Category Archives: Cool Tools

Cool Tools, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, Thoughts & concerns, WED Blog

WinTerm Windows 10/11 Divergence

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Here’s something interesting — and purely temporary. My Windows 11 PCs and VMs are getting updates to Windows Terminal, but my Windows 10 PCs aren’t (yet). As you can see in the lead-in screencap that means there’s some WinTerm Windows 10/11 divergence currently happening. To the left, Windows 11 shows version 1.22.11751.0; to the right, Windows 10 shows 1.22.11141.0. An upgrade attempt on WinTerm for 10 says “No newer packages are available from the configured source” (which happens to be WinGet itself). What’s up?

Why There’s WinTerm Windows 10/11 Divergence

Simply put. MS is pushing the Windows Terminal upgrade to 11 before it gets around to doing likewise for Windows 10. It could happen in the next hour, day, or week. But it surely won’t take much longer than that.

Here’s what Copilot says:

The version difference you’re seeing—v1.22.1141.0 on Windows 10 versus v1.22.11751.0 on Windows 11—likely comes down to staggered rollout timing and platform-specific servicing.

Microsoft often releases Windows Terminal updates in waves, and while both versions fall under the 1.22 stable branch, the build numbers reflect incremental servicing updates. These can include bug fixes, compatibility tweaks, or minor enhancements tailored to each OS version. For instance, Windows 11 might receive a slightly newer build first due to broader feature support or integration testing, while Windows 10 gets a more conservative rollout.

It’s nice to get a decent explanation, and it helps me appreciate one thing that Copilot really is good at: summarizing and stating the MS party line on what’s going on when interesting things happen.

Eye of the Beholder

Of course, I recognize that what’s interesting to me is not interesting to everyone. Perhaps it’s not even interesting to that many others. But hey, it’s definitely a feature of the way things happen in Wndows-World. And if you read this blog, you already know I care a fair amount about that kind of stuff. Hopefully, you feel likewise — or what else would lead you here?

Here’s a shout-out to Shawn Brink at Eleven Forum, whose X tweet alerted me to this situation. See also the related news item. Thanks!

Note Added 6/26 (One Day Later)

And as I check the running instance of Windows Terminal on Windows 10 right now, it’s been upgraded. My guess is that Windows Store caught it on its usual light-night/early-AM update cycle. And sure enough, here’s visual proof:

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Cool Tools, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 11

NZXT H6 Flow Build Comes Together

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OK, then. This weekend, I got the Asrock B550 motherboard and its AMD Ryzen 5800X CPU squared away in its case. As this NZXT H6 Flow build comes together, I’m understanding more about what current PCs look like and can do. The NZXT H6 Flow is a stunner (and a pretty good deal at ~US$110). But I’m still waiting for a few parts to completely finish things up. Let me explain.

As NZXT H6 Flow Build Comes Together, What’s Next?

I ordered the Asus Thunderbolt EX5 adapter for this PC. It eats an x16 PCIe slot, but delivers 2Thunderbolt 5 USB-C ports with up to 120 Gbps aggregate bandwidth. More importantly — to me, anyway — it’s licensed for Thunderbolt Share so I can finally try that app out.

I’m also gradually building up an archive hard disk for that system, to transport all the stuff I might want to access from my current production desktop to the new one. It’s been a long, slow process with a huge amount of data and a stupendous number of files involved. Thus, I’m deciding it may take two drives — one for documents and other data files, another for my massive digital music collection — which means one of them will have to plug in via USB. Still thinking…

I’ve got an Asus PCE-AC56 PCIe x1 802.11ac Wi-Fi adapter from the old build that I could plug into the new one. But shoot, a Wi-Fi 7 version (PCE-BE6500) costs US$80 these days and might be a better choice. It’s only a fallback anyway: I’m already using the built-in 2.5GbE RJ-45 wired NIC, and it’s working like a charm.

I did bump the memory up from 64 to 128 GB (cost me about US$125 DDR4-2666). It’s pretty snappy, and that gives me room for lots of VMs, which I intend to make more use of going forward, while cutting down on the number of physical PCs in my mini-fleet (current count: 11, with one soon to be decommissioned and 3 more charitably donated to the middle school marching band).

Ultimate Goal: Cutover from i7SkyLake to Flo6

My ultimate goal is to retire my current production PC. It’s built around an Asrock Z170 Extreme7+ motherboard and an i7-6700 Skylake CPU. The mobo made its debut in 2015, but I built the system either in 2016 or 2017. In any case, it’s provided at least 8 years of excellent service and is showing its age.

Funny thing that my “new” system is already 4 years old as I cut over. My attitudes — and my budget — have changed a lot since the days in the late 1990s and early 2000s when I built and tested DIY PCs for Tom’s Hardware. Now that I’m paying for everything, I’m squeezing those dollars much harder before I let go of them.

Hopefully, this “new” system will keep me running Windows for at least another 4 or 5 years before it, too, becomes obsolete. That’s just the way things go in Windows-World, where the relentless influx of newer, faster, better keeps washing older, slower, lesser technologies and hardware away. All I can say to comment is: At least I’m still here, overseeing those changes.

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Database Mixup Prompts Bogus Update

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There’s always something interesting going on with WinGet, the MS package manager for installing and updating Windows stuff. Yesterday, a database mixup prompts bogus update orders for Visual Studio 2022. Let’s look at what happened, so I can explain the nit-picky little details involved.

But first: there really is no update involved. In fact, the Visual Studio version numbers are identical: 17.14.6, as you can see in the lead-in graphic. Note that the same version number appears in the columns for both “Version” and “Available.”

Fixing Database Mixup Prompts Bogus Update

The devil for these particular details lies in the difference between the two strings. The info from the “Version” column comes from the local copy of the WinGet source. It includes the parenthetical phrase after the version number — “(June 2025).” The “Available” version info does not include that string. Thus, there’s a mismatch, even though they’re the same base version number.

Simply put, because the version numbers don’t match, WinGet blithely assumes they’re different. Technically, they are. But they differ because somebody erred in creating one version string or the other.

Who’s on the Hook for a Fix?

Why Microsoft, of course, because Visual Studio is their product. Thus, they’re responsible for the package data in the WinGet database. As you can see in the following screenshot, in fact, that fix is already in. It depicts this morning’s WinGet show  and WinGet list data for Microsoft.VisualStudio.2022.Enterprise. Note that the version number info now agrees completely. Fixed!

The previous discrepancy is gone. [Click image to view full-sized.]

For further proof, I ran WinGet upgrade –all –include-unknown. It shows that CrystalDiskMark and Edge need updates, but Visual Studio no longer appears. The mismatch is corrected, so it’s no longer incorrectly flagged for update.

I’m a huge fan of WinGet, not least because the team at MS that works on its software and data is on top of things. Good stuff!

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Cool Tools, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, Thoughts & concerns, WED Blog, Windows 10, Windows 11

Strange Crystal Dew World Hiccup

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Yesterday, I noticed that both WinGet and PatchMyPC Home Updater hiccuped when trying to update CrystalDiskMark (8.0.6 to  9.0.0) and CrystalDiskInfo (9.6.3 to 9.7.0). This strange Crystal Dew World hiccup (that’s the home site for both apps) got me wondering if the developer had abandoned freeware versions of those tools for ad-driven (installer-based) or for-a-fee (MS Store) versions only. I’m please to report that my presumption was wrong, and new freeware versions for both programs are updating properly now.

What Caused This Strange Crystal Dew World Hiccup?

Apparently there was some delay between when the new version info got broadcast and when the Crystal Dew World website got updated. Indeed I saw web info (which serves as the lead-in graphic for the story) that led me to wonder if ad-driven (ZIP and Installer) or paid-for (Store) versions were the only remaining versions of CrystalDiskMark (CDM) and CrystalDiskInfo available.

This morning, however, when I went back to check again, things were different. I still see the same situation at Crystal Dew World (here’s a link to its CDM download which includes an installer named CrystalDiskMark9_0_0Ads.exe). But WinGet and PatchMyPC can both successfully upgrade these tools now (they threw “hash match fail” errors yesterday) and are proffering ad-free freeware versions that come from sourceforge (you can use WinGet Show CrystalDewWorld.CrystalDiskMark to reveal its database contents).

Updates Take Time to Propagate

I’ve seen similar things happen before — often, with MS facilities such as PowerShell and Windows Terminal — when an update emerges but packages and database contents don’t synch up. All in all, though, I’m glad that freeware, ad-free versions of these useful tools remain available. If they didn’t I’d have to find something else!

And, far too often, such things become necessary here in Windows-World. Not this time, apparently for CDM and CDI. Not yet, anyway… But the ad-oriented interface at Crystal Dew World strongly suggests it could happen if not now, perhaps later.

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Interesting ThinkPad T14s Snapdragon Intake

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Here, interesting comes from the purported “Chinese” curse: “May you live in interesting times.” If fact, those times got a little too interesting for me once or twice last week, as I worked my way through intake on a the Snapdragon X version of the ThinkPad T14s from Lenovo (see “Speeds and Feeds” for more of those details). Indeed, I experienced what I choose to call an interesting ThinkPad T14s intake because of WU issues that popped up along the way.

Ultimately, I would have to send the PC back to Lenovo for a replacement because:

(a) I couldn’t repair a Windows Update error on the latest CU

(b) When I tried an in-place upgrade repair install, the PC asked for a BitLocker recovery key during one of the post-GUI install boot-ups. [The lead-in graphic shows this on its way to a fiery crash.]

I’ll admit it: I was caught unprepared. And when the Lenovo Recovery Media facility could only produce a USB key (no digital download for me, alas), an overnight swap was my only way to proceed. Sigh, sigh, and sigh again.

What Interesting ThinkPad T14s Snapdragon Intake Means

For me, it meant an irresolvable issue trying to catch the machine up to current CU levels. For the first time in recent memory the ElevenForum.com reset/reregister WU script failed to fix that, too. Thus I had to avail myself of the “Reinstall now” button in the options available from this Windows 11 24H2 instance via Settings > System > Recovery. That’s what you see as the lead-in graphic above, at 35% complete during the GUI install phase.

Along the way to catching the OS up, I installed a bunch of apps I like to use (12 in all: 7-Zip, Adv IP Scanner, CPU-Z, CrystalDiskMark, Everything, FileZilla, GadgetPack, Notepad++, PS 7.5.1, PowerToys, and Speccy). I also turned on Remote Access so I can view the desktop on a 27″ monitor instead of a 14″ laptop.

It was all good until I tried running WU. It was stuck, stuck, stuck, on the latest CU. It was throwing Error Code 0x800F0905, which Google tells me means “an issue with Windows Update or a corrupted installation file.” That’s why I went to the reset/register script immediately thereafter, and then Reinstall now when that failed as well. As I said earlier, I ended up swapping my ultimately bricked T14s for an identical replacement. It had to retry the stuck CU, but succeeded on a second attempt. So now I have a working T14s to play with for a while.

So following the well-known principle of “If you don’t get it right the first time, do it over,” I reinstalled all the apps I’d added to the first, bricked version. Then I enabled Remote Access so I can use RDP,  set up Windows Terminal and PowerShell, and I’m now fully off and running.

Speeds and Feeds, and More

The T14s Gen 6 model that Lenovo sent me includes the following:

  • Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 CPU (3.4GHz, 12 cores/threads)
  • Adreno X1-85 GPU (built-in)
  • Hexagon NPU (delivers 45 TOPS)
  • 32 GB LPDDR5X-8448 MHz RAM
  • Samsung OEM PCIe Gen4 NVMe 1TB SSD
  • 14″ WUXGA (1920×1200, IPS, Anti-Glare, non-touch)
  • Windows Hello 1080P PHD camera, fingerprint reader
  • Qualcomm Wi-Fi 7 NCM825A 2×2 BE & Bluetooth 5.3
  • 2ea USB4 USB-C (40Gbps), USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) ports

As configured the unit currently goes for US$1,259 at the Lenovo Store. It’s sturdy, has a standard ThinkPad look and feel, and both thin and pretty lightweight (2.72lbs/1.24kg). It’s not quite as awe-inspiring as the less expensive Slim 7X model I reviewed almost a year ago, but it’s bigger, beefier, and pretty darn snappy. I will take it on the road with me at my next opportunity and see how it plays.

So far, though, it’s a solid performer and seems to get things done with verve. I look forward to a machine that will let me use the benefits of Copilot+ PCs in the near future. Indeed, that’s why I asked Lenovo to send me this unit. Stay tuned: I’ll tell you lots more, real soon.

 

 

 

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Learning New Backup Post-Blowup

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I must confess. I blew up a Lenovo review unit Wednesday trying to fix an update problem. Now after what I learned during that experience, I’m learning new backup post-blowup. First, I’ll explain the need for new backup; then the blowup,; and finally, the backup and recovery manuevers I must now make part of my review process. It all ends with an ironic footnote, as my precautions prove unneeded.

To begin with, I’d like to thank Amanda Heater and Michael Redd of the Lenovo Reviews team, based in North Carolina. They didn’t even laugh at me when I told them what I’d done. They simply offered to cross-ship me a replacement system while I returned the one I so thoroughly munged. Thanks, thanks, thanks.

Why I’m Learning New Backup, Post-Blowup

It all goes back to Paramount Software, maker of the excellent backup and recovery toolset known as Macrium Reflect. I’ve been a happy and satisfied use of same for seven years or more. But as of January 1, 2024 (now 18 months ago), the company dropped its free version of that software. In good conscience that meant when I updated my ComputerWorld  story How to make a Windows 10 or 11 Backup, I had to recommend one or two free backup packages, as well as continuing my ongoing endorsement for Reflect (I own 8 licenses for version X and 4 for version 8, in fact).

So while I’m intaking the second iteration of a Lenovo ThinkPad T14s (the Snapdragon X variant of their thin-and-light 2-in-1 business laptop), I’m also learning how to install and use Easus ToDo Backup (one of the three free packages I mention in the February 2024 revision to the afore-cited CW story, the other two being AEOMEI Backupper Standard and MiniTool ShadowMaker Free).

It’s been both interesting and frustrating. I know Reflect so well now I don’t have to think about what I’m doing anymore: I just do it. In using Easus ToDo, I’m reminded of how idiosyncratic UI design can be, and how careful one must be in reading UI clues to understand how to define, schedule and run backups. Ditto for building and using recovery media. Long story short, I did figure things out, and I do have two backups of the T14s, working recovery media, and am ready to use them if needed. I’ve also saved a copy of the T14s BitLocker Recovery Key to a USB flash drive and my MSA.

What About That Blowup?

In working on the first of the two T14s laptops Lenovo sent me, I learned something about Windows 11 that I didn’t know, and would have preferred never to learn. In working through my normal intake process I ran Windows Update. It showed a pending CU that would not install, with the error code 0x8007000D, which indicates a corrupt Windows download or some issue with WU itself.

So naturally, I next ran the batch file from the Eleven Forum Tutorial: Reset Windows Update in Windows 11. This nearly always works to set WU back to rights, and let me get on with my updates. Not this time. The OS recommended, and my own experience concurred, that an in-place repair install was the next step in fixing this issue.

That’s where the blowup happened, as I encountered a Windows misbehavior I’ve never, ever seen before. I used the “Reinstall now” button in Settings > System > Recovery. It appears under the heading of “Fix problems using Windows Update.” It’s usually pretty foolproof and often turns a balky or misbehaving Windows OS into its tidy and proper counterpart. But first a short detour to describe the in-place repair upgrade or install.

More About the In-Place Repair Install

A repair install goes through two major phases. First, there’s a GUI-based portion, where it copies over the Windows OS installer and the files it needs to install the OS. Second, there’s a reboot after which a WinPE-based installer takes over and finishes building a new OS from a whole new set of files and data structures. Usually, Windows 11 reboots 2 or 3 times after the initial reboot as it finishes various aspects of that install process. When it’s done, a newly installed and presumably pristine version of Windows is running, usually devoid of the issues that prompted this repair fix.

This time, on either the first or second post-GUI reboot, the boot handler brought up a BitLocker recovery key screen. It also informed me that something about the boot environment had changed enough during the install that this key was needed to proceed. Ooops!

What Makes BitLocker Key Request a Blowup?

I didn’t have the BitLocker recovery key for that machine locally, and it hadn’t yet propagated into my Microsoft Account (MSA) online. I literally couldn’t access the hard drive. When I attempted to use the Lenovo image recovery service, I couldn’t get it to fork over a digital download. I could buy a pre-loaded USB for US$29 but it could take as long a week to make it to my door. Lenovo suggested that I return the unusable T14s to them, while they would cross-ship a new, working one to me for next-day delivery.

That’s the machine I’m working on right now. And my first steps on that second iteration were to:

  1. Install Easus ToDo Backup, and make a full-drive C: image backup
  2. Build the ToDo Recovery Media (this bootable flash drive will let me restore any ToDo image even if the C: drive is inaccessible)
  3. Make a file copy of the BitLocker recovery key to that same bootable flash drive, should I need for any reason. I also forced a copy into my MSA online as well (I don’t always travel with a full set of UFDs).

This is a new and permanent set of intake activities when I get a new PC or review unit from an OEM like Lenovo (I’ve also reviewed PCs and laptops from ASUS, Acer, MSI, Dell, Panasonic, and HP in past years). If a repair install can provoke the Bitlocker key request, I have to be ready for that. Now, thanks to the foregoing steps, I will be.

Ironic WU Conclusion

The CU that caused me problems on the first machine also needed installing on the second one. It was KB5063060 (26100.4351 Out-of-band). It failed on the first attempt right after the machine came up for the first time upon unboxing. But this time, the Retry button resulted in a successful installation. The machine’s all caught up and I didn’t need to run the in-place upgrade repair install, nor to recover from its failure (and supply the Bitlocker key on demand).

I was ready for things to go south. I’m grateful they did not. But, as I can attest from painful recent experience, it’s better to have the recovery tools and data and not need them, than it is to need them and not have them.

And wow, it seems ever so appropriate to recite this saga on a day emblematic of mala fortuna: please note that it’s Friday the 13th. It can be a risky day in Windows-World, as in other worlds as well.

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Order EX5 Receive EX4 Request Refund

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Wow! I can’t believe what happened to me. I’m rebuilding the AMD 5800X PC in a new case, and ordered an Asus Thunderbolt EX5 to include, so I can try out Thunderbolt 5 and the Intel Thunderbolt Share application (licensed to a device or PC). Here’s what happened: order ex5, receive ex4, request refund (being processed), order again from Amazon. The replacement is on its way and should be here by Friday. All in all, I’m stunned.


As you can see from my carpet-based photo above, I received a ThunderboltEX 4, even though I ordered the next-gen version. Back it goes! Just printed a label and will send it back from the UPS Store later today. And to think I paid extra, because Amazon had none in stock that day. I should — and do — know better. Sigh.

Getting Past Order EX5 Receive EX4 Request Refund

All I can do now is wait. It won’t be terribly long, though because my Amazon Premium membership gets it delivered to me tomorrow, free. I need to try this item out so I can test-drive the Intel Thunderbolt Share application. It’s licensed to specific devices. And because I don’t have any laptops or docks with said license, this is a relatively affordable (~US$140) way for me to give it a whirl.

What I didn’t expect, after many, many years of entirely positive experiences with Newegg, was that one of their “stores” would try to slip me old wine and claim it was a new bottle. Not so, alas, and it won’t work for what I need it to do.

Ain’t that just way things go here in Windows-World sometimes? You ask for something specific for a supposedly included feature. Then you get something completely different, and deal with the aftermath. Sign again.

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X12 Gains QMR Support

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Wow! What a difference a day makes. Yesterday, Quick Machine Recovery didn’t work on my 2021 vintage Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Hybrid Tablet (with 11th-Gen i7-1180G7 CPU). This morning, the X12 gains QMR support and the test mode actually works. Methinks the edge of the gradual rollout just made it four generations back from the leading edge. (Copilot sez that if intel still used such numbers, Arrow Lake would like be 15th-Gen.)

If X12 Gains QMR Support, How Can You Tell?

Interestingly, even though the QMR test completes successfully on the X12, the QRM entry under Settings > System > Recovery — depicted from the 13th-Gen P3 Ultra ThinkStation above — is absent. Ditto for the QRM update (KB5056862) in Update History.

And yet, it works. Something isn’t precisely right around here, because QRM works (or says it completes the self-test successfully) without including those other presumptive signs of capability. It’s a bit confusing, if not at least mildly troubling.

Will the Circle Be Unbroken?

All this leaves me wondering how much further down the device chain this stuff will propagate. There’s a hard stop at 8th-Gen in that progression. Because my X380 is of that specific generation, all I can say right now is: “The update hasn’t gotten there yet.”

I just tried all the methods that the QRM article from MS Learn recommends to get it working when it opens to the WinRE boot screen, instead of going through its paces. Nothing doing, just yet. I’ll keep trying, and I’ll keep reporting: stay tuned and you can know, too.

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QMR Wants Newer PCs

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I have to laugh at myself. I’ve been waiting since Quick Machine Repair (QMR) emerged in April 2024 for it to show up on my Beta Channel test PC. (KB5056862 first appeared on June 2 for Build 26200.5622.) Alas, I probably could have kept waiting much longer. That’s because my Beta Channel test PC is built around an 8th-Gen i7-8650U CPU. But it seems that QMR wants newer PCs to include them in this gradual rollout. Let me explain.

Why say: QMR Wants Newer PCs?

I switched the Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Ultra, with its 13th-Gen i9-13900 CPU, over to Beta Channel. As soon as I brought up Build 26120.4230, WU extended the KB5056862 update. You can see that item in the Update History for that machine as the lead-in image above, in fact. What’s going on here?

It’s often the case that boot-related stuff on gradual rollout starts with newer PCs. It only makes its way back to older machines once MS is convinced that it really works as it should. And indeed, I followed the step-by-step instructions for testing QMR on the P3 Ultra (with the afore-depicted KB installed) from MS Learn’s Quick Machine Recovery article. It worked just like they said it would, too.

Meanwhile, the X380 Remains on Hold…

The older X380 is still on the outside, looking in, waiting for MS to extend the Quick Machine recovery update its way. I think it will keep waiting for some time yet. But at least, I have now been able to run the utility and see how it works. I’ll be reporting that in detail for an upcoming ComputerWorld story that’s due for submission on June 25. Stay tuned, and I’ll provide a link when that story goes live.

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Still No Snapdragon X Mini-PCs

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I’m disappointed, and more than a little curious. Last year Qualcomm announced a pilot program offering developer kits with Snapdragon X CPU in a mini-PC format. I bought in, only to see the program cancelled. Then, I spent two months chasing my refund down. The lead-in graphic is a publicity still of that very device from Qualcomm itself. Other companies, including Lenovo and Geekom, announced plans to release SFF PCs built around this SoC in early 2025. Despite release dates floated for H1 2025, there are still no Snapdragon X mini-PCs for sale from anybody, anywhere. Nor do I see signs that any might appear in the market any time soon. Oops!

Why Still No Snapdragon X Mini-PCs?

My gut feeling is that the answer is, in an acronym, USB. As the Snapdragon X architecture currently stands, it supports only a single USB4 (40 Gbps) and one USB 3 gen 2 (10 Gbps) port. Charging on a mini PC could possibly leave the USB4 port open (TBD, with none such for sale right now). Even so, that’s too few high speed ports for the build to make good economic sense. Who wants to spend $500-700 (or more) on an SFF PC, only to plunk down another $200-300 for a USB4 or 5 dock to bring the port count up to where it needs to be?

I’m guessing that these projects are on hold while Qualcomm is defining its next-gen Snapdragon X architecture. I’m also guessing that the new version will include either 2 or 3 USB4 or 5 ports so that such units can support a more plausible number of high speed video and storage connections in a compact form factor. Especially on tiny PCs ports enable them to do what users need.

An Interesting Upcoming Snapdragon Summit?

Qualcomm is expected to uncover details about the next-gen Snapdragon X architecture and capabilities when the company holds its September Summit in Maui. I’m expected the current paucity of ports to be over topped. And possibly, a new crop of promised mini or SFF PCs could follow in its wake. It should be interesting to see how it all turns out.

I’m pretty sure at this point that we won’t see any SFF or mini PCs around the current Snapdragon X version. The only possible exception might be a low-ball, dirt-cheap model. OEMs may seek to produce some revenue from the efforts that have apparently been expended in trying to build this recalcitrant beast. I’m not holding my breath, however… Let’s hope the next generation is a different story, and has a happier ending!

 

 

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