Michael Linenberger's Blog

Sept 9, 2013

The next thing for Windows productivity tablets will be Bay Trail Atom based tablets that will have the lightness/size of an iPad, but all the power of a laptop. That will redefine productivity tablets, in my opinion. The first of these has finally been announced, an 8-inch Windows 8.1 tablet by Toshiba called the Encore, due out in November. I’m not that excited about this particular model because it looks thick and heavy, but it’s good to see Bay Trail tablets are arriving this year.

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-35205_7-57601405-10391741/$329-encore-8-inch-tablet-headlines-trio-of-new-affordable-windows-8.1-toshiba-portables/

I talked about Bay Trail at the bottom of this article. Bay Trail processors are reportedly 3X faster than the current Atom processors. I am eager to see what Lenovo does with Bay Trail. Nothing announced by them yet though.

Michael Linenberger

September 8, 2013

The One Minute To-Do List (1MTD) is very simple. If you are not using it, here’s a quick review of how to create a to-do list using 1MTD principles. It will take you about 60 seconds to do this.

First, choose your tools. You can use any tool that can show three priority groups; use paper, Outlook, Toodledo—any tool will do. Outlook or Toodledo are what I recommend because they can advance easily to MYN use later. Below, I show Windows Outlook’s To-Do Bar task list arranged by Importance, which is an easy way to go (just click on the Arrange By label at its top and choose Importance). In Toodledo, just click on the Priority column label to group by priority.

Next, success with 1MTD is based on segmenting all your tasks into three main “Urgency Zones”: Critical Now, Opportunity Now, and Over-the-Horizon, all shown above. The way you define them is as follows:

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Aug 30, 2013

After a hard push to finalize the editing, we just sent Edition 4 of my Outlook book (Total Workday Control Using Microsoft Outlook) off to the printers. It will arrive in bookstores in early October. We hope to have a Kindle/Nook/epub version out about the same time (early October). This book continues to be the number 1 bestselling Outlook book, and I am confident this update will continue that trend.

Lots of New Stuff

What’s new? A lot! Nearly 30% of it is new material, and every page has been improved. Here’s a short list:

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Aug 29, 2013

If you’ve been following my blogs you know I am a big fan of the Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 2. No, I am not a paid shill for them and I don’t own their stock. I just really like this iPad-sized Windows 8 Pro tablet. Well, I just noticed on Lenovo’s website that the prices are way down on these things right now. For example, one with a cellular card is as low as $599—six months ago that cost over $900. Here is the current Lenovo website price list:

Just a few weeks ago I was touting the price a newer Lenovo tablet (with no pen and fewer features, but I just liked its low price), but these prices are now comparable.

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August 24, 2013

This article is for advanced MYN Outlook system users (using Windows Outlook 2007 or later).

When teaching the MYN Outlook system to new students, I generally avoid using Outlook Categories on tasks (I teach using categories with e-mail, just not tasks). In my advanced teaching I do introduce using categories on tasks (for example, see Lesson 12 in my book Total Workday Control Using Microsoft Outlook). But it can cause problems because if you add the Categories column to the MYN task list in the Windows Outlook To-Do Bar, it makes that view unstable. How? You can easily lose your MYN settings if you click on the top of that Categories column and sort by it.

Well, I now have a fix for that instability, which advanced users might want to try. It’s to add a formula column I call Cat. Once in place, it displays the task category information and is not sortable. Instability fixed! I show you how to add that column in this article.

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August 20, 2013

I know that’s quite a title! But let me explain.

Windows 8 has a number of detractors, mostly from folks who use it on a desktop computer. In a mouse driven rig, the missing Start menu, the dual control panels, and so on can be frustrating. I have gotten used to most of those—I even like the Start screen now. And the upcoming Windows 8.1 makes it even better.

Exploding Apps

But one big irritation I still have with Windows 8 on an office computer remains: being forced into full-screen mode just to view an attachment or to check the weather using a Windows Store app. I have a 24-inch monitor, and it seems to explode when I launch one of those. I don’t need 24 inches of huge fonts and massive graphics just to see a stock quote! And I don’t want to lose sight of all my other work when I check the weather or view an attachment.

ModernMix to the Rescue

Well, there’s a solution, and it’s a third-party application called ModernMix. Once installed, it forces Windows Store apps to launch into a reasonably-sized and normal computer window on my Windows 8 desktop. Windows 8 no longer explodes! And I can still see my other work. I can  resize the window, move it to the side, minimize it, and so on. I have been using ModernMix for a few days now on my office computer, and I feel like using Windows 8 Store apps on a desktop computer finally makes sense!

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August 19, 2013

This news came out in May, and I am just catching up on it. Sameer Singh predicts that new tablet shipments will exceed new PC shipments by end of 2013.

This helps explain why Microsoft has put so much emphasis on tablet features in Windows 8. Microsoft needs to stay ahead of this trend and try to convince buyers to reach for a PC tablet when they decide to buy a tablet.

It also explains why it sometimes appears that Microsoft has thrown it’s desktop users under a bus by often forcing tablet features to the forefront in Windows 8 (dropping the Start menu for example). More on that in future posts.

So, how many of you might get a PC tablet instead of an iPad or Android tablet?

Michael Linenberger

Aug 9, 2013

This article was extracted from my Outlook book Total Workday Control Using Microsoft Outlook (3rd Edition). I am placing it here because we are editing down the size of that book as we create its fourth edition and so are removing it in that new edition. Since this material is still useful, we wanted to make it available online.

Are Hierarchies of Goals and Tasks Useful?

When you start planning your goals, projects, and tasks, it won’t take you long to realize that there is a natural hierarchy that goes something like this: From our goals we create projects and from our projects we create tasks. So we should be able to trace many tasks back to a project and then to a goal. In fact, some people say that every task we list we should be able to trace back to a goal, and tasks that are not related to our goals should not even be in our task list.

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Aug 9, 2013

Lenovo just announced a new true tablet (iPad -sized) that looks like it has a good price point: it’s currently selling for $479 on their website. So for about $100 more than a Surface RT, you can get a complete Windows 8 tablet (it can run Outlook and all other PC software), which is very light weight (1.3 lbs) and very thin (0.39 inches)–similar to the Lenovo Tablet PC 2 form factor that I like so much, and using the same processor, but much less expensive.

It doesn’t have a pen, and of course you’ll have to add Office separately (so the comparison to the RT price is really not quite fair), but otherwise it looks good. Again, it’s a lot cheaper than the similar Lenovo Tablet PC 2, which will easily cost you $700-900 by the time you spec it out. They also announced a “quick flip” keyboard/cover to go with it. No reviews on this yet, it’s too new for that.

Here’s the link:

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/tablets/ideatab/miix-series/miix10?cid=EDM_20130809_NA_US_CON_IP_Miix10Tablet_0-6_MC&RRID=200098115&esrc=JIGSAW

This is of course not using the new, very fast, Atom Bay Trail processor that I talked about at the bottom of my recent post here. Instead it’s using the current Clover Trail line that’s been out for a while. That new Bay Trail line is not due out for about 6 months or so.

Michael Linenberger

July 30, 2013

You may be seeing the commercials on TV that show a Windows Surface Tablet compared to an iPad. These are newer than the one I covered in my last newsletter, and better I think. They show how a Windows Surface RT tablet gives you a lot more for less money (the RT is now $350 ). Here’s a link in case you have not seen that commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE7AQY5Xk9w

So, with the new price, should you consider buying a Windows Surface RT tablet? Well, it depends. If all you need is access to media and must have the widest range of apps possible, you’d probably be happier with the (more expensive) iPad. Or a good Android tablet. However there are good reasons to get the RT.

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