will come about is how the battery will perform for all-day computing activities. Here, if your computer has power management software built in like most Dell and Lenovo Windows laptops have, you may have to run it on an adaptive setting rather than “primarily AC” or similar settings that you may have used as a measure to conserve battery life due to you staying at home. The “adaptive” setting adapts the battery charging and discharging limits to suit your current needs whereas the “primarily-AC” setting was often about managing charging and discharging so that the laptop can run from external power without compromising the battery life.

You may even consider the idea of undergoing a “dry run” with your computer before you start heading out regularly. That is to run it in a portable or “on-road” usage scenario for a significant part of your day, including to do some productive computing activity during that time so you can know if it will last the distance at your favourite “third places” without the need to look for power outlets to plug it in to.

An example of this would be to use your laptop at seasonally-comfortable locations like the backyard, balcony or garden during warm weather or at the fireside during colder weather.

Logitech MX Anywhere 3 mouse on glass table near laptop

A travel mouse like the Logitech MX Anywhere 3 as used with my Dell XPS 13 9300 can work well for on-road use

Such a practice would be about running your laptop only on battery power for a significant amount of time during the day in order to effectively “drain out” the battery. That then has the laptop able to charge for a longer time and get used to increased amounts of portable use.

It will also be a chance to adapt between use at your primary desktop workspace which you have kitted out with better (and multiple) screens and input devices; and portable use where you are just using the laptop’s keyboard and trackpad / thumbstick. Here you may think of whether to take a travel mouse like the Logitech MX Anywhere 3 with you if you are still comfortable with “mousing around” while on the go.

You may also need to think of accessories that you can stuff in your bag or briefcase with the laptop computer. Here, you need to focus on portability and work towards small lightweight durable accessories to suit your needs. If you are likely to be absent-minded, you may want to buy a spare charger for your laptop. Here, you could keep it in a drawer in your home office even if you have a device like a USB-C dock powering your laptop at the primary workspace. This is in addition to the charger you would be keeping in your bag.

Minix Neo-C USB-C Multiport Adaptor press image courtesy of Minix

A small-sized USB-C dock or hub could be worth keeping in your laptop bag

For example, if you are dealing with an ultraportable computer that uses nothing but USB-C-based sockets, you may want to keep a compact USB-C travel hub so you can connect USB, display or other peripherals to that computer. Most of these will support “charge-through” operation, commonly known as “pass-through” charging. This is so you plug your laptop’s USB-C charger in to the travel adaptor that is connected to the laptop in order to run the computer from external power without forfeiting the ability to use the peripherals connected to that dock.

It may also be a good time to check that your laptop bag or similar hand luggage that you use to transport your computer with when on the road is still “fit for purpose” even though you may not have used it for a long time. Here, you may have to check that it is still intact and in good condition, including to check that zippers, press-studs (snap-fasteners) and other fasteners still work properly. You may even have to lubricate the zipper by rubbing a candle, dry bar of soap or a “lead”(graphite) pencil along its teeth if it is stuck. It may also be a good time to get rid of any dust, vermin or other stuff that has accumulated on or in that laptop bag which you haven’t used.

As always, make sure that your computer’s operating system and other software is up-to-date with all the latest patches before you head out. This is to make sure that your computer runs smoothly and securely as it should be. Business users who use company-provided hardware may need to check with their IT-support professionals associated with their employer regarding keeping their computer up-to-date with the latest software updates and patches.

Then you are able to confidently return to work or to your favourite “third places” and use your laptop there.

Google to bring Chrome and Android as a third major computing-platform force

simonmackay 28/06/2016 Current and Future Trends, Operating Systems No Comments

Article

Dell Chromebook 13 press image courtesy of Dell Inc.

Could these Chromebooks be the third force in personal computing

Here Are the Security Implications of Android Apps Coming to Chromebooks | Supersite For Windows

My Comments

Could the Google operating systems be the third mainstream computing force?

Google’s Chrome OS operating system has initially been pitched as a low-cost Web-browsing cloud-computing platform with not much in the way of applications or games written for that platform. Typically this ended up with the platform ending up in the cost-conscious K-12 education market, most likely computers used in the classroom and in a similar vein to how Acorn had various computer systems pitched towards the UK’s education market.

.. like these Android phones

But lately there have been some efforts to have Android apps and games run on the Android mobile-computing platform work with the Chrome OS platform so that the game I play, the Evernote front-end I use or the sports scoreboard app I keep tabs on that football match with on the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 could be easily be run on a Chromebook. Here, Google is encouraging the development of apps that implement responsive layouts and the ability to work with a traditional keyboard and pointing device which may not require much effort for most app types.

One of the core issues that has always concerned computer use has been data security including proper program behaviour. Here, Google will implement the same kind of sandboxing that was used on Android apps sold through the Google Play app store also for Chrome OS. This will be more so as Android apps will be able to run on Chromebooks in a “just-works” manner, something that will appear initially on the Chromebook Flip but is to appear on a subsequent version of the Chrome OS.

Google will also follow Microsoft’s and Apple’s lead towards a monthly software-update cycle for both Android and Chrome. This will include them taking over the software maintenance process so that OEMs and mobile carriers can’t control the process to push through their bloatware and branding. The OEMs and mobile carriers are wanting to still cry out for their launchers and apps but it may have to be about separately delivering them such as running them as Play Store apps so that an operating-system update isn’t contingent on the update working properly with their apps.

They will also be efforts to “clean up” the Play Store to get rid of dangerous apps and have it in a similar standard to the Microsoft Store and iTunes App Store – a “rubbish-free” app store. Corporate and educational IT admins will rejoice about the ability not to have the Google Play Store appear in their Chromebook or Android deployments or restrict their deployments to a whitelist of approved apps.

This is very similar to desktop computing in the late 1980s where there were three main forces for popular desktop-computing platforms i.e. the IBM platform running MS-DOS offered by many different manufacturers, the Apple Macintosh platform. and the Commodore Amiga platform. The different platforms coexisted for a while then because of their particular attributes and specialities such as graphics and multimedia.

The big question to raise for Chrome OS is whether it will be brought up to the same level of performance and flexibility as Windows or MacOS or will this platform be kept as an entry-level baseline computing platform?

Setting up a “his-and-hers” computing environment

simonmackay 16/09/2014 Computer Software, Feature Article, Operating system issues, Operating Systems, Systèmes d'exploitation No Comments

A large laptop that is commonly used in a “his-and-hers” computing environment

A common situation that I face when providing IT support for couples, families and similar households is providing a level of individual operation for each user who uses shared computer equipment. A typical situation is a couple who have desktop, laptop or tablet computers that they share with each other or a family who maintains the “family” computer that is used also by the children.

On the other hand, you may make sure each of you have your own computing devices that are set up with your own operating environments. This is more so with tablets or other ultra-portable computer equipment where you want to effectively “take it with you”.

But there is a goal where each person may want to “keep their space their space”. That is to have their preferred operating environment with their preferred user-interface customisations (wallpaper, button styling, etc), preferred email client, preferred Web bookmarks and other parameters maintained while they operate the equipment. As well, they may want to keep their communications with their social community private or prevent confusion with your communications. This is even though both or all of you will have the same relatives and friends that you maintain regular contact with.

Most of you may operate on a trust-based environment where you will want to know the passwords to each other’s accounts simply as a symbol of “our love for each other has nothing to hide”. This may not be applicable for those of you who are running or working in a business where confidentiality concerning business data is so important.

How do computer operating environments handle this?

Regular computers

Create multiple Microsoft.com accounts on your Windows 8 computer to achieve a unique user experience across all of your Windows 8 computers

Most “regular-computer” operating environments such as Windows, MacOS X and Linux allow multiple individual accounts to be created. These accounts support their own username and password and allow the computer to open up to a desktop environment that is personalised for each of the users. You even have concepts like separate user folders, desktop wallpapers and themes, or, in some cases, email clients that are peculiar to each user.

This functionality has been baked in to the “regular-computer” operating environment due to the fact that these machines are used by different employees in the workplace or are used to work with data that is confidential to a particular user.

Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro convertible notebook at Phamish St Kilda

Copy your Windows 8 user experience to that secondary convertible Ultrabook

Windows 8 and newer versions of the Windows operating system even takes this further by allowing you to create a Microsoft.com login account that you can take between different computers. Here, this allows you to use the same user credentials which will lead you to your same user environment on the different computers. For example, you could share use of different computer types such as a 15” mainstream laptop or an all-in-one desktop that lives at home and an Ultrabook or detachable tablet that you use while travelling or maintain as an “around the house” computer for example.

Last but not least Google implemented multiple-account operation on the ChromeOS platform which then adds most of the cheap Chromebooks to the list of devices that can support “his and hers” computing. This is through a blind update (version 37.0.2062.119) that should be in your Chromebook by 6 September 2014.

Mobile computing devices (tablets)

The tablet, typically the 10” tablet like the Apple iPad, is very much the only device that runs any mobile operating environment which ends up being shared by a couple or family.

Recent iterations of Android installed on tablets can support this kind of operation. This has been introduced to support “privileged operation environments” in the workplace. The same also holds true for tablets that are powered with the Windows 8 operating system.

The only tablet device that doesn’t support a true “his-and-hers” environment is the Apple iPad. This is bound to one Apple ID account, which affects use of the iTunes Store, the App Store and other Apple-provided apps and services. The passcode on these devices doesn’t even provide separate or unique login environments on these devices.

Email, Social Networks and Instant Messaging

Windows Live Mail client-based email interface

Windows Live Mail – an example of a client-based email interface

If these services are operated via a Web-based user interface, they can support “his-and-hers” operation as long as each user logs out of their account at the end of each session. This is more critical if both of you use the same provider.

Some client-side environments like email clients may allow you to have different sets of account credentials tied to particular system user accounts. But some other clients like a few mobile-platform or entry-level desktop clients or most social-network clients won’t allow you to keep service login parameters peculiar to a system user account. Here, you may have to log out of your account at the end of each session. As well, some client-side email programs may maintain only one address book or contact list that is available to all users.

Log out properly of Facebook by clicking “Log Out” in Settings

On the other hand, you may be able to preserve separate email or social-network accounts by using a separate client-side program for each login. This may limit your ability to use application-driven functionality like “share this via email”. On the other hand, you could always have a practice of each user logging in to the client with their credentials for the duration of their session.

Cloud-based online storage

Most “cloud-based” online storage services like Dropbox can support different logins for each user and you can tie these different logins to a particular device-based login for most regular-computing platforms like Windows. But you can’t have two different service logins associated with one computer login unless you use premium or “business” variants of their services.

But you can create a “household” folder in these services which is shared by all of you, simply by having one account-holder create a folder and invite the other account-holders to have full access rights to that folder. The only limitation with this is that if a friend or relative outside the household wants to share resources with all of the household, they have to invite each Dropbox account to the folder they want to share.

App Stores and gaming league tables

Some operating environments like the Apple MacOS and iOS environments implement a “family-share” option for software bought through their app stores so that you can share the same content that you have purchased across multiple accounts. These features place a limit on the number of accounts you can share with, typically a number you can count on one hand.

Otherwise each user has to purchase their own content through the storefronts and only be able to use it themselves.

Operating environments that have their own gaming-league or similar functionality will typically bind your identity in that league to your user ID that is part of that operating environment.

NAS units

NAS units like the WD MyCloud EX2 can work well in a “his-and-hers” computing environment

You can create individual storage accounts on your network-attached storage to allow each member of your household to store their data on their own space in the network-attached-storage unit. Here, you also use the “public” spaces on the NAS to store and share data that is of common interest but doesn’t have a perceived disclosure risk like your file-based AV collection or, if the data is confidential to you both, you could create a private share that you grant the other accounts access to.

The multiple account feature would tie in well with the remote-access or “cloud” features that an increasing number of NAS units like the WD MyCloud EX2 are equipped with. This will maintain the “private data pools” and allow the remote access to these resources.

Some of you may want to use two or three different NAS units connected to the network so you can keep individual units as personal data stores, which may be of importance if each of you run your own enterprise or you want to set up a NAS for the teenager or young adult about to leave the “family nest”.

What can you do to achieve “his-and-hers” computing

Some of you may decide to have a one or more smaller devices that you personally use, like iPads or work-home computers but you may then have to identify devices that you want to operate on a shared basis like larger tablets, laptops or desktops. Here, you can set these up with separate accounts so you can have a unique operation experience for each of you.

If you have equipment that runs Windows 8 or newer variants of that operating system, you could then set up personal Microsoft.com accounts for each of you and use these to log in to your equipment, personalising the operating environment as you see fit. As well, if you are using programs that don’t “switch users” as you change accounts or can’t “switch users” with a program, get in to the habit of logging out when you have finished.

When managing your contacts, you may have to copy your “common” contacts between each others’ contact lists on your email and other messaging clients and keep these up-to-date as each contact changes their details.

Conclusion

Once you know how to set up a “his-and-hers” computing environment, you can be sure that you have the ability to share devices yet know how to keep your working environments “as you like it”.