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23 July 2021 - Podcast #753 - (21:34)
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It's been several weeks since Microsoft announced that that Windows 11 will be available "later this year." That could be 24 July (the day after this edition of TechByter Worldwide posts) or 31 December. Neither of those is likely, but I'll be surprised if the roll-out doesn't happen in time for Windows 11 computers to be on store shelves for the Christmas shopping season.
But didn't Microsoft say, after skipping Windows 9 and going directly to Windows 10, that Windows 10 would be the last version of Windows? In fact, they did. Microsoft said that in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. Now they're excited to tell us about Windows 11.
You may recall an echo from Microsoft's past: "OS/2 is the future of personal computers." That's what Microsoft and IBM were saying in 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, and 1991. Then, in 1992, Microsoft discontinued its OS/2 partnership with IBM so that it could concentrate on Windows. Intentional or not, this also all but destroyed Wordperfect. IBM continued to manufacture personal computers for a few years, but in 2004 the company exited the PC business by selling it to China's Lenovo.
Now Microsoft seems to be creating exactly the kind of problem that they attempted to eliminate by releasing Windows 10 and making updates free. The problem: Maintaining and supporting multiple versions of the operating system. Providing support for two versions is difficult for both Microsoft and users. Full support for Windows 10 will continue through October 2025, with support for some versions continuing through January 9, 2029.
Windows 10 won't stop working in 2025. Support for Windows 7 ended last year and people still use it. Support for Windows 95 ended in 2001, but some people are still using that relic. So if you can't upgrade your Windows 10 computer to Windows 11, or don't want to, there's no immediate problem.
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One big question is Will your computer run Windows 11? You can find out by visiting Microsoft's Windows 11 information website where you can download a compatibility tester. I was astonished to find that my 4-year-old Lenovo P50 isn't compatible despite the fact that it has an Intel Xeon CPU, 64GB of RAM, and a 64-bit version of Windows 10. This computer also has the required Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0 and substantially exceeds all other specifications. Despite this, its Xeon E3-1505M v5 processor is not supported for Windows 11.
I was less surprised to see that a 7-year-old notebook computer would be unable to run Windows 11. A 2-year-old Surface tablet will be able to run the new operating system.
The two most likely reasons that a computer won't be able to run Windows 11 is the lack of Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) Secure Boot functionality or the lack of Trusted Platform Module (TPM) security. To see if UEFI is enabled, run msinfo32 (aka "System Information") and examine the BIOS Mode line. To check TPM, use the Device Manager to view the Security Devices key.
If System Information reports the BIOS mode as Legacy instead of UEFI, check the documentation that came with your computer to see if UEFI is available on the motherboard; if it is, you'll need to enable it in the BIOS settings. Windows 11 will not install without UEFI.
If the Device Manager has no Security Devices key or if TPM is present but less than version 2.0, Windows 11 cannot be installed. If TPM is present but the version number is too low, a firmware update may be available from the manufacturer.
The video subsystem will be a problem if it doesn't support at least DirectX 12 and have a Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) that's version 2.0 or higher.
The other basic requirements will be met by virtually any computer manufactured in the past several years, but trying to run Windows 11 on a computer that barely meets the minimums will be distressing.
Confirm with the manufacturer that the hardware is fully compatible with Windows 11. Most manufacturers have included information on their websites about compatibility and some have added badges to descriptions to show which models are compatible.
This is important because, although Microsoft will continue to support Windows 10 for a few years, the operative term is "few". Anyone who keeps computers for more than three years should confirm that a new computer will be eligible for the free upgrade. Microsoft appears to be continuing the policy that charges users only once for the operating system — when they buy the computer — and all updates are then included for that computer for as long as it's in service.
The first preview edition of Windows 11 has been released and is available now if your computer meets the hardware requirements, if you are a member of the Windows Insider Program, and if you have signed up for the Dev channel. Three channels exist:
My primary computer isn't eligible for Windows 11, and it's in the Release Preview Channel because I don't want to risk being in any of the more hazardous channels. My secondary computer is a no-go for Windows 11, too. But the Surface tablet is approved for Windows 11 and it's now in the Dev Channel.
The update process was easy. Start by visiting the Windows Insider Program in settings. Join the program if you haven't already done so. Joining requires that you have a Microsoft account. If you're already enrolled, click the name of the channel you've selected. This will take you to a screen where you can change the level.
Then reboot the computer and visit the Updates section of Settings. Check for updates and you'll be offered the Windows 11 Insider Preview. The update will be downloaded and installed.
The computer will restart several times during the process, which took less than an hour on the tablet computer. When the process is complete, you'll see several visual differences. To confirm that the computer has been updated, visit Settings > System > About and you'll see "Windows 11 (Home or Pro)" as the Windows edition and "21H2" as the version.
Warning! I recommend not enrolling any mission-critical computer in the Dev Channel and probably not in the Beta Channel, either. Curiosity is a good thing, but it's not always healthy or safe. In coming weeks, I'll have more information about Windows 11 based on my experiences with the preview.
New generations of mobile communications systems usually roll out slowly, but the transition to 5G has been faster than usual and the latest Ericsson Mobility Report predicts that 2026 will be the year of 5G. That's when 5G devices will outnumber 4G devices.
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The report says 290 million subscriptions exist currently with 5G-capable devices. That's up by 70 million in just the first quarter of 2021, and on target to hit a total of 580 million by the end of the year. By 2026 all but about 15% of mobile users will be in areas served by 5G. By then the user base is expected to be one billion, which is two years sooner than 4G reached one billion users.
It won't be just phones using 5G by then. Some home and office internet users will be served by the technology. Fixed wireless access (FWA) could eliminate "last-mile" problems in rural locations where installing cable is too expensive. Fixed wireless access is offered now by most service providers who have 5G. Ericsson predicts that more than 20% of total mobile network data traffic worldwide will be from FWA by 2026.
FWA offers a cost-effective way to provide internet access compared with wired broadband service, and it could be used for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Broadband connections for IoT devices will allow widespread adoption of such devices: cloud-based augmented reality and virtual reality, remote control devices, cloud-based gaming, robotics, and real-time control of machines and processes.
So far, more than 160 communications service providers have launched 5G services and over 300 5G smart phone models have been announced or launched commercially. Before the end of this year, we will have surpassed half a billion 5G users in the world.
Ericsson says 5G commercialization in North America is moving fast. "Service providers have launched commercial 5G services, with a focus on mobile broadband and fixed wireless access (FWA). The introduction of 5G smart phones supporting all three spectrum bands has already made 2021 an eventful year for early 5G adopters. FWA will play a key role in closing the digital divide where the pandemic has exposed large gaps for education, remote working, and small businesses. By 2026, more than 360 million 5G subscriptions are anticipated in the region, accounting for 84 percent of mobile subscriptions."
You can download the full report from the Ericsson website.
Occasionally I hear or read comments that Microsoft shouldn't release any operating system or application until it's perfect. Reality check: That's not going to happen. So if you've decided to wait for Windows 11 to be free of bugs before installing it, you're going to have a very long wait.
A good friend and client used to denigrate 99% accuracy in his presentations to clients: "At 99% accuracy," he would say, "25 airplanes would crash at O'Hare Airport every day!" As impressive as that "fact" was and as useful as it was to get people to think about his message, it was a prime example of processed food emitted from the south end of a northbound male cow. There are all kinds of errors and not all errors end in disaster.
In 2000, when my friend was making these statements, O'Hare Airport had approximately 908,000 departures and arrivals annually, including all airlines, general aviation, air taxi services, and military. That's about 2490 operations per day, or a little over 100 per hour. There's a good chance that some of these operations — probably more than 25 per day — had some problem with during take off, landing, or moving around the airport. But there were no crashes.
There's a big difference between an error and a disaster.
How perfect are you? If I drive to a supermarket that's 4.3 miles from where I live, there's an excellent chance that I will observe several motorists making errors and it's also likely that I will make an error. Few of these errors will result in a collision, though.
How does this relate to operating systems or software in general?
Any software developer who waits for perfection will never release any product. We humans make mistakes. Each week's TechByter Worldwide has about 500 lines of code, and some of those lines have errors. The errors may be something as simple as a typo that slips through (common) to a bad link (rare) or an error in HTML, CSS, or PHP code. Typos make me look silly, but cause no harm. Bad links are annoying to site users. HTML, CSS, and PHP coding errors may cause problems or be invisible.
Compare my 500 lines of code to Microsoft's 50,000,000 lines of code for Windows (Source: Microsoft) or Google's 2,000,000,000 lines of code (Source: Fossbytes) or even Facebook's 60,000,000 lines of code (Source: Fossbytes). Errors are present and there's no way to eliminate them all because fixing one error sometimes causes another error, or makes a previously invisible error visible. The problem of coding errors for Microsoft is exacerbated by several additional facts:
In short, there is no way for Microsoft to test every possible combination of hardware, software, and user modifications
Apple has a somewhat easier job because the hardware is largely under Apple's control, although not as much as it used to be. Estimates and guesses suggest the total number of lines for the MacOS is greater than the number for Windows.
Having used both Windows and MacOS computers, my experience has been that Windows systems crash more frequently than MacOS systems, but MacOS crashes tend to be more serious than Windows crashes. Your experience may differ.
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Examine the Windows Event Viewer and you'll find errors. Hundreds of events are reported to the system every day. Many are Information events that require no action. Lower numbers of events are posted as Warning, Error, or Critical. Warning usually means that the system recognized an error and corrected it. Warnings often deal with processes that have been terminated. Critical events are the most serious.
In addition to issues listed in the Event Viewer, the operating system deals with and corrects perhaps thousands of other errors dealing with data in system memory or on disk drives. Users remain blissfully unaware of problems that are encountered and corrected automatically.
So the moral of this little story is simple: Don't wait for perfection. If you do, you'll never do anything at all.
Anyone who has ever needed to repair an Apple product will have found few choices. Among the choices are Apple, Apple, and Apple. You can take an Apple product to an independent repair shop, but Apple doesn't like these shops to receive repair manuals or spare parts. Although possibly the worst offender, Apple is hardly alone.
President Biden is calling on the Federal Trade Commission to turn back the trend because restricting the distribution of parts, diagnostics, and repair tools on self- and third-party repairs increase repair costs and make them more time-consuming. The executive order also addresses the need for equal access to the internet by restoring Net Neutrality rules, limiting excessive termination fees by service providers, and addressing problems with transportation costs for farm products, the high cost of hearing aids, questionable practices by airlines.
It's worth noting that Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is in favor of the right to repair. Wozniak says repair restrictions hurt consumers, but they can also stifle innovation.
The White House released a comprehensive explanation of the executive order that you can read on Whitehouse.gov.
Many people feel that they're under increased pressure at work to get more done in less time. It's not your imagination. Take creatives, for example — the people who generate images, motion graphics, audio, motion pictures, and more. Research by Adobe based on a worldwide survey says creatives are under the same increased pressure to do more and to do it faster.
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Key findings from the report include:
For many who work in visual fields, this pressure means that they turn more frequently to stock images and stock video. Adobe surveyed over 1,500 Adobe Stock customers, including creatives, designers, creative and marketing decision-makers, and IT administrators in the US, UK, Germany, Japan and Australia.
Online grocer Webvan had just announced that it had laid off its remaining 2000 employees, shut down, and would file for bankruptcy. Nobody wanted to buy groceries online. What a difference 20 years makes!
Wikipedia: "Webvan was a dot-com company and grocery business that filed for bankruptcy in 2001 after 3 years of operation. It was headquartered in Foster City, California, United States. It delivered products to customers' homes within a 30-minute window of their choosing. At its peak, it offered service in ten US markets: the San Francisco Bay Area; Dallas; Sacramento; San Diego; Los Angeles; Orange County, California; Chicago; Seattle; Portland, Oregon; and Atlanta, Georgia. The company had hoped to expand to 26 cities by 2001."
I said Webvan wanted to be the on-line grocer, part of the $800 billion-a-year grocery business, but consumers weren't buying. Old habits (going to the store and looking at the goods) die hard. We complain about the time it takes to go shopping, but we're not about to let somebody else do it for us. Not yet, anyway. The company lost $413.2 million on sales of $259.7 million in 2000.
Now online grocers are common thanks to the covid pandemic.