Category Archives: Windows 11

Thunderbolt Docks Add Helpful Future-Proofing

I’m thinking about what kinds of hardware experiments I’ve conducted over the past couple of years. Especially this year (2022). Along the way, I’ve learned that Thunderbolt docks add helpful future-proofing for home and office users. Let me explain…

How Thunderbolt Docks Add Helpful Future-Proofing

Right now, Lenovo offers what can only be called a “Best Buy” in the arena of Thunderbolt 4 docks. Or maybe a couple of them, as I’ll recount shortly. Called the Universal TB4 Dock, it currently retails for just under US$290. This is about US$110 cheaper than its nearest competitors (e.g. Belkin and CalDigit, among others).

On December 8, I also wrote here about the Lenovo P27-u20 monitor, which includes a built-in TB4 dock. At US$527, with a 4K monitor included in the mix, it too, qualifies as a “Best Buy” IMO.

There is one thing, though: to make proper use of TB4, you also need TB4 peripherals. They will be no more than two years old (TB4 made its debut in H2’2020). There’s a lot of expense involved in climbing this technology bump. But if you’ve got newer peripherals, a TB4 dock is a great way to mate them up to PCs and laptops back to 8th Gen Intel (and equivalent AMD) CPUs. I’ve done that, and it works great.

Try TB3 for a Lower-Budget Approach

For readers who want to extend the life of a Windows 11 capable PC or laptop, it may make sense to invest in Thunderbolt 3 (TB3) instead. Such docks cost as little as US$40 (e.g. Dell refurb), and are readily available new for around or just under US$100. If you’ve already bought into USB-C (3.1 or 3.2 capability) or TB3 peripherals, this is a less expensive way to dock up. Worth researching anyway: I see lots of attractive options at Amazon and other online outlets.

Thanks, Lenovo!

While I’ve got your eye, I’d like to thank the laptop and peripherals teams at Lenovo for their outstanding support. They’ve sent me half-a-dozen different laptops (and one great SFF workstation), multiple docks and the aforementioned monitor this year to review.

It’s been incredibly educational and lots of fun to put different TB4 scenarios together. This lets me understand and measure how they work, and how to make them work best. A special shout-out to Jeff Witt and Amanda Heater for their great help and quick assistance this year (and beforehand). Happy holidays to one and all.

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25267 Last 2022 Dev Channel Build

It’s over … for now, at least. That’s right: the Build 25267 announcement states “This will be our last Dev Channel flight for the holidays.” Hence my title for today’s post: 25267 last 2022 Dev Channel Build. I must say it went pretty smoothly, too: it took under half an hour from start to finish: download, GUI and post-GUI install, and thence to the desktop. Good stuff!

If 25267 Last 2022 Dev Channel Build, Then What?

Enjoy the holidays, I guess. According to the change log, the only noteworthy element is “more rounded corners” for the expanded search results obtained via the taskbar’s search button. The lead-in graphic shows what that looks like. AFAICT, it’s no biggie. Note: I had to fiddle with the screen cap (and blew it up to 150% for improved viewability) so it’s a little fuzzier here than in “real life.”

Poking Around Behind the Scenes

Just for grins, I took a look at the size of Windows.old after this latest upgrade, to get a sense of how big a Windows 11 image is nowadays. On both of my test machine, it came in just over 23GB in size. (One PC is a Lenovo X12 Hybrid Tablet, with 11th Gen i7-1180G7 CPU, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD; the other is a Lenovo X380 Yoga, with 8th Gen i7-8650U, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD.)

It used to be conventional wisdom that a Windows install required 20 GB of free disk space. Now, it looks like 25 GB is probably a safer general guideline. Interestingly, the Disk Cleanup utility reports the size of Previous Windows installation(s) as 15.4 GB, even though a properties check on Windows.old (Build 25262) returns the aforementioned sizes. Cleanup takes a little while, too: about 4 minutes on each test PC or thereabouts.

25267 Last 2022 Dev Channel Build.Windows.old

Note the reported size here is about 9 GB smaller. Interesting…

Marching into 2023

It’s still 17 days off, but 2023 is coming. I imagine we might see resumption of regular flighting the week of January 9. But heck, it’s been a busy, busy year for Windows 11. I count 32 Builds in Update History starting from March 21, 2022. And while I’ve encountered (and reported) occasional issues along the way, most have been minor. And none have stopped me from tracking along with each new Build as it’s emerged. I can only hope next year goes equally well.

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Backdoor Store That Updates Snipping Tool

Ha! There are times when I delight in being wrong. This is one of them. Thanks to Sergey Tkachenko at WinAero, I accessed a backdoor Store that updates Snipping Tool. Warning: it comes from a Russian source — namely rg-adguard.net. But it accesses MS URLs, so I’m inclined to think it’s safe (and FWIW, VirusTotal agrees). You can see the new version including a “Record” button, as the lead-in graphic for this story.

Using Backdoor Store That Updates Snipping Tool

Let me explain how I was wrong, before I explain how to visit the backdoor Store if you’re so inclined. In my Monday post, I said (bold emphasis added):

Visiting the Microsoft Store and running updates didn’t help either. Nor could I find a download source for the updated app. Of course, I didn’t expect that, either — the whole point of a phased roll-out is to limit access to new stuff to a carefully-chosen subset of the target population.

Tkachenko proved me wrong by finding a mirror of the MS Store that did indeed include a download for the missing 11.2211.35.0 version of the Snipping Tool. It may (or may not) be available to visitors at https://store.rg-adguard.net/. Enter the following string in the URL entry field (at center):

https://www.microsoft.com/store/productId/9MZ95KL8MR0L

On one of my Dev Channel test machines, I saw the desired listing (reproduced below). On the other, I did not. So obviously, YMMV. Here’s what it looked like on the successful attempt:

The desired package name is Microsoft.ScreenSketch_2022.2211.35.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe.msixbundl, where the version number 2211.35.0 is key.
[Click image for full sized view]

Just for grins, I installed this version on my “other Dev Channel PC” (even though I didn’t see it at the backdoor Store directly). And of course, it worked as expected there, too.

Caveat Emptor, Baby

Of course, you use such alternate (backdoor) sources at your own risk. And it’s entirely possible that the next CU  or upgrade will overwrite this version for those not included in the phased rollout. So you may want to stash the msixbundle file somewhere on another drive, and be prepared for evasive maneuvers. Or, you may decide to take the safest course, and wait for MS to bring the mountain to you.

As I said in my Monday post, my problem is one of patience (at least, in part). I didn’t want to wait for my turn: I wanted the new version NOW. I’ve got it and I’m playing with it. Do as you see fit, please!

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OCD Need Not Drive Software Updates

I’m something of a nut when it comes to keeping my fleet updated — now numbering 11 Windows desktops and laptops. But I’m learning that some updates are worth installing, while others are questionable. My OCD desires aside, a line between “must-have” and “nice-to-have” is coming clear. Hence the claim: OCD need not drive software updates. Let me explain, using the “free Kindle app” (Windows version), as an example.

Changes Occur, But OCD Need Not Drive Software Updates

Kindle illustrates my case in point. Check the lead-in graphic. It shows the General Options page for the Kindle App (Windows variety). Note the checkbox for “Automatically install updates …”  It’s checked! Note further: the Software Update Monitor tool (SUMo) reports ALL such updates.

Here’s the rub: Amazon/Kindle itself does not push updates unless they offer new functionality or security fixes. If SUMo catches one that the auto-update function does not push, catching up means extra work. First, one must uninstall the “outdated” version. Then, one must download and install the “current” version in its place. Winget does this easily, as I describe in my November 3 item. But Amazon/Kindle find it unnecessary (or they’d push it automatically).

Other Cases, Other Deferrals…

I’ve observed this pattern with other 3rd-party tools. One is ioBit Driver Booster Free (I run it as a test app on one Beta Channel PC). I emailed the company to ask about “skipped updates.” They responded with a helpful explanation. Paraphrased it reads “Some updates aren’t needed for existing installations.” They also offer updates explicitly whenever adding new stuff or security elements.

Thus, I’m learning to be choosy in updating applications. Perfect coverage takes time. I now understand that putting time saved elsewhere has benefits. That’s why I stress that OCD, however compelling, shouldn’t guide one’s update approach — especially mine!

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Sussing Out New Snipping Tool

Here’s a familiar plaint. Windows 11 Dev Channel includes a new version of the Snipping Tool with screen record capability. As far as I could tell, my two Dev Channel test PCs are not yet included. Then I figured out what’s involved in Sussing out new Snipping Tool, and proved that my version is behind the new one. Let me explain…

App Version Info Helps, Sussing Out New Snipping Tool

What you see in the screencap at the head of this story is the version number for the Snipping Tool running on my test PCs. According to this December 8 MS Announcement, the updated version number that handles screen recording is 11.2211.35.0. As you can plainly see above, my PCs are running 11.2209.2.0, which is a couple of digits lower in the second position.

Visiting the Microsoft Store and running updates didn’t help either. Nor could I find a download source for the updated app. Of course, I didn’t expect that, either — the whole point of a phased roll-out is to limit access to new stuff to a carefully-chosen subset of the target population.

Playing is Easy; Patience is Harder

As somebody who’s been later to receive items during most phased feature roll-outs, I can’t say I’m surprised by this turn of events. If I had the new version, I’d be using it right now (playing). Waiting for my turn requires patience, which I find considerably harder to exercise.

But indeed, as I know from repeat prior experience, that’s the way things go sometimes here in Windows-World. I’ll keep checking my test PCs after updates, and wondering how much longer I have to wait. Then, suddenly, they’ll get the update (or it will go into more general release) and I won’t have to wait any more.

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Curious Reliability Monitor Incident Occurs

Sometimes, no news is itself news. One of my favorite Sherlock Holmes stories, The Adventure of Silver Blaze describes a “curious incident of the dog in the night-time” wherein “the dog did nothing…” Lately, as the lead-in graphic from Reliability Monitor shows, my production PS is such a dog. Over a 19-day period, it shows exactly one critical event. And that one is easily explained, thanks to an aging UPS battery.

Good News When a Curious Reliability Monitor Incident Occurs

According to WinFetch, I have 308 packages installed on my production desktop, of which Winget recognizes 226. Those numbers provide ample opportunities for things to go sideways. I confess: I check in on Reliability Monitor when seeking blog topics. It seldom fails to point toward interesting troubleshooting or clean-up exercises.

I use the heck out of my production PC: 8-10 hours a day, 6-7 days a week. Consequently, I’ve seen many less happy Reliability Monitor traces than the one at the head of this story. It is, in fact, something of an anomaly in my 6-plus years of working this PC as a daily driver. And that, to mangle Mr. Holmes, is what makes for a “curious incident” — namely that I could work both hard and long on this PC while maintaining a nearly perfect reliability score.

Windows 10 Gains a Ringing Endorsement

When nothing shows up in Reliability Monitor, the presumption is that the PC is behaving itself well. For example, I’m currently logged into 4 RDP sessions: 3 on various Windows 11 versions, 1 on Windows 10. Only one of them shows one critical error event like the lead-in graphic. It’s from a Dev Channel build that’s been running for 11 days, and the critical error it shows resolves into 4 events that occurred just after the new build installed on November 29.

The other 3 PCs show 3 or more critical events over the default 19-day interval typical for Reliability Monitor displays. And these, too, devolve into a half-dozen error events of one kind or another. My point is: the production PC is manifesting unusual calm and stability, especially as the other machines are less heavily used (though subject to beta software and primarily test or experimental situations).

I see this as another explanation for the relatively slow changeover from Windows 10 to 11 I wrote about yesterday (Where Windows 11 Business Use Stands). If the OS ain’t broke, there truly is no need to fix (or replace) it. I find it comforting, in a weird way; MS undoubtedly has more mixed feelings on this subject. But it offers a pretty compelling explanation as to why businesses aren’t yet taking the Windows 11 plunge in significant numbers.

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Where Windows 11 Business Use Stands

Here’s an interesting question to ponder: what is business doing with Windows 11? Data on general Windows 11 use (e.g. StatCounter, Statista, and so forth) shows that for every copy of Windows 11, around 4 copies of Windows 10 are in use. Determining where Windows 11 business use stands is a whole ‘nother story. That’s because there’s very little solid intelligence about the proportion of business to home/hobbyist/”other” users available. Frankly, I’m a little frustrated…

Where Windows 11 Business Use Stands Is Mysterious

For years now, MS has been careful about what kinds of numbers it discloses about Windows, particularly where business versus other uses are concerned. We know that roughly 1.8B copies of Windows are in use worldwide. If the breakdowns from still-available desktop marketshare analytics are relevant — I’ll use StatCounter (the source for the opening graphic here, as of November 2022) for reference — that means roughly the following:

1. With 69.75% of the total count, that grants 1.25B copies to Windows 10.
2. With 16.13% of the total count, that confers 290M copies to Windows 11.

Those observations may or may not be relevant, because the foregoing count may only include Windows 10 and 11, not the earlier versions (7, 8 and 8.1, as well as XP and “Other”) that StatCounter tracks. If that’s true — then the copy counts for Windows 10 and 11 increase to 1.46B and 330M, respectively.

The Key Known Unknown

With all due respect to Dick Cheney, what’s missing from these numbers is  sense of how each count breaks down across the “business versus all other users, by type” category. My best guess is that the ratio is no greater that 1:1 (that is, for each business user there is one or more other users). It could be less than that, though.

So far, business users haven’t found hugely compelling reasons to upgrade to Windows 11. Indeed, it’s only the last year or so that I’ve seen most businesses I patronize or work with (including a great many law firms and medical practices and clinics) make the transition from Windows 7 to Windows 10.

With Windows 10 facing EOL in just under 3 years (2 years 10 months and some change, as of my most recent reckoning last week), there’s not much driving businesses to migrate sooner rather than later. It will be fascinating to see how things unfold. A lot will depend on when “Windows Next” (version 12, perhaps?) starts to appear on the horizon.

To me, it’s looking increasingly likely that many businesses may leapfrog from Version 10 to “Windows Next”, skipping Windows 11 in the process. I see this as in part a function of combining hardware refresh with OS migration, and in part as a function of inertia (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it). Time will tell!

A Bump May Be Coming

If I’m right about the reasons for delaying migration and hardware refresh, there could be a pot of gold for PC sales from mid-2024 through mid 2026. This would seem to dictate businesses will plan hardware refreshes around EOL for Windows 10, with a blurring of the timeline around the exact date of October 14, 2025. This could get interesting…

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Turning Off Corel PSP Ads

I’d had enough, enough, enough. After seeing an advertisement from Corel for extensions to its PaintShop Pro (PSP) product yesterday, I searched online for “Turn off ads in Corel PaintShop Pro 2023.” Thankfully turning off Corel PSP ads is not only easy, there’s even an official vendor-sponsored knowledge base (KB) how-to article. Hooray!

The intro graphic shows the program’s default settings for what shows up as “Message Preferences” in the program’s Help menu. Notice that users get opted into “Keep me informed with the latest product related messages.” Notice further that update frequency for such notification is — I kid you not — daily (“Once a day”).

Unticking Boxes For Turning Off Corel PSP Ads

By no coincidence whatsoever, changing those two settings turns ads off completely. What a relief. Here’s what the same dialog box looks like when properly altered:

Turning Off Corel PSP Ads.ads-off

Ads turned off. Wish all such apps (and browsers) were this easy to manage!

Just to recap those changes, they require unchecking the “Keep me informed…” box. They also require changing the “Receive updates/offers…” setting to “Do not show…” Presto! No more advertisements or notifications from PaintShop Pro. What a relief!

The Politics of Dancing…

In its own small way, this little tweak shows the importance of understanding how the programs you install on your Windows PCs work. If you don’t like something about them, you will often be able to change their behavior to make irritants or unwanted communications mute or disappear. This small example from PSP serves as a pretty good and nearly self-explanatory example.

I upgrade my copy of the software every 12-18 months, so I don’t need to be reminded to buy into the latest version. I’m not doing more serious photo or image editing so I don’t really care about the many tools and add-ons for PSP that Corel and third parties offer.

I just wanted the ads to go away. So that’s what I made them do. I imagine (but will find out when installing the 2024 update next year) that this default will reappear thereafter. But now, I know how to subdue that beast should it rear its unwanted head once again. Cheers!

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Thunderbolt Monitor Makes Life Easy

OK, then. Lenovo sent me a terrific Thunderbolt 4 4K ThinkVision P27-u20 monitor. It actually showed up the day before Thanksgiving. It’s been sitting on my office floor since then, waiting patiently for me to get around to it. I’m working with the company to get a better sense of how Thunderbolt 4 works in an office environment. And indeed, now I can say from experience that a Thunderbolt monitor makes life easy for properly-equipped PCs and laptops.

Extremely narrow side and top bezels make for a compelling and nicely stackable monitor. [Click image for full-size view.]

Why Thunderbolt Monitor Makes Life Easy

Simple: plug it it, turn it on, set the device for dual displays and extend the desktop on a laptop. You can see how this looks in the Thunderbolt Control Center on the X12 Hybrid Tablet in the top graphic.

On the P360 Ultra, it fired up on its own when plugged into the front Thunderbolt 4 port. Colors are crisp, and the monitor appears to work as fast using TB4 as it does under either HDMI or DisplayPort. Better yet, the Thunderbolt-accessible ports on the monitor include TB4 in/out, 2xHDMI 2.0, DP 1.2, GbE (RJ-45), an audio mini-jack, and 2xUSB3.1 (1 USB-Type B, and USB-C is TB4 capable). It’s also got integrated speakers (3W each, so not really major, but adequate). It runs a 60Hz refresh rate with a response time of 4 -6 ms so it’s not really a gaming monitor by any stretch. That said, it’s nice for productivity and static creation work.

Resolution is nominal 4K (3840 x 2160), and it supports DCI-PC3 and Adobe RGB. It’s also DisplayHDR 400 certified (that means 10-bit color). See the product page for complete tech specs.

Built-in TB4 Hub Makes For a Killer Price

Yes, that’s right: the monitor includes an entirely capable, built-in Thunderbolt 4 hub as part of its equipage. Very cool, for a device with an MSRP of under US$550. Indeed, even the cheapest TB4 hubs, similarly equipped, cost over US$300 nowadays. It also includes a DP cable, a TB 4 cable, and a USB TypeB2A cable to hook an external USB 3.1 device up to its Type B port. Note: I just happened to hook the monitor up through a Lenovo TB4 Dock because I have one, but it will act as a dock by itself. That’s why two devices (dock and monitor) show up in the Thunderbolt Control Center up top.

To me, this functionality makes the price of the monitor easy to justify given that it comes ready to support Thunderbolt 4 based audio, video, networking and peripherals right out of the box. If you need another monitor and you can also benefit from TB4 connectivity and access, this could be too good to pass up.

Upon first exposure and short-term use, I’m wowed. I’ll follow up with more details after I’ve had a chance to spend some time with this puppy.

Notes Added December 7

A few more noteworthy things have occurred to me as I ponder this new peripheral and its inner workings. The USB C port delivers up to 100 W of power, so it should be able to handle most laptops without a separate AC connection for juice. The on-screen menus do take some fooling with to figure out. It is kind of heavy (28 lbs/12.7 Kg) but easy to assemble, move around and adjust. Here’s an interesting technical review from PC Magazine for your consideration, too.

 

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Windows 10 WU Offers 22H2 Upgrade

Upon reading reports to that effect, I just confirmed that Windows 10 WU offers 22H2 Upgrade on the Boss’s Dell OptiPlex 7080 Micro PC. You can see the offer in the preceding graphic. At the same time, you can also see the offer to upgrade to Windows 11 in the right-hand column of the same Window. I reproduce this below. It’s got a 10th Gen Intel i7 CPU, so no problem meeting the Windows 11 hardware requirements.

With its 10th-Gen Intel CPU, TPM support, and so forth, this PC is more than ready for Windows 11.

Sold: Windows 10 WU Offers 22H2 Upgrade

The Boss has decided to stick with Windows 10. She’s not interested in an OS upgrade, and will wait until she MUST switch. Or perhaps something new will come along in the interim. On a 3-year cadence for major Windows versions with an EOL date for Windows 10 on October 14, 2024, that could get interesting.

It raises the question of whether Windows 10 will retire before the next version comes along, or if that version will precede its planned demise. According to the date calculator, that’s still 2 years, 10 months, 1 week and 2 days away (973 days) in the offing. Plenty of time for her to figure out which way she wants to go.

Refresh and Upgrade, or Just Upgrade?

Lots of other users will be pondering the timing of their next upgrade transitions between now and October 14, 2025. Many will decide to refresh their hardware as they transition to a new OS. I can see a kind of “lost generation” for Windows 11 as a result.

It will be quite interesting to see how PC sales look over the next 2-plus years for the same reasons. The trade-off looks very much like: wait for the next Windows version and budget for new PCs versus refresh earlier and upgrade to Windows 11. Could get interesting…

 

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