Michael Linenberger's Blog

Oct 17, 2013

Quick note. I just upgraded my old Surface RT to Windows 8.1, and, as promised, it automatically installed a complete working desktop version of Outlook 2013.

If you earlier installed a beta of 8.1, you got that before, but it’s good to see all came as expected with the final shipping copy of 8.1.

The low-end Surface is now a much more usable PC, that, with Outlook, can be fully configured for MYN!

For instructions on how to upgrade, see this post from Paul Thurrott.

Michael Linenberger

October 17, 2013

At the end of Lesson 9 of the brand new edition of my new MYN-Outlook book, I now include a set of flow charts that summarize the entire MYN-Outlook workflow. If you are learning MYN, this is a great way to summarize its main parts. And if you don’t like workflows, no problem, using this is completely optional.

The chart that follows—the overall workflow—looks complicated. But don’t worry, it’s simple to understand.

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October 16, 2013

It surprises me the number of people I encounter who don’t realize there is a difference between the pens used on higher-end Windows and Android tablets and those used on, say, the older iPads. The key is having an active digitizer built into the screen of the device.

The Surface Pro has an active digitizer, as does the Samsung Note. The older iPads and most other tablets have only a capacitive touch screen—built mainly for touch use with your finger (or a stub-nosed pen).

[2017 Update: The newer iPad Pro line also has an active digitizer when combined with the Apple Pencil.]

Advantages of an Active Digitizer

The advantages of an active digitizer are many:

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October 16, 2013

In my August post, I recommended you wait till “Fall” on a laptop purchase. It’s now looking like very late Fall (November, December) is the magic time to wait for. At least that’s what Intel chief executive Brian Krzanich says. He expects laptop and tablet manufacturers to push prices down over the coming weeks, and that this will result in $99 tablets, $299 Haswell laptops, and $349 hybrid tablets and notebooks in time for this year’s holiday PC line up.

That’s good news for you as a consumer. And it does give me pause before recommending any specific laptop or tablet model right now. There have already been a ton of new Haswell laptops and Bay Trail tablet product announcements in the last weeks, so many I’ve given up on reporting them here on my blog (unless something really catches my eye!).

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October 12, 2013

Starting at about the same price as the upcoming (Oct 22) new Surface 2 (which cannot run all Windows desktop software), is the new Dell Venue 11 (which CAN run all Windows desktop software). This Bay Trail Atom model starts at about $500.

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October 7, 2013

The print version of the new 4th edition of the Outlook book is now shipping. For example Amazon has plenty in stock.

But the e-book version is delayed for perhaps 3 to 4 weeks. Reason: we are using a more complicated approach for converting text to e-books (which, among other things, provides page links in the index—a priority for us). But it has set us back.

We’ll announce release here on the blog.

Michael Linenberger

Sept 17,2013

Continuing in my series of posts about Haswell-based Windows laptops, Dell recently announced a few Windows 8 laptops in it’s Inspiron line that run Haswell. These are regular laptops, not tablet hybrids. Recall that Haswell in theory provides much longer battery life, and these new laptops don’t disappoint: Dell says the 14-inch Core i5 Inspiron 7000 can run up to nearly 9 hours.

Here is some more information about the new high-end Inspirons ($800+) that are now thinner and aluminum based:

http://www.cnet.com/laptops/dell-inspiron-7000-17/4505-3121_7-35827730.html

And one a bit small (11inches) and a lot cheaper ($349 start):

http://www.cnet.com/laptops/dell-inspiron-11-intel/4505-3121_7-35827688.html

Michael Linenberger

Sept 13, 2013

Last month I said you should wait until fall to buy a Windows 8 laptop because that’s when the Haswell processor laptops will be released, with up to 50% better battery life. Well, a few companies have recently announced a number of such laptops, most of them due out in October or November. Following is a list of recent announcements with reviews from CNET.com.

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Sept 12, 2013

I’ve talked here and elsewhere about the potential importance of the upcoming new Atom Bay Trail processor tablets, reportedly offering laptop speeds on iPad-sized Windows 8 tablets, with all-day battery life.

Well, Paul Thurrott has a good list of Atom Bay Trail Tablets he says are coming in time for Christmas buying season. Three in that list look like a fantastic balance of power, tablet format, and price: the ASUS Transformer Book Trio T100TA, the Dell “Midland,” and perhaps the Lenovo Miix 8 (an 8 inch tablet). These are Windows Pro tablets, so at these low prices I think the next Surface RT (updated model coming soon called Surface 2) needs a price well south of $300 to stay competitive. Anyway, good to see these tablets are coming!

Michael Linenberger

September 12, 2013

Many of my newsletter readers have not yet started using the MYN system. Here are three steps to get going with this very powerful to-do list and e-mail management system:

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