Windows 8 Consumer Preview

I downloaded both the 64-bit and 32-bit versions of the Consumer Preview from my Technet account.

By the way, if you have a serious IT addiction like I have, and need access to Microsoft Products, the Technet subscription is the way to go.

I decided to install the 64 bit version as a dual boot with Windows 7 on my main hobby system, and the 32 bit version on an Acer W500 Tablet PC.

So after downloading, I copied the 64 bit ISO to my USB flash drive, for a quick setup on the hobby machine. I used Microsoft's own tool for writing the USB stick.  You can find the tool at:
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool.
(It will also write a DVD, but so will Windows 7).

I didn't get immediate joy on the hobby system since for some reason, telling it to boot from the USB didn't work.  Instead, it saw the stick as another hard drive, and I had to reset it for that.

At first, for the Acer Tablet, I tried using the web based install routine, but after it finally downloaded Windows 8, it needed 16 GB of storage in order to work, and the 32 GB SSD on the Acer was too full for me to get that much room.  So I decided to do a clean install on the tablet since I didn't have much stuff there anyway.  So I wrote another USB stick with the 32 bit ISO and went to work.

I attached the keyboard base for the tablet, got into the BIOS and reset for the USB boot and away we went.  The install went quickly.  Oh, as a side note, if you have any extra memory cards in the tablet, like as SD card, remove it before trying to boot from the USB.  For some reason, you can't unless you remove the SD card.

After the install and several reboots, Windows 8 came right up.  Even in the install setup process, it was reading the screen touches, and I have to say Windows 8 seems to fly on this little machine.  It has a dual core 1GHz processor, and I haven't seen real slowdowns or stutters, except what I consider to be network congestion.

One of my major concerns was all the rumors around whether or not Media Center would survive into Windows 8.  Not many people seem to use it, but those of us who do, really like it.  My whole digital media life revolves around it, and is stored on my Windows Home Server.  I record some TV and definitely have a movie collection, and Media Center was my portal to that.  But I discovered something that gives me greater hope for the future.  The move to the live tile/Metro interface has tiles for Music, Videos and Photos.  When I had connected through Media Center (and therefore through Media Player) my libraries of data on the server, lo and behold, the data showed up through the tiles.  There was all my music.  I switched over to Photos, and there lived all my Photos.

So I went hunting for my movies, and some of them were in the Video tile.  Those movies which I had transcoded from DVD to another format, showed up under the Other part of the Video tile.  Now, it they could just add a DVD and Recorded TV part to the tile, I'd be all set and ready to go.  So I see a path for the Media Center components to migrate to the Tiles, and probably become more familiar to people since they will then see them on the main screen.  I can't tell you how many family members and friends only use what they find in an icon on the main screen.  Maybe if Microsoft had put it in separate pieces on the main screen all along, it would have garnered more users.

I finally got the dual boot working on my hobby system, and I'm learning the differences in the touch vs. mouse uses.  But Windows 8 has really impressed me, and I see a bright future ahead for tablets with Windows.

Nook Tablet/Color Price Drop

Today Barnes and Noble announced a price drop for the Nook Color to $169, and a new Nook Tablet at $199.  There is still a Nook Tablet at $249, with double the internal storage (16 GB) of the new $199 model (8 GB).

I own a Nook Color, which I purchased back when it cost $249.  At $169, it is really one of the best tablets out there at a terrific price.  I've had my Nook Color for a couple of years and it does the job of a basic color tablet very well.  I've purchased a few books for it, as well as sideloaded quite a few free ebooks.  If you're a Science Fiction fan like I am, the Baen Free Library (www.baen.com/library) is a great way to start.  Of course Project Gutenberg at www.gutenberg.org is a source for almost 40,000 free ebooks.

The nice thing about the Nook Color is that you're not limited to just reading books, but can surf the web and even get your Angry Birds fix for the day (or hourly as some of us require).  If you want to take a little break with a cup of Starbucks, a Barnes and Noble Cafe in the bookstores is a good way to spend some time.  The Nook Color attaches to the Wi-Fi hotspot, and you can even get an hour's worth of reading for many current books for free.

The other reason I like the Nook Color (versus the Tablet) is that it is still easily rooted, and with a little time and an SD card, you can have it dual boot, either to the stock B&N software, or a custom ROM.

Chrome for Android

Since my last post saying that I miss a 'grown up' browser on my tablet, Google has released Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4).  Recently the Chrome browser was made available for ICS, and I have to say I'm happier.  I use it on my Galaxy Nexus and I've very pleased, especially having access to my desktop bookmarks.

Now, if something can just happen to get ICS faster to my tablet(s) I'll be even happier.

I Miss my "Grown Up" Browser

Yep, I've gone tablet crazy.  Just love the little critters.  I have an original iPad, I have an Android Tablet (Acer Iconia A500) and I even have a Windows Tablet (Acer Iconia W500).  See what they did with the Iconia model numbers?  Darn clever these folks!

The iPad is definitely prettier.  The Android has lots of options.  The Windows is Windows, but with teeny tiny buttons to try to press.  Good thing it comes with an attachable keyboard.

But time and time again, I find myself being forced to use the Windows tablet simply because I want to use a "Grown Up" browser, rather than the limited, constrained, features-missing browsers from IOS or Android.  (You know, like making a blog post, etc.)

I haven't been a coder in decades, but I've gotta ask, is it really so hard to make a full-featured browser for either IOS or Android?  The look is different, the feel is different, and the rendering is different between the desktop and tablet versions.

I downloaded Opera for the Android, and gave up with it after just a week or so.  It seemed a little unfinished.

I really do see the Windows based tablet, with the keyboard attached (yes, like a cheap laptop or netbook) as the 'go to' machine for when I really want to get something accomplished, and not just browse within the limitations the tablets lock me into.  If I want to see some video, I have to have FLASH available.  If I want the pages to render well and not give me the stripped down 'mobile' version, I either have to try to fool the sites by changing arcane settings in the mobile browser, or by just going to the real, desktop, made for grown-ups, browser.

I know these limitations, and I work with them so I can be on the bleeding edge of technology.  But I have many friends and family who just want the silly things to work, and let them see the content they want to see.  Make that happen with a decent battery life, and the sales of the tablets might REALLY take off.  Then again, I'm just a low-level functionary and not a tech company mogul who makes billions with every brain wave.  I just know that every time I extol the virtues of a tablet to one of them, and let them try it out, they invariably go to a website that shows the flaws of these 'little brother' browsers.  I can explain with lots of great reasons why that particular website didn't work right, but my friends and family don't care.  They just want the silly thing to work and show them EXACTLY what they are used to seeing on the desktop/laptop screens.

Oh, and Google?  A touch interface (that makes sense) for the desktop Chrome browser would REALLY help.  I've got a machine that can handle it, and IE 9 can do it (with some IRRITATING limitations).  So maybe you might want to try to make my life more wonderful?  Please?

If you're looking for a Google+ invitation, here's a link

:https://plus.google.com/_/notifications/ngemlink?path=%2F%3Fgpinv%3DwEIOhUfYpsI%3AmTlUwmNNcd4

When More Tech Just Won't Help

This morning I stopped by the local Super Walmart to pick up a few things, and like always, I wandered around a little.  I found a nice cover for the new Acer A500 Iconia Tab I bought several months ago.  So I picked it up along the stuff I really came for and headed to the checkout.

The Tablet Cover has four different barcodes on the back, none of which were in the store's computer checkout system.  So they were completely flummoxed.  Rather than ask for a price check, or call a manager, the cashier asked if I remembered the price and was willing to take whatever I said as the truth and enter it manually.  Of course I thought about saying $5.98 or anything other than what I thought I remembered as $39.  But I didn't.  I just said I thought I remembered $39, so she entered it and was willing to move along.  But then I balked.  What if I wasn't remembering correctly?  I had looked at a lot of stuff.  What if it was only $29 - then I'd be the one out of the money.

However, no one wanted to walk way to the back of the store to price verify this thing, including the 'manager' who came over to help.  The goal seemed to be to get me through the checkout line, no matter if it cost me or the company to do it.  So I asked to have the item removed from the list (she had already entered the $39 price).  Well, that took a manager's override too, so again I waited.

After the purchase - without the Tablet Cover - I put the stuff in my car and went BACK into the store for the cover.  I had the time, and I wanted the cover, but I wanted it all be on the up-and-up.  So I hiked to the back of the store (the most exercise of the day so far) and found the covers again.  They were $39.99.  I took one and headed for the checkout lanes, and chose the Self Checkout.  Again, the item wouldn't scan, and I needed assistance.  This time it took even longer, involved a cashier and manager, and this time the manager made the trip to the back of the store to look at the item.  She came back and tried more things on the checkout, but it still wouldn't register correctly.  At this point, all the waiting around totaled about 40 minutes for me.

So I was wondering if the new RFID systems being touted would have helped.  As I picked up the item and put it in the cart, it would have been scanned or not, and I would have had to deal with the issue right then and there rather than at the checkout.  But this addition of tech probably wouldn't have helped.

First, I didn't use a cart.  I only had a few things and I carried them.  Second, there was no one in the section of the store where the Tablet Covers were located, so even if it hadn't RFID scanned correctly, there wasn't anyone around to help, and I would have had to wait until someone did come around, or once again head to the checkouts and deal with it all over again.

Nope, can't think of a way tech could have helped with this issue, because the main tech that should have worked, the barcode system, had failed at the start - the store's computers didn't know about the physical product in the store.

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