admin – Page 14 – Whycal’s Blog

X BOX ONE – First Impressions

There are plenty of reviews on line so these are just my thoughts and experiences.

Current set up:

I have both X Box 360 and PS3. The PS3 is connected via HDMI to my Denon AV receiver and the X Box 360 is connected to the TV via HDMI with an Optical cable to the Denon.

I have connected this way because of:

The PS3 is used mainly as my Blu Ray player for my home theatre. Although I do play the PS3 exclusive games on it.
The X Box 360 is my main gaming machine. Therefore it is connected directly to the TV so that I do not have to turn on the Denon every time I want to play a game. However I retain optional access to full surround sound through the Denon via the optical connection.

Therefore I wanted to set up my new X Box One in the same way with the X Box 360 connected to the X Box One via the “HDMI In” port.

I picked up my X Box One on the first day and went home and set it up immediately.

It was a pleasure to set up. Microsoft has done this very well. It walks you through everything and even the new Kinect was an easy set up. It was up and running in no time. There was the usual first day firmware update but this did not take long and went smoothly.

There is no doubt that when the initial set up goes smoothly like this it puts the user in a positive frame of mind.

The picture is excellent and even the voice commands work well (with an Australian accent). Although be aware that you have to use specific commands like “X Box Go Home” etc. and certain commands like “X Box On” do not seem to work. See a full list here http://mmgn.com/xboxone/articles–xbox-one-voice-commands-guide )

However there are some annoyances:

All games, even those purchased via disk, have to be loaded onto the hard drive. This takes a very long time. I inserted the disk for COD Ghosts and at first I thought there was something wrong as it was stuck on 0% loaded for 10 to 15 minutes. It took about one hour to fully load the disk and I could not start playing until it was about 45% done (about 30 minutes into the install.)
There is no facility for voice messages. You can neither send nor receive voice messages. If you get a voice message from someone on a 360, it tells you to access the message on a 360.
There is no separate voice chat. However it seems that this replaced by party chat. Just set up a party of two (or more) and then chat. Probably you have to use Skype or something.
The default output for the “Optical out” for sound is stereo. I eventually found a setting (Settings / Display and Sound) to change it to DTS Digital Surround (but not until after I had re-arranged everything to run the HDMI through the AV receiver instead of setting it up like my old 360.)
The very cool TV integration shown on the various reviews does not work in Australia with Foxtel / Austar. So there is little point in connecting your satellite / cable boxes to the X Box One. It is better to “daisy chain” the X Box 360
It does not play 3D Blu Ray. (Tried it with Avatar 3D and no luck). This is something the PS4 also does not do. However both Sony and Microsoft say this feature is coming. I will delay upgrade to PS4 until it gets support for 3D Blu Ray.

Things to note

A new specific X Box One app is needed for your iPad. Without voice messaging, this is now very necessary to avoid having to use the controller to type out messages. It is so much easier using the iPad keyboard via the app. The X Box 360 and X Box One apps exist side by side without problems.
I have confirmed that you can be signed into the 360 and the X Box One on the same X Box Live account at the same time.
It is the same X Box Live account so all of your stuff is there.
X Box 360 works well when connected via the “HDMI In” port on X Box One so quick and easy access to the 360 will have to be the work around for the lack of voice messages.
The apps for things like Skype, Blu Ray Player, and X Box Music etc. have to be installed, even though the tiles appear on the Home screen. However the installs are small and load quickly.
I noticed that with Skype it only loads your existing Skype contacts and does not automatically load your X Box Live friends into your Skype contacts. Although I only know of two of my X Box friends that have the X Box One and it could be that neither have set up Skype on their new X Box. Nevertheless, it is probably safe to assume that you will have to add these friends to Skype like any other new Skype contact.
The Blu Ray player works well but, as mentioned above, when you click the Blu Ray player tile for the first time, the app is installed before it starts to play a Blu Ray.

OVERALL

Very happy with the console. The only game I have is COD Ghosts and it looks great and plays well.

It is a pleasure to set up the console for the first time and very easy to navigate around the new interface. The voice stuff actually works and, I have to say, it is fun for the X Box to recognise you and sign you in automatically.

On the down side the game install times and lack of voice messaging are disappointing.

Also, as usual, we in Australia miss out on the very cool TV integration but this is normal for us and no doubt is not Microsoft’s fault.

Refresh Your PC–Win 8

Windows 8 has some new features to make it much easier to restore the OS.

In previous versions of Windows, to fix major problems with the OS you really had little option but to do a fresh install either from the disc or the hidden partition or ,if you were lucky enough to have one, from a system image from before the time that the problems occurred.

Windows 8 has changed this and now has 2 “Push Button” functions – “Refresh your PC” and “Remove Everything and Reinstall Windows”.

“Refresh Your PC” retains your files but re-installs the OS and “Remove Everything and Reinstall Windows” wipes everything out and starts over.

I decided to try the “Refresh Your PC” and here is what happened.

You Find these functions in Charms / Settings / Change PC Settings / General.

When you click the “Refresh your PC Without Affecting Your Files” - “Get Started” button you get this warning:

Take notice particularly of the second last dot point. I did not really pay attention to it and, as someone who still lives mainly in the Desktop, I paid the price.

First, the good news – It is very easy and quick and did exactly what it said it would do. It kept all of my files plus all of the Tile Apps from the Windows store with their settings. (e.g. the Weather App was put back with all of my personalised settings etc.)

Windows is restored as ‘activated’ and a check of Device Manager did not show any problems with drivers. My printer is on the network and it remained in Devices and Printers as the default printer. (I printed a test page to make sure that it still worked. It did.) The network settings did not change but I have a wired connection to the router so I can’t say if things like WPA pass words need to be re-input.

About the only setting that it did not restore was my PIN sign In option. However this is no big deal and easy to reinstate and I now realise that this is what the second dot point says.

Also Windows Update needed to run again to re-install all updates.

The bad news (for me) is that it did exactly what it said it would do in terms of in the second last dot point. It removed all of my traditionally installed programs. Things like Chrome, Firefox, Paint.net, TrueCrypt and so on. It also removed MS Office which, to be fair, is not from the Windows App Store so I should have expected this as well.

In regard to MS Office, I note that it did retain the .pst file from Outlook (that I had started to set up but abandoned in favour of Live Mail).

I have gone to the subscription model of Office ( Office 365), so putting it back was painless. However, I will have to restore all the other programs.

I will do this over time and also take this opportunity to first try to use any alternative Win 8 Apps - like the PDF reader instead of installing Adobe Reader or Foxit etc..

In summary this is an excellent feature and is much better than how it had to be done in previous Windows versions.

But be sure to first do a back up of your data (just in case) and make a list of the traditionally installed programs and ensure that you have the install discs and / or the activation codes for any programs that you have installed/ purchased. Or better still, try to make more use of the Tile interface/ Windows App Store.

WINDOWS 8 – NEW USER EXPERIENCE

I have just finished listening to Windows Weekly Episode 307 where there was a general discussion about Win 8 including the reaction of inexperienced computer users to the new “tile interface”. The Windows Weekly team agreed that new users don’t seem to have the same aversion to the tile interface as some others who have used the desktop for years.

It just so happens that 2 of my friends recently bought their very first computers so I have first hand experience of how people with absolutely no previous exposure to computers react to the tile interface.

I will call them:

Subject 1 (S1) – Male in his early 70s

Subject 2 (S2) – Female in her early 60s

Both bought different brands of laptops from a national retailer – mid range with Core i3, 4gb RAM and 500GB Hard Drives. They each also bought a $20 Microsoft wireless mouse and neither laptop has a touch screen. Neither bought MS Office but instead will use WordPad (They come from a generation that knows how to spell so WordPad will be fine.)

I was not involved in the S2 purchase but I was with S1. S1 did not want to spend more than $500/$600 so a touch screen was not in the budget.

S2 chose Optus as her ISP and S1 chose Telstra as his.

I ended up being the “teacher” to get them up and running.

First up I have to say that, without question, both clearly favour the tile interface over the desktop. In fact they both never use the desktop apart from a couple of exceptions that I will detail later.This, I might add, put them both a little at odds with me as, after using Win 8 for over a year, I still tend to retreat too readily to the desktop.

When I say no previous computer experience, I mean just that. I had to start with lessons on how to use a mouse and generally how to use a computer.

BTW at this stage S1 is resisting using contractions like “BTW, LOL, LMAO” etc. but I can see his resolve staring to waiver as he has no typing skills and relies on the laborious “hunt and peck” method.

In addition to the basics, the extra instructions for Win 8 can be summarised as “Corners and Charms”. They also needed to be shown how to use the Tiles (Right Mouse / Settings / Search etc.) and how to use the Store to get Apps. I pasted a list of Win 8 Keyboard shortcuts on their laptops but I notice that in both cases they don’t use them, preferring instead to stick with the mouse.

S2 was the first to get her laptop. When I went back a few weeks later to see how she was getting along, she had progressed to the point where she was able to do most of what she wanted. Naturally she had some questions but was searching the net, sending and receiving Emails, getting her photos off her camera etc.. She had even installed the eBay App (which is something I have not yet done – I still go to the Desktop to access eBay on a browser).

She only had one main thing that she wanted me to do and that was to set up a Facebook account for her. She had not done this herself as there is no actual Facebook App and was not sure how to set it up via the desktop. ( At least I can’t see one – there are plenty of Apps for Facebook but not one that is actually Facebook.)

In any case she is now on Facebook and the most common response from family and friends who accepted her friend requests was “ welcome to the 21st century”.

The first thing that S1 wanted was to be able to access his Tatts phone betting account on the computer. He now knows how to access it to check up on “form” for the horses and to keep an eye on how much money he has in his Tatts betting account. But he said he will continue to go to the TAB to put his bets on. (I’ll give it 6 months at the most before the convenience of placing his bets on line with his Tatts account wins out over the TAB. Or I might be wrong – All the other punters gather at the TAB to swap tips so I’ll modify that to “betting on the computer wins out over using the phone”).

One of his first Emails was from another mate of ours who gave him links to various sites that cover Australian horse racing and I showed him how to add these to his favourites bar on his browser.

EXCEPTIONS TO THE TILE INTERFACE

I mentioned above that there were a couple of exceptions to 100% use of the tile interface.

These are:

E mail.

This applies only to S 2 as she was given a POP Email address by her ISP, Optus. In both cases I set up a Hotmail Email address for Win 8 sign in and also as their main main Email addresses to use with the Win 8 Email App. However Optus still gives its subscribers a POP Email and they send their bills to this address. Therefore, in the case of S2, it was necessary to install the old desktop Windows Live Mail program just for this address. However, it was interesting to note that one of the follow up questions she had for me was to remind her how to use this program. She had no such problem with using the new “tile” Email App in Win 8.

PLEASE Microsoft fix the Win 8 App to accept POP Emails.I will probably set up the Optus Email to forward to her Hotmail next time I call – BUT I should not have to do this and she herself as a new user would not be able to do so.

It was interesting to note that while Telstra gave S1 an account sign in that looks like an Email address ( xxxxx@bigpond.com), there is no actual Email set up by default. Therefore I simply set up a Hotmail and input this to the Telstra/Bigpond account as the Email address.

Internet Explorer

I just cannot come to grips with the new IE. Also, most of the remedial questions S2 had concerned this browser. I solved the issue by installing Chrome on both laptops and making it the default. Both of them seemed to prefer a desktop browser particularly for things that the “tile” IE does not have like a Home button, a Back Button and a Favourites Bar – Problems solved!

SUMMARY

No matter what some people might say about the new tile interface, in this case it was really no contest. Not only do both of them not want to use the desktop, but when I start to explain it to them, I can almost see their eyes glaze over. If it can be done with the tiles, they really do not want to know.

BTW, after being shown once, neither one has any trouble finding and using the Power Button to turn the computer off which seems to be the main gripe from people who appear to have decided not to like Win 8.

Win 8 Day to Day use

I have been using Win 8 for long enough to now make an informed judgement about it.

My Desktop computer dual boots Win 7 and Win 8 and to summarise, I now rarely boot to Win 7.

The only time I boot to Win 7 is:

Run updates to the OS and Security Essentials and run Google Calendar Sync *
Use Live Mesh PC to PC Sync – Skydrive keeps improving so here’s hoping that Skydrive eventually gets this function; and
Use programs I bought on Win 7 . I will have to look into whether I can transfer these licences to the new OS.)

(* Google calendar Sync is not yet available for Outlook 2013)

In other words, I prefer Win 8 to Win 7.

That is not say that Win 8 does not have some issues.

Win 8 is a mixture of the traditional desktop and the new Tile Interface. The more I use the Tile interface (formerly called Metro) the more I like it. But it is still early days and most of the applications (programs) that I use default to the old Desktop including Office.

I can now see more clearly where Microsoft is going and, as the App store expands, there will be a reducing need to download programs directly from the internet via the traditional installation method . For example, if you want one of the millions of programs available for Windows on the internet, instead of going to the related web site and downloading the installer and running it on the Desktop, you would go to the App store and install it to the Tile Interface.

No doubt, over time more and more programs will be in the App store and there will be a gradual move away from the current method. Hopefully this will also mean safer downloads with some oversight maintained on the items in the App Store. (Like what Apple does with its Apps – not perfect but better than nothing).

I don’t miss the Start Button but I can see some argument for its restoration at least until there is a “critical mass” of available Apps (programs) in the App Store.

But you don’t need the Start Button. Remember that you can always click Win Key X (or right mouse in the bottom left corner )to bring up the Power User Menu that has access to most of the things you want.

Nevertheless I do have some complaints.

MAIL APP (TILE VERSION)

Lack of support for POP Email in the Mail App is my number one complaint.

When I saw that the Mail App had support for Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo Mail with a button for “Other” I thought I was good to go. But alas it does not support POP email.

A very, very large number of people use POP Email and in my case I have POP Email addresses from Telstra/Bigpond plus my own Domain.

There are suggested ‘work arounds’ like redirecting POP Emails via your Gmail or Hotmail but I don’t want to do this and I shouldn’t have to. This is not a big deal on a computer as you can use an Email program like Outlook or Windows Live Mail. However, if you get one of the new Windows RT Tablets (with the ARM CPU) you are out of luck. In fact this was the deal breaker when I was deciding whether or not to buy a Surface RT. I will stick with my iPad as it has no problems with POP Email.

What a pity as the Mail App is otherwise excellent and I like the way it looks and works.

INTERNET EXPLORER – TILE VERSION

OK I admit that I have a bad attitude towards the Tile Version of IE. But I have reasons. I had it set as my Default browser, but as it cannot install plug ins such as Flash, more often that not, you end up on the Desktop version. It does not take long to decide that you may as well just use the Desktop version.

Also it does not have a favourites list nor a Home button plus many other annoying omissions.

I gave up and went back to my preferred set up of Firefox with No Script as my default browser plus Chrome (with Google Search) and IE10 with Bing for day to day use.

However there are so many other excellent things about Win 8 that these two annoyances can be overlooked.

There are too many to detail but some that come immediately to mind are:

Great Tile Apps like the Finance, News and Weather that come pre installed. When you dig down into them they are fantastic and so much better that anything I have on my iPad;
The Restore and Back Up functions including Push Button Refresh which enables the OS to be restored without wiping out your personal data and settings. This one feature alone justifies the upgrade but it is by no means the only reason to do so.
The Win 8 “Search” function which is an improvement on the previously excellent ‘Start Search’ in Win 7;
The ease of installing Win 8 (including, in my case having all of the drivers for my hardware being installed automatically);
The new improved Task Manager;
It seems to me to be much quicker.

In other words, I give Win 8 a big “thumbs up”.

WINDOWS 8–ON LINE IS THE BEST AND CHEAPEST WAY TO UPGRADE

See my previous post on 27th Oct 2012.

After the straightforward and easy upgrade to my main desktop machine (using upgrade discs that I bought from a retailer) I decided, as it was so easy and inexpensive, to upgrade the old laptop on which I had been running the preview version. As mentioned previously, this is an Asus M5200AE notebook with a 1.73 GHZ Pentium M CPU & 1GB RAM.

This time I used the “on Line” upgrade assistant.

This is the way to go. It only cost AUD$39-99 for Win 8 Pro and I took advantage of the offer to get WMC for free. (Not that I will use WMC on it but hey it’s free!) The Microsoft Australian link is http://windows.microsoft.com/en-AU/windows/buy?ocid=GA8_O_WOL_DIS_ShopHP_FPP_Light

As soon as I finished, I created an Image and Repair/boot Disc on DVDs using the old Win 7 Image back up which is still available in Win 8. Install discs are offered in this process as an optional extra but the cost is $25. Why pay when it is so easy to make your own discs. (Type “recovery” in the Charms search and click on “Settings” and you will see “Windows 7 File Recovery”. Open this and it is the familiar Win 7 control panel to make a system image and recovery discs.)

It could not have been easier. As first it runs a check of your system to identify any potential problems and then proceeds with the upgrade (retaining your data). Also you can pay by credit card or PayPal during the procedure.

The only issues I had with the old laptop were:

I needed to go to Realtek to get a driver for the sound (Vista / Win 7 driver worked)
The card reader does not work but I have not made any effort to find drivers

AND the DVD Drive that was not working with the Preview Version of Win 8 now works. For $39-99 I have an adequately working Win 8 Notebook. (According to Microsoft, 2GB Of RAM is the preferred minimum but it goes OK with 1GB).

WINDOWS 8 RELEASE 26th Oct 2012

I have (finally) made some decisions in regard to Win 8.

Before I start I would like to make people aware of a situation that I encountered when I went to a local retailer to buy the Win 8 Pro upgrade.

When I bought the disks for Win 8 Pro I was also offered the Windows 8 Pro pack. NOTE If you buy the upgrade to Win 8 Pro you DO NOT need this pack.

The only thing that is missing from Win 8 Pro is Windows Media Centre (WMC). BUT you can buy this on line for USD$9-99 so DON’T PAY for the pro pack which costs as much as the Win 8 Upgrade.The Pro Pack is designed to upgrade Win 8 to Win 8 Pro and, even though this pack does have WMC, don’t pay again for the other things in the pack which are already in Win 8 Pro.

If you want and use Windows Media Centre(WMC), buy it separately for $9-99.

Furthermore, after I paid tor WMC I noted that Microsoft is giving away WMC for free until 31st Jan 2013. See http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/feature-packs (Look under “Add Windows Media Center to Windows 8 Pro” – “For a limited time, get Windows 8 Media Center Pack for free”). However I won’t quibble about $9-99. But don’t get caught paying say $60 or $70 for the Pro Pack if you have already bought Win 8 Pro and DON’T pay for an upgrade from Win 8 to Win8 Pro if you don’t need it (and most won’t) and / or you don’t use WMC.

I don’t think the retailer was trying to rip me off. I am sure that it was just a staff member who was not properly trained. (He said that, as he used WMC he was going to buy the pro pack – I told him that, if he has Win 8 Pro, I was sure that it was not necessary to pay for the Pro Pack and that he just needed to get WMC.)

The other thing is to shop around for Win 8 Pro. I paid AUD$58 and I later found out it was priced at $48 at Office Works.

I have decided to dual boot my desktop with Win 7 and Win 8. I did this mainly as I still use the PC to PC syncing that comes with Live Mesh to transfer large video files. When you install Windows Essentials 2012 on Win 8, Live Mesh is no longer available as it is replaced by SkyDrive. However SkyDrive does not have direct PC to PC file syncing and the video files significantly exceed the file size limits for SkyDrive.

Apart from this issue, Windows 8 installed without any problems and the only additional device software that I have had to install is a driver pack for my Canon printer so that I can install and use Canon MP Navigator EX. The printer / Scanner worked OK but I like Canon MP Navigator EX.

I installed Win 8 Pro on a separate drive ( 120 GB WD VelociRaptor – Win 7 is on another WD VelociRaptor) and I have access to all of my data on separate drives no matter what OS I use.

Eventually, I will build a new system with a modern main board and SSD plus a touch screen. I also intend to buy a new Ultra Book ( My Specs – Core i5, 8gb ram, 256GB SSD and Touch Screen – I am looking.)

In the meantime Win 8 is working very well with my current hardware.

I had been using the Release Preview for some time and, as a result, I am very familiar with Win 8. Naturally there is a learning curve but none of the people I have shown it to have had any real problems particularly after they are shown the basics.

Don’t believe the naysayers – it is about the same as learning how to use an iPad.

There are many small changes but they are generally no big deal – an example is with Windows Update. Updates are all handled automatically but if you open the Windows Update Control panel, the “Install” button has been moved from the main page to the “Select updates to install” page as shown.

The only real issue I have had has been with the free preview edition of Office 2013. ( http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/en) This version of Office will be available on a subscription basis and you can download it onto 5PCs or Macs. Also it is a full version of Office with Word, Excel, Power Point, One Note, Outlook, Access and Publisher for USD $99-99 per year. That is a good deal particularly for me as I will have use for at least 4 of the licences..

The problem that I encountered was that Outlook would only partially import the set up from the .pst file from my copy of Outlook 2010. When I upgraded from Outlook 2007 to 2010 it was only necessary to import the 2007 .pst file and everything was set up just as it was in the previous version. I am not too concerned as this is only a free “preview” edition but I think that I will use this excuse to abandon Outlook and instead use Windows Live Mail.

Also as mentioned in a prior post, this version of Office does not have the photo editing software that has been in previous Office Versions. The Editing that comes with Windows Live Photo Gallery is as good but I had become familiar with and liked using the Office version.

However overall I really like Win 8. I admit that in the setting up phase I mainly used the desktop but, after it is up and running with everything set out the way I want , I use the Tile Interface.

Everyone highly recommends that you set up or update your Hotmail / Windows Live account so that you can use this as your sign in to Win 8 on your computer. Make Hotmail / Live mail your main Email account and update your Hotmail Contacts and Calendar. I agree, as by doing so all of this stuff is backed up in the cloud making it that much easier when you move to a new computer etc..

Tips for the beginner:-

First Up watch this YouTube Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh5JjErbXE8
Then (for Keyboard and Mouse) remember “Corners” and “Charms”
Arrange your Tiles to your personal taste: (See http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows8/windows-8-feature-focus-start-screen-144643 )
Un-Pin any Tiles you don’t think you will use regularly ( Right Mouse on the Tile and a menu will come up at the bottom which includes an “un-Pin” button)
Search for the “Help and Support” Tile and pin it to the Start Screen (Right Mouse – Pin). Don’t hesitate to use the Help function – It is well set out and has clear instructions
Group your Tiles using the Groups function (See link above to Win Super Site)
Now name your groups (Use the “Help and Support” Tile to find out how)
Remember some basic Keyboard shortcuts.

Here are some handy Keyboard Short Cuts –

Windows Key C	Charms
Windows Key Z	App bar
Windows Key Q	Search charm
Windows Key full stop	Snap
Windows Key Tab	Switch apps
Windows Key D	Desktop
Windows Key I	Settings
Windows Key (on its own)	Start Screen (Tiles)

A full list is here http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows8/windows-8-consumer-preview-windows-key-keyboard-shortcuts-142358

This is how I have grouped, labelled and set out my tiles.

I have only just scratched the surface with all that is new with Win 8 but I repeat , don’t listen to the naysayers – It is great and, with a bit of help at the beginning, easy to use. I can’t wait to get a Touch Screen Ultrabook.

PS In addition to Hotmail/MS Exchange, The Mail App now supports Gmail and POP Emails but not Yahoo Mail.

Windows 8 Update

Before I start I would like to acknowledge the following:

Paul Thurrott’s Supersite for Windows / Windows 8

Tekzilla

Without information form these sources, I would have struggled a lot more in coming to terms with Windows 8.

However I have become a Win 8 fan and am now at the point where I am considering loading it onto my main computer.

I have had a couple of issues:

When I went to update from the Consumer Preview to the Release Preview, I found that the old computer that I was using was not compatible. This computer has an Intel Pentium 4 (Prescott) CPU that does not support XD (Execute Disable). This is a technology in modern CPUs designed to provide protection from certain types of Malware. (See Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NX_bit )
The standard version of Win 8 will not have Windows Media Centre. I have a TV Tuner card in my main computer and regularly use Windows Media Centre linked to my TV via Xbox 360. Media Centre will be available in Win 8 but only as a paid extra for the higher priced “Professional” version; annoying but not a deal breaker.

In reference to Point 1 above, I was about to abandon Win 8 but as a last resort I decided to try to install it on an old ASUS Note Book. It is an Asus M5200AE with a 1.73 GHZ Pentium M CPU and only 512MB RAM. Even though I was presented with many warnings, Win 8 Release Preview loaded and ran OK (although slowly). I went on line and bought a RAM Upgrade to 1GB (for $70 which is more that the notebook would be worth) and Win 8 now runs well enough to be very usable. In fact I am writing this post on it.

The only problem I have with this notebook is that Win 8 does not see the optical drive. I installed it from an iso image on a DVD and right after installation it sees the DVD drive. However, when the updates are installed, it no longer sees this drive. I have looked on the ASUS site for drivers but as it is a superseded model the only drivers are for XP which will not install in Win 8. However this is not a big issue and, in any case, most modern notebooks don’t have optical drives. I wonder if during the update phase, Win 8 detects that it is a low powered device and disables things like Optical Drives on the assumption that it is a device without an optical drive.

Win 7 Start Search

Thanks to Tekzilla, I was very pleased to learn that Win 8 retains this function and it actually is better. On the Metro Start page you only have to start typing your search term and it automatically enters into the search function. For example if want to find a WordPad document called “Test” saved in My Documents, I only have to start typing “test” on the Metro Start screen and it will go to the Search interface. I then select “Files” from the options (Apps, Settings, Files etc.) and my Word pad file is there.

Email

On the Desktop you can still use Outlook or Live Mail etc. On Metro there is a mail App that works well but at this time you can only add Email for Hotmail and Gmail (& MS Exchange)

A comparison between the iPad (left) and Metro (right) for adding Accounts shows that the iPad can add all types while Metro only has Hotmail, Gmail and MS Exchange.

So it is hoped that there will be additions to the Metro App so that POP mail, Yahoo etc. can be added. I hope they do as I want to add Email Accounts on my own domain as well as Bigpond and Yahoo.

Keyboard Shortcuts

If, like me, you are using Win 8 without a Touch Screen, then it is essential to be aware of a few handy Keyboard Shortcuts.

Windows Key (WinKey) + I Opens the Settings for a particular App

WinKey + Q – Search

WinKey + D – Desktop

WinKey + C – Charms Bar

There are many more but these will solve most problems particularly the WinKey + I that opens up the settings for an App that you have open.

Snipping Tool

The Snipping Tool does not work in Metro. As soon as the Snipping Tool is opened it changes to the Desktop. That is why I had to use my camera to get the above images under Search and Email.

MS OFFICE

I have not installed Office as I do not have a spare copy. I assume that it will work as before but in the Desktop. I wonder if Metro style Apps for Word, Excel etc. will become available. It would be good if you could buy them separately at a reasonable price.

CONCLUSION

I think that I will delay installing on my main machine for now. There are still some things that could be improved so I will continue using it on this old Notebook. Also I would like to have a touch screen when I go ahead with Win 8 as my main OS.

Windows 8 Update

I have been playing with Windows 8 now for a few days. My initial enthusiasm has waxed and waned a little as I ran across problems. I must mention that without the information available on Paul Thurrott’s Winsupersite http://www.winsupersite.com/windows-8 , I would have been more than a little frustrated at times. Tekzilla (http://revision3.com/tekzilla) and Windows Weekly (http://twit.tv/ww) have also been of great help.

Nevertheless, despite some ups and downs, the more I get used to it the more I like it. In particular, I have been trying to use the Metro interface as much as possible rather than using the familiar desktop. I really like the Metro interface even without a touch screen. In regard to this, there was a very good suggestion on Episode 250 of Windows Weekly (http://twit.tv/show/windows-weekly/250) that something like the Apple Magic Touchpad would be an ideal substitute for a touch screen.

There are always three ways to interact with the computer with Win 8 i.e. Touch, Mouse and Keyboard. In the absence of the “Touch” option, I have downloaded a full list of the Keyboard Shortcuts and the mouse works pretty much as you would expect but with the additions of “corners”.

Many of my tiles have “come to life”, but the X Box ones are still “dead”. “Live Tiles” is something I really like and in addition you can set it to show up to 7 Apps on the Lock Screen with one in full detail.

So far I have only come across a couple of significant concerns (but I am only playing around with it and not using it full time):

Internet Explorer ( Metro) – I just can’t make sense of IE (metro) and I have set IE to always open in the Desktop. Instructions are here http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows8/windows-8-consumer-preview-internet-explorer-10-secrets-142451
Spell Check - There is still no spell check built into the OS. WordPad was updated for Win 7 and it also comes with Win 8 but again without spell check. However, if you download Windows Live Essentials and install Windows Live Writer (WLW), you get spell check with this program. (I am using WLW to write this blog post but you could also use it for non blog purposes and, after a spell check, cut and paste into WordPad – Or buy Office, which I suppose is the reason there is no spell check in WordPad.

Other Discoveries

I was watching the latest episode of Tekzilla and, thanks to the Tekzilla crew, I now know what the “Share” Charm is for.The Share charm is used to send links, photos, etc. to people via Email and / or Social Networks without leaving the app you have open. For Example if you are looking at pictures in the Photos App, you click on the Share Charm to send the photo to someone via Email.

However at this stage not many Apps appear in the Share Charm. I expect that this will expand in due course

I will keep “playing” and post more as I come across things of interest.

WINDOWS 8

I have downloaded and installed the Consumer Preview (or pre release test) version of Windows 8.

My first reaction is positive.

It is different in many ways from Windows 7 but “under the hood” it remains familiar to a Win 7 user. I am still learning, but from what I have seen so far, I will probably be upgrading after it is officially released sometime later this year even though I have been more than happy with Windows 7. I will, however, buy a touch screen for my computer before I do so as a lot of the new features are designed for touch. I will also get an SSD for my boot drive.

The install process has been automated so it performs an upgrade from Win 7 or Vista without losing any of your programs or features. You run a compatibility test first and are given warnings about anything that will not work. The only major warning that I got on my Core i7 machine was that Microsoft Security Essentials won’t work. However this is not a worry as the anti virus/malware program is now fully integrated into Win 8.

I started to download Win 8 onto my main computer but, as I did not want to risk mucking it up, I changed my mind. Instead, I downloaded the .iso and did a clean install of Win 8 (32 bit) on an old computer running XP. It has a Pentium 4 (3 GHz) CPU, Nvidia GeForce 6200 and 1 GB RAM.

I had no trouble loading Win 8 to dual boot with XP and it runs well. Naturally there is no “Touch Screen” functionality.

First up I will address the three things that have been causing the most comments:

Lack of a Start Button
The “Missing” Search function that came with the Start Button in Vista and Win 7
The Metro Interface

Start Button

The Default is the Metro Start Screen. But it is very easy to revert to the normal Desktop via a bottom left “swipe” or “click”. In both cases there is no Start Button. On The Metro Interface you can include tiles for programs you commonly access. When using the Desktop option, the old task bar remains and you can “Pin” things there. However access to all programs and other functions in both Metro and Desktop is now via a bottom right “swipe/click” which brings up a bar that contains buttons for these things. You can also do a right mouse click in the bottom left to bring up a menu that provides links to a number of functions like “Control Panel” , “Explorer” etc. .

Search Function

It is still there and you get to it via a bottom right “click/swipe”. I have been using it and when you get the hang of how it works it is as good as the Win 7 version.

The Metro Interface

It is easy to swap between The Metro Interface and the Desktop (bottom left click/swipe).

The Metro Interface looks like this (see below). As you can see it contains Tiles. The Tiles provide access to programs (or Apps) and you can add or remove them. I am still setting up my Metro Interface and I intend to reduce the number of tiles so I only have tiles for things I regularly use. It is a bit crowded now as the programs for Windows Live Essentials had been installed prior to the image (below) being taken.

Some of the Tiles are active like the Weather one which updates weather information throughout the day. You go into the settings for the App to add places and change from Fahrenheit or Celsius.

However you can easily revert to a more traditional Desktop like this. As you can see it still has shortcuts and things can be pinned to the task bar at the bottom. The clock and other icons appear in the right corner as in Win7.

HIDDEN UTILITIES – CHARMS ETC

I was familiar with the concept of hiding task bars from the latest version of Ubuntu. To see the Launch Bar on Ubuntu 11.10 you hover your mouse (or swipe) the left hand side of the screen. It is similar with Win 8. You can either use a manual swipe if you have a touch screen or use a mouse or the keyboard to access all of the things that you might think are missing. I haven’t worked it all out yet but I am relying on Paul Thurrott at Win Super Site here http://www.winsupersite.com/windows-8 to bring me up to speed.

I can’t say much more at this stage as I don’t have a touch screen and I barely know what “Charms” are. I think they are the buttons that come up when you swipe bottom right. See below – The buttons on the right in the black bar – “Search”, “Share” etc. are “Charms” (I think).

OTHER THINGS

When I installed Win 8 I input my Windows Live / Hotmail sign in details and it automatically synced all my stuff from Windows Live – Calendar / Mail / Contacts / SkyDrive etc..

This means that I have to use my Windows Live details to log onto my computer. You don’t have to do this but I consider it to be a good idea.

The first time I re-started the computer I could not work out how to get to the log in screen. However, by a fluke I pressed the Ctrl button and it bought up the Log In screen. On the other hand it took a few minutes to locate the power button to turn it off. All is well now that I know where to look. (In the “Charms” under “Settings”.)

There are lots of other little things that you discover and here a few screen shots of things I found in Charms/ Settings / More PC Settings:

I included this last one as it shows an excellent feature of Win 8 – The Refresh and Reset functions that should do away with the need for a re-install.

I have to add that not all the “Live” tiles work yet but as I said above this is only an early test version. ( I was anxious to set up the X Box tiles but I got a “not yet available in your region” notification.)

I downloaded the Windows Live Essentials programs and used Live Writer to write this blog on Win 8. No doubt, I still have a lot to learn but I can safely say that I am already “up and running” after only a short period.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

It was easy and quick to install and after a little bit of initial confusion I am learning how to use it. So far I give it a thumbs up.

NEW KINDLE

Refer my post “Kindle Review” 31^st Jul 2011. When the new Kindles were recently announced, I thought that, once again, I had bought a product only to see it superseded within weeks by a better and cheaper model.

In particular I was looking at the cheapest version at USD$79. However after taking a closer look at the various models, there is one feature that I use on mine that is not on the $79 model. The model I have (now called the Kindle Keyboard – Wi-Fi) has speakers to provide for text to speech and, more importantly for me, to listen to Audible books.

Nevertheless, the $79 model is excellent value for anyone wishing to venture into the realm of E Book readers.

These are the features (apart from price) where the $79 model differs from my model

Wi-Fi – The $79 model is Wi-Fi only. There is no choice of 3g. In my case I chose the Wi-Fi only model as I have Wi Fi at home plus a mobile Wi-Fi router. Also remember if you have an iPhone (or similar) they usually come with tethering / or the ability to share the internet package via a Wi Fi “personal hotspot” which acts just like the mobile Wi-Fi router. Failing all this you can always go to McDonalds or the increasing number of other places that have free Wi-Fi.

Keyboard – There is no physical keyboard. It has a “virtual keyboard” that is similar to many other appliances like a TV or the X Box / PS3 where you navigate to each letter and press enter. This may be a bit tedious but, apart from the initial set up, you rarely need the keyboard particularly if you use your computer to search for your books. Actually buying a book on the Kindle is no different as it is just a one (Buy) button click.

Battery – The battery “only” lasts for 1 month as against 2 months on my model. Big Deal!!

Capacity – The $79 model will hold about 1400 books which is about half the capacity of mine. However this is a non-issue. 1400 is a large number and, in any case, if you ever fill it up, your books still remain available on the free storage provided by Amazon. Therefore you can delete old books in the knowledge that they can be re-downloaded any number of times.

Sound / Speakers – The $79 model does not have speakers or a headphone jack. This would only be important if you need “Text to Speech” or want to listen to Audible Books.

Ads – It does have ads but they are not intrusive and only appear on the home page / screen saver. I have read that people actually like the ads because many are from Amazon advertising special deals. In my case I paid extra for the “No Ads” model but I am sorry that I did. Apparently, if you decide later that you don’t want the ads, you can pay $30 to have them removed.

Size – Because it has no Keyboard, the overall size is smaller but the screen size is the same.

Weight – It weighs about 30% less that other versions. Mine is very light so this one would be even easier to hold.

Conclusion – The $79 Kindle is an excellent device and the price is more than reasonable. Even though it does not have sound, this would not be important for most people. If I did not already own a Kindle, I would probably get this model as I mostly listen to my Audible books on my iPod Touch. There are now also Kindles with touch screens but at $79 dollars it is hard to go past this model.