PC Preferring People

What I Discovered during CES

pcprefer — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 03:33:20 +0000

So, I was a bit late to the show, but was happy to see they were running a bit late with the start time. It wasn’t the content that was presented, however, that interested me. It was the browser that I used. When I was running Internet Explorer 9 (my default browser) the stream was choppy, and froze often. I then decided that I would see how Google Chrome fared. It was amazing! It didn’t freeze once, and I had nearly no choppy images. I was quite disappointed with the Windows 8 portion of the symposium, because it didn’t show any new features that hadn’t been previously released to the public. I am considering switching to Google Chrome, though, but I really like the idea of pinning websites to the taskbar, and would definitely like to see that in the next update.

A Couple Gripes about Amazon Cloud Services

pcprefer — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:57:55 +0000

So, I’m testing out the Amazon Cloud services in an effort to find more effective ways to store my files, and it turns out that their cloud player does not support WMA files. They must be MP3s, which is rather annoying. It will upload these files, but it will not play them. It has to open Windows Media Player (or any other default media player). Another thing I noticed is that it does not upload metadata. The file has to be named the title of the song, rather than having 01Track01, then just updating the metadata to include a name, artist, etc. I found this rather annoying when uploading the sound recordings from the Wind Ensemble I perform with, as they were WMA, so I had to convert them to WMA, then change the file names of the songs. This took a rather long amount of time. Another thing to note is that all of this will apply to Kindle Fire. If you look at the supported file types, WMA is not on the list. In fact the only music file type is MP3. There are a number of document and video file types, however, they are rather limited with music. Also, much of your music will come straight from Amazon’s Cloud Drive, so the metadata will not be on your Fire either.

Spotify vs. Zune Pass

pcprefer — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 07:54:21 +0000

Well, I’ve finally come across a product that I may decide to purchase instead of a Microsoft product. Spotify has spread across the virtual world like a wild fire with shared songs on Facebook and a mobile app for iOS, Android, and even Windows Phone. It offers basically the same thing Zune Pass offers, except with less expensive versions. For free, you can listen to 20 hours of music per month on your computer. For $4.99, you can listen to unlimited music on your computer with no visual ads along the sides of the program. For $9.99, they offer the option of “offline mode” (called “downloading” in Zune Pass). It saves the song to your computer or mobile device for listening while not connected to the Internet. The song selection is also quite impressive. I’ve thus far found every song from the Spotify store that’s available on the Zune Marketplace. The only thing that makes this a more desirable service to me is that if I decide I want an iOS device (not likely) or a Mac (extremely unlikely) I can transfer all of my music, where as right now, I must have a Microsoft device to transfer all of my music. Purchasing this service instead of the Zune Pass would render my Zune HD useless, but I could go for an iPod Touch if I can get unlimited downloads like I can with my Zune.

The one downfall is that I would have to use a third-party application, while the Zune software is built into Windows Phone, but with multitasking enabled on Windows Phone, it is no big problem.

Why I Prefer Microsoft Mobile Devices

pcprefer — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 05:17:53 +0000

As a tech enthusiast, I try to own as many devices as possible. I have a Samsung Focus (Windows Phone), a Zune HD, a couple old computers, I will be getting a tablet soon, and I’m looking to get a Zune 120. So, why are so many of the devices I own branded by Microsoft? Well, I like how they specialize.

I love my Zune HD, and that’s because it focuses on one thing: Music. There are approximately 30 apps for Zune HD in the Marketplace, but I don’t buy an MP3 Player for Apps. I like the fact that it is truly a music discovery machine. If I want to listen to what’s new from an artist, all I have to do is type in the artist’s name in the Marketplace, and without even purchasing, I can listen to all the music I want. I also get an artist bio and any related music to that, as well as a slideshow of the band’s pictures to watch while I’m listening to their music.I’m trading the hundreds of thousands of apps for an excellent musical experience. I’d be willing to bet that the majority of people who have tried both the iPod Touch and the Zune HD just to listen to music would prefer the Zune HD.

I love Windows Phone, because it focuses on the original reason for a phone: Keeping in touch. Right from the start there was immediate Facebook integration that allowed me to write on anyone’s wall, send them a message, or view their Facebook status without even going to an App. This Fall, the social media integration will go even further, when you can use the Messaging hub in the phone to chat with all of your Facebook friends or check in at a location and tag a friend with you. The Fall update (Called Mango) will also allow me to view every way I’ve been in contact with someone. For example, I got a piece of information from a friend, but I can’t remember if he sent me a text, sent it to me on Facebook, twitter, or email. So, I would look at my history with that friend through the phone which shows me every way I’ve been in contact with that friend since I got the phone, allowing me to find the information I need.
Windows Phone also incorporates Zune HD software, and an excellent App Store, which has added 25,000 apps since its start last year. So, I no longer have to choose between having a phone centered around people or apps, because Windows Phone includes both.

Next Year, Microsoft will truly revolutionize the market for tablets by releasing Windows 8. It can be any size the manufacturer wants, have excellent touch technology, and have the option to be productive, something that Apple and Google alike have had a hard time capturing. There will be a touch version of Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, and a brand new start menu, which will be the center of attention rather than the desktop.

By adding an excellent Music experience to the MP3 player, a great social experience to a phone, and an awesome productive experience to a tablet, Microsoft has made these devices exactly what I look for. Even if the masses want to use their iPhones, iPod Touches, and iPads, I will always choose a Microsoft device, because I want something that’s excellent at what I buy it for, rather than pretty good at everything else.

Vevo App for Windows Phone 7

pcprefer — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 08:23:53 +0000

The Vevo App for Windows phone 7 is an excellent App! It has excellent audio quality, fast load times (when connected to Wi-Fi), and customizable playlists. View the video above for my full review.

Will I Upgrade to Windows 8?

pcprefer — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 03:18:49 +0000

So, I’ve been looking at all the new articles, posts, and comments about Windows 8, and it looks like it, or it’s successor will be a huge hit. Windows 8 completely changes everything about the Windows experience, which I think will bring about some controversy, but with changing times, you need a change in how you compute, not only to make things simpler, but to help the company compete with new products by Apple and Google. Microsoft Office 2007 was completely different, but with the arrival of Microsoft Office 2010, many people were use to the new ribbon interface. Windows 8 will be completely different, but I think that by the time Windows 9 comes out, people will have gotten use to the new start menu and come to appreciate its convenience.

Windows 8 was completely redesigned for a touch interface. Microsoft can say all they want about how it’s perfect for laptops, desktops, and tablets, but they know good and well that when designing it, they only had tablets in mind. For months, everyone was asking Microsoft how they would respond to the iPad, and now they’ve done it: By turning their top selling item (and the top selling OS in the market) into a tablet operating system.

Personally, I love it. Since I got my Windows Phone, I’ve been dreaming of a tablet version of it, however, I’m not so willing to upgrade my laptop to it just yet. I don’t like the idea of navigating through my start menu with the page up and page down keys. I will, however, be buying a tablet with Windows 8 on it when it comes out. Ideally, I’d like to have a desktop, laptop, and tablet. My desktop and laptop running Windows 7, and my tablet running Windows 8.

As Windows 8 stories and features continue to develop, my decision may change, however, at this point in time, I won’t be upgrading my laptop to Windows 8.

Windows 8-ALMOST Love At First Sight

pcprefer — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 18:06:17 +0000

A few days ago, I launched my Twitter app on my phone, and the first thing I saw was a post by @EverythingMS mentioning Windows 8, and my heart skipped a beat. Just hearing the name caused a true burst of excitement in me as I recalled a few articles I read a year ago stating that this would be a “Major” release, while Vista and 7 were only “Minor” releases. I clicked the link, then immediately minimized the page to make sure I hadn’t misread the post. After seeing the picture on the article, I expected to go back and read about Windows Phone 8, but I didn’t. It was Windows 8, however, it looked strikingly similar to my Windows Phone. Since the release of the iPad, everyone has been questiong Microsoft about tablets, and how they would respond to Apple’s device. After a couple years, we have our answer. They’ve completely redesigned Windows for tablets. And it’s not just a tablet version of the operating system. This is the OS that will run on desktops, laptops, and tablets.

I was disappointed at first, then my tablet fever came back. I first got it first when the iPad was released, and now I have it again worse than ever. I can get a tablet that is compatible with millions of programs AND can be productive with Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop, and all the other programs keeping the iPad from completely replacing computers. It has better multitasking than can be designed for a mobile operating system, because it’s not a mobile operating system. It is fully featured.

Microsoft Experience Project: Report 2/3

pcprefer — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 06:54:49 +0000

Well, I’ve officially done three weeks of this, and I must say, it has been an extremely smooth experience. I must sadly report, however, that I am currently downloading my first non-Microsoft program: iTunes. I’ve been wanting to connect my iPhone to my computer for a while, but it was the free $25 iTunes gift card that I got today that pushed it over the edge. I’ve had no viruses, or threats. My ram has stayed at 30% or below. Everything just works better without third-party software interfering. I’m even thinking of turning this computer into an all Microsoft computer when I get a new one. Zune is the BEST method of purchasing music there is. Personally, I prefer Amazon over iTunes, so Zune has been first for a while. Over all, this experience has been amazing, and I plan on trying again when I get a Windows Phone 7 and will have no need for iTunes.

Week one of Microsoft Experience

pcprefer — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 04:42:37 +0000

So before I begin the report, I must say that I broke the rules. I downloaded the new beta of Windows Live Essentials, and it is AWESOME. The newest version of Messenger is quite possible the best free program Microsoft has ever released.

But to get down to things, the project has, so far, been a major success. I’m now using Internet Explorer 8, which works very well when there aren’t any plugins from third party developers. Microsoft Office 2010 is amazing, though I haven’t had to use it much (school starts tomorrow).

Windows Live Essentials is absolutely necessary to this project, because without this free suite, there isn’t much you can do with a PC without spending a lot of money.

I’ve done a lot of experimenting with the latest Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview. If the final version works as well as the latest preview does, it will be a major success. It’s quite obvious that the reason Internet Explorer 8 jumped in the market in the past couple weeks because Microsoft did more advertising (I noticed it more in Hulu). If they do just as much advertising with IE9, Microsoft will once again own the general browser experience.

If you haven’t tried out the Bing Bar yet, I strongly recommend it. It is a very useful tool that is installed by default with Windows Live Essentials 2011, and it works beautifully.

I’m using Microsoft Security Essentials as my security software, and I have yet to find any problems, although I have had problems in the past. It runs in the background, using very few system resources, and adds very little time to startup. It has the options for quick scan, full scan, or custom scan. When the new version comes out in the next couple months, I intend on downloading it.

Zune is an absolutely wonderful media player, I’ve found, as long as you have plenty system resources. I’ve always preferred the Zune software over iTunes, but I may now prefer it over Windows Media Player 12. The new Bing/Zune collaboration is absolutely amazing. All you have to do is type the name of the song into Bing, and you can play it right there.

Microsoft Experience Project

pcprefer — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:46:59 +0000

So, I recently needed to reinstall my operating system, and I decided that this would be an excellent opportunity to try out an experiment I’ve been planning for a while called the “Microsoft Experience Project.” Basically, the only programs installed on my computer will be Microsoft programs. I will use them exclusively for one month just to see if my Windows 7 experience gets better or worse. I will post weekly updates, and a random update anytime there is something I need to report. Here are a list of programs I plan to use:

Browser	Internet Explorer 8
Music playing/purchasing	Zune
Word processor	Microsoft Office Word 2010
Spreadsheet	Microsoft Office Excel 2010
Presentation software	Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2010
Messenger	Windows Live Messenger Wave 3
Mail Client	Windows Live Mail Wave 3
Movie Editor	Windows Live Movie Maker Wave 3
Photo client/editor	Windows Live Photo Gallery Wave 3
Blog editor	Windows Live Writer Wave 3

Just to insure that I won’t run into any issues, I will TRY to refrain from using any Microsoft beta software. Internet Explorer 9 Beta is supposed to come out in the next month, so that will be pretty hard.