How to get around Live Sync’s 2GB limit

One of the cool features of the new Windows Live Essentials Wave 4 Beta is the newly improved Windows Live Sync. It allows users to sync files/folders and certain Windows settings to the cloud and to other computers.

Microsoft rolling out Hotmail Updates

Yesterday, along with the consumer release of Office 2010, Microsoft also announced that it would start rolling out the much anticipated Hotmail Updates. The new service, which I am thoroughly excited about, will incorporate better ways in which we interact with our e-mail.

Google offers secured search, still monitors search data though

An interesting tip that I received via Paul Thurrott’s WinSuperSite over this weekend was that Google has recently offered a new SSL secured beta version of their ever-so popular search engine.

My Top 10 Reasons why Microsoft is now doing a great job (Not that they weren’t before)

Yesterday, Ed Bott posted a great article over at ZDNet (It’s official: Microsoft is out of the Vista doghouse) about how Microsoft has lately been reclaiming its customer satisfaction that it may have lost from Vista.

Linking Hotmail/MSN/Live accounts together

If you’re an avid user of Microsoft’s Hotmail services and subscribe to multiple Hotmail/MSN/Live accounts, you may have wondered how or if you could connect these two accounts together.

Setting Bing as Default Search Engine in Firefox

One of my gripes with Mozilla Firefox is that users cannot set Bing as their default search engine without installing an add-on to Firefox. Firefox offers several different search engines options from the get-go, including Google, Yahoo!, Amazon.com, Answers.com, Creative Commons, eBay, and Wikipedia.

Windows Live Update requires shutting down 25 programs?

Really? I went to update my Windows Live Essentials Suite and as is usual it required me to close down IE8 and Outlook. Okay, no problem, but wait, that wasn’t it. For some bizarre reason it required me to close down 22 other programs before the install could continue.

My Take On Microsoft Pink – Before the Announcement

Today Microsoft will be announcing and releasing it’s first Microsoft Pink device. The device, targeted towards teens and those in their early twenties, will allow for better social communication (i.e. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc.). Microsoft has already partnered with Verizon Wireless--my ultimate favorite wireless provider--to sell the device. The announcement will be held at 1:00PM EST today.

 

What’s the point?

I don’t mean to sound condescending here with this question. But, really, what is the point of Microsoft Pink? Microsoft first began working on Pink somewhere around 2008 when it acquired Danger, Inc. There is currently a lot of speculation as to what this device will enable for most users, especially when one of its main competitors is the iPhone and the Android. Further down the road this year, I could see Windows Phone becoming yet another competitor towards Microsoft Pink. So, what really is the big deal here? I mean, why would Microsoft create two mobile platforms (Windows Phone and now Pink) to compete with each other in the market. After-all, the iPhone has only one platform and personally I think that that is one of its advantages.

So, what is Pink’s advantage? Well, its target market for one. Although many teens and young adults enjoy and rave over the iPhone, there is still a lot that can be improved with the iPhone. In some regards, they may want something that’s simpler, or connects with their friends better. That, I believe, will be Pink’s greatest advantage. It will perform the basic tasks and keep its user connected to the world (i.e. social networking). In fact, it almost sounds too good to be true, for a kid anyways.

 

The device’s main goal, I think, is to provide a new and better way to communicate with friends and family. Of course, you can always do this with many other phones, especially the iPhone, but why not make it simpler than that. Microsoft has also always tried to make platforms for businesses and home users. Microsoft Pink isn’t necessarily designed specifically for the average home user, but it will leave out many of the enterprise features that Windows Phone will include. However, it will probably keep, and perhaps add on to, the many multimedia features that are present in Zune.

 

The Device’s Platform – My Thoughts

With the Pink platform launching nearly 5 months before Windows Phone leaves many users to wonder what type of platform this device will run. I personally believe, and some would agree with me, that Microsoft Pink will be somewhat based off of the Zune HD + components of Windows Phone. In other words, it won’t be able to capture all of the Windows Phone elements, for one, because it seems like it’s a slimmed down version of Windows Phone and it comes out way before Windows Phone OS is even ready.

 

I also believe that this device is not meant to be the next big thing--that will be Windows Phone come five months from now—instead it will more than likely be a device that takes the best of both worlds approach. A nice overall UI (Zune + Windows Phone) along with the multimedia capabilities of Zune and finally, the ability to increase social networking and connecting with friends and family.

 

Keep in mind that when I discuss the phones capability of connecting with friends and family easier than previous phones, I do not mean that it will be easier to text or send messages. Any phone can do that. This phone will instead be able to connect via social sites online and get to specific information quickly and reliably. I think one feature that will hopefully be in Microsoft Pink will be the “Hubs” that are introduced in Windows Phone, or at least some variation of them. Something, for example, that allows a user aggregate all of their social information into one main, upfront location. In other words, when the user turns on their phone they will be able to see their latest Tweets, Facebook comments, Foursquare updates, etc. all in one-place, such as the welcome screen. Aggregation is the future, which is why Windows Phone is going this route and why I believe Microsoft Pink will follow suit as well.

 

Further Thoughts

I don’t personally believe this will be a huge game changer, especially with Windows Phone coming up the heels of Pink, but this device, I believe, is still fairly interesting. I won’t be buying one of these as my primary phone, I just don’t see the point in having a device that further allows me to connect with people whom I may not want to talk to. Plus, who really wants a device that’s targeted towards teens.

 

Keep in mind, however, that this entire post is based on speculation, whether or not Microsoft Pink is actually what I think it is will remain unanswered until the announcement later today. Though, I believe I am pretty close in thinking that this device will enable users to connect with friends and family much easier than any other previous devices. I’ll be looking at the announcement later today, 1:00PM EST, and will more than likely come up with a response to this article with, hopefully, more information.

 

del.icio.us Tags: tinkering with windows,microsoft pink,windows,development,windows phone,phone,verizon,cloud,social networking,facebook,twitter

Mozilla Firefox 3.7 Alpha 4 Preview – A Quick Look

 

Yesterday, I got wind of an update to Mozilla’s Firefox 3.7 Alpha string. The last time I had looked at this build was during the Alpha 1 release, however, quite a bit has changed since then. Most notably, the current Alpha of 3.7 offers Aero Glass UI, a very nice touch. I took together a couple of screenshots of the browser and felt I had to share them. I’ll add a bit of commentary to the screenshots as well.

 

Installation

Installing the Alpha version was very simple, and very similar to the overall installation of previous Firefox versions. The biggest difference between the Alpha prerelease and the current version of Firefox is the prerelease is labeled as Mozilla’s experimental browser, Minefield. As time goes on, and Mozilla gets closer to the final release, they’ll rename the final version Firefox 3.7.

 

 

Note the Minefield name reference in the setup dialogue box...this will change once the final release ships.

 

 

 

Installing under the "Minefield" folder type allows the user to continue using their previous version of Firefox, very useful if you have extensions or add-ons that may not work yet with this prerelease.

 

Most extensions and add-ons won't work with the pre-release. As time goes on developers should start making these compatible with FF 3.7.

 

Finally, after the installation you should get this nice screen. Notice the new Aero Glass UI and lack of the Menu Bar.

 

Changes since Firefox 3.6

The most noticeable feature change in this prerelease is the addition of the Aero glass UI. To compare the new UI, I took an older screenshot of Firefox 3.6.

 

Firefox 3.7's new UI...quite a bit has changed.

 

Firefox 3.6.2's UI. The UI looks old and out-of-date when compared to other browsers.

This UI change is both a pleasant and welcome experience. After-all, many other competing browsers have already switched to this style, first with IE, then Google Chrome quickly followed suit. Another noticeable difference is the lack of a menu bar. This is primarily due to the addition of the glass UI; however, you can still get the menu bar back by simply tapping the ALT key on your keyboard, this will bring up the familiar menu.

 

I haven’t spent a whole lot of time on this version to really point out every possible feature since this is just a preview; I’ll look a little more in detail with this version as it comes closer to the full release time. Look out for a full review on this site around its official release. You can also pick up the pre-release version over at the Mozilla labs to try it out for yourself.

 

As always, you can contact me via Twitter (@jctierney) or leave a comment below. I’ve also started a new e-mail address for this site, tinkeringwithwindows @ live dot com. Feel free to drop me a line every now and then. I welcome anyone who has a question, comment, suggestion, etc. to feel free to e-mail me at that address.

 

del.icio.us Tags: windows,internet,firefox,beta,tinkering

Why Google Chrome Is Gaining Momentum – My Thoughts

While perusing Ed Bott’s Windows Expertise Blog (as I often due) I came across one of his most recent posts “Chrome takes a bite out of IE and Firefox” detailing a dramatic increase in Chrome usage:

I haven’t taken a close look at this site’s browser stats in nearly two years. The last time I looked was in mid-2008, shortly after the release of Firefox 3. At that time, Internet Explorer had a 57% share among visitors to this site and Firefox was just over 38%, with Safari and Opera fighting for scraps.

Things have changed a lot since then. Firefox is now up to version 3.6. Microsoft released Internet Explorer 8 roughly a year ago. And most important of all, Google Chrome entered the lineup. Google has a hit on its hands, and according to my stats Chrome’s success is coming at the direct expense of not just Internet Explorer but also Firefox.

When I first started reading this I thought that the findings were very interesting, almost shocking. Then I started to actually think about it for a moment. Of late, I’ve probably been using Google Chrome more than any other browser. (If you check my Wakoopa account you’ll notice that I’ve been using IE8 quite a bit lately, this is primarily due to me preparing myself to compare IE8 and IE9. Otherwise, I primarily use Google Chrome.) There are several reasons for this, but for the most part, I believe that Google Chrome is a faster and simpler browser to use. I believe many other people have found this to be the same for them. I’ll first take a look at some Chrome statistics, and then backtrack and try to explain why Chrome might be gaining popularity.

Since its inception in September of 2008, Google Chrome has grown significantly in market share. In just a mere one and a half years, Google Chrome has grown from 0% to a modest 6.08%. Below is a chart depicting browser market share from six different leading market sources:

Source	Internet Explorer	Firefox	Chrome	Safari	Opera
Clicky	49.92%	32.80%	8.09%	7.54%	1.41%
Net Applications	61.58%	24.23%	5.61%	4.45%	2.35%
Stat Counter	54.50%	31.83%	6.71%	4.08%	1.97%
StatOwl	66.99%	19.48%	3.98%	9.00%	0.24%
W3Counter	48.70%	32.10%	6.80%	5.60%	2.10%
Wikimedia	50.29%	30.96%	5.28%	5.27%	3.29%
Mean	55.33%	28.57%	6.08%	5.99%	1.89%
Median	52.40%	31.40%	6.16%	5.44%	2.04%

Ok, so Chrome fairs well against its competitors, in fact it’s the number three used browser of the top five browsers. Here’s a bit more information about Google Chrome taken from one of my more favorite stat companies, Net Applications:

Quarter	Internet Explorer	Firefox	Chrome	Safari	Opera
2010 Q1	61.89%	24.34%	5.40%	4.49%	2.37%
2009 Q4	63.67%	24.46%	4.04%	4.41%	2.29%
2009 Q3	66.80%	23.06%	2.86%	4.13%	2.07%
2009 Q2	68.06%	23.00%	2.13%	3.67%	2.05%
2009 Q1	69.13%	22.67%	1.56%	3.58%	2.18%
2008 Q4	71.99%	20.78%	1.16%	3.11%	2.15%
2008 Q3	74.93%	19.07%	0.37%	2.73%	2.06%

Since its debut in 2008, Google Chrome has significantly gained in popularity, going from 0.37% to 5.40% market share in just under two years. Now, 5.40% may not seem like much right now, but considering that it did this in a mere one and a half years is quite mind-boggling to say the least. It looks, however, that it takes most of its market share from Internet Explorer, for whatever its worth, as Safari and Opera (why?) continue to grow in market share. The stats show another more frequently occurring trend with Firefox, which recently has been losing market share.

Why is Google Chrome becoming so popular? From what I’ve heard from other dedicated Chrome users, it’s the simple fact that it’s easier, more reliable, and faster. In fact, one dedicated reader when asked why they continued to use Google Chrome after I initially recommended it, told me that it was “much easier to use than other browsers” and that “it didn’t cause as much of a headache.” Didn’t cause a headache? Well, I would probably stick with Chrome too.

I think the majority of the population that has tried Google Chrome has probably continued to use it for these simple reasons. Why wouldn’t someone want to use a browser that is both faster and easier to use? It just makes sense.

Why is it easier to use? This poses a good question, and from personal experience I can say that it amounts to several different reasons. The best reason, I think, is its basic user interface. By having one box for both searching and entering a specific address serves as a great way of making browsing the web so much easier. With Chrome, the same text box is used either for search or for a direct address to a website. Simple, yet effective. With other browsers you have a dedicated search box and a dedicated address bar. In Google’s case, the less is more approach really works better, and I think the majority of the population somewhat agrees. Overall though, I think that the browser has a much more intuitive design, even if it does still look like a typical browser.

Why is it faster? This question is a little bit more difficult to answer. I have no proof that it’s actually faster, and even using benchmarks to test a browsers speed only does so much. Ultimately, I can only say that it seems faster when I load different pages, especially anything that deals with flash video, such as YouTube.

Getting back to Ed’s post here, the discrepancies between Net Applications statistics of 5.40% and Ed Bott’s 10.86% is also easily explained. The majority of Chrome’s market share probably comes from tech enthusiasts, which are predominantly the ones that would be stopping over at Ed Bott’s Windows Expertise Blog. Thus, a more concentration of computer geeks equals a higher market usage of Google Chrome.

Putting everything aside, Google Chrome has still made some very significant strides in the browser market. I’ll continue to use it as one of my primary browsers and highly recommend this browser to most anyone that uses the Internet on a daily basis (isn’t that everyone now days?).

On a side note, according to Ed Bott, IE6 usage share has dropped to less than 8%...that’s still pretty high, but at least more people are staying away from IE6 and moving to something else.

As always, you can contact me via Twitter (@jctierney) or leave a comment below. I’ve also started a new e-mail address for this site, tinkeringwithwindows @ live dot com. Feel free to drop me a line every now and then. I welcome anyone who has a question, comment, suggestion, etc. to feel free to e-mail me at that address.

del.icio.us Tags: windows,microsoft,cloud,internet,google,chrome