Newsletter Archives

• Opal: Physical assembly – the case

  Posted on October 25, 2021 at 02:43 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  HARDWARE DIY

  

  By Will Fastie

  Obviously, everything ends up going into the case.

  Last week, I discussed the assembly steps necessary to prepare Opal’s new motherboard. That process included installing the processor, the cooler’s mount, the RAM, and the SSD. Now it’s time to talk about getting the motherboard into the case, along with all the other components that make up the system.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.41.0 (2021-10-25).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Hardware AskWoody Plus Newsletter, DIY, hardware, Motherboards

• Viva Microsoft!

  Posted on October 21, 2021 at 07:35 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  One day in what seems the distant past, Microsoft Cortana starting sending me email messages. I didn’t ask for them; they just started showing up. For the most part, I found them useless. I think there were some “mental health” messages. My wife thinks I’m crazy; I don’t need some server in Redmond telling me that.

  One day in what I’m sure is the recent past, the new Microsoft Viva took over that responsibility. This time, however, the focus appears to be on actionable items. Cortana/Viva is watching me, picking out what it thinks are to do items, and reminding me about them. I’ve been a happy camper for years because while it was apparent that Google was reading my Gmail, Microsoft wasn’t. Now it clearly is.

  But, okay, reminders. I handle a lot of email in my editorial duties; some assistance might be helpful. So, I’ve been experimenting.

  

  More often than not, clicking one of the action buttons in the email results in the teeny, tiny error message shown at the top.

  Can’t Microsoft code any longer?

  Microsoft, Microsoft 365 Artificial intelligence, Cortana, Microsoft 365, Viva

• Opal: Physical assembly – the motherboard

  Posted on October 18, 2021 at 02:42 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  HARDWARE DIY

  

  By Will Fastie

  I didn’t realize assembling a PC could be so dangerous.

  Like other folks who put together PCs, I usually call them “builds.” That’s a bit generous. As you’ve seen from my previous installment in this series (AskWoody 2021-08-30), I acquired components. I’m not really building anything — I’m assembling those components into the final product, Opal.

  Once the collection of components is on hand, where does one start?

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.40.0 (2021-10-18).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Hardware AskWoody Plus Newsletter, DIY, hardware

• Trouble in Paradise!

  Posted on September 27, 2021 at 10:35 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  This morning we discovered that the Plus Newsletter was not delivered as expected. The newsletter was published and scheduled as usual, but our email provider had a problem. We don’t know what the problem is yet, but we are working on it.

  We’ll get it mailed as soon as we can.

  Many apologies for the inconvenience.

   

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter AskWoody Plus Newsletter

• Windows 11 Surfaces

  Posted on September 27, 2021 at 02:41 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  MICROSOFT NEWS

  

  By Will Fastie

  Microsoft’s September event showcased its updated Surface lineup and doubled down on the Duo 2.

  While Microsoft’s livestream presentation of September 2 was not tremendously exciting, it was a well-done description of the new Surface devices and was hosted by Panos Panay, in fine form.

  I won’t bore you with every detail, but here are some good sources of information.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.37.0 (2021-09-27).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft News, Surface AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft Surface, Surface, Surface Duo, Surface Laptop Studio, Surface Pro, Windows 11

• The new PC Health Check app is here (almost)

  Posted on August 30, 2021 at 02:44 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  WINDOWS 11

  

  By Will Fastie

  Hallelujah!

  Sorry. That might be a little over the top. Rejoicing may be too early. And maybe unjustified.

  On August 27, Microsoft posted an article titled Update on Windows 11 minimum system requirements and the PC Health Check app to its Windows Insider blog. The article covered two topics, as its title suggests.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.33.0 (2021-08-30).
  This story also appears in the AskWoody Free Newsletter 18.33.F (2021-08-30).

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Windows 11 AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Windows, Windows 11, Windows 11 compatibility checker

• Opal: How I planned my new build

  Posted on August 30, 2021 at 02:40 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  HARDWARE DIY

  

  By Will Fastie

  I’ll say it again — it’s not the building, it’s the planning.

  A favorite saying about war plans is that they do not survive first contact with the enemy. A slight paraphrase is that a plan does not survive first contact with reality.

  Reality caused me to make a change in my build plan, which is the first thing I want to tell you about. Onyx may be dying.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.33.0 (2021-08-30).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Hardware, Windows 11 AskWoody Plus Newsletter, DIY, hardware, Intel, PC

• Opal: I’m building a new PC

  Posted on August 2, 2021 at 02:41 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  HARDWARE DIY

  

  By Will Fastie

  Hardware for the future. Windows made me do it.

  I wasn’t expecting to need a new computer just yet. My current PC is a bit long in the tooth, but I chose well when I built it and it has lasted six years, still providing the performance and capability I need on a daily basis. I have no urgent need for Windows 11.

  Except that I work for this newsletter.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.29.0 (2021-08-02).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Hardware, Windows 11 AskWoody Plus Newsletter, DIY, hardware, Intel, PC

• Update: Where does TPM live?

  Posted on July 26, 2021 at 02:44 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  WINDOWS 11

  

  By Will Fastie

  Trying to find out where Trusted Platform Module is implemented in Intel-based systems was harder than I thought. Intel finally, and helpfully, gave me some pointers.

  The problem is one of terminology.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.28.0 (2021-07-26).

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Windows 11 AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Intel, Microarchitecture, TPM, Trusted Platform Module, Windows 11

• SPECIAL EDITION: OneDrive

  Posted on July 5, 2021 at 02:45 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  ISSUE 18.25 • 2021-07-05

  ONEDRIVE

  

  By Will Fastie

  Our writers have the week off.

  No rest for the editor, though. We decided to publish an issue for you anyway.

  It turns out that our series on OneDrive got longer than we expected, with more to come. Almost immediately after Lance Whitney’s kickoff article, Fred Langa was deluged with questions about Microsoft’s complicated service. He delved into the dark corners of OneDrive and turned on the lights.

  For this special issue, we decided to republish Lance’s intro and six of Fred’s LangaList columns. They are all here, in this special edition of the AskWoody Plus newsletter.

  Read all the articles in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.25.0 (2021-07-05).
  Read all the articles in the AskWoody Free Newsletter 18.25.F (2021-07-05).

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter AskWoody Plus Newsletter, OneDrive

• Windows 11 announced

  Posted on June 28, 2021 at 02:45 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  ISSUE 18.24 • 2021-06-28

  Watch for our special issue on July 5!

  MICROSOFT NEWS

  

  By Will Fastie

  Why this? Why now? And what the heck is going on?

  On June 24, 2021, Microsoft announced Windows 11. I have no idea why. It is surely not for the cobbled-together reasons the company gave during its rather brief briefing on Thursday.

  Visit our new Windows 11 section in the forums and these topics: Questions about Windows 11 Hardware questions relating to Windows 11

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.24.0 (2021-06-28).
  This story also appears in the AskWoody Free Newsletter 18.24.F (2021-06-28).

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft News, Windows 11, Windows News AskWoody Plus Newsletter, security, Windows, Windows 11

• Reminder: What’s next for Windows?

  Posted on June 22, 2021 at 11:50 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  Microsoft’s live event entitled “What’s next for Windows” is set for Thursday, June 24 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Watch here. You can also visit that page to get a reminder.

  Microsoft News, Windows News Windows
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