Tech Talk: Windows 10 - introduction

Windows 10 is the last iteration in the line of operating systems having come off the moderately received Windows 8, which I really liked a lot. It brings together the best of two worlds with the functionality and familiarality of Windows 7 while taking the touch-friendliness of Windows 8. It also brings forward a plethora of new features with a big bag in the “continuum" – the ability to use the operating system across different devices such as desktop, mobile devices and tablets, with options to synchronise.

It introduces a lot of new snazzy features such as Cortana for desktop, Windows Hello (new option for signing in to devices), Start menu (back in with the old and new) and a new browser found in Edge.

Microsoft wanted to get this just right with pre and post-testing phases with a total of 25 PC builds used for testing and feedback as well as 16 mobile builds for participants of the Windows Insider Program. This is the highest number of engagement of participants used for any Microsoft operating system.

I can’t wait to delve into Windows 10 in future blog posts so which this space!

Tech Talk: Windows 8.1 - Apps

With the introduction of Windows 8 comes apps which is not to be confused with the traditional applications found on desktops but rather one that opens up to the whole screen or a module of the screen in a “metro” style.

Apps can be accessed from the Start Screen or the Apps View on Windows 8.1 and can be “snapped” side by side or take up the whole screen. Apps can be downloaded from the App Store. To close the app, either go to the top-right of the screen and hover until an “x” for closing the app pops up or swipe from the top of the screen and head down to the bottom of the screen.

In the Charms bar, the options would be tailored to that specific app.

Tech Talk: Windows 8.1 - Internet Explorer 11 (desktop version)

Internet Explorer 11 is the last in its line before Microsoft launched the Edge web browser for the Windows 10 operating system. IE 11 came in two versions for Windows 8.1 with the modeless version and the desktop version. I’ll be going over the desktop version and you can check out a previous post on the modeless version.

The back and forward buttons were made exponentially larger for this model with their rest looking minimalistic, I guess to add more emphasis on the viewable content on the screen. The search bar contains allows searches to be done directly with the assigned search engine as well as for the use of entering web addresses directly.

Just like any other modern web browser, this is no different as tabs are a must for convenient and quick page jumping and navigation. IE 11 can open up an unlimited amount of tabs which can all be reordered by dragging the tab between tabs – so meta!

On the right-hand-side is the Home button for quick access to the saved home page, Favourites button for your online clippings and the Tools button to customise the experience and settings as well as to bring up the developers tools for the technical developers out there.

I’m gonna miss the good ol’ Internet Explorer but even Microsoft knows that it has run its course so I’m really excited to go through their new browser in an upcoming post.

Tech Talk: CaptionBot

CaptionBot is a new creation coming from the minds of Microsoft as part of their Cognitive Services. This is a result of years of studies into new capabilities. "Computer Vision and Natural Language" are used to describe the images which is brought together with Computer Vision API, Emotion API and Bing Image API. So without further ado... let's get down to it!

You could say that...

Ace to the first description but it seems to have picked up on a ghostly presence...

I guess art can be subjective.

It's still being worked on in the building phase and there is a rating system of 5 stars that allows it to know how it did in determining the image. It's not as fun as How-Old.net or What-Dog.net but there is fun still to be had with it.

Tech Talk: Windows 8.1 - Internet Explorer 11 (modeless version)

Windows 8.1 had improvements over its predecessor such as improved security, snazzier tools for favourites and synced settings. Moving forwards into Windows 10, Microsoft have dropped the Internet Explorer brand in aid of their Edge browser.

Windows IE 11 has two versions, the "modeless" app version, which is opened from the Start Screen or the Apps view, and the more traditional Desktop version.

The modeless app version adopts its name from being able to go full-screen without any borders and no visible option to close the application (at first). This is to allow much ease navigating around the web without any background distractions getting in the way of the experience, whether it is through a touch screen or the traditional click and go.

1. Web page
The display of the web page takes up this space once the page is loaded. There are options to go back and forward a page by swiping or clicking from the left or the right side of the screen.

2. Navigation tab
This shows a thumbnail of the page most visited or current page opened. Live tiles can be added which displays the current content in a thumbnail. Right click or hold a tab to bring up options to close the tab, duplicate or open the tab in a window (which comes up side-by-side immediately). Simply click/tap the cross to close the tab.

3. New tab
Click/tap to add a new tab. An unlimited amount of tabs can be opened as opposed to Internet Explorer 10 which could only open 10 tabs.

4. Tab tools
Options to go incognito for private browsing and to open the last closed tab.

5. Back button
Go back to the previous webpage.

6. Address bar
Type the address of the website that you wish to view. Suggestions may pop up or if accessed before, the website will come up above to access quickly. If synced with any other devices, the history will be displayed from the other device.

7. Go/Refresh button
This button is the "go" button if the webpage is being accessed or the "refresh" button if the webpage requires updating.

8. Tabs
Opens up a view of the current open tabs including thumbnails.

9. Favourites bar
View added favourites from devices such as phones (if synced) and add new content/webpages to favourites with a few clicks or add a webpage to the Start Screen. There is also an option to share the page through apps or a screenshot to the internet.

10. Tools

• Get app for this site - able to go the Windows App Store and locate the app for the website. Examples include eBay and River Island.
• Find on page - locate text(s) within the webpage
• Report website problems - send feedback to Microsoft if there is an issue on a particular URL.
• View on the desktop - view the page in the Desktop version of the browser.
• View downloads - see the last lot of downloads made through the browser
• Options - can be accessed via the Charms bar. It provides customisation to the overall experience such as how it reads (colours, fonts, etc.), zoom and showing of the address bar and tabs. Options to save passwords and access phone numbers from the browser can be turned on and off. The history can accessed here.

11. Forward
Cycle forwards through a series of pages. Only applicable if the back button has been used.

Tech Talk: Windows 8.1 - Start Bar

The Start bar gives access to a list of open applications giving quick access to opening it up or placing them side-by-side. It also allows quick access between the Start Screen and the most recently used app.

Similar to the Charms bar, it can be accessed in two ways:

• Touch-screen: From the left side of the touch-screen, swipe and hold the last app used and bring it to the left again. 
• Mouse: Go to the corner of the left side of the screen, and depending on where your mouse cursor is, swipe down or up with the cursor.

Once the app is brought up, it can be snapped to the side of another opened application. The open apps can be cycled through by pressing Alt and Tab buttons on the keyboard.

Tech Talk: What-Dog.net

From the minds of Microsoft's Project Oxford behind HowOld.Net and TwinsOrNot.net brings What-Dog.net. Utilising artificial intelligence powered by new machine learning technology, the application enables identification of objects to project an image that resembles the closest to a breed of dog.

There are laughs to be had when playing about with this app as it distinguishes what breed it is that your dog or yourself would be. It may not come up with the desired result and pictures of one person can yield different results, so there is a in-built feedback feature where people can submit the photos that they used in the application to help improve it. Not only does the breed come up, it'll also come up with the personalities.

First up is Ed the Golden Retriever:

First pic of me comes up with the German Shepherd Dog:

With a slight variation comes up with Labrador Retriever:

Don't have a dog, so we have... Silver the cat:

Give it a spin yourself and see how it goes with friends, family and yourself at What-Dog.net or download the Fetch! app on iOS, which is developed by Microsoft Garage.

#whatDogRobot

Tech Talk: Windows.8.1 - Windows Store

The Windows Store comes as a first for an operating system in Windows 8 (and Windows Server 2012) first to adopt it. The store introduced metro-style apps as well as desktop apps.

The Windows Store can be launched from the Start Screen, Apps View or, if pinned to the taskbar, desktop. The lives tiles feature allows notification of apps on the Windows Store tile of the Start Screen that are available to download as well as apps that require attention such as if a new update is available to download. A simple tap of click will launch the Windows Store.

Launching the Windows Store, the first thing to pop up is the main page which will contain blocks of apps featured in a particular groups based on general recommendations, featured, top grossing, best rated and recommendations based on the users’ downloads. A bar on top provides navigation around the store with a home button sporting the store’s logo as well as Top Charts, Categories, Collections, Account and a search bar.

In the top charts dropdown, it features top downloads for both games and apps with choices in “top free”, “new and rising”, “top grossing”, “top paid” and “best-rated”.

Under the categories dropdown, it offers refinement in the type of application being sought. The subcategories under this are games, social, entertainment, photo, music and video, sports, news and weather.

The collections tab contains grouped apps that go under a particular theme or particular build such as “Indie Game Spotlight” and “Made by Microsoft”. It currently stands at 40 collections ready to be explored.

The last tab is the Account tab which features “My Account” and “My apps”. The “my account” section allows details of user account login and payment and billing info to be changed. Gift cards or promotional codes can be redeemed here. Managing where the store is on which PC can be managed here which also gives an option to remove any PCs. My apps is the place to go to see all your apps in one go. It gives it an option to sort the apps by date of purchase or by name as well as an option to see if the app is still installed and on what device. One click of the “Clear” button will wipe the slate clean of the selection. The number of apps downloaded is shown as well.

 

The view on the app information page displays who published the app, the category it falls under, the user rating, the price, age rating, permissions, picture, size of app and additional information. It may display if the app is owned or installed in place of where the purchase button is. The store itself features free to apps that have a price tag on them. The installation may prompt a password if it is switched on informing and confirming of the purchase. Once the installation is complete, a notification (with the added chime noise) will pop up informing of the complete install.

The Ratings and Reviews section comes under the app info page, stating the overall rating as well as written reviews by users and the helpfulness of such reviews with a tallied “yes” or “no”. Reviews can be added by users by scrolling on the left-hand-side of the screen until “Rate this App” comes up. A rating out of 5 stars and a review of 1000 characters can be added, which can be later changed and updated at any given moment.

The Charms bar allow changes to preference, access to available app updates and access to "my account".

Tech Talk: MS-DOS Mobile

Launched last year as an Microsoft's April Fools' joke bringing the MS-DOS system, which was the "simplest operating system" Microsoft brought to the market that reached "millions of people". The app had its very own video to accompany it:

It runs like the fully-fledged MS-DOS system which has spiritually transformed into Command Prompt on PCs. To access the applications, you'd have to type the following the following path:

• cd programs
• cd phone
• dir

This will give a directory of the applications from within that path:

• Camera.exe - brings up the camera
• Contacts.exe - brings up the contact list
• Email.exe - brings up an option to open up the e-mail application
• Internet.exe - Opens up internet explorer (with the added bonus of a dial-up tone)
• Maps.exe - brings up the map application
• Phone.exe - will ask for the number to dial and then confirm to call
• Review.exe - review and rate the app in the market store
• Search.exe - uses search tool/Cortana to search the locally and on the web
• SMS.exe - send a text to an entered number or select from contact

The camera comes up with three settings: ASCII, B&W and CGA. It gives option to use the front or back camera. Once the picture is snapped, it can be saved to the camera roll and/or share online.

There are a lot of MS-DOS that are begging to be explored such as Windows 3.1 (typing the "WIN" command) and a real gem of a game Rock, Paper, Scissors. Cortland comes to play as well as she walks through the painstaking adventure of a process of loading up a game.

The app is available for download at the Microsoft App Store.

Tech Talk: Windows 8.1 - Apps View

Window 8.1 Apps View allows a view of most or all of the apps in a metro-style view allowing quick glance and quick access to apps customised to the way that you want to view it. It comes as a change from the Start Screen as all the apps are on display instead of having to scroll through to get to an app.

Apps View can be accessed by swiping up from the Start Screen if using a touch screen, otherwise clicking the down arrow on the bottom left of the Start Screen will send the Apps View into view. The whole page will display the apps, a drop down next to the main header “Apps” and a search bar on the top right. The search bar will search for the apps dependent on the letters that are gradually typed in.

On default, the Apps View will sort all the apps by name. This can be sorted by name, date installed, most used and category. Clicking on a sub-heading will bring up the full list of categories in which the apps would correspond accordingly to.

Apps can be added on to the Start Screen as well as the desktop which can just take a few seconds to do so. Apps can be added on to the screen by holding down using the touch screen or right clicking on the desired app to be added and then tap on either adding it to the Start Screen or the taskbar in the desktop. This will immediately position it at the end of the Start Screen or if you chose the latter choice it’ll come as the last icon on the taskbar. Other options may come up as well such as Uninstall and Find in Start. The Find in Start view will locate and bring up where the app is on the Start Screen. Multiple apps can be checked to add several apps to taskbar/Start Screen or even to uninstall multiple apps.

Using the Charms bar, the amount of apps shown on the screen can be changed exponentially by going to Settings, then Tiles and then clicking yes to Showing more applications in Apps View. You can even boot it straight to the Apps View screen once the system is booted, which can be changed in the properties found in the taskbar of the desktop.

Launching an app is simple stuff. A simple click or tap would launch the application immediately as oppose to the casual double click of what it was before. Dependent on the app, it will go full screen or launch into the desktop if the app is a legacy program.

Tech Talk: Windows 8.1 - Start Screen

The start screen of Windows 8.1 were met with a lukewarm reception with some disappointed by the abandonment of the familiarity of the previous operating systems and with some embracing the new change. The Start Screen brought a colourful screen with new colour schemes and background patterns which could be adapted and personalised to the users' preference. The Start Screen became a hub for just about a lot of things with information gleaned at a glance such as e-mail and news headlines, which I find makes it that much more easier and fluid to use due to less management.

At first glance, the screen shows apps and of any live notifications on apps that have live tiles. An arrow can be seen near the bottom right which is used to access Apps view which shows of all the program/apps listed. Top right of the screen shows:

• Microsoft login name - Can be used to sign out of the account or change the profile picture.
• Power button - Gives options of Sleep, Shutdown and Restart.
• Search button - Search through everything or refine the search to a specific area and even gives an option to search the web.

There are options to customise the app tiles to make it personal to your liking. You can access them by holding down on a app or if you're using a touch screen or right clicking and a tick mark will come up on the highlighted app. By doing this, the following options come up:

• Unpin from Start - removes from the Start Screen but does not uninstall it.
• Unpin from taskbar - unpins it from the taskbar found on the desktop.
• Uninstall - uninstall the app completely from the system.
• Resize - resize the app to Small, Medium, Wide or Large.
• Turn live tile off - turns off the live notification on the display of the tile.

Not all the apps will have the full resize scale and may just have one or two on display such as Internet Explorer only having Small and Medium. Resizing the app to small may not be to everyone's taste either as some app live updates may disappear as a result of it.

Accessing the settings on the charms bar will give you different options:

• Personalise - You can change the background and colour schemes that fits your mood, it especially helped me in seeking new inspirations - makes a nice change!
• Tiles - Show more tiles on the Start Screen so there is more apps in view without having to scroll along the screen for the rest. You can also change the amount in view in Apps view. You can also hide personal info from the live tiles should you wish not to have it displayed in view of the public such as E-mail live notifications.
• Help - Get tips and tricks on using the Start Screen and other aspects of using Windows 8.1

There are also an option to turn off the notifications for a duration of time which can be found at the bottom of Settings in the charms bar. It can be turned off for a duration of 8, 3 or 1 hour. The charms bar is useful for finding out the time and date as it is not found on the Start Screen and can be found on the bottom left of the screen when it comes up. This can be used at any point when using Windows 8.1 to find out the time/date.

If you like organising your apps on the screen, you can group them together and create a group name for them. You can re-arrange the apps by click and drag or hold and drag the app to the desired location. If you want to move a whole group of apps, click or tap the dash found on the bottom right of the screen and drag the group to the desired location.

To name a group, you can right click anywhere in the background and select "Name Groups" or drag up from the bottom of the screen and click customise to bring up a space to fill out the group name.

Apps can be added from the Apps view on to the Start Screen which will be explored in another blog post!

Tech Talk: TwinsOrNot.net

After HowOld.Net follows TwinsOrNot.net, which follows the same premise as the predecessor. The website comes under Microsoft's Project Oxford.

In this one, you could either search for an image online or upload one and a second image is also required to pair up. Once done, the #TwinsOrNotRobot groups them together and scores it out of 100% out of the likeness of the images. You can help improve it by submitting the pictures after the works been done to improve their "computer vision and related services".

After numerous attempts at finding facial pictures that it would recognise, I went for the "finally" look and my sis went for the "model" look (the only look that it only seem to take - humph!). Ann and I were paired up and it came up with 22% based on the two pictures provided...

Whereas Ed and I came up trumps...

Give it a go yourself and see who you may share likeness at TwinsOrNot.net or even download the app if you have a Windows Phone.

#TwinsOrNotRobot

Tech Talk: Windows 8.1 - Charms bar

One of the new features to Windows 8 and 8.1 is the introduction of Charms, which in a sense gives that extra magic to the operating system. It keeps the interface move smoothly by removing the extra buttons away from the screen giving more room for apps and content so that it is clutter-free. 

It can be accessed in three ways:

• Touch-screen: From the right side of the touch-screen device flick in the left direction. 
• Mouse: Go to the corner of the right side of the screen, and depending on where your mouse cursor is, swipe down or up with the cursor. If you go to the corner of the screen with the mouse cursor and do nothing, a ghost shell of the Charms will come up.
• Keyboard: Press the Windows button and “C”.

 

The main display of the charms come up with 5 things:

• Search: Search through all the content such as apps, videos and photos as well as being able to define where to search. You’re also able to use it to search through the web.

• Share: Able to share files, photos and links through a varied channels of medium.

• Start: Takes you back to the Windows start screen.
• Devices: Able to connect to devices.

• Settings: Able to personalise the Windows 8.1 experience and change the functionality of the PC. It will also tailor the setting options to the particular application that it may be opened up on, such as bringing up a game app may provide an option for “Permission” and “Rate and Review”. 

Tech Talk: Windows 8.1 - Lock Screen

The first screen to come when firing up the Windows 8.1 is the lock screen. The lock screen shows the background image with icons, time and date. The icons show the amount of battery charge left for the device and the internet network connection status and strength. Little thumbnails of apps can be added as notifications which pops up when something comes through for that particular app. It can be further customised to show features from apps such as the Calendar app which can show particular dates/events created in the Calendar to show up on the screen.

To access the customisation of the lock screen, you can open up the charms found on the right side of the screen, click on "Settings" and then "Change PC settings". From here, you can personalise Lock Screen, Account Picture and Password. From this page, click on "PC and devices" and then "Lock Screen" or alternatively click on the image for "Lock Screen" on the default page and this will take you to the page immediately. Also, there is an option to turn on camera from the lock screen with a simple swipe for quick access to it.

There are a number of options to head on to the next screen:

• Desktop computer/laptop - press any key to unlock the screen and proceed either to the password screen or start screen/desktop
• Touch-screen devices - Flick the screen upwards from the bottom or middle of the screen and proceed either to the password screen or start screen/desktop

Moreover, there are additional ways of logging in when prompted for the password:

• Password - good ol' password login
• Picture Password - using a picture you've chosen and signs in with a series of swipes
• PIN - Sign in with a 4-digit number
• Password policy - turn on or off password required to login from sleep

This can changed through the same way as before, open up "PC settings", head over to "Accounts" and choose "Sign-in options". Personally I use picture password as it never ceases to be a fun way to sign-in.

On the password screen, you can switch between password and the picture password/PIN, in case you have problems signing in with the latter options. On the password screen, you can access the Ease of Access functions for those who require special requirements. This also the page where you can shutdown, restart or put your system to sleepy, which I have no real for at the moment but it helps to have it as a precaution!

Tech Talk: Windows 8 and Windows 8.1

Welcome to Tech Talk which will be a space for me to talk tech. So I will be starting it off by looking back at Windows 8 and its improvement in Windows 8.1. The operating system was launched three years after the success of Windows 7 and in many ways 8 succeeded the predecessor, but it did not quite translate it over to the users, while others found solace when using devices with a touch screen. 

Windows 8 opened a whole new world to tablets/hybrids and computers with touch screen as the operating system added in new functions and capabilities for such devices making it more universally adaptable to a variety of devices. The touch reaches the very edges of the screen. It also works well with the traditional manoeuvres of a keyboard and mouse.

It is also the first operating system that allows it to be used on processors other than ones by Intel or AMD (x86 architecture) as it employs the use of ARM processors. ARM is used in many smartphones and mobile devices, which offer simplistic design using power at a low-level.

The minimum system specifications required to run the operating system are as follows:

• 1 GHz or faster processor
• 1 GB RAM (32-bit) or 2GB RAM (64-bit)
• 16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
• DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 10 or higher driver

Windows 8 is much faster in performance as it was designed to be much more slimmer and sleeker than its processor allowing it to work on a wide range of devices. The core processor is much higher in Windows 8 than Windows 7, which gave it a faster start up and shutdown.

With a new design and faster response comes a plethora of new features and enhanced capabilities of the old. These new changes include:

• New lock screen
• New ways to login i.e. PIN or picture password
• Start screen
• Windows Stores and Apps
• Microsoft account integration

Some embraced the new changes that Windows 8 brought but a lot did not take to it with some actually preferring Windows 7 over 8. Microsoft aimed to address this much further down the line by sticking to it firmly and adding new changes which will soon become known as Windows 8.1. This changes aimed to even out the playing field on all levels. The changes include adding in a start button to bring a sense of nostalgia for people missing it and using the same background for both the start screen and desktop. Improvements were added to existing features such as a new facelift for thru Windows Store, able to change the size of tiles, boot directly to the desktop and new additional touch gestures.

I'm going to do a full run of Windows 8.1 of the new features and capabilities. Of course, I will also do a full run through Windows 10 and the hark back it does in bringing together the best of both worlds.

#Windows8