Category Archives: Desktop

Windows 10 is Official! How to Get it Right Now

I’m sure you’ve heard the news. Windows 10 is officially here. I’m sure you’ve seen that little Windows logo sitting in your system tray. You might wish it wasn’t there. You might be excited about it. Nevertheless, today is the day.

There have been numerous accounts from Microsoft about how this thing rolls out. They originally said that your computer would start downloading the bits in the weeks prior to July 29. Then, they backtracked a bit and said that PCs would begin downloading the bits on July 29 and we would get Windows 10 over the next couple weeks.

Continue reading Windows 10 is Official! How to Get it Right Now

Microsoft Releases DVD Player App for Windows 10

Hey, remember how Microsoft said that we would need a third party app to play DVDs when Windows 10 first comes out? If you recall, they said that a DVD Player app would be coming later.

As it turns out, they only meant a few hours later. Hopefully, you didn’t have too much trouble installing Windows 10, installing VLC, and then watching your morning movies on optical discs.

You can grab the new DVD Player app through Windows Update. Not watching too many DVDs at 10 AM? Don’t worry, it will install automatically.

Continue reading Microsoft Releases DVD Player App for Windows 10

Microsoft Clarifies Windows 10 Store Search Algorithm

Today, Microsoft posted a blog post stating that Store listings and search algorithms have changed.

There’s a lot of info there. It really looks like they’ve fixed Windows Store search, which is a really good thing, considering how bad it was in Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1.

Store listing and search algorithms

  • Search algorithms optimized for apps, games, movies, and music rather than the general web search used earlier. These algorithms take a more holistic approach when evaluating an app’s relevancy to the search terms, factoring in attributes such as click-through rates in the Store listings, ratings and reviews, keywords, and total downloads.
  • Apps that customers have previously acquired are not currently filtered out of searches or app lists. As a result, customers may see apps they already own in the Store lists and recommendations. We are planning to remove previously-owned apps from the recommendations in a future update.
  • Lists will not include ‘top grossing.’ The lists available today include ‘top free,’ ‘top paid,’ ‘best rated,’ and ‘new and rising.’ The ‘top grossing’ app list, which is currently available in the Store on Windows 8, will be temporarily unavailable, with plans to bring back this capability in a future update.
  • Store lists always show Apps first, then Games, then Music, then Movies. When users search for items, the order of the results might not be the ideal, and that is also a focus area for future improvement.

App listings and web Store

  • Windows Phone screenshot auto-rotation orientation no longer available. Windows Phone Dev Center enabled developers to submit vertical screenshots and Dev Center would rotate them. The new Dev Center does not have this ‘auto rotate’ filter. So you might see some Windows Phone screenshots appear vertical instead of horizontal in the Store. The fix is easy: re-submit the screenshots rotated with any image editor, then upload to Dev Center.

Bernardo4

  •  New web Store and URL redirects: The previous Store URLs windows.microsoft.com and www.windowsphone.com now redirect customers to the new web Store apps.microsoft.com. Existing URLs and links continue to work and automatically redirect customers to the new Store.
  • Installing apps from web Store not available. Installing apps to a Windows Phone when using the Store in a PC browser is not supported. Apps must be installed from the device itself.
  •  Logged out customers may see both Windows and Windows Phone apps. If a customer is not logged in to their Microsoft account on Windows 8.x or Windows 7, the web Store will show both the Windows and Windows Phone apps. This means the customer may see duplicate apps (for non-linked apps).
  • URL to show all apps from one publisher no longer available. The URLs that pointed to all apps from a single publisher in Windows Phone (e.g. https://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/store/publishers?publisherId=xxx) are no longer supported. Customers can select a publisher’s name in an app’s product description page to view a list of the publisher’s apps.

Bernardo2

  • You might need to adjust your app description. Existing Windows 8.x apps will also be available to all Windows 10 users, so make sure the description does not indicate that the app only ‘runs on Windows 8.x’ or similar description. The Store will try to detect the OS of a user, and will adjust which apps to show or indicate if an app is not compatible with a user’s device.
  • App version, last update date, and device compatibility not visible in the app page. The app description pages do not include which devices the app works on, nor does it show the app version and last update date. We are working to bring these popular features back in a future update. One recommendation is to add the app version in the app description when you update your apps.

Ratings and Reviews

  • Migration of all the Ratings and Reviews. Ratings and reviews in the Windows 8 and Windows Phone Stores were migrated and will be visible to Windows 10. Ratings and reviews provided by customers using Windows 10 will not appear to customers using a previous OS.
  • New Ratings and Reviews Algorithm. The Windows 10 Store uses new review sorting logic to improve the customer experience in a variety of ways:
    • The most recent reviews with most ‘helpful’ votes are bubbled to the top of the list, ensuring comments on are relevant and useful for customers looking at your app.
    • The profanity detection algorithm has been updated and improved. As customers change the way they use profanity in reviews, the algorithm will adapt and further refine the way it detects inappropriate language.
    • New spam detection will detect and remove more spam before customers see it.
  • Review filter: Customers will be able to search reviews in both the Store app and the web Store. Filters can be set for star ratings, most helpful, newest, highest-rated, and lowest-rated.

Bernardo3

  • Unified Ratings and Reviews for Linked Apps. The unified Dev Center dashboard treats linked Windows and Windows Phone apps as a single app with multiple packages. Ratings and reviews for any package in the linked app are applied to the app, regardless of whether the rating was provided on a Windows Phone app or a Windows 8.x app. In Windows 10, customers will see combined reviews and ratings for both apps in the new Store as well a unified star rating.  Customers accessing the Store on earlier OS versions (e.g., Windows Phone 8.1) will not see the new combined rating.  A device-specific filter is planned for a future update, enabling customers to see just reviews for their device type.
  • Ratings and reviews submitted in Windows 10 previous to July 15 were deleted. Ratings and reviews submitted by customers using the preview versions of Windows 10 were removed from the Store on July 15, 2015.  This action was taken to ensure an app’s rating and reviews are not based on customer experiences with preview versions of Windows 10.  Instead, apps will only show Windows 10 ratings and reviews generated after July 15. Depending on the ratings your app received in the Store preview, you may see your average star rating change.

One of the things that are bothersome is that users can no longer download apps from the web Store. Previously, with Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1, there was an install option which never worked. It would send an email to the user with instructions to download the app.

It’s disturbing because many users are stating that they can’t download MixRadio on Windows 10 Mobile. It’s not in the Store and they can’t download it from the web Store.

wp_ss_20150724_0001Personally, I think the new Store looks fantastic. I can find my app, which is all I ask for. It’s also a massive improvement from the Windows 8.1 Store.

Source: Windows Blog

Windows 10 Universal Apps can be Submitted on July 29

I had a feeling this was the case. In fact, had I known it would be a story, I would have published this a few days ago. Microsoft will begin allowing developers to submit universal apps to the Windows 10 Store on July 29. I suppose it’s because they want to make sure there are absolutely no universal apps when Windows 10 launches.

It seemed obvious because when Microsoft released Visual Studio 2015 on Monday, they stated that developers wouldn’t even be able to work on universal apps until July 29, oddly enough, although the release candidates had and still have the capability to develop universal apps.

Continue reading Windows 10 Universal Apps can be Submitted on July 29

Start Screen Sync will be Discontinued in Windows 10

Just in case Windows 10 wasn’t bad enough for you, it’s about to get worse. Well, worse if you’re coming from Windows 8.1. If you’re coming from Windows 7, there’s a ton of great new features in there for you.

If you’re coming from Windows 8.1, there are a few features stripped out that you may have gotten used to. OneDrive placeholders is the obvious one, as well as the most damaging.

Continue reading Start Screen Sync will be Discontinued in Windows 10

Should You Upgrade to Windows 10? Here’s a Guide

It’s been a long and winding road to Windows 10. It started on September 30 and Windows 10 finally gets here on July 29.

You might have noticed the Windows logo sitting in your system tray. You might have even reserved your copy of Windows 10. Even if you did, you should still read on.

Get Windows 10 is the app that allows you to reserve your copy of Windows 10. There is no option to opt out of Windows 10 and they use the word “reservation” as if there’s a chance that they might be sold out when the time comes.

While there’s no option to say “No thanks. I don’t want this”, you can cancel a Windows 10 reservation if you made one. You might want to do that. You might not. Here’s a quick guide.

Continue reading Should You Upgrade to Windows 10? Here’s a Guide

Next Windows 10 Insider Preview will Not Add New Features

Hey, remember how I’ve been complaining about the OneDrive functionality that Microsoft stripped out of Windows 10? They promised an alternative by the end of the year, but I had three fears. 1) The alternative would not fit the same needs as OneDrive in Windows 8.1 did, 2) That alternative would not come within the first year, or 3) Microsoft might just completely forget about it.

Well, 2 and 3 are looking closer to a reality. The first major update to Windows 10 is going to be called Threshold wave 2, which is going to be focusing mostly on stability improvements. This is a good thing since Windows 10 out of the gate isn’t the most stable thing.

We all knew that the Insider program would continue well after the release of Windows 10, so now we know a little bit of what to expect from the next Windows Insider build. Just don’t expect it to have new features.

Continue reading Next Windows 10 Insider Preview will Not Add New Features

Microsoft Releases their First Windows 10 Ad

Yesterday, Microsoft released their first official ad for Windows 10. This comes a day after they released their “10 Reasons to Upgrade” video.

There has been some tension around the way that Microsoft has been promoting Windows 10, through a logo on your screen that allows you to reserve your copy of Windows 10 but doesn’t give the option to opt out.

Many people are excited about Windows 10. For a handy guide on whether or not you should upgrade, check this out. Windows 10 will be released on July 29; however, the upgrade is free for the first year, so there’s no reason to upgrade right now. As we’ve seen from the Insider Preview, even the RTM build isn’t perfect. Personally, I’m going to wait until later in the year.

In the meantime, check out the first Windows 10 ad.

Continue reading Microsoft Releases their First Windows 10 Ad