I start this preview of the next version of Windows with a bit of hesitation. The reason is very clear; Windows 7 has been good for my PC’s and it has been good for the industry. Microsoft really went back to the fundamentals with that release by listening, not assuming. OEM’s and consumers (we) played a great roll in the design and performance of Windows 7. Windows 8 promises to be a different story, although I expect Microsoft to continue to involve us and the industry in the development of this upgrade, Microsoft does want to have a more innovative input on the new OS. This of course might ring some alarms, because when we look at the history of Windows successes and perceived failures, it’s a bit fluctuating to be honest with you. These of course are likely coincidences, but let us take a look anyway:

• Windows 2000 – Industry accepted

• Windows ME – Industry panned

• Windows XP – Industry accepted

• Windows Vista – Industry panned

• Windows 7 – Industry accepted

• Windows 8 – ?

To learn more, read the entire preview HERE

One of the quirks I am facing is with my USB thumb drive, I notice it has problems reading the drive, it ends up hanging Windows Explorer when I try to copy files to or from it. Another problem I am having issues with is Internet Explorer 10 and Facebook. When I try to make comments or post, its like my keys are stuck and hard to form letters. Another thing I don’t like is the forcing to go from Classic to Metro. For instance, when I launch a URL using the run command, it takes me to Metro IE instead of classic IE.

Apart from these relatively minor issues (or annoyances), there is familiarity, you click Start and the Start screen appears. I have had to readjust my thinking for the past few weeks just because 15 years of expecting a pane with familiar menus are no more. So, before you consider installing Windows 8, understand, this is an OS you must not consider complete or refined yet. There are quirks, there are problems, some applications you use might not function the way you would expect them to. All my favorite applications I use most often, I have to make sure I pin them or I have to use Search or scroll through the Start screen to discover them. I hope by the beta build, Microsoft works out a more convenient way to access your library of applications in the classic user interface. Maybe a User Folder type Programs Group icon pinned to the Taskbar.

One of the benefits though of using Windows 8, it allows you to better grasp features first introduced into Windows 7 more such as Jump list to access recently opened documents or web sites or launch Personal Folders. Another feature I use a lot now is the run command, if you were using it before, it has become a handy feature for quickly launching applications.  Shutting down is more of an exercise, since you need to remember to hover the Start menu, point to Settings, click it then click the Power Options button to click Shut Down. Not intuitive in my opinion. I have worked around this issue by simply creating a short button for Shut Down on my Taskbar.

But, if you have a spare machine, or you can setup a partition, I say why not? Microsoft doing a first by offering users a chance to experience the next generation of Windows for ‘free’. Just make sure you don’t wipe out your existing Windows 7/Vista/XP installation in the process. I have discovered the safest way after setting up a partition when installing Windows 8 is by booting from the DVD, you can simply select the partition and Window’s 8 will ensure that your other installation/s of Windows are not affected. Although you have to do some configuration after to access them, especially if you are dual booting with Windows XP.

Part of the reason why I decided to make Windows 8 my main operating system going forward is its excellent compatibility (surprisingly). My HUAWEI GPRS modem that never seemed to work under Windows 7 64 bit, surprisingly works out of the box using Troubleshoot compatibility under Windows 8 64 bit.

There is a lot I am still discovering in Windows 8, I still have not tried many of its highly touted features, but when I do, I will be sure to relay my experiences with you.

If you are using a traditional desktop or laptop computer, logging onto Windows 8 might present a bit of fatigue if you have the Lock Screen enabled. Windows 8 is designed with Touch in mind, so an action such as the one below which requires that you drag the lock screen up might feel secondary to using a keyboard. Lets look at how to change that experience.

Press Windows Key + R on your Keyboard

Type in control userpasswords2 then Hit Enter on your keyboard

Under Secure logon check the box for Require users to press Ctrl+Alt+Delete

Logging on should be a bit quicker and easier.

Go to the Start screen, click on Control Panel

Click on Personalize then click User Tile. If you have an existing picture you would like to use, click on Browse:

If you don’t see any files, click on Go up

Click the folder where the desired picture is stored

Click the picture you want to use or browse one of the available galleries if you have one, then click Choose Image.

Using your built in Camera:
If you have a camera, Click Webcam:

Tap the screen to take your photo

Use the anchors to crop the photo and remove any unnecessary information. When complete, click the check box at the bottom of the right hand corner of the screen. You can also click the discard button and try again if you are not satisfied.

There you have it.

On the Start screen, click on Control Panel

If you are connected the Internet, Windows will automatically begin the activation process. If not, click the Activate by phone link.

Classic Windows

Press Windows key + Pause Break key on your keyboard to take to the System Properties window. Or hover your mouse pointer over Start, click Search, enter system properties, click Settings to filter your search query and click the result.

Click Activate online.

Thats it. The new metro style is obviously much quicker, whichever method you choose, that’s how you can activate Windows 8.

Thanks,

Andre

The new 2011 MVP Award Kit

Opening the package first experience

My new 2011 Award Certificate in the discipline Windows Expert-Consumer

MVP Handbook, Lapel Pin, Award Disk and Name Badge

My Crystal Award, last years certificate award, 2011 Kit and 20 11 certificate award.

Thanks again Microsoft!

Previously:

My Microsoft MVP Award Kit is here! | Teching It Easy: with Windows

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Award 2010

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Award 2011

The ubiquity of 64 bit Windows 7 should not be a surprise, considering that a lot of machines out there today, whether it be a laptop or desktop are coming standard with 4 GBs or more RAM which is the sweet spot for 64 bit computing. However, there are also some budget systems that are also coming with 64 bit Windows but the amount of installed RAM is not enough to realize the benefits. 2 GBs of RAM works just fine with Windows 7 64 bit and there might be good intentions behind it, such as the ability to scale and upgrade to more RAM in the future. But the majority of consumers who do purchase a computer are not interested in opening up their laptop a couple years from now to add the additional RAM, they are more likely to purchase a new computer and hand the old one down to a family member or friend.

Compatibility: Applications, Hardware Drivers etc

Compatibility still remains a major sticking point when it comes to deciding between Windows 7 64 and 32 bit. I have come across issues relating to customized business apps used by a company not able to work or supported by the IT department on Windows 7 64 bit. Some persons might still be using an old game or application from out of the 90’s that uses 16 bit code which is not supported by Windows 7 64 bit. In fact, there are applications that are described as 32 bit, when in fact the installers and uninstallers used by these programs are actually 16 bit, making them incompatible. Microsoft and other industry partners have remained committed to making 64 bit a success. In mid 2010, Microsoft released the first 64 bit version of its productivity suite Office 2010 and Adobe introduced more 64 bit compatible versions of their creative applications such as Adobe Premier CS5 and Adobe After Effects CS5 which are exclusively 64 bit by the way. Of course, there is even more compatibility issues that arise when it comes to applications. The 64 bit version of Microsoft Outlook 2010 for example is not compatible with a lot of desktop extensions such sync managers for mobile devices such as RIM Blackberry or even Windows Phone 7. If you use a custom ERP solution built on top of Outlook or a solution for Microsoft Excel, you will have to ensure that they are 64 bit capable also.

So what are the workarounds for such a scenario?

Well, if you are running Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise or Ultimate edition, you can consider trying the free Windows Virtual PC with Windows XP Mode. This solution allows you to run Windows XP on top of Windows 7, you have the choice of running your legacy applications in Windows XP or have them virtualized and use them side by side seamlessly with Windows 7 native applications. Of course there is a bit of overhead, the performance of your machine needs to be up to par, you need to have a minimum 2 GBs of RAM and you also need a powerful processor. Its best you use it on a PC with 4GBs of RAM that supports either Intel VT or AMD-V virtualization technologies built into the processor, you also need to make sure the processor supports these technologies to get the best experience. This might be too much required along with more money needed to upgrade and the fact that you will need to reinstall applications in the virtual machine along with additional licenses needed and required maintenance of another PC, even though it’s a virtual machine.

If you decide that its better to just install Windows 7 32 bit instead, nothing is wrong with that. First, you need to make sure certain things are available, such as 32 bit drivers for your machine. It wouldn’t surprise me if some manufacturers are going exclusive with 64 bit these days. So, the first thing you should do is go to their web site, go to the download section and make sure they have 32 bit native drivers available for Windows 7 that you can install all the components in your system. You should also check for updated drivers for hardware such as printers, scanners or any other external device that you might plan on using with Windows 7 32 bit.

Clean Install

There is no in place upgrade path from from Windows 7 64 bit to 32 bit. This means you will need to backup whatever personal files you have accumulated since you started using your Windows 7 64 bit PC to an external hard disk or burn them to a blank DVD. You cannot use Windows Easy Transfer program when migrating from 64 to 32 bit, it is not backward compatible with the older architecture. This means, you will need to copy and paste files into a folder on an external hard disk or thumb drive. You need to gather all those application and driver installation disks and prepare to reinstall all of them. You can learn more in our Notebooks.com article about how to reinstall Windows here

Obtaining 32 bit Installation media

• If your computer came with Windows 7 64 bit preinstalled, then you will need to contact the manufacturer of the computer about obtaining a alternate recovery Windows 7 32 bit disk set to reinstall Windows 7 on your computer. The manufacturer might charge a small shipping and handling fee.
• Some manufacturers will include the ability to choose either 32 or 64 bit Windows 7 at installation time. This will require that you boot into the Recovery Environment, most manufacturers require that you press the F11 Function Key when you start your computer. Please consult the documentation that came with your computer about how to reinstall Windows 7.
• If you bought a retail box license (upgrade or full version) then you should have both 32 and 64 bit DVDs included in the box.
• If purchased a digital download of Windows 7 from the Microsoft Store, then you will need to go to the Microsoft Store website (http://store.microsoft.com), log in with your store account, select Download Options and select Windows 7 32 bit and proceed to download.
• If you have an Anytime Upgrade license, you will need first reinstall the base Windows 7 32 bit license, activate it then do the Anytime Upgrade to the particular edition and then reactivate again.

Starting the Installation

Boot to the Windows 7 64 bit desktop, insert your Windows 7 32 bit DVD, click Run setup.exe when the Auto Play dialog appears. If you want, you can also boot from the Windows 7 32 bit DVD and also do a custom install. Its just that, it’s a bit more elegant when you simply boot to the desktop and start the installation from there.

Click Yes when the User Account Control window appears

Click Install Now

Unlike the Windows 7 64 bit disk, you can start the installation from within Windows 7 64 bit because the Setup program in Windows 7 32 bit is a full 32 bit application.

When the setup menu appears, select the custom (advanced) option, select the disk partition where you would like to install Windows 7 32 bit. Click Next.

You will receive the following warning:

The partition you selected might contain files from a previous Windows Installation. If it does, these files and folders will be moved to a folder named Windows.old. You will be able to access the information in Windows.old, but you will be able to use your previous version of Windows.

So even doing a custom install, your personal files are still preserved. It is still recommended you do a manual backup, because you might explicitly format the drive during setup which will delete all information on the drive. Click OK

Setup will now start the installation. During the installation, your machine will be restarted several times.

When the installation is complete, you can complete the Out of Box experience such as selecting your laptop, create a username, password, your time zone. You can then proceed to download the latest updates for Windows and reinstall your applications and drivers. Persons running Windows Vista 64 bit, can also use this method when contemplating whether they should upgrade to Windows 7 32 or 64 bit. If you decide to go the other way around by migrating from Windows 7 32 bit to 64 bit, the same principles apply with some exceptions. You can use Windows Easy Transfer to backup your personal files and settings and you will need to boot from the Windows 7 64 bit DVD to start the installation.

Great news! I have been re-awarded Microsoft MVP for 2011! This is fantastic news, after basking in my 2010 Microsoft MVP award and still savoring the exceptional experience I had attending the 2011 Microsoft MVP Global Summit in Seattle, this award definitely is a great way to start the month of April and the coming months. I have learned a lot over the past year being a Microsoft MVP and the value of community and support. Microsoft MVP’s play an integral part in helping communicate the benefits of Microsoft products, services and technologies. The impact was most significant when I attended my first summit this past February where I met so many passionate individuals from around the world who believe in technology as a tool for advancement that can shape lives, businesses and communities for the better.

Dear Andre Da Costa,
Congratulations! We are pleased to present you with the 2011 Microsoft® MVP Award! This award is given to exceptional technical community leaders who actively share their high quality, real world expertise with others. We appreciate your outstanding contributions in Windows Expert-Consumer technical communities during the past year.

Sharing that passion with over 4,000 individuals from so many walks of life is really amazing. I want to say thank you to my readers, my MVP Lead Jake Grey, fellow MVP’s and Microsoft for continuing to support my passion. By the way, my new expertise now is Windows Expert-Consumer formerly Windows Desktop Experience. 

Sorry for the light posting this month, I have been battling a terrible flu and cough that has kinda reduced my workload a bit, but I am feeling a lot better than did a few weeks ago. The MVP Award for 2011 is also a great booster too.

Thank You!
Andre Da Costa

Previously:

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional  (MVP) Award 2010

Resources:

To learn more about the Microsoft MVP Award Program click HERE
Microsoft MVP Award Blog
Microsoft MVP Twitter Account

“You create a massive platform,” said Apotheker, referring to his intention to stretch WebOS across smartphones, tablets, and personal computers.

This news came amid reports earlier in the week that Microsoft won’t have a truly tablet-compatible version of Windows until the 2012 back-to-school season, when it plans to release an edition of Windows 8 geared to run on ARM’s mobile processors. That leaves a massive gap of 18 months during which time HP will seed the personal computing market with non-Windows technology, the iPad will have hit its third iteration, and Google’s Android (which can run smartphones, slates, and netbooks) will rack up more double-digit market share gains.

Read the entire article here

I look at it differently, every x86 and ARM Tablet will be considered a Windows PC by the time Microsoft ships Windows vNext or whatever they call it, don’t forget that. When you think about the overall PC market, every OEM will be producing Tablet devices shipping with Windows next year. When sold, they will obviously outnumber (an probably are today when you think about the many Windows PC form factors that are now on the market), the iPads, Xooms and Web OS Tablets. That’s why Steve Jobs is using the opportunity now to differentiate and call the iPad and iPhone post PC devices when they are doing exactly the same thing as PC’s using a good Touch interface.

You can do word processing, email, web browsing, even movie making now on an iPad, the same things you can do today on a traditional notebook or desktop PC. So tell me, how does this make ‘it’ the iPad any different from a PC? As for Windows vNext, I suspect Microsoft has something clever up their sleeves, I have a feeling they know the Windows UI needs to be re-architected properly for 10 fingers, but at the same time they don’t want to isolate users (WP7 tiles are not the answer). I am sure all the teams at Microsoft: Office, Windows Live are on board to create apps that are more Windows vNext touch centric since the point and click iterations today are still not suitable.

By the way, Google’s first efforts in the Tablet market have so far been described as ‘tepid’, with the Android 3.0 codenamed Honeycomb having some stability issues. A quote from ZDNET details the issue with the new Motorola Xoom device:

Misek said:

Xoom sales have been underwhelming. While marketing has just started we believe MMI will likely have to cut production if it already has not done so. We believe the device has been a bit buggy and did not meet the magic price point of $500. We believe management knows this and is hurrying development and production of lower cost tablets. Importantly we believe management will likely have to make the painful decision to accept little to no margin initially in order to match iPad 2’s wholesale pricing.

Learn more here

This is something I believe Microsoft also wants to avoid with Windows vNext, it has to be an exceptional release across many form factors from the get go. The OS has a lot to live up to with Windows 7 being such a major success. Microsoft has a reputation and it would be a shame to see it shattered with a buggy rushed release. This is a huge market and there is a piece of the pie for everyone, its just that we don’t know who will ultimately own the most slices, right now, its looking like Apple especially with the iPad 2 release.

Microsoft has done the heavy lifting already, they showed that at CES that they have ARM running Windows, now the job is to create a great user experience.  It’s still Microsoft’s game.