Replies

radosuaf wrote:

I personally treat phones, tablets & etc. as “toys” still. OK for basic task, not for serious job.

But that’s a moving target. Today my wife does 95% of her computer-related tasks on her phone. Five years ago it was perhaps 30%. Five years before that, 0%. 95% might be the limit, as she does some photographic work and likes the larger form factor of her laptop for such work, as well as intensive online research (i.e., shopping).

The “serious jobs” could be done on small devices, but not productively.

bbearren wrote:

I’m in no rush

Nor I.

This isn’t happening next week; it will take a couple of years. On the other hand, it only took a month for Microsoft to announce the Universal version of its Office 365 suite.

OscarCP wrote:

But thoughtful observations clearly made can help us guess how best to make ready for it.

Here’s another observation, hot off the presses, from Microsoft:

Universal app support for Macs with M1 is here

 

bbearren wrote:

Apple is turning their computer/laptop business model into their iPhone business model.

I agree, except that if Apple configures the SoC well, that two-year window could (and probably will be) longer.

bbearren wrote:

There are a few hundred million computer users who don’t want to pay the “Apple Tax”, and will continue to replace their old, outdated Windows PC’s with new, easily upgraded Windows PC’s.

And I’m saying that Apple Silicon provides the means by which the company can eat into that majority share. It doesn’t have to take it completely over; if it could grab just 10% of that market share it would double the Mac business.

But if Apple somehow manages to get itself into a leading position because it’s silicon is a market beater, and if it configures the systems in a “future proof” manner, it could do even better.

prawlings1 wrote:

Otherwise were could eventually see Apple with a virtual monopoly on both hardware and software.

I certainly come from a place that values me controlling my own computing destiny. But the mass market only cares about having a capable, reliable, and reasonably flexible appliance.

It’s like cars. Manufacturers will do their marketing best to attract you to their models, while the mass market mostly wants something that gets them from point A to point B without putting them in the poorhouse for repairs.

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rexr

radosuaf wrote:

I myself cannot imagine buying a pre-built PC with no upgrade options.

I probably still think that way, too. But most of us buy phones that way and I think the makers depend on us buying all over again every two or three years. Lack of expandability didn’t hurt tablets, either.

Ignoring that, though, both the Apple Mac and Microsoft Surface model is that expansion takes place via Thunderbolt or some other high-speed external connection. That means the only upfront decision that really matters is storage, both RAM and SDD.

OscarCP wrote:

I decamped to macOS and my current workhorse Mac, where I am able to do the things I could do in my Windows PC and then some.

I don’t doubt that at all.

My point here is only that Apple now finds itself in a position it has not enjoyed for decades. Believe me, I’m as surprised as anyone about it.

But don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that Windows is dead. I’m only saying that Apple seems poised to chew into the Wintel hegemony, at least to some degree. That has never been true before.

OscarCP wrote:

…but might leave behind the more numerous less demanding ones and the end result might not be that bad for Windows.

I think it might be the other way around. Apple abandoned its enterprise ambitions years ago, dumped its server products, and emphasized its consumer business. Meanwhile, Microsoft worked hard to lock in the high end. On the consumer side, Xbox is the last thing standing.

In the article I mentioned that I was somewhat locked in to Windows due to the nature of my work. That’s true for now, but because Microsoft itself has made so much of its product line available on other platforms, migration might not be as big a deal as I imagine. Already more than half the stuff I depend upon is available on Mac.

 

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Mr. Austin

Let me level set here a bit.

I wrote the article to describe how to use Quick Assist in what amounts to a peer-to-peer situation. What I neglected to make clear is the most important advantage of Quick Assist – no installation. It’s just there in Windows 10, not only on the helper’s PC but also on the recipient’s PC. The fact that it’s there as part of Windows 10 also makes a recipient more confident. No downloading, no concerns about getting a bogus application installed.

That’s not much for me but it is huge for the people I help. With MSRA, I wrote a long document and emailed the PDF to those I was helping so they could learn how to install MSRA. The document also included the How To Use instructions, which are themselves slightly more complicated. But with QA, I can tell them what to do over the phone in less than a minute. Compared to MSRA or a VNC clone, getting up and running takes a tenth the time.

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doriel

Michael432 wrote:

its not clear at what point you have to start paying.

14 days.

doriel wrote:

Maybe there is some time limit for ever sign up,

I thought of that and experimented, but got inconsistent results. Except for the fact that I get asked for credentials more than half the time, it seems random.

Maybe it’s something like my Android phone, which usually allows my fingerprint but every so often insists upon entry of my PIN. I took that as sort of a “just checking” kind of thing. Or Amazon, to which I usually stay logged in but which sometimes asks for my password again.

doriel wrote:

I don’t think others are interested in our chitchat

You never know. Sometimes these threads lead in weird but interesting directions. But I’m easy to find if you want to continue offline. Nevertheless, I’m not taking the bet!

doriel wrote:

Question under the line – if you are logged to your PC with MS Account, I suppose QA does not require login when launching QA.

I have never been able to figure that out. Most of the time it queries me for credentials but sometimes it does not.

doriel wrote:

These conditions must be met:

Aha! Changing the rules after the bet is made?

Condition 1) is an easy bet although there may come a time when I discontinue my primary, paid email account in favor of my free Microsoft Outlook.com account. In all other respects the account would be the same. Of course, I might move and thus have to change my postal address.

Condition 2) is impossible, even with your generous offer of a 2025 decision date. I can’t take a bet that Microsoft won’t discontinue some service that uses my Microsoft Account.

Nor can I accept Condition 3). The Microsoft Account itself is an example of “something greater.” I can’t predict whether the current Microsoft Account will be the eternal way Microsoft engages with me. I can only say that a single sign-on environment serves both Microsoft and me well.

So, no bet.

doriel wrote:

It depends how you use your account. If me, or someone else, logs to my google account, notification on my mobile phone pops up.

That is the same for a Microsoft Account.

doriel wrote:

I bet my shoes, that MS Account will change in few/several years, maybe will discontinued, something wont work anymore.

I do not agree. Microsoft now has a deep understanding of the value of user accounts if for no other reason than Xbox Live. The central Microsoft Account is a unification of everything MS has learned over the past 25 years; I don’t think it will vanish any time soon.

I’d take your bet (I can always use some new shoes) but if I’m right there will be no way to collect.

doriel wrote:

Wonder why this hidden gem was not announced?

I was a regular user of Microsoft Remote Access (MSRA) and I think for that reason I found Quick Assist very early on. Microsoft has mentioned QA on many occasions and has various articles about it on the MS site. I first wrote about it at my site in March, 2018, but I had been using it well before then.

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doriel

doriel wrote:

I will definatelly try QA, but I really dislike this forcing people into MSFT account to gather their data.

I resisted using a Microsoft account for quite a long time, but I finally joined the crowd. As best I can tell, the vast majority of users set Windows 10 up with a Microsoft Account, if for no other reason than to get OneDrive and other “accessories.” I’ve kept one of my Win10 PCs with a local login and, frankly, don’t like the experience as much.

Is Microsoft paying attention to my activity with my Microsoft Account? Undoubtedly. But so far it has not represented the kind of intrusions I have experienced through my single Gmail account.

Thus given that I am already condemned, using Quick Assist does not add to the problem.

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doriel

Michael432 wrote:

For one thing, I had to be emailed a Microsoft account security code before I could get the QA security code from the QA software.

When you provided credentials, were they for a Microsoft account or were they something else? I ask because in my use, the security code has always just popped right up on my dialog. It has never had to come via a different route.