PCs are annoying. They do unexpected things and act like little children. I know, because my computer’s always troubled — and from the e-mail I get, so’s yours.
This week: Solutions for some of the computing troubles and annoyances you’ve asked me to fix.
A popular theme among Microsoft’s Windows 7 commercials has been this idea of the cloud, and it appears the cloud will play an even more integral role in the next version of Windows. Some astute beta testers have found settings called “Roaming Options” in the User Accounts settings of Windows 8.
While I don’t have a copy of this beta build in hand, this is what I’m gathering: these settings would be sent to the cloud and would be retrievable on a friend’s computer or on another device.
After 18 months, Windows 7 is keeping its sales pace of slightly more than seven copies per second–which is way better than Harry Potter, not as fast as Coke.
If Windows 8 doesn’t include an app store, it’ll be a stunner.
More Windows 8 scuttlebutt: it’ll apparently include a fancy PDF reader.
GeekWire’s Todd Bishop has a good roundup of the tidbits about Windows 8 that are starting to slip out.
This leaked welcome screen for Windows 8 isn’t itself a huge development, but it does offer some hints about where Microsoft is headed with its PC operating system.
AppleInsider’s Daniel Eran Dilger has posted a follow-up to my story of Samsung’s “true-life” Galaxy Tab fans who happen to be actors. To put things in perspective, he mentions Lauren, the star of a 2009 Microsoft “real person” ad who also had acting experience. (To be fair to Microsoft, the same ad campaign included other ads with non-thespian real people.) He also goes way back to a 2002 item on Microsoft’s site that seemed to be a true-life story of a Mac user being lured to Windows XP, but was really done by a freelance writer and illustrated with a stock photo.
But my favorite you-can’t-be-serious example of Microsoft marketing–and one which reminds me of the vibe of Samsung’s video–is the 2009 video explaining how to hold a Windows 7 launch party at your home. I don’t think Microsoft intended anyone to believe that its Windows 7 fans were anything but paid performers, but I’m pretty sure that Samsung’s Joan Hess and Joe Kolinski live the same planned community as these people…
When is Microsoft going to have a version of Windows that can power tablets that have a chance at competing with the iPad? Bloomberg’s Ian King and Dina Bass are reporting that the world’s largest software company won’t release anything until 2012’s back-to-school season. They don’t use the words “Windows 8” in the story, but if they’re right about the timing, it sounds like Microsoft has decided that the best way to respond to the iPad is with a version of full-blown Windows that’s been thoroughly reworked for tablets (rather than the plain ol’ Windows 7 which failed to storm the tablet market back in early 2010).
Then again, it may have other, speedier plans. ZDnet’s Mary Jo Foley wrote about Windows Embedded Compact 7, a version of the operating system based on the same guts as Windows Phone 7. It’s already out, and meant for a variety of devices, including…tablets! But maybe simple ones focused on the consumption of content rather than creation. (With Apple’s demos of versions of iMovie and GarageBand for the iPad, I hope there’s nobody left who insists that the iPad is purely, um, consumptive.)
Yesterday, TechCrunch’s MG Siegler reported on the operating systems used by visitors to that site. It currently breaks down like this:
Windows: 53.84%
Mac: 27.64%
iPhone: 6.72%
iPad: 3.47%
Linux: 3.28%
Android: 3.06%
iPod: .62%
MG also included historical data, and his main point is that if the trend continues, the majority of TechCrunch visitors will visit the site using an Apple device–Mac, iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad–within a couple of years.
As usual when I read numbers of these sorts, I rushed off and looked at equivalent stats for Technologizer. Here’s February 2011…
