Windows 8.1 Update 1: I couldn't wait for an automatic update

Announced but missing...

This latest Update 1 was released to the public yesterday, April 8, and we users were advised that it would be installed automatically with the other regular Windows updates. However, I couldn't wait and jumped directly to the Microsoft page labeled Install the latestWindows 8.1 Update, related to the Microsoft Knowledge Base article KB2919355 that describes the Windows RT 8.1, Windows 8.1, and Windows Server 2012 R2 update. I installed the update manually and I like the new enhancements. However, for the strangest of reasons, I missed this time the Star Menu (!). Yes, I always said that this menu is no more that a bunch of shortcuts, that mostly people with little knowledge of the Windows UI and zero knowledge of the keyboard shortcuts (since Windows 95!) love to use. Like many users I was fooled by the preview screenshots that included a brought-back-to-life Start Menu, however one of the TechNet blogs, with excellent information about the whole update, explains: "It does NOT include the Start menu that you may have seen/heard about at the recent Build conference. That is some exciting near-future stuff, which demonstrates our on-going commitment to deliver on customer feedback (such as your comments on this very blog)."

Delta Airlines chose Microsoft Surface tablets over iPads

It is a known fact that tablets in cockpits, mostly iPads, have been around in recent years, however Delta airlines this time bet on Microsoft Surface 2 tablets, 11,000 of them, to be rolled out on all flights by May 2014. In addition, Delta bought 19,000 Nokia Lumia phones outfitted with credit card readers to be used by fly attendants. The whole purpose is to operate paperless flights. How about getting rid of those bulky operation manuals, charts, maps and reportedly saving on fuel costs? It's 2014, after all. Little by little Microsoft tablets are getting all the credit they deserve. One of my favorite sources of business and tech news has the story.

Windows 8 myths — 3. There's a lack of applications

Compared to iPad (the tablet) and the different Android tablets there is no doubt a bigger number of apps available than in the Windows app store. However, we should make the distinction that even if you are running a Windows tablet like the beautiful and extremely functional Surface, in addition to the "metro" apps (the ones running in "tile mode") you can still run millions and millions of the traditional Windows software applications that run in Windows 7 and even in the venerable Windows XP. In sum, you have a number of choices when it comes to Windows 8 apps: desktop apps, like Microsoft Office, new apps for the new Windows 8.x, custom merchandizing apps, and all the Windows store apps.

Windows 8 myths — 2. Computers sales are down because people didn't like Windows 8. Really?!

Computers sales are down for the last couple of years, most notably in 2013, simply because most people (consumers) can do without a PC or any type of computer by just using smartphones or tablets. They have e-mail, text messaging, video, Internet browsing, games (lots of them!) and on top of that the ability to make phone calls, so who needs a laptop computer and much less a desktop computer to do those things? In addition, for a vast number of people around the world a smartphone it is most likely their first experience with a computer and that's all they know and all they need. Computers sales for corporations and businesses will fare slightly better in 2014. Post-PC era? Desktop PCs and laptop computers will continue to be in business for years to come. They're already a commodity.

Windows 8 myths — 1. It's confusing and it has a learning curve

This myth is easily debunked by evidence based on usage. You just have to use it to understand it, and getting the knack of it will take only a few minutes. Remember to also use the Windows key (the one to the left of the ALT key, to the left of the Space key). There is nothing confusing about it unless you cannot wrap your head around the fact that the tiles ("The Star Menu") are simply an extra layer of what otherwise is simply Windows 7. You have the traditional desktop on the one hand and you have the tiles on the other hand, and you can even start Windows directly in "desktop mode" if so you wish. Other than that, whatever you can run in Windows 7 will run in Windows 8.x.  Other visible difference is that Windows 8.x does not include the fancy transparent borders of Windows 7 (or Vista) called "aero effect." Are you missing the traditional "Start Menu"? If you are very fond of it it's probably because you never learned to use shortcuts on the desktop or the convenience of adding shortcuts right onto the Taskbar. Do you still miss it? Try some Windows Start Menu alternatives (I'm not endorsing any of them, though). In addition, whenever you are in the Tiles mode, simply start typing whatever you are looking for and the search box will pop up instantly for you. Please, stop complaining and just type... You can also try these very useful educational videos to get started.

Re/Code, a newer tech news "non-religious", "non-fanboy" site

So it seems. My previous post lamented the blatant proliferation of "dude tech journalism" in which enthusiasts of faddish products and brands openly despise Microsoft products and technologies without even actually trying them on a daily basis. I am, on the other hand, pleased to know that a newer tech news website called <re/code>, founded by former editors of the Wall Street Journal's tech section All Things D(igital) Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg, is the new kid on the block, since January 2, 2014, in what seems like a fresh influx of content and presentation. They and their journalists team continue to include, next to the byline, an ethics statement that starts with exactly the same wording as before: "Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out." However, I believe they should also reveal what type of tech tools they use on a daily basis. I have my doubts that, to make an analogy, a regular driver of a German a car like a BMW, could be a good, and fair(!), reviewer of Japanese cars, no matter how good the latter might be compared to the former. Granted, you may like one product over another, but for fairness sake, let people know upfront what your preferences, and 'loyalty', are when you write about "the competition." Among other good things of <re/code> is its policy for a "higher standards for comments", to counter the all so common "trolls", childish comments, unsupported claims, etc. (case in point, the readers of ZdNet, to name a popular tech site). I enjoyed the clever sort of op-ed article by Walt Mossberg about "the Church of Apple" and similar "cults" in which he admonished, not without a good dose of humor, "Attention fanboys and fangirls: Your favorite tech hardware, software and services are not religious objects." On other subjects, I notice that this site is powered by the ubiquitous blog and content management system WordPress. Granted it is a great tool, but was that the right tool for such a content-intensive website? Time will tell.

This is what is wrong with some "tech journalists": they are sold onto a brand or a platform

I call this "Dude Tech journalism" (watch the guy holding the phone)

Only one week to go before we can say goodbye to 2013, a year that continued to see bias after bias against Microsoft products in the media. Not from actual users of Windows, Surface tablets, Windows Phones, etc. but apparently from Apple (and Android) users. Nobody is saying, at least not me, that their products are not good, in fact I found iPhones and Samsung Galaxy smartphones, for instance, worth considering. In sum, nice hardware, nice software. What I find problematic and frankly annoying is that these Windows product "reviewers" are for the most part declared Apple (and/or Android, and Linux) followers and you can tell they don't actually use the Windows products, they merely ogle them, even disdainfully. It's not only the blunt and exaggerated headlines like "Apple, Google topped news coverage in 2013, leaving Microsoft in the dust" and hundreds of similar click-baiting headlines that I don't care to talk about. I'm going to give you just one example here of what I believe is wrong with some "tech journalists" in this video (and article) from TechCrunch. Here, they're criticizing the wonderful Nokia Lumia 1520 with sarcasm and cynicism. The bias is pretty obvious to the point of being laughable. Would they have the same attitude with the Samsung Galaxy Note 3? Envy? most likely so.