Test Driving Windows 8

I’ve been playing around with the developer release of Windows 8 for a couple of weeks now. I have to say that my first impression was not that great. I’m slowly warming up to it although it hasn’t totally won me over.

 To test drive Windows 8 I installed it on a VirtualBox virtual machine. The installation process is very quick and easy. No big changes from Windows 7. The installation only took a few minutes.

One of the first differences that I encountered was the ability to choose to log on to the system using a local account or a Windows Live account. If the Windows Live option is utilized, user preferences are sync’d across all Windows 8 computers accessed by the account.

Another difference is the main screen that loads after logging on. It’s a huge wallpaper image that needs to be swiped up to access the main Start screen. Swipe up and the Start screen is revealed which has a series of tiles that take you to what Microsoft is calling “Metro Style” apps. The preview version has a number of apps preinstalled to show off the new Metro style applications. Developers writing Metro Style apps can code them in C, C++, C#, Visual Basic, HTML5/JavaScript and/or using XAML. There are apps for weather, stock quotes, social media, and games. Supposedly these apps were built by Microsoft interns to demonstrate how easy these applications are to build. By the way, have you ever met a technology intern? I find them pretty sharp. Never the less, Microsoft states developing for Windows 8 will be a breeze.

 To access what we all have come to know and love as the classic Windows desktop you need to click on the associated tile. Here lies another little surprise… the ribbon interface. That’s right. Love it or hate it Microsoft has replaces the classic tool bar with the Ribbon interface.

The other big change is the Start menu. Microsoft has done away with the classic nested fly-out menu. To get to what’s left of the Start menu in Windows 8 you place your cursor on the lower left part of the screen, you then receive a pop up menu with options to go to: Settings, Devices, Share, Search, and Start.

I’ve found Windows 8 to be snappy and it seems very light weight and easy on resources – that all while running in a virtual machine environment with just the minimal resources dedicated to it. I’ve been able to install standard Windows applications without any issues. This developer preview release is a bit buggy but it’s a pretty solid first out of the gate effort from Microsoft. The jury is still out for me as far the keyboard mouse experience. I’m still learning the tricks of navigating the system with peripherals. I imagine that on a dedicated touch system the usability experience is much better. I credit Microsoft for their effort with Windows 8, despite my concern for its usability in the enterprise. It’s been my experience that any small change in the computing environment tends to throw enterprise users for a huge loop, taking them out of their comfort zone. I don’t foresee IT folks, especially those who support end users, looking to implement Windows 8 any time soon and especially without enterprise tools to control the user interface.

Leaving Facebook? Don't Forget Your Data

Depending on what report you hear Google+ now has somewhere between 18 and 20 million users. I'm seeing lots of friends hanging up a "Moved to Google+" sign on their Facebook walls. If you do the same, don't forget to pack your stuff and take it with you. Facebook allows you to download your data. All packed in a nice .zip file.

Log on to your Facebook account. Go to Account > Account Settings. On the bottom of that page you'll see "Download a copy of your Facebook data". Click on the link and follow the instructions. No muss no fuss.

You won't get a nice file of your contacts, but just about everything else gets pulled down into the .zip file. This isn't the perfect mechanism for transfering data to Google+ but it's a way to get a copy of all that data you've been handing over to Mark Z. all these years. 

Test Driving Google+ (Plus)

I've been really lucky to have received an invite to Google's new entry in the social networking space, Google+ (Plus). I have to say, Google is doing a lot of things right with this effort and I'm finding it a very interesting alternative to what Facebook is doing. The concept behind Google+ is based on how we conduct our relationships in real life. We interact differently with different people in different situations. To attempt to replicate this real life experience Google has introduced the concept of "Circles". Circles allow you to place different people in different groups. This allows for controlled sharing of your information. You can have a circle for friends, family, colleagues, acquaintances, or customize a ring for any group you desire. When you post content you then can decide which circle receives access. It's a lot easier than the lists in Facebook and one gets a much better feeling of control.

Another feature in Google+ is Hangout. This feature allows you and up to nine other members of your circles to do simply that. Hangout on a video chat. Your circle members drop in and out at their convenience. The software detects who is speaking and immediately switches the focus to that participant’s camera. This helps maintain the normal flow of real life conversation.

A concept known as Sparks is also being introduced. Sparks allows you to search on just about any topic and have that information flow directly to your Stream (think Facebook wall here). You can then consume the info or share it with others in your circles using it to “spark” a conversation.

In addition to the aforementioned features there are the usual suspects - photo sharing, chat, +1, and a really interesting mobile phone concept called Huddle which allows for group chat and decision making i.e. "What are we all doing for lunch?”. One word of caution is that instant uploading is available for photos and video within the phone app. With this turned on media is immediately uploaded to a private folder and you can decide later to share it and with whom. Fortunately you can disable this feature to have more control. The interface on the phone app is simple and elegant. It does remind me a bit of the Windows Phone 7 hub interface, but hey that interface is pretty nice as well. From the main screen of the app you can access your Stream, Huddle, Photos, Profile, Circles, as well as Notifications.

I really like what Google has done with this application. They seemed to have taken care with the user interface; something Google has received criticism for in the past. It feels light and fresh. The privacy and sharing controls are obvious and accessible. Also, it's not so "in your face" like the failed effort Google Buzz. Buzz was everywhere prompting you to sign up or give it access to this that or the other. There is none of that with Google+. Simple, elegant, and smooth are the words that come to mind. Navigating the site and using the mobile app is a truly fun if not addictive experience. It's too early to say if this is going to be a serious threat to Facebook but I really don't see why it wouldn't at least be a serious alternative. At this point, I'm not seeing a whole lot to dislike. I’m excited for the beta testing to increase so more of my real world friends will have access and then we will know which direction this project will take. Great job Google, no matter the end result.

Google Music, Something New is Something Old

I received my invite for the Google Music beta test and took the service for a test run. After receiving the invite, I signed in, downloaded, and installed the upload client. To test things I decided to upload just over 4GB of music I had on my hard drive. On a fast network connection with huge bandwidth this process took about an hour to complete. Once all my songs uploaded I went to the music player page. Once there, I have to say that's where my enthusiasm waned. There were my tracks, nicely loaded and categorized by artist and genre, but the interface looked pretty sparse. I tinkered with the play list functionality. I found the instant mix feature somewhat interesting. It's a version of iTunes Genius List feature. Basically, it creates a play list based on a selected track. It attempts to pull other songs from your library that are similar. Mood music as it were. There is an option to access free songs but nothing showed up when I selected it. I listened to a few tracks, created an instant mix play list and that was that. Playback sounded nice and I noticed no degradation of track fidelity. The other way of playing tracks is through an Android app. I haven't tested it out but from my reading it allows for the same functionality as the on-line player. Additionally, if you are off-line the mobile app allows access to recently played songs or songs you designate to be available off-line. I'm assuming it downloads those songs to your phone in some background process. All in all I like that Google has thrown its hat into this arena. I'm a big proponent of having access to your music in any way you wish, but to me, that's pretty much all I'm finding Google music to be, just another way to access my music. I find Amazon Cloud Player a lot more interesting. I think the ability to buy a song and have it immediately added to your Cloud Player library is a huge convenience as well as having the ability to download songs whenever and where ever you choose. Also, the fact that Amazon Cloud Player is tied to its Cloud Drive service is nice. Amazon's ability to store additional files other than music, and the generous storage space offerings, seem to relegate Google Music to being just an ordinary music player. That being said, if you live in the Google ecosystem it's not a horrible addition to their service offerings.

T-Mobile G2x, All That and More

I waited quite a while to make the jump to a new smart phone. Over the years whenever I set my sights on an upgrade I was always dissuaded with the promise of a new and better phone arriving within months. Sure, I carried a Blackberry for work, but we all know they are getting their heads handed to them in the smartphone space. Doing anything other than sending email or texts with a Blackberry is like watching paint dry and takes much longer. Finally my patience was rewarded when all the stars aligned and the convergence known as the T-Mobile G2x hit the market. Why this phone? Why now? Being a T-Mobile customer I wanted to stay with that carrier. Like all carriers they have their detractors but over the years I’ve been pretty satisfied. I have always leaned toward the Android platform, so when I saw the G2x coming to market I was immediately intrigued. The phone promised all I was looking for, a nice form factor, a dual core processor, 4G speed, upgradeable memory, a vanilla version of Android, front and rear facing cameras, HD video, and a gorgeous display. So with all that, I made the jump and have not regretted the purchase for one second. I’ve probably utilized this phone more in the last few weeks than I have used any phone I’ve ever owned. The thing about this phone is that you really want to use it. Nothing about it is cumbersome.  It starts with the display and user interface. The display pops and without the clutter of a carrier’s ported version of the user interface it’s very easy to navigate. You get a clean crisp plain vanilla Android interface. The way Google intended. If you use Google services I can’t think of a better phone. Start it up, type in your Google credentials and almost before you know it the phone is populated with your Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Contacts, and your online photo galleries from Picasa. There are a variety of ways to input text, classic touch screen keyboard, swipe, and the method I love the most, voice. The speech recognition is the best I’ve ever experienced. It rarely misses what I say and when it does it’s usually the result of loud background noise. This phone is fast… noticeably fast. Web pages load so much faster than on other phones I have used. The combination of the dual core processor, 4G speed, and an outstanding browser all work together for one awesome browsing experience. Then there are the apps, so many apps. Mobile applications are those things that you sort of think “So what. Big deal”... until you dive in to them. In the short time that I have owned this phone I have discovered a myriad of uses, creating text documents, using GPS to get to unfamiliar locations, updating all my social network feeds, instant messaging, emailing, making an HD recording of a friend’s wedding, taking some really cool pictures with the 8 mega pixel camera, using a QR Code reader app to get reviews on products while in the store, creating my on QR Codes for work and to use as a person contact card, finding nearby restaurants and stores, taking voice notes, listening to my music stored on Amazon Cloud, moving files to and from Dropbox, timing my laundry, and becoming addicted to Angry Birds. Before my purchase I read some complaints about battery life. I find myself charging once every day or day and a half. So for me, the battery life is fine.  All in all my G2x experience has been one of the best I’ve had with any electronic device I’ve own or operated. It was definitely worth the wait.