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ComputorEdge™ Online — 01/24/14

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Microsoft Windows Isn't Going Anywhere!

Despite dire predictions about its future, Windows has a market position so strong that even Microsoft will have trouble screwing it up.

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Digital Dave

by Digital Dave

Digital Dave answers your tech questions.

Magnification Problem on Windows 8 and Dell; Picture File Will Not Open; The End of Windows XP Support.

Windows, the 900 Pound Gorilla in the Room

by Jack Dunning

People Predict Doom, But History Predicts a Long Life for Windows

Take a look at the numbers to put the probable future of the Windows operating system in perspective. It not as bleak as many would have you think.

Easy Beginner AutoHotkey Tricks You Should Use with Windows

by Jack Dunning

Make Your Easy Quick Search Pop-up Available with a Right-click Menu

Anyone can add the simple AutoHotkey pop-up for quickly searching their favorite Web site to a right-click menu by adding only one line to the script.

Wally Wang's Apple Farm

by Wally Wang

The Future of Wearable Computing

The Future of Wearable Computing; Missing Facts; The Complexity Tax; The Unsustainable Business Model; Create a Guest Account.

Editor's Letters: Tips and Thoughts from Readers

by ComputorEdge Staff

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Digital Dave

“Digital Dave answers your tech questions.”
by Digital Dave

Magnification Problem on Windows 8 and Dell; Picture File Will Not Open; The End of Windows XP Support.

Magnification Problem on Windows 8 and Dell

Dear Digital Dave,

I have a Dell 17R laptop with Windows 8. I cannot keep my screen from magnifying. There is a star in the upper right corner above the address line that has the magnification default. It fluctuates from the default setting to huge as I either type or move my mouse. I have changed the setting of the mouse, but my magnification keeps going crazy. How do I stop this from happening?

Lynne Legare

Magnolia

Dear Lynne,

I'm a little confused by your question since you mention "a star in the upper right corner above the address line" which suggests that you have the problem in a specific application or Web browser. If that is the case, then the solution could be in either the settings for that program or there is a browser add-on possibly causing the problem.

Unless you have specific mouse drivers that add magnification in the mouse features setup, changing the mouse settings are not likely to affect the problem.

An area to explore is the settings in the Ease of Access Center in Control Panel => Ease of Access Center => Change sign-in Setting (+X for pop-up menu to select Control Panel) (see Figure 1). Here you will find the initial settings which may be turning the Windows Magnifier on. Deselect and click Apply to prevent automatic loading.

Figure 1. The Windows Magnifier can be prevented from automatic loading by unchecking the appropriate boxes.

If you have deliberately loaded the Windows Magnifier you can control it directly by clicking the magnifying glass icon which appears on the screen (see Figure 2). When you click on the icon the Magnifier window will open with Size, Views and Settings options.

Figure 2. The Windows Magnifier window offers various modes for using the feature to increase screen size.

If you click the X in the upper right-hand corner the Magnifier will close.

You can also check out the Ease of Access Center => "Make the computer easier to see" section, although this relates primarily to turning on the Magnifier and making changes to other text and icon sizes.

If none of the Control Panel changes make any difference, then I refer you back to the program where you are having the problem. Or, it is also possible that you have added a third-party app, such as Sysinternals ZoomIt, which is affecting the magnification of the screen.

Another possibility is that there is a key stuck that is completing half of a shortcut for magnification, then moving the mouse or typing something does the rest. I still bet it's application specific.

Digital Dave

Picture File Will Not Open

Dear Digital Dave,

I tried to open a picture on my laptop. It asked for a program to use. I clicked on Windows Photo Viewer. It would not open and now all my desktop icons are changed to Windows Photo Viewer and will not open. How can I change it back?

Ina Denny

Alpine, CA

Dear Ina,

When you selected Window Photo Viewer as the program to use you must have inadvertently made it the default image viewing program. This is a common problem and often happens when people install a new program and allow it to become the default for all similar types of files. There are a couple of ways to fix the problem.

Open Control Panel => Default Programs (see Figure 3). The circled item allows you to individually set the default program for a particular file type based upon the extension (gif, jpg, tiff, etc).

Figure 3. Default programs for opening files can be set in the Default Programs window.

It is also possible that the program you want to use for opening all similar files is listed in the "Set your default programs" section just above the circled item. If so then you can set all the defaults for that program (or pick and choose compatible extensions), rather than digging through the list of all extensions.

Digital Dave

The End of Windows XP Support

On April 8th of this year Microsoft ends support for Windows XP. (The 8th of April was probably selected because Microsoft was afraid that only fools would take the 1st of April seriously.) What does this mean to those people who are still using Windows XP and plan to continue for the rest of their life? When it comes right down to it, not very much.

While the number of Windows XP computers in use has dropped below 30%, that still represents hundreds of millions of computers. While the numbers will continue to dwindle as machines break down, these XP owners are happy overall and feel no compelling need to upgrade. The fact that Microsoft is stopping support will go unnoticed by many.

First, any support for Windows XP is primarily in the form of security updates. It's true that these updates will stop, but it's questionable how much they are needed. If a person practices safe computing (don't click questionable links, don't download unknown files, etc.), then it's unlikely there will be a problem. Plus, over time, hackers will spend less time targeting XP due to their fewer numbers.

If you install Windows XP on another computer (or reinstall on your current computer), you will continue to have access for downloading all of the updates. That portion of support is not being shutdown. With the exception of the security updates, dropping of support for Windows XP is mostly a symbolic gesture by Microsoft.

If you want to change to another Windows system, then both Windows 7 and Windows 8 are viable alternatives. If you want to limit the learning curve, then you might like to stick with Windows 7. Windows 8 is not nearly as bad as people claim (it's faster than Windows 7), but it does require adapting to the Modern interface.

If you want an introduction to Windows 7, then ComputorEdge is offering an EPUB version of Getting Started with Windows 7 for only 99 cents. (The same deal is also available at Amazon for the Kindle.) For an overview and introduction to Windows 8, Jack Dunning's e-book Misunderstanding Windows 8.1 has just been updated and is available at ComputorEdgeBooks.com in both the EPUB format for iPad, NOOK, and most PCs and the MOBI format for the Kindle. This Windows 8 book is also available as an e-book at Amazon for those with a Kindle account and Barnes and Noble for the NOOK.

Digital Dave

Windows, the 900 Pound Gorilla in the Room

“People Predict Doom, But History Predicts a Long Life for Windows”
by Jack Dunning

Take a look at the numbers to put the probable future of the Windows operating system in perspective. It not as bleak as many would have you think.

There was a physicist giving a lecture on stellar evolution. He calmly pointed out, "In about one billion years the Sun will explode into a red giant and consume the Earth in a fiery blaze."

Someone the back or the room blurted out, "How long did you say?"

"About one billion years."

"Thank, Heavens! I thought you said one million years!"

This is an old joke that I first heard when I was a student in college—or once read it in Readers Digest at a dentist's office—I don't remember exactly where. It illustrates how easy it is to lose perspective and that's exactly what appears to be happening with regard to the evolution of the desktop computer market.

Almost every day I read an item about the doom of Microsoft either because of how they have screwed up Windows 8 or due to smartphones and tablets wiping out the desktop market. Some people cite the short-term sales of various computers and mobile devices as proof that Microsoft is down trending. Marketing analysts project that the frequent bonehead mistakes made by Microsoft will be their undoing. While to some extent all of these predictions may have elements of truth (Microsoft certainly seems to have many more missteps than a company like Apple), it will be many decades before there will be a collapse of the Windows giant. It can be summed up in one word "positioning."

Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind

In my years of business the best book I've ever read for developing strategic thinking in a marketing plan is Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind. If you have a business (or plan to start one) and consult no other book, read this one. The book encompasses the essence of what makes a product or service number one. A product may not be the best on the market nor the cheapest, but with proper positioning it can be a tremendous success.

Positioning is the placing of a product concept in the consumer's mind. Every current commercial product occupies a location within the brain pan of the marketplace. This mental position represents everything a person thinks about that product and equates to its reputation. It may be good (or bad), but once established it is very difficult for a competitor (or even the company itself through guided or misguided efforts) to dislodge it.

Unknown products have no position since no one has heard of them. But as people buy and use the new entry, they develop an opinion which they freely share with others. Eventually, the position in the consumer's mind becomes set. Once a position is achieved, (barring catastrophe), it is almost impossible to change. Microsoft has a number one position in the desktop and laptop market that has been attacked from every side. Even Microsoft, who has released botched products on a regular basis, has done little damage to their position in the minds of users. The numbers show this.

A Look at the Numbers

It's estimated that there are well over one billion desktop computers in the world—and that number will grow by an estimated 305 million this year. (That represents a 7.3% drop in sales of PCs, while it's expected that Android devices—all types except PCs—will sell over one billion. If PCs sales continue to drop at this rate, then in thirteen years the era will be over. Or will it?) By 2016, it's predicted that there will be over two billion PCs installed and in use. Ninety percent of those PCs (including laptops) will be Windows computers. This is the 900 pound Microsoft gorilla occupying that Windows position in your mind.

Taking a look at NetMarketShare's percentages of PCs in use worldwide based upon Web browsing (one of the most common uses of computers) the changes in the PC market is not particularly startling (see Figure 1). In fact the percentage change for computers in use has barely changed at all (Windows dropped from 91.62% to 90.73%). Windows PCs have dropped by less than one percentage point. At that rate they will disappear in use in about 100 years. (The Mac is up 0.37%. While I didn't take the time to do the math, a quick look suggests that it will be a long time before the Mac catches up with Windows PCs.)

Figure 1. Looking at how the mix of PCs in the world is changing suggests that Microsoft may have a position that even bad decisions at Microsoft will have a hard time destroying.

While it's true that the mobile device market is continuing to explode and it does have impact on the sales of PCs, handheld devices are unlikely to dislodge the position that PCs hold in the user's mind. Here is a self test. Think about your PC, how you use it, and where it fits into your life. Now, if you own a smartphone or a tablet computer, do the same thing. Do you really see yourself replacing your PC with a handheld device? If the answer for most people is "yes" (which I doubt), then the threat to desktops (and laptops) from smartphones and tablets is very real. However, for the vast majority of people I would project that mobile devices hold a very different position in their mind, looking like totally different products with varied purposes. In fact, I would suggest that smartphones and tablets are also divergent in their product positions with respect to each other. If each product occupies a separate, yet positive, position in a person's mind, then it is much more likely that someone will own all three rather than to choose one over the other.

The Mac Versus the PC

The Apple Mac is no more a threat to the PC than the PC is a threat to the Mac. Each desktop occupies a totally different position in the market. Maybe one computer is better than the other, but it doesn't make any difference in the long run. Both have firmly established their markets and it would be difficult for either to change it. As established by survey after survey, Mac people are not the same as PC people—and they don't particularly like each other. Most on both sides would "rather fight than switch."

For most computer users, their view of Macs and PCs has become cemented in their brains. Occasionally, people will switch from one system to the other, but this is less likely than someone switching from Coke to Pepsi. People will tend to stay within their own favorable view of the world. Like it or not, Mac people will buy Macs and Windows people will buy Windows. (And Linux people will install Linux—since they don't have to buy it.)

Windows 9

Windows 8 has been relegated to the category of an "acceptable at best" operating system mostly due to its convoluted two-in-one Modern interface. It's rumored that Microsoft is planning to rebrand Windows by coming out with Windows 9 sometime in 2015. No one outside Microsoft really knows what will be in it, but the speculation is that the tables will be turned making the Modern interface an optional app for the Desktop, rather than the Desktop being a Modern app—as it is in the current Windows 8 configuration. Some are guessing that a real Start Menu may even return. That would be remarkable since it would imply that Microsoft actually listened to its users.

Some pundits think that a 2015 release date for Windows 9 is too late to salvage Windows, but, as I've already pointed out, even a few more years would make little difference to the market position of Microsoft Windows. Obviously, the sooner Microsoft fixes its Windows 8 problems the better, but in the meantime most of the evidence is that people are both upgrading to Windows 7, as well as, Windows 8 (especially Windows 8.1) (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. While the trend for Windows XP is downward, both Windows 7 and Windows 8 (combining Windows 8 with Windows 8.1) seem to be absorbing the XP users.

With the coming drop of support for Windows XP this April, more XP users are heading for the exits. But where are they going? As shown in Figure 2 above, Windows XP computers in use dropped 2.24 percent in December 2013. The vast majority of them (assuming that most of the growth in other Windows computer was from Windows XPs leaving the world) moved to Window 8.1 (up 0.96%), Windows 8 (up 0.23%) and Windows 7 (up 0.88%) for a total of 2.07% increase. It looks like About 6% of the XP machines were replaced with alternative operating systems. It seems that Microsoft is holding onto well over ninety percent of those former Windows XP users.

The End of Windows XP?

There are many who will upgrade their Windows XP computers in the next few months which will likely represent a short-term boost in Windows sales. There are people who will tout this as the resurgence of Microsoft (just as others have predicted doom in the past), but this is perturbation in the market caused by the psychological impact of losing XP support. In reality, this change will have very little impact on most XP users since (with the exception of security of updates) Microsoft hasn't offered much support. Everything else stays pretty much the same. That means the sudden drop in Windows XPs and concurrent increase in Windows upgrades will slow significantly after the drop-dead date. After that time, changes will occur as the users feel ready to make a change or the older XP machines die.

There is no real need to fear the drop of support for Windows XP. If you own an XP computer and are happy with it, then it will most likely continue to give you the service that you need. By the time you do change, you may be able to get Windows 9. It seems that Microsoft gets it right about every other time.

So for all the hype you hear about Microsoft Windows being doomed by either its own clumsiness or the threat from smartphones or tablet computers, forget it. Windows users will patiently wait for the release of Windows 9 because, after all, they are Windows users.

Jack is the publisher of ComputorEdge Magazine. He's been with the magazine since first issue on May 16, 1983. Back then, it was called The Byte Buyer. His Web site is www.computoredge.com. He can be reached at ceeditor@computoredge.com. Jack is now in the process of updating and compiling his hundreds of articles and columns into e-books. Currently available:

Hidden Windows Tools for Protecting, Problem Solving and Troubleshooting Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP Computers.

Jack's A Beginner's Guide to AutoHotkey, Absolutely the Best Free Windows Utility Software Ever!: Create Power Tools for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 and Digging Deeper Into AutoHotkey.

Our second compilation of stupid ComputorEdge cartoons from 2011 and 2012 is now available at Amazon! That Does Not Compute, Too! ComputorEdge Cartoons, Volume II: "Do You Like Windows 8 or Would You Prefer an Apple?"

Special Free Offer at ComputorEdge E-Books! Jack's Favorite Free Windows Programs: What They Are, What They Do, and How to Get Started!.

Misunderstanding Windows 8: An Introduction, Orientation, and How-to for Windows 8 (Seventh Edition)!

Windows 7 Secrets Four-in-One E-Book Bundle,

Getting Started with Windows 7: An Introduction, Orientation, and How-to for Using Windows 7,

Sticking with Windows XP—or Not? Why You Should or Why You Should Not Upgrade to Windows 7,

and That Does Not Compute!, brilliantly drawn cartoons by Jim Whiting for really stupid gags by Jack about computers and the people who use them.

Easy Beginner AutoHotkey Tricks You Should Use with Windows

“Make Your Easy Quick Search Pop-up Available with a Right-click Menu”
by Jack Dunning

Anyone can add the simple AutoHotkey pop-up for quickly searching their favorite Web site to a right-click menu by adding only one line to the script.

In the last two weeks we've put together short AutoHotkey scripts which, first, start searches of specific Web sites by selecting words (week one) in any Windows document or Web browser and hitting the assigned hotkey combination. Next, the script was modified to pop up a window (week two) for entering the keywords before the search of targeted Web sites (see Figure 1). This next step, by inserting only one line into the script, adds the search feature as an option in the right-click menu of the AutoHotkey icon in the System Tray.

Figure 1. Last week a pop-up was added to initiate searches of specific Web pages—in this case Food.com

The techniques offered in this column build on the simple scripts discussed in the last two weeks (and linked above). If you're unfamiliar with AutoHotkey, then you may want to review those column and take a look at this introductory AutoHotkey page before continuing.

Adding an Item to the AutoHotkey System Tray Right-click Menu

Placing items in the AutoHotkey System Tray right-click menu is easy with the Menu, Tray, Add command. Whenever this command is executed it places another item at the bottom of the menu. For example:

Menu, Tray, Add, Search Food.com, ^!r

places the text "Search Food.com" as an item at the bottom of the menu for last week's script (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. The Menu command is used to place an item at the bottom of the AutoHotkey icon System Tray right-click menu

The "Search Food.com" parameter is the text displayed in the menu item and ^!r is the hotkey combination (CTRL+ALT+R discussed last week) that calls the routine. Selecting this option from the right-click menu has the same effect as using the hotkeys to start the search. This eliminates the need to memorize the hotkey combination.

Add that one line to the beginning of last week's script and you get the following:

Menu, Tray, Add, Search Food.com, ^!r

Gui, Add, Edit, vMySearch

Gui, Add, Button, Default gSearch, Search

Return

^!r::

Gui, Show

Return

Search:

Gui, Submit, Nohide

Run, http://www.food.com/recipe-finder/all/%MySearch%

Return

It is really that simple!

Eliminating the Hotkey Combination

Maybe we don't want to use hotkey combinations at all? We can replace the hotkey with a label name which runs the same subroutine. In this case ^!r is replaced with the label RecipeSearch:

Menu, Tray, Add, Search Food.com, RecipeSearch

Now the script will look for the label (subroutine) RecipeSearch: when the option is selected from the right-click menu. Therefore, the hotkey combination must be replaced with:

RecipeSearch:

Gui, Show

Return

Here is the entire script with the hotkey eliminated:

Menu, Tray, Add, Search Food.com, RecipeSearch

Gui, Add, Edit, vMySearch

Gui, Add, Button, Default gSearch, Search

Return

RecipeSearch:

Gui, Show

Return

Search:

Gui, Submit,

Run, http://www.food.com/recipe-finder/all/%MySearch%

Return

You may think that you can do the same thing with the selected Clipboard text search technique discussed two weeks ago with the same line of code. While you can add the option to the same right-click menu, a little more code is required to make it work. The problem is that when you right-click on the System Tray icon the original window loses focus and is no longer the active window. The copy function (CTRL+C) for saving the selected text to the Windows Clipboard will not work unless the window with the selected text is active. Therefore, before the script can run properly the last window must be reactivated.

While this is a little more complicated, the easiest way to resolve the problem is to use a combination of the two techniques above. A new label (RecipeSearch subroutine) is created for the right-click menu which activates the last window by sending the Windows hotkey combination ALT+ESC. This standard Windows hotkey combination cycles to the previous active window. This is done in AutoHotkey with the Send command (Send, !{Esc}). Then, using the same AutoHotkey Send command, the hotkey combination which activates the search is issued (Send, ^!r). In this case, we modify the Food.com search example from two weeks ago:

Menu, Tray, Add, Search Food.com, RecipeSearch

Return

RecipeSearch:

Send, !{Esc}

Send, ^!r

Return

^!r::

Send,^c

Sleep 200

Run, http://www.food.com/recipe-finder/all/%ClipBoard%

Return

Be sure to add the Return after the Menu, Tray line to mark the end of the auto-execute section of the script which runs when it's first loaded. Otherwise, the RecipeSearch: label will immediately execute on loading.

The problem of adding hotkeys which require a specific active window to right-click menus has confused many AutoHotkey users. While there are other AutoHotkey commands such as WinActivate which are designed to open the right window, I've found that simply using the Windows ATL+ESC combination is far easier than some of the other AutoHotkey gymnastics. For some it's possible to become so consumed with AutoHotkey that they forget that there are many features built into Windows which will do the same thing easier and quicker.

I recently noted one person who was simulating the motion of the mouse with AutoHotkey to prevent the computer from going into the Sleep mode. He then wanted to run a program at a specific time. It seemed to me that it would be easier (and more reliable) to disable the Sleep mode and use Windows Task Scheduler to later launch the program. Sometimes we lose sight of the big picture. The goal is to do things the easiest way—whether it uses AutoHotkey or not.

Next week we will move onto another AutoHotkey technique that you really should be using with your Windows computer.

*                    *                    *

The new second edition with more chapters and an index to the AutoHotkey commands found in the book is available in e-book format from Amazon (and other formats—EPUB and PDF— at the ComputorEdgeBooks Web site linked below). Jack's A Beginner's Guide to AutoHotkey, Absolutely the Best Free Windows Utility Software Ever!: Create Power Tools for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 offers a gentle approach to learning AutoHotkey.

Building Power Tools for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8, AutoHotkey is the most powerful, flexible, free Windows utility software available. Anyone can instantly add more of the functions that they want in all of their Windows programs, whether installed on their computer or while working on the Web. AutoHotkey has a universality not found in any other Windows utility—free or paid.

Based upon the series of articles in ComputorEdge, Jack takes you through his learning experience as he explores writing simple AutoHotkey scripts for adding repetitive text in any program or on the Web, running programs with special hotkeys or gadgets, manipulating the size and screen location of windows, making any window always-on-top, copying and moving files, and much more. Each chapter builds on the previous chapters.

For an EPUB (iPad, NOOK, etc.) version of A Beginner's Guide to AutoHotkey click here!

For a PDF version for printing on letter size paper for inclusion in a standard notebook of A Beginner's Guide to AutoHotkey click here!

*                    *                    *

Jack's latest AutoHotkey book which is comprised of updated, reorganized and indexed columns from ComputorEdge is now available at Amazon for Kindle hardware (or free software) users. Since the columns were not all written in a linear fashion, the book has been reorganized and broken up into parts by topic. The book is not for the complete beginner since it builds on the information in A Beginner's Guide to AutoHotkey. However, if a person is reasonably computer literate, they could go directly to this book for ideas and techniques without the first book.

For an EPUB (iPad, NOOK, etc.) version of Digging Deeper into AutoHotkey click here!

For a PDF version for printing on letter size paper for inclusion in a standard notebook of Digging Deeper into AutoHotkey click here!

Jack is the publisher of ComputorEdge Magazine. He's been with the magazine since first issue on May 16, 1983. Back then, it was called The Byte Buyer. His Web site is www.computoredge.com. He can be reached at ceeditor@computoredge.com. Jack is now in the process of updating and compiling his hundreds of articles and columns into e-books. Currently available:

Hidden Windows Tools for Protecting, Problem Solving and Troubleshooting Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP Computers.

Jack's A Beginner's Guide to AutoHotkey, Absolutely the Best Free Windows Utility Software Ever!: Create Power Tools for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 and Digging Deeper Into AutoHotkey.

Our second compilation of stupid ComputorEdge cartoons from 2011 and 2012 is now available at Amazon! That Does Not Compute, Too! ComputorEdge Cartoons, Volume II: "Do You Like Windows 8 or Would You Prefer an Apple?"

Special Free Offer at ComputorEdge E-Books! Jack's Favorite Free Windows Programs: What They Are, What They Do, and How to Get Started!.

Misunderstanding Windows 8: An Introduction, Orientation, and How-to for Windows 8 (Seventh Edition)!

Windows 7 Secrets Four-in-One E-Book Bundle,

Getting Started with Windows 7: An Introduction, Orientation, and How-to for Using Windows 7,

Sticking with Windows XP—or Not? Why You Should or Why You Should Not Upgrade to Windows 7,

and That Does Not Compute!, brilliantly drawn cartoons by Jim Whiting for really stupid gags by Jack about computers and the people who use them.

Wally Wang's Apple Farm

“The Future of Wearable Computing”
by Wally Wang

The Future of Wearable Computing; Missing Facts; The Complexity Tax; The Unsustainable Business Model; Create a Guest Account.

When Samsung released their Galaxy Gear smartwatch, they promoted it as the next big thing. The problem is that if you look at what the Galaxy Gear smartwatch does, it basically duplicates the features of an ordinary mobile phone. When you duplicate the features of an existing device, there's little point in getting that new device beyond the novelty factor.

Figure 1. The main features of the Galaxy Gear smartwatch exactly duplicate a mobile phone.

That likely explains why Galaxy Gear sales have been slow where even Chinese counterfeiters aren't making fake versions. Innovation is never about duplicating the features of an existing device exactly in another form. Instead, innovation is about giving people power to perform tasks that were difficult or impossible to perform otherwise.

The iPhone didn't just duplicate ordinary mobile phones, but basically put a computer in your pocket. The iPad didn't duplicate netbooks, but made it easier to interact with a computer through a touchscreen. Take away an iPhone and people suddenly can't navigate a strange city with a map. Take away an iPad and people suddenly lose the versatility of using a computer without the bulk of a physical keyboard getting in the way through an interface that throws an additional roadblock between users and the tasks they want to achieve like zooming in to read text easier on the screen.

Rumors of Apple's iWatch continue leaking out, but one indication that it won't duplicate the exact same features as the iPhone comes from Apple's recent hires that include scientists, engineers, and managers in the field of biomedical technologies, glucose sensors, and general fitness devices.

Apple recently hired Nancy Dougherty from startup Sano Intelligence, which is developing small, painless patches that use needle-less technology to read and analyze a user's blood. If you need to watch your glucose or potassium levels in real-time, the only other solution is to keep yourself connected to a health monitoring device at all times. Yet a wearable computer like the rumored iWatch could monitor your health while giving you the freedom to move around. The moment the iWatch senses danger signs in your health, it could warn you, giving you time to get help immediately.

Just monitoring health in real-time while freeing people from hospitals and medical offices is a huge benefit that no other technology can inexpensively and easily duplicate. If you want a mobile phone, do you want to buy a mobile phone or a Galaxy Gear smartwatch that basically wraps a smartphone around your wrist but isn't as easy to use for looking up maps, browsing Web sites, or reading e-books like a regular smartphone?

You don't innovate by exactly duplicating current technology. Otherwise, the Wright Brothers would have developed an airplane that could only roll on the ground like a car, which would be as pointless as a smartwatch that exactly duplicates a smartphone but with the disadvantages of a smaller screen.

Samsung's Galaxy Gear smartwatch gives you all of the features of a smartphone with none of its advantages like a big screen and long battery life. In return, you get the marginal advantage of making phone calls from your wrist. With a trivial advantage and massive disadvantages over current smartphones, is it any wonder that sales of Samsung's Galaxy Gear smartwatch remain low?

If you want a smartphone, get a smartphone, not a smartwatch. If you want a mobile health and fitness monitor, then you can't get that from a smartphone, a tablet, a netbook, a PC, a Windows 8 hybrid tablet/laptop, or a Galaxy Gear smartwatch. When a mobile health fitness monitor arrives, you can bet that critics will complain that it doesn't exactly duplicate the features of a netbook or a smartphone, so therefore it must be useless if it doesn't have a physical keyboard and run Adobe Flash.

In the meantime, everyone else will see the value of technology that lets us perform tasks that current technology can't offer, and the critics will look foolish and backwards as they always do when they fail to use their imagination to see beyond the obvious.

Missing Facts

The New York Times recently wrote that when Apple finally launched the iPhone on China Mobile, China's largest carrier, "only about a dozen customers showed up to buy iPhones at the opening of a store in Beijing" because "initial reception was muted." Yet pictures from people actually at different China Mobile stores around China revealed that more than a dozen people showed up at various stores, including the Beijing China Mobile store.

Figure 2. People crowd a China Mobile store during the iPhone's official launch.

While the picture of the Beijing China Mobile store where Tim Cook appeared with China Mobile's Xi Guo-hua shows mostly media people, you can still look at pictures from other China Mobile stores and count more than a dozen people in them.

Figure 3. Another China Mobile store with more than a dozen people in it.

When it comes to Apple, why do so many people deliberately ignore facts right in front of their face that can be easily disputed? CNN reports that China Mobile received over one million iPhones and will be receiving 60,000 daily to stock their 3,000 stores scattered all over China. To minimize crowds, China Mobile even required people to make reservations ahead of time.

Then again if people really wanted to buy an iPhone in China, they could just go to one of China Mobile's rivals, China Unicom and China Telecom, which has been selling iPhones for years. Rather than say that reception to the iPhone is muted, The New York Times should just report facts and let people reach their own conclusions.

When it comes to dragging down Apple, critics seem to rely on avoiding facts and making up fantasy, then attacking their imaginary and non-existent fantasies as proof that Apple must be inferior.

Remember Bill Gates claiming that you couldn't type or create documents on an iPad? At one time, Microsoft even claimed that the Macintosh was inferior because "even the mouse works differently." Of course, Microsoft never explained how they thought the mouse worked differently.

If you really want to see how the mouse works differently, scroll your mouse wheel up and down on a Windows 8 PC. When you scroll a mouse wheel up and down, you normally expect the screen content to scroll up and down. Yet if you scroll the mouse wheel up and down in the Windows 8 tile interface, the tiles scroll left and right.

To read more illogical criticism of the iPad in particular, visit the iPad DeathWatch site where you can read entertaining quotes from people such as Windows enthusiast, Paul Thurrott, who criticized the initial introduction of the iPad and wrote, "Anyone who believes this thing is a game changer is a tool."

Paul Thurrott also said, "Although the expected iPad competition never really heated up last year, 2011 is going to be a different story, with a slate (ahem) full of Android-based tablets, the HP TouchPad, the Research in Motion (RIM) PlayBook, and others." We all know how popular the HP TouchPad and RIM PlayBook turned out.

When Microsoft released Windows 8, Paul Thurrott tweeted, "Hello, Windows 8? This is iPad. You win."

There's nothing wrong with Paul Thurrott or anyone making predictions that fail. What's more disturbing is when people like Paul Thurrott make predictions based not on facts but on irrational hatred for Apple or irrational exuberance for Microsoft. The moment you leave out facts, that's a clear sign that you have nothing to base your arguments on. Why people persist in revealing their ignorance time and time again is just one more indication that perhaps the human race really isn't evolving over time after all.

The Complexity Tax

For years, people have complained that because the Macintosh costs more than similar Windows PCs, there was an "Apple tax." Now with the added complexity of Windows 8, people are starting to look at Windows 8 PCs as unappealing due to its "Complexity tax."

"Windows 8 is massively more complex," Ben Thompson, an independent analyst who covers technology from his Stratechery.com Web site, said in an interview. "It's mentally taxing to use, and a classic example of something borne of strategic need as opposed to an understanding of user needs.

"In that case, it's not simply that the additional performance is not valued by your customers; rather, the bigger problem is that the additional complexity that necessarily accompanies said performance is actively harmful to your customer's user experience. Your product is not only becoming more expensive, but it's actually becoming worse from your customer's point-of-view…Where technology companies fall down is to think about things only from a technical perspective."

In other words, when you ignore the average person's needs and just layer on more complexity so tech-savvy users can play with new toys, you wind up driving your customers away. Ideally, Windows 8 should make tasks simpler. Instead, Windows 8 and even Office 2013 makes tasks harder.

In Office 2010, you could open a file by clicking on the File tab and choosing Open. In Office 2013, you have to click on the File tab, click Open, click the Computer icon, and then click the Browse icon to open the exact same Open dialog box. Office 2013 takes four steps to do what Office 2010 can do in two.

Windows 8 takes four steps to shut down your computer while Windows 7 takes two steps to do the exact same thing. Why did Microsoft think that doubling the number of steps to do the same tasks somehow made the program easier and more intuitive? If Microsoft's executives can't figure out that 4 steps is greater than 2 steps, they certainly don't deserve to get paid six and seven-figure salaries. They should get paid two-figure salaries since they won't know that 2 is less than 6 or 7 anyway.

Now many Windows enthusiasts get mad when they read any criticism about Windows. If they truly believe that Windows really is superior to everything else on the market, all they have to do is explain why doubling the number of steps to accomplish a task is an improvement. As soon as Windows enthusiasts can explain why 4 is actually less than 2, they'll be able to convince everyone else to their point of view.

For another head scratching moment from Microsoft, open Word 2010 or Word 2013 and create a text box. If you click on that text box, a Drawing Tools tab pops up so you can modify the text box.

Figure 4. Word 2010 displays the Drawing Tools tab when editing a text box.

Now create a new document in Word 2010 or Word 2013, but save it in the older .doc (Word 97-2003) file format, then create a text box and click on it. Instead of seeing the Drawing Tools tab, Word 2010 suddenly shows a Text Box Tools tab with different commands to modify the exact same text box.

Figure 5. Word 2010 displays a Text Box Tools tab when editing a text box stored in a .doc file.

You can see more confusing examples if you create SmartArt. If you edit a SmartArt picture in a .docx file, Word 2010 displays a SmartArt Tools tab.

Figure 6. Editing a SmartArt picture in a .docx file displays a SmartArt Tools tab.

Yet if you edit the same SmartArt picture in a .doc file, Word 2010 displays an Organizational Chart Tools tab.

Figure 7. Editing a SmartArt picture in a .doc file displays a different tab.

Microsoft likely created two entirely different sets of commands for modifying the exact same objects to maintain file compatibility with older versions of Microsoft Word. Still, this jarring difference of a user interface that changes solely on the file format can be extremely confusing to the average user.

Imagine creating documents in Word 2010 and saving files in the older .doc file format to maintain compatibility with older files. Then someone sends you a newer .docx file to edit and suddenly the user interface looks entirely different for no apparent reason. Think that would confuse people? Think people would understand that the problem lies with the different file formats of each document, or do you think people would just get frustrated because they don't understand what's happening?

For anyone who has Word 2010/2013 on a Windows PC, try this experiment yourself by creating two new documents, but save one as a .docx file and the other as a .doc file. Then add a text box and SmartArt picture to each document and see if the tabs change depending if you're editing a .docx or a .doc file.

For decades, the standard way to exit out of a program was to click the File menu and choose Exit. In Word 2010, you can click the File tab and click Exit, but in Word 2013, click on the File tab and the Exit command is completely missing. How does removing the Exit command (where people expect it to be) make Word 2013 easier and more intuitive to use? Why even eliminate this command when it's the most common command people use every day?

Given a choice between complexity and simplicity, you can see why more people value simplicity no matter what price they have to pay. The next time someone recommends Microsoft software, add in the extra time and frustration you'll face through the Microsoft Complexity tax. When people are willing to pay more to get away from complexity, adding more complexity will never win them back.

The Unsustainable Business Model

When you run a business, you need to find out how to bring in profits consistently. When you can figure this out, your business will likely thrive barring drastic changes in the outside world which will likely occur periodically.

At one time, people rented DVDs from stores like Blockbuster Video, which had a decent business model. When streaming video and DVD rental vending machines appeared, Blockbuster Video's business model no longer worked.

Now Intel and Microsoft find themselves in the same situation. At one time, Intel and Microsoft were so dominant that they were labeled WinTel since the bulk of PCs sold on the planet ran Microsoft software with Intel processors.

Today, PC sales keep dropping as people shift to smartphones and tablets. To deal with this drop, Intel plans to pay manufacturers to use their processors in mobile devices while Microsoft plans to pay manufacturers to use their Windows Phone operating system.

Paying to get your products on the market might seem like an expense similar to advertising. The big difference is that paying others to use your products can only work as a short-term strategy. Why should these other companies promote their products as long as they're getting paid to make them? It's far more profitable to take money from Intel and Microsoft and spend zero money marketing these products because any expense in marketing will reduce their profits. How long can Intel and Microsoft afford to keep paying others to use their products?

What if Intel and Microsoft cut out the middleman and just paid consumers to use their products? This would definitely get their products in the market, but when you have to pay others to use your products, chances are good your products aren't that desirable in the first place.

As soon as Intel and Microsoft stop paying others to use their products, chances are good those other companies will just stop using them. Paying others to use your products is an unsustainable business model.

Both Intel and Microsoft hope that once they get other companies hooked on selling their products and making a profit, they'll continue buying from them. Has this strategy ever worked in the past? If so, how come every company doesn't use this strategy to grab market share?

When you have to resort to paying others to use your products, it's probably better to examine why your products aren't appealing enough to make others want to buy them instead. The money Intel and Microsoft lose paying others to use their products could be better spent developing products that people actually want. At least developing products that people want is a proven, sustainable strategy that businesses have been using successfully for centuries.

*                    *                    *

If other people need to use your Macintosh, you might want to create a guest account, which isolates your private data from other users. Just click the Apple menu and choose System Preferences. When a System Preferences window appears, click the User & Groups icon.

Now you can define a guest user account so others can use your Macintosh, but without access to your data. A guest user account can also be handy for running a stripped down version of OS X. That way if your Macintosh starts acting up, you can log into your guest user account and see if that account runs normally. If so, then you'll know that the problem with your regular account may be a buggy program that's starting up each time you log into your account.

Figure 8. Defining a guest user account in OS X.

In the early days, before Wally became an Internationally renowned comedian, computer book writer, and generally cool guy, Wally Wang used to hang around The Byte Buyer dangling participles with Jack Dunning and go to the gym to pump iron with Dan Gookin.

Wally is responsible for the following books:

Microsoft Office 2013 For Dummies

Beginning Programming for Dummies

Beginning Programming All-in-One Reference for Dummies

Breaking Into Acting for Dummies with Larry Garrison

Strategic Entrepreneurism with Jon and Gerald Fisher

How to Live with a Cat (When You Really Don't Want To)

The Secrets of the Wall Street Stock Traders

Mac Programming For Absolute Beginners

Republican Fairy Tales (Children's Stories the 1% Tell About the Rest of Us)

The Zen of Effortless Selling with Moe Abdou

The 15-Minute Movie Method

Erotophobia (A novel)

Math for the Zombie Apocalypse

In his spare time, Wally likes blogging about movies and writing screenplays at his site "The 15 Minute Movie Method," finding interesting news stories about cats at his site "Cat Daily News," giving advice to authors who want to self-publish e-books at his site "The Electronic Author," and providing the type of advice he wishes someone would have told him when he was much younger at his personal Web site. Wally can be reached at wally@computoredge.com or you can follow him on Twitter @wallacewang_com.

Editor's Letters: Tips and Thoughts from Readers

“Computer and Internet tips, plus comments on the articles and columns.”
by ComputorEdge Staff

"Smartwatches," "Battery Life and Other Real Life Considerations?," "(Not So Very) Smartwatches," "Fedora Install "Preserve" Drive Space"

Smartwatches

[Regarding Jack Dunning's January 10 article, "Wear Your Computer on Your Wrist":]

Omate TrueSmart Smartwatch: Dick Tracy had one 1930 comics.

See link: www.gocomics.com/dicktracy/#.UtAjWbSLD04

-Walter Sweadner, San Diego, CA

Battery Life and Other Real Life Considerations?

I almost purchased one of the color smartwatches before I heard complaints that its battery only lasts a day or so. The Cookoo looks like it might have decent battery life. My Pebble lasts about a week between charges, and that's one of the main reasons I got it. I also like that it uses a regular ol' watch band, something that not all of the other smartwatches do.

I wish you had also pointed out that at least a couple of these watches have had a lot of negative publicity because they don't even work as intended. Perhaps that's why you said you didn't understand why the Pebble is rated so high. It actually works.

-Dave, Granbury, TX (grew up in Escondido)

(Not So Very) Smartwatches

Casio still makes and sells a calculator watch, and I wear one daily!

-Cicero Walker, Colorado Springs, CO

Fedora Install "Preserve" Drive Space

[Regarding the January 10 Digital Dave column:]

From a bit of research, I found this:

www.zealfortechnology.com/2013/01/fedora-18-configure-disk-partitions.html

If I'm reading it right, preserve just means Fedora thinks you want to preserve (not use/format/change) that partition or partitions.

Try selecting the partition you want to use and then click Remove.

Be Sure You Have The Right Drive Unlike Windows, Linux Often Assumes You Know What You're Doing And Will Delete Data Without 14 Different "Are You Sure" Messages!

-Rich Ernst, San Diego, CA

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