Month: May 2013

First public preview of Windows “Blue” scheduled for late June

There’s almost an apologetic tone in this open letter from Microsoft’s Julie Larson-Green:

We know people choose Windows because it’s important to their lives and their businesses. They trust and rely on Windows for serious productivity and more and more serious fun. We are proud to keep evolving Windows in way that brings forward over 25 years of computing and create the platform for tomorrow. As with every radical change, learning is a process. We are getting smarter every day about how to help people learn and make the most of their devices. From work in Windows, to online content, as well materials and demos at retail we are constantly improving and moving forward.

And also confirmation of something we pretty much knew already:

At the WIRED Business Conference I announced we’d share the first public preview of what we are calling internally Windows “Blue” in late June timed with the Build conference. It’s an update to Windows 8 and builds on our vision of modern computing. An OS that lets apps work seamlessly together and put the things you care most about right at your fingertips.  We are excited to share the next steps in this vision soon.

I’ll be there. Very curious to see what’s on deck. It’s more than just a Start button.

Sold…

Update: Sold, to the man in Stillwater, Oklahoma! Thanks for the responses, folks.

I’m swapping out some hardware, and my 15-month-old Samsung Ultrabook is looking for a new home.

image

It’s a Series 9 (NP900X3A), with the following specs:

  • Intel Core i5-2467M @1.60 GHz, 4GB DDR3 System Memory
  • 128 GB Solid State Drive
  • Display: 13.3″ SuperBright Plus widescreen display, 1366×768 (not a touchscreen)
  • Intel® HD Graphics 3000
  • Dimensions: 12.9″ (W) x 8.9″ (D) x 0.62″ ~ 0.64″ (H)
  • Weight: 2.88 pounds
  • Backlit keyboard

The system has a three-year manufacturer’s warranty and is in excellent working condition. It was originally purchased from the Microsoft Store, and I’ve upgraded it to Windows 8 Pro, with all the latest updates (including support for Windows 8 gestures on the trackpad).

This model typically sells on eBay for around $500 and up. At Amazon, asking prices for this model in good condition are in the $700-800 range. Hit the contact page and make me an offer or ask a question.

Remember that big whoop-de-do over Xbox requiring an “always on” connection?

Never mind.

Microsoft: Next Xbox will work even when your Internet doesn’t

According to an internal Microsoft e-mail sent to all full-time employees working on the next Xbox, “Durango [the codename for the next Xbox] is designed to deliver the future of entertainment while engineered to be tolerant of today’s Internet.” It continues, “There are a number of scenarios that our users expect to work without an Internet connection, and those should ‘just work’ regardless of their current connection status. Those include, but are not limited to: playing a Blu-ray disc, watching live TV, and yes playing a single player game.”

Playing a Blu-ray disc? Watching live TV without an Internet connection? Very interesting.

“They’re design guidelines, not laws”

Arturo Toledo argues, “Don’t call it Metro, call it Good Design.”

A few days ago, Facebook announced the release of a new Windows Phone app (Beta). The app does not use the typical out-of-the-box controls i.e. Panorama, Pivot or Page that have “traditionally” given Windows Phone it’s particular flavor and perhaps even differentiation from iOS and Android design languages. The release of the Beta sparked a range of comments, some in support, some against the design aspects of this app. To be clear, the ones that support the app (me included) are not saying that this is the best ever possible app of all times… We are simply celebrating the fact that a major industry player like Facebook is pushing what I’ll call Metro, to the next generation.

If you’re interested in the challenges of designing apps in the Modern era, this post contains lots of food for thought.

Deadline Crunch Mode

Apple’s iOS 7 Team in Deadline Crunch Mode, Adding Engineers:

Sources who declined to be named because they are forbidden to talk publicly about Apple’s plans tell AllThingsD that the company has been “borrowing” engineers from the OS X 10.9 team as part of an effort to double down on iOS 7. “Yes, yes — it’s essentially a repeat of the iPhone/Leopard scenario,” one source said, referring to Apple’s 2007 decision to pull engineers from OS X 10.5 to work on iPhone. “Not as much of a fire drill, though. It will ship on time.”

In my experience, the end result of this sort of last-minute scramble is usually a mess.

Perhaps someone can send a few copies of The Mythical Man-Month to Cupertino, with a Post-it note on the page that explains Brooks’ Law: “Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later.”