We knew it was coming. 15 months ago (January 2024) I blogged about how Incase was taking over the old Microsoft desktop products for ongoing resale. That line is named “Designed by Microsoft” (DBM, get it?) and is now for sale in the marketplace. Featured on the incase.com home page, you can get a good taste of that stuff from the lead-in graphic. And it explains why I aver that “Incase relaunches DBM line.”

Why Say: Incase Relaunches DBM Line?

DBM means Incase has a line of mice and keyboards, plus other accessories (e.g. headphones) that MS used to build until late 2023 and then abandoned for Surface-branded items. Lots of people took exception, including yours truly. Indeed, I was delighted that Incase wisely chose to license those designs and re-issue them . Prices are a bit higher than I remember them in 2023. That’s when I purchased these last Microsoft-branded items:

• 2  Comfort Curve 4000 keyboards
• 2 Basic Optical Wired Mouse v2.0
• 2 Mobile Mouse 4000

I still have one of each left in its original box, ready to use when the current avatar starts to fade or fail.

A New Day for MS-Branded Peripherals

But now, there’s no need to hoard — nor pay outrageous eBay prices — to obtain these old familiar and (IMO at least) beloved desktop appurtenances. You can just visit the Incase site and buy them direct. I assume they’ll partner up with other typical sales channels (e.g. Best Buy, Walmart, Target and so forth) to get them out there in large numbers at competitive prices.

I’m glad to see them back. And here’s a shout-out to Paul Thurrott himself, whose blog post yesterday brought Incase DBM device availability to my attention. Thanks, Paul! I’ll also cheerfully admit that I’m completely hooked on my Comfort Curve 4000 keyboard and haven’t found another that comes close to matching its fit for my flying, or sometimes fumbling, fingers. Long may it wave!!!

I have to laugh, and with genuine joy. Last week, Clint Rutkas and the PowerToys team dropped a new Command Palette with v0.90.0 of that app. Shortly thereafter, I noticed an error window on the desktop of my only remaining Windows 10 PC after startup (see lead-in graphic). Upon visiting GitHub PowerToys bug reports, I saw multiple reports that others were seeing the same window. Just now, v0.90.1 hit the Internet, and the error appears no more. That’s why I’m saying: “PowerToys ComPal error comes & goes.” That’s good!

Why PowerToys ComPal Error Comes & Goes

I see this quick fix as abundant evidence that things are working as they should. Here’s a typical if somewhat idealized sequence of events:

1. A new release appears (v0.90.0 PowerToys in this case)
2. Users install and run same, and report issues and errors
3. A next release appears (v0.90.1 this time ’round) with at least some issues and errors fixed (“Class not registered” goes away)

I have to hand it to Mr.  Rutkas and the rest of the PowerToys team. They’re unusually responsive to input, feedback and issue reports. When I saw the new release was already in the pipeline, my first thought was “I bet the error message goes away.” And indeed it did.

GitHub showed me as many as a dozen different error reports around the error message shown at the head of this story. Apparently, lots of people run PowerToys on Windows 10, and lots of people noticed the error.

GitHub Tells the Story

If you check the v0.90.1 changelog, you’ll see this somewhat opaque entry: “#38531 – Fixed an issue where Command Palette was attempting to install dependencies that already existed.” That would be my best guess for what caused the error message to appear. Fixing that would obviously also do away with the error message.

Gosh, it’s nice when things work the way they’re supposed to. PowerToys is always a pleasure to use. It’s even better that the dev team is obviously listening (and sensitive) to user input and reactions. Again: keep up the good work, folks!

Last week — April 4, to be precise — Microsoft celebrated its 50th anniversary. Amidst the hoopla and the celebration, the folks over at the Windows Experience Blog  released an item entitled Windows wallpapers worth celebrating. There, you’ll find a link for a ~24MB download named 50th-windows-wallpapers.zip. That’s right: you can download MS 50th anniversary wallpapers, if you like, and add them to your collection. You can see the contents of the ZIP folder as the lead-in graphic courtesy of File Explorer.

Download MS 50th Anniversary Wallpapers ZIP Archive

What you get is a collection of 8 different wallpapers, each in 4K and wide-screen formats depending on your display preferences. Some of these items are game-themed: Mahjong and Solitaire (e.g. Klondike) inspired ones. Some of them feature tulips (light and dark themed). Others give the same light/dark treatment to Windows icons and logos. It’s a fun set of items. If you want to put them into rotation with other such images, put them into your Slideshow folder and they’ll enter that lineup.

I have to laugh. When I went to show off these wallpapers, I got icons instead of images in File Explorer. Turns out one of my View settings in Folder Options had ticked “Always show icons, never thumbnails.” Unchecking that box let me capture the screenshot you see at the head of this blog post.

Here in Windows-World, it’s always something, right? Cheers! And congrats, I guess, to MS for surviving half a century in this rough and tumble world. Indeed, things have been a bit more rough lately than many of us would like, speaking both as an industry observer and a Microsoft stockholder. Sigh.