Category: Windows 10

For Windows Insiders on the Fast Ring for Windows 10, there is a new update rolling out to you that will be the RTM for the upcoming Fall Creators Update.  Build 16299.15 is rolling out to the ring now with Build 16299 rolling out to those in the Slow Ring.  That build released to the Fast Ring just last week so things are picking up in pace for the release.

As a reminder, the Fall Creators Update is scheduled to be released on October 17th.

In a surprise move, Microsoft has announced that the Microsoft Groove music service will be ended on December 31st of this year with Spotify becoming the music streaming service of choice.

As of October 2, 2017, we’re excited to announce that we’re partnering with Spotify to bring the world’s largest music streaming service to you. We know that access to the best streaming experience, the largest catalog of music, and a variety of subscriptions are on the top of your list. Now you can move your curated playlists and collection from Groove directly into Spotify.

It is a surprising move by Microsoft but equally, given how competitive the streaming music market is these days, it isn’t completely shocking.

For the first time since 2015, I am writing a post here at ClintonFitch.com on a Windows PC.  It is not that I necessarily planned to move away from my MacBook and MacOS, far from it actually.  Nor does it mean that I’ve given up on Chrome OS.  My trusty Acer Chromebook 14 is sitting next to me as I write.  But the reality of my day-to-day job kept pushing me ever closer to this eventuality.  We are a pure Microsoft shop so while I could somewhat get away with it on MacOS, it was becoming increasingly difficult to leverage Chrome OS.

Add to this my general unhappiness with MacOS Sierra.  It was okay but it never really performed well on my 2016 MacBook Pro.  I had stability issues with it (even after a complete wipe of the system) and, going back to my point about my day-to-day job, Office apps were never really all that great.  Sure, Office 2016 is way, way better than 2011 for Mac but there was still a feature gap between it and the Windows version.  This was especially true of Outlook.

So I made the jump.  Having updated my wife’s Lenovo ThinkCentre to version 1703 several weeks ago and playing with it, I was impressed with how far Windows 10 had come along.  It was smooth, it was stable and it was usable.  My last experience with Windows was 8.1 and it was, in a word, disastrous.  It was everything that you didn’t want in an OS.  I assumed Windows 10 was more-or-less the same beast.  I was wrong, oh so very wrong.

For the Android faithful who get frustrated by the use of older versions of the platform, take heart.  The problem is also shared by Microsoft Windows.

StatCounter has released their monthly report on Windows version usage globally and while Windows 10 has made gains, it still trails the now 8 year old Windows 7.  Windows 7 commanded 43.99% of all Windows-based internet traffic in September while Windows 10 jumped up to 39.3%.  That is up from 37.87% in August 2017.

It looks like the long awaited inclusion of LTE is coming to the Microsoft Surface Pro.  The current version of the 2-in-1 style device was released back in May and at the time, it was indicated that an LTE version of it would be available.  To date, that hasn’t happened but it looks like the end of the wait may be in sight.

Neowin is reporting that the LTE enabled version of the Surface Pro will be available on December 1st.  It will be initially available for the Intel i5 equipped models but could make its way to the i7 models at a later date.

For those who are on Windows 10, The lack of a native Google Play Music app means, for some, you are limited from listening to the music from your PC.  Some version of Windows 10 won’t allow you to install non-Windows Store apps so that rules out Chrome for your browser and easier Play Music playing.

Enter GPMDP.  The app is developed by Samuel Attard and gives you a customizable app that allows you to play your Play Music natively within Windows 10.  While it is not an official Google app, it gets the job done and works really well.