What the heck!? How have I not been blogging this until now!?

Sorry about that. In May there is a rumored release of Windows 10 Cloud. It will most likely be a stripped down version of the OS that will run on devices set to compete against Chromebooks.  So low powered, inexpensive devices that are targeted at some emerging markets and students.  Looks great!  I will keep digging into this and posting more as I learn more 🙂

Stay tuned

IE has a terrible cloud associated with it.  just mentioning the name in certain places will get you beaten up and left for dead in a silicone alley. Okay, exaggeration, but IT pros seem to have this phobic response to it. Edge is even worse. The poor little browser never even really had a chance.  If you use it you quickly come to like it.  It is my preferred browser when on a compatible device.  Microsoft is throwing everything they can at the little guy to keep it going. Now comes the green card.

Edge is the most power efficient browser when compared with Chrome and Firefox

Read it and weep!

“Over the past year we’ve introduced many new features in Windows 10 Mail and Calendar apps for users with Outlook.com accounts.  We’re now excited to bring these features to our users with Gmail accounts, so you can enjoy the best of what Windows 10 Mail and Calendar have to offer.”

Linux, Google, and so many others. it is really nice (and fun as an IT Pro) to see this new era of integration!

In February there were a bunch of new features released but you had to have an @outlook.com email address to use them.  In case you missed it they released: Focused Inbox, @mentions, richer experiences for travel reservations and package deliveries, and several other new features

Now these new features are also available for @gmail.com users as well

Keep the sharing going strong!

Microsoft has announced that Netflix will bring its newest service offering to the Windows 10 app.  This feature allows you to download certain movies and shows to your device. And you even get the option to select the video quality when you do the download.  It has been a long time coming since this has been a feature in other versions of Netflix (on Android most notably) for a while now.  It will make camping trips that much easier… if you camp with power and a laptop 😉

Happy trails!

So of all the things I have been asked to reboot this is the strangest.  To give some context this was found by my friend David Sharpe but was to good for me not to post.

A user was not able to remove some pinned applications from the task bar and Dave found a really neat solution.

Here is what to do

1. Create a text file named reboottaskbar.bat (if you are not sure how to do this I have posted in the past how to change file extensions but a quick Bing search will show you how to do it
2. Open the .BAT file
3. Add this as the contents:
   DEL /F /S /Q /A “%AppData%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar\*”
   REG DELETE HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Taskband /F
   taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
   start explorer.exe
4. Site back and watch the magic happen

Okay, I’m pretty sure no one ever asked that question unless referring to the tasty meat-based product.  What I’m referring to is Storage Sense

Another really cool part of the Creator update.

Turn it on in the Settings – Storage section of the OS Menu

1. Open Settings.
2. Click the System.
3. Click the Storage.
4. Slide the Storage sense switch.

Once turned on you can configure it as well

1. Click the Change how we free up space link.
2. Select which items you want to delete from your computer:
   1. Delete temporary files that my apps aren’t using
   2. Delete files that have been in the recycle bin for over 30 days

It could be coming!

April 24th they released a “B2B commercial-grade wearable for the Industry”.

Windows 10 IoT, should be able to run universal apps, secure, manageable and leverages Azure – what an amazing melting pot!!

Though they have not called it a smartwatch (and good for them) they have released enough info to make it seem like one

“The 1.54 inch TrekStor IoT wearable is both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled, has plenty of storage space and has the processing power and battery life to perform its line-of-business functions. The wearable can also survive a hard day at work without scratches thanks to the soft casing and Gorilla Glass 3”

This geek is getting excited!

Does anyone know if the Surface Phone is a real thing? I have been hearing rumors about it for years -since 2012 or so.  I know that there is something in the pipes for 2017 (based on some web research) and I know that Microsoft is not in the mobile market. The messaging has been that Microsoft is “committed to mobile,” not smartphones. So what does that mean

If the rumors are true we could be looking at an announced date this year (not likely for the phone to come out this year but we should get the date)

The hardware specs leaked online sound nice: wireless charging (fast), 21MP camera, metal body, 5.5 inch AMOLED screen, possibly a SnapDragon 835 proc and lots of RAM

But … is it real? I had a Nokia Lumia Windows phone and loved it. The app ecosystem was small but the phone itself was great. I just don’t want to get led by the nose again so I’m just gonna wait for this one to come out to see what happens.

Maybe it will rock

Fingers crossed

Okay, here is the hard way.

If you don’t know what I’ referring to then read my last post.  This is how to setup a metered connection via The Registry (note the capitalization)

1. Launch regedit (if you don’t know you better ask somebody 🙂 )
2. Back up the registry – I always say to do this and I live by my words (in this case)
3. Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkList\DefaultMediaCost
4. Right-click the DefaultMediaCost key and select Permissions.
5. On the Security tab, click the Advanced button.
6. Next to TrustedInstaller, click the Change link
7. Type Administrators, and click the Check Names button to make sure you’re typing the correct object.
8. Click OK.
9. On the Advanced Security Settings for DefaultMediaCost, check the “Replace owner on subcontainers and objects”.
10. Click Apply.
11. Click OK.
12. On Permissions for DefaultMediaCost, select the Administrators group, and then make sure to check the allow Full Control box.
13. Click Apply.
14. Click OK.
15. On the DefaultMediaCost key, you’ll find different entries, including for 3G, 4G, Default, Ethernet, and WiFi with their default data values: 1 or 2. The data value 1 means that the connection type is non-metered, and the data value of 2 means that the connection type is metered. Double-click the Ethernet DWORD (32-bit) Value key, and change the value to 2.
16. Click OK.
17. Close the registry and restart your computer to complete the process

So, yeah, just go with the Creator Update and be happy 🙂

Happy coding!