Tag: software upgrade

Newer Windows updates will have relevant information about what’s new

Article

Acer Switch Alpha 12 tablet press image courtesy of Acer

Windows 10 major updates will see an improvement to how new functionality is discovered

Windows 10 Insider build 20190 hits Dev channel with new post-update experience | Windows Central

My Comments

When Microsoft officially releases a major Windows 10 feature update, it may be daunting to know what changes have existed to your computing environment as a result of that update.

Here, you may want to know what changes took effect including any new functionality that came about. It may also be about any significant changes to Windows 10’s user experience that you may have to get used to. For some people, finding that a significant change to the user experience may be daunting and that a feature may be delivered but they don’t know how to take advantage of it. This may cause some Windows 10 computer users to delay or avoid major-update cycles all together.

As well, it is more important for people who aren’t sure of any significant changes to how their technology operates, something that can be of concern for the older generations who haven’t had much computer experience. For them, it may be about relearning a skill they already have in order to adapt it to a newly-revised user interface.

Microsoft will be answering this problem with its “Tips” app in Windows 10 from the next feature update onwards. Here it will have a “What’s New” focus that appears after the update is rolled out to highlight any new features or changes to the user experience. This will be updated with every feature update so users are aware of the newly-added functionality.

But I would like to see added to this information relating to improved peripheral and network device support especially where it is relevant to the kind of connections your computer has and devices it is connected to.

For example, it may be about whether a peripheral or network device is gaining class-driver support within Windows or whether the current class drivers that are part of Windows and relevant to the device are gaining any significant improvement. This includes any newer settings that are available to the end-user so they have it working their way.

This can allow a user to rationalise the software that is running on their computer without worrying that they will lose the functions they are dependent on because they remove vendor-supplied software for that device. Similarly, they may want to know whether the installation of a device on a newer computer is going to be a true plug-and-play experience without the need to download and install any extra software. As well, users are then sure they won’t lose device functionality if the device vendor declares end-of-support on that device.

Microsoft is at least taking some steps towards improving the update experience for major updates within Windows in order to make them discoverable and user-friendly.

DLNA media playback comes to the PS4

Article

Sony PS4 Media Player media list screenshot courtesy of Sony Computer Entertainment

Sony PS4 Media Player media list

The PlayStation 4 is getting a media player | Engadget

From the horse’s mouth

Sony PlayStation

Blog Post

My Comments

A feature that has been considered missing from the Sony PlayStation 4 is the ability for it to be a media player whether working with media on an optical disk, USB storage or the DLNA Home Media Network. This was a feature that was baked in to the PlayStation 3 and was highly valued. It is also a feature that is part of the XBox One’s software and having media-playback abilities in a games console underscores the trend for these devices to be an “all-round” entertainment device that works with the large-screen TV.

This trend is underscored with the consoles having integrated Blu-Ray players along with such things as TV-tuner devices being available for the XBox One along with “front-end” software being available for the popular video-on-demand services like Netflix for these consoles. This appeal is underscored amongst young people who live in a small apartment or bungalow and have as their TV a small bargain-basement model without the full smart-TV functionality and they see these consoles adding all of the desired functionality.

Sony PS4 menu screenshot courtesy of Sony Computer Entertainment

Look for this in the PS4’s menu to download the Media Player

Sony received subsequent user feedback about what the PS4 could offer and one of the features that was called out by their customers as being of need was a media player. Now they have issued it as an app that can be downloaded from the PlayStation Store with an icon in the Content area of the PS4’s System Menu to invite you to download the software. This will work with content on USB storage or your DLNA-equipped NAS or computer.

It can handle most of the popular media codecs and file types as well as being able to run music files as background music. It should be available for download over the next few days so you can get the PS4 becoming more fully-fledged as a media centre.

Hey everyone! Windows 10 will be released at the end of July

Articles

Windows 10 launches on July 29th, here’s how to get in line | Engadget

Windows 10 Is Coming July 29th | Gizmodo

It’s Official: Windows 10 Is Out On July 29, Microsoft Confirms | Lifehacker

Préparez-vous : Windows 10 sera disponible le 29 juillet | 01Net.fr (French language | Langue française)

Windows 10: Release-Termin steht fest | Netzwelt.de (German language / Deutsche sprache)

From the horse’s mouth

Microsoft WIndows

Blog Post

Product Page

Video

SoundCloud Cortana reply

My Comments

Good news everyone! Windows 10 will be released on the 29 July 2015 for those who are using a regular (desktop, laptop or large tablet) computer.

The Windows icon you will see at the bottom right of the screen

The Windows icon you will see at the bottom right of the screen

There will be a free upgrade path for existing users who are running Windows 7 or 8.1 on their regular computers or tablets and this will be available for a year after the initial launch of this operating system. Windows has made it easy for us to reserve a downloadable upgrade copy of this operating system.

Windows 10 Free Upgrade screen

This is where you will reserve your copy of Windows 10

It will mainly apply to those of you who have stuck with the version of Windows that came with your computer but also will apply to users who have climbed up the version ladder by installing subsequent versions of Windows on the same computer. Similarly, you won’t miss out if you just bought that shiny new laptop or WIndows tablet for yourself or your small business, something you would have done in Australia due to the new tax breaks.

Windows 10 reservation email screen

Fill in your email here to be notified when Windows 10 is available

It is infact similar to what Apple has been doing with their Macintosh platform by offering the major upgrades for free since they released MacOS X Mavericks and will become a way for platform vendors to keep the user base working with the latest and most secure code for their operating systems.

Here, you will see a Windows icon on the right-hand side of your Taskbar which you click on and fill in your email details to reserve your copy of the operating system. Once you have reserved that copy, you can use the slideshow that is part of that app to “bone up” on what Windows 10 has to offer for your computing experience.

Windows 10 Reservation Complete screen

It’s done!

On the day that Windows 10 is finally released, you will then have to go to that icon to download your copy of the operating system as a package suitable for your computer.

The new installs will end up costing US$110 for Home editions and US$150 for Pro editions which will mainly apply to upgrading boxes that are running Vista or older operating systems, or are setting up a new system from scratch.

Drawcards

The feature drawcard for Windows 10 users will be the new Start Menu which has tiles for the applications but operates like the Windows 7 Start Menu. It will be more about bringing the Windows 7 and WIndows 8 experiences together including benefiting from the Live Tiles “dashboard” experience.

Windows 10 will come with the Edge browser as the Microsoft-supplied option. This will run as a Universal app with all the secure sandboxing that these apps will have to have. It will also have a “reading view” which makes it easier to read Web pages like a book. Edge will also have the ability to allow you to add comments to a Web page and share these comments, useful if you are sharing that page with friends or colleagues.

Windows 10 will also have the Cortana personal assistant which is now able to work with your iOS or Android smartphone and work across your computing environment whether you use your smartphone or laptop. You can enter your requests to her by typing them in or speaking like you could with Siri or Google Now on the mobile platforms.

Another key feature is Continuum which provides an adaptable user experience for your Windows 10 tablet or convertible / detachable computer. This allows for a full-screen Windows-8-style experience if you are working the device just by touch or the desktop experience with the Start menu if you are mousing around. The user experiences can be automatically determined by what mode you are operating your computer in as in whether you flip the Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro’s keyboard over, unclip the HP x2’s keyboard or pair a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse to your Dell Venue Pro tablet; or you can determine what you really want to work in, especially if you operate a touchscreen laptop or touchscreen monitor.

Conclusion

What this upcoming operating system has offered is the best of Windows 7 and 8.1 plus a lot more and if you have walked along the versions of Windows, you may be able to get the hang of it easily. Those of you who have stayed with Windows 7 or a previous Windows version may find that there is a minimal learning curve if you are primarily operating Windows 10 in the “Desktop” mode with the Start menu.

Hyundai to launch the first vehicle to come with Android Auto

Article

Android Auto in the 2015 Hyundai Sonata press photo courtesy of Hyundai America

Android Auto in the 2015 Hyundai Sonata

First production car powered by Android Auto rolls out – and it’s a Hyundai | The Register

From the horse’s mouth

Hyundai America

Press Release

My Comments

Android Auto is starting to appear in production vehicles firstly with Hyundai. Here, this isn’t an extra-cost add-on or prototype, rather something that is par for the course for the vehicle’s premium trim levels.

This will be in the form of their 2015 Sonata executive sedan and only on the Eco, Sport, Limited, Sport 2.0T and Limited 2.0T trim levels. As well, you would need to make sure that you have bought the “Navigation” option for your vehicle. These trim levels will come with a large LCD touchscreen as part of an infotainment system that can handle Apple AirPlay and Android Auto.

2015 Hyundai Sonata press picture courtesy of Hyundai America

2015 Sonata

But Hyundai is also extending this option to those of us who have already purchased the eligible vehicles by supplying it as a free upgrade. This is done by you downloading the new firmware from the MyHyundai website and copying it to a USB memory key to install in to your vehicle. Here, I would recommend that those of you who are unsure about this process have the firmware upgrade done by your Hyundai dealership’s mechanics when you have your vehicle serviced by them.

A good question that I would raise would be whether this option will be rolled out across other current-model-year Hyundai vehicles like the Tucson or Veloster that have the high-end navigation / infotainment system as standard for their trim level or can be “optioned up” to this functionality. Similarly, will any of the other vehicle builders offer Android Auto as an in-place upgrade or as standard for existing vehicles with the right infotainment system?

Why is that program failing to start?

Just recently, I was talking with a friend from the church that I go to and she was telling me that iTunes for Windows was failing to start on her computer. This happened after Apple rolled out an update for that music management system which also works as a bridge to one’s iPhone or iPad.

What I suggested for her to do in this case was to use Windows Control Panel to uninstall the software, then to visit Apple’s Website to reinstall iTunes. She thought that she would lose her music library and other settings associated with the program but, after she reinstalled iTunes as I had suggested, the program worked properly and she had access to her music library.

Most software programs rely on many different library and support files for them to work properly and these are typically delivered as part of an installation or software-update routine. But all it takes is the main executable file or one of these files to be corrupted and not carrying expected data for the program to fail to start or to run abnormally and slowly. As well, an increasing amount of software is dependent on resources held by other programs for it to perform certain functions.

How could these files be corrupted especially after an update? They can be corrupted by glitches in an Internet or network connection as the file is drawn down from the download server. Similarly, a hard disk may be starting to “lose it” and carry corrupted data especially as it becomes more fragmented and full of different data and this happens more as an update procedure substitutes older runtime files for newer files which may be larger or loads extra runtime files.

But a complete uninstall and reinstall routine allows the program to reconstruct all of its files that it needs to work with and rebuild all of the data associated with its settings that affect how it runs.

In some cases, identifying a program that is failing to start or affecting other programs and performing a complete uninstall / reinstall routine on that program may fix these problems. As well, it can cause a program to run more smoothly and quickly.

The Apple TV still exists as a platform

Articles

Apple Remembers That The Apple TV Still Exists | Gizmodo

My Comments

What is the Apple TV device?

This is a very small set-top box offered by Apple that connects to your TV and stereo system. But it is typically used for its AirPlay video playback abilities, especially when people are renting or buying video content through the iTunes platform and want to view it on their favourite large-screen TV set. Here, people use the iTunes software on their Macintosh or Windows computer to procure the video content with the payment card and/or iTunes voucher and simply “throw” the content to the TV using this device, perhaps using its remote control to pick content or control its playback from the couch.

What was going on with the Apple TV?

Apple had been focusing their operating-environment software development efforts on the iOS mobile-device and the Macintosh regular-computing environments while forgetting about the Apple TV’s operating environment and user interface. This is although a trickle of apps, typically “on-ramp” interfaces for various IPTV and video-on-demand services, was being developed for the Apple TV platform.

The improvements about to take place

Luckily Apple had “woken up and smelt the coffee” when they saw competitors, including TV manufacturers, work on and build up smart-TV operating environments that appeal to the 10-foot “lean-back” operating experience. Now they are working on a software redesign for the Apple TV firmware to bring the user experience up-to-scratch and in line with the latest iterations of the iOS mobile platform.

There is the increased focus on having apps being delivered to the Apple TV platform in a similar way to what has happened with the iOS platform. But I hope this isn’t carte blanche for substandard “junkware” to fill the iTunes App Store. More likely, it would become an increasing number of “10-foot” on-ramps for various online services and that any existing apps targeted for this device are refurbished for the new firmware. There is also the idea of implementing the same kind of colour improvements to the user experience as what has been experienced on iOS devices.

Like all Apple devices, the improved Apple TV will be designed to work tightly with the rest of the Apple ecosystem at the expense of other common industry standards. But I would at least like to see Apple work on the Apple TV and their ecosystem to provision “core-quality” video games that can compete with the Xbox, PlayStation and Wii platforms instead of that computer name being sidelined when it comes to gaming and interactive activities. For example, they could work on multi-screen games that allow iOS devices to serve as “second-screens” or just simply use the iOS devices as game-control surfaces.

Who knows what this could mean for Apple to make their whole ecosystem become more “firm” and “across the board” like what Google and others have been working on with their ecosystems.