Recent Updates Page 2 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • JimUBC 7:18 pm on September 1, 2015 Permalink | Reply  

    Surface 3: Why? 

    Surface | Windows Touch & Tablet

    Surface 3

    I’m probably not the target audience for a Surface 3.  I’ve had the other Surface devices, my daily driver is a Surface Pro 3, and I’m probably going to get a Surface Book. As it turns out, I really like this tiny marvel.

    I’ve always bought top end Surface devices opting for the fastest processors, highest memory and storage capacity. Each decision taken in isolation was on the assumption that the machine I was getting would be my primary and possibly my only device. I didn’t really expect the Surface 3 to compare well with my previous Surface devices.

    I got the Surface 3 with 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage, the Surface 3 keyboard and pen.

    Here’s what I got.  The friendliest and most likeable Surface so far. For an everyday user, I’d be quick to recommend this. Friendly means that it’s quick, light, has decent battery life, it’s tiny  it’s silent and it stays cool.

    It’s light, quick enough for most things, and it gets great battery life. I haven’t done a formal battery run-down test, but I’ve as yet to have it run out before I was done with it in a day.

    I say that it’s friendly because it’s small. It’s easy to toss it into my backpack with little concern for its weight or size.  Instead of taking the power supply I can use an external battery pack for extended work.  Being able to charge it through the micro-USB port makes this possible. Even a cell-phone charger can extend the battery life in a pinch. I do that in the car with power accessories that  I already owned for my phones.

    Silence is golden, and the Surface 3 is silent. When I’m using my Surface 3 for music related applications it’s an easy choice.

    With Office 365, Windows 10 Pro (and option for business users), keyboard and pen this makes for a great, general purpose business machine.  I would take it on a business trip without hesitation. To my surprise I find that I’m more likely to take it out than my Surface Pro 3, simply because it has great battery life, and it’s smaller and lighter.  When I’m meeting with others I am not likely to need all the processing power that comes with the Surface Pro 3.

    image

    And let’s not forget the pen. The pen is fully functional on the Surface 3 and in that, it compares with Surface Pro 3 working just fine with all my drawing applications. I also use the pen a lot with OneNote.

    In short, this is a very productive machine. I’m using much more than I expected, and I’m enjoying it.  Highly recommended.

     

  • JimUBC 6:42 pm on September 1, 2015 Permalink | Reply  

    Surface 3 Why? 

    Surface | Windows Touch & Tablet

    Surface 3

    I’m probably not the target audience for a Surface 3.  I’ve had the other Surface devices, my daily driver is a Surface Pro 3, and I’m probably going to get a Surface Book. As it turns out, I really like this tiny marvel.

    I’ve always bought top end Surface devices opting for the fastest processors, highest memory and storage capacity. Each decision taken in isolation was on the assumption that the machine I was getting would be my primary and possibly my only device. I didn’t really expect the Surface 3 to compare well with my previous Surface devices.

    I got the Surface 3 with 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage, the Surface 3 keyboard and pen.

    Here’s what I got.  The friendliest and most likeable Surface so far. For an everyday user, I’d be quick to recommend this. Friendly means that it’s quick, light, has decent battery life, it’s tiny  it’s silent and it stays cool.

    It’s light, quick enough for most things, and it gets great battery life. I haven’t done a formal battery run-down test, but I’ve as yet to have it run out before I was done with it in a day.

    I say that it’s friendly because it’s small. It’s easy to toss it into my backpack with little concern for its weight or size.  Instead of taking the power supply I can use an external battery pack for extended work.  Being able to charge it through the micro-USB port makes this possible. Even a cell-phone charger can extend the battery life in a pinch. I do that in the car with power accessories that  I already owned for my phones.

    Silence is golden, and the Surface 3 is silent. When I’m using my Surface 3 for music related applications it’s an easy choice.

    With Office 365, Windows 10 Pro (and option for business users), keyboard and pen this makes for a great, general purpose business machine.  I would take it on a business trip without hesitation. To my surprise I find that I’m more likely to take it out than my Surface Pro 3, simply because it has great battery life, and it’s smaller and lighter.  When I’m meeting with others I am not likely to need all the processing power that comes with the Surface Pro 3.

    image

    And let’s not forget the pen. The pen is fully functional on the Surface 3 and in that, it compares with Surface Pro 3 working just fine with all my drawing applications. I also use the pen a lot with OneNote.

    In short, this is a very productive machine. I’m using much more than I expected, and I’m enjoying it.  Highly recommended.

     

  • JimUBC 7:12 pm on August 1, 2015 Permalink | Reply  

    Autodesk Sketchbook Pro 7 Windows 10 Fix for Surface 

    I use Sketchbook Pro 7 on all my Surface Pro devices, and now too, the Surface 3.  Under Windows 10 I found that the pen tracked fine for all the user interface points (radial menu and Windows controls) but was offset in the drawing area.

    Solution: Use the Windows Compatibility Tool.

    Locate the program file. On my machine it was
    C:\Program Files\Autodesk\SketchBook Pro 7
    image

    Right Click – click Troubleshoot Compatibility

    image

    Troubleshoot Program

    image

    The program opens but doesn’t display correctly

    image

    Test the program. You have to do this before you click Next.

    image

    Save the settings for this program

    image

    Finished

    image

     

  • JimUBC 7:08 pm on June 14, 2015 Permalink | Reply  

    Surface: Doing Presentations with Ink 

    Do you need to do presentations,  live demos or teach with  your Surface then you probably need ZoomIt. Written by Mark Russinovich, here is how he introduces it.

    ZoomIt is a screen zoom and annotation tool for technical presentations that include application demonstrations. ZoomIt runs unobtrusively in the tray and activates with customizable hotkeys to zoom in on an area of the screen, move around while zoomed, and draw on the zoomed image. I wrote ZoomIt to fit my specific needs and use it in all my presentations.

    ZoomIt works on all versions of Windows and you can use pen input for ZoomIt drawing on tablet PCs.

    It’s a great tool and you can use your Surface Pen to add ink over your live screen shots. Oh – and it’s free.

    ZoomIt

    If you just need to magnify portions of the screen you can use the  built-in Windows Screen Magnifier, but being able to ink on the screen makes it well worth the tiny download.

     

  • JimUBC 7:05 pm on June 13, 2015 Permalink | Reply  

    Surface: Podcast SurfaceSmiths 

    Colin Smith (Microsoft MVP) and David Smith (Microsoft Insider) have just started a new Podcast.

    image

    In their own words, “A Podcast about the Microsoft Surface an how you couldn’t imagine a life before such a device”.

    I’ve listened to the first couple of episodes and picked up some interesting insights.  Check them out at http://surfacesmiths.com

     

  • JimUBC 7:04 pm on June 10, 2015 Permalink | Reply  

    Microsoft Surface Hub to Pair Natively with Crestron Enterprise Solutions 

    From: AV Network

    Two powerhouses have joined forces: Microsoft’s highly anticipated Surface Hub will be controlled natively by Crestron.

    The large format Windows touch display will be paired with Crestron’s DigitalMedia Presentation System (DMPS), TSW touchscreens, TSS scheduling panels, and a set of USB extenders, enabling display on the Surface Hub from any device in the room or enterprise. Touch functionality will pass seamlessly from the Surface Hub to any of the connected devices, and Windows 10 apps—such as Skype for business—can launch on any of the devices, up at the display or at the table. Environmental settings can be adjusted directly on the Surface Hub using Crestron’s App, including shades, lights, and temperature.

    Read more…

     

  • JimUBC 6:59 pm on May 29, 2015 Permalink | Reply  

    Surface: Picture Passwords 

    Are you using a Picture Password with your Surface?

    I’ve been using the Windows Picture Password since I got my first Surface and since then on all my other touch screen enabled computers.  Intuitively I trusted the Picture Passwords right from the start and I just found a great article about the art, science and security thinking behind it.  I’m feeling even more secure after reading the article.

    The experience of signing in to your PC with touch has traditionally been a cumbersome one. In a world with increasingly strict password requirements—with numbers, symbols, and capitalization—it can take upwards of 30 seconds to enter a long, complex password on a touch keyboard. We have a strong belief that your experience with Windows 8 should be both fast and fluid, and that starts when you sign in.

    continue reading

    Enjoy this.

    If you want to skip straight to a tutorial see Signing in with a picture password.

    Signing in with a picture password

    With a picture password, you can sign in to your PC with your favourite photo instead of a hard-to-remember password. You choose the picture, which gestures—circles, straight lines, or taps—you use, and where on the picture you trace them. You can draw a picture password directly on a touchscreen with your finger, or you can use a mouse to draw your shapes. Everyone who has a Microsoft account on your PC can set up their own picture password.

    To set up a picture password

    1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, and then tap Change PC settings.
      (If you’re using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, click Settings, and then click Change PC settings.)
    2. Tap or click Accounts, and tap or click Sign-in options.
    3. Under Picture password, tap or click Add.
    4. Sign in with your Microsoft account info, then follow the steps on the screen to choose a picture and pick your gestures.
     

  • JimUBC 6:56 pm on May 28, 2015 Permalink | Reply  

    Surface: Restore, Refresh, Reset 

    Every now and then I come across an article and I just know that I’ll need it someday. Here is one of those. Quoting verbatim from the Microsoft Support site

    If you’re having a problem with your Surface Pro, Surface Pro 2, Surface Pro 3, or Surface 3, you may be able to restore, refresh, or reset it and solve the problem.

    Before you begin

    To perform a restore, refresh, or reset, you’ll need to check a few things first.

    Is your Surface touchscreen working?

    If you’re having problems with your Surface touchscreen, connect a keyboard, such as a Surface Cover or USB keyboard, before trying these solutions.

    Is Windows loading?

    If you’re having trouble getting Windows to start on your Surface, you may not be able to perform the steps to restore, refresh, or reset. See Surface won’t turn on, Windows won’t start, or the battery won’t charge for help with Windows startup issues first.

    Did you update Surface Pro to Windows 8.1 from Windows 8?

    If your Surface Pro came with Windows 8 installed and you updated to Windows 8.1, you’ll need to reinstall the update to Windows 8.1 after a reset or refresh.

    Solution 1: Restore your Surface to an earlier point in time

    If you think an app or driver that you recently installed caused problems with your Surface Pro or Surface 3, you can restore it back to an earlier point in time, called a restore point. Restoring Surface doesn’t change your personal files, but it might remove recently installed apps and drivers.

    Important

    Make sure you have access to product keys and installation files for all desktop apps (for example, Microsoft Office) that may have been installed after the point in time you’re restoring to.

    Step 1:
    Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and tap Search.
    (If you’re using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and click Search.)

    Step 2:
    In the search box, enter control panel, and in the search results, tap or click Control Panel.

    Step 3:
    Enter Recovery in the Control Panel search box, and tap or click Recovery.

    Step 4:
    Tap or click Open System Restore, and follow the instructions.

    Solution 2: Refresh your Surface

    Refreshing Surface Pro or Surface 3 reinstalls Windows and keeps your personal files, settings, apps that came installed on your Surface and those that you’ve installed from the Windows Store.

    You’ll need to reinstall desktop apps from the websites or from the discs that you used to install those apps. Before you refresh Surface, make sure you have access to product keys and installation files for desktop apps that you want to reinstall (for example, Microsoft Office).

    Note

    If you updated Surface Pro from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1, a refresh reinstalls Windows 8 (not Windows 8.1) and you’ll need to re-install the latest updates. For more info, see Install Surface and Windows updates.

    To refresh Surface

    There are two ways to refresh your Surface:

    • Refresh from within Windows: If Windows loads and you can sign in, you can perform the refresh from within Windows.
    • Refresh from USB recovery media: If Windows fails to start and you have USB recovery media available, you can perform the refresh by using your USB.

    Refresh from within Windows

    Step 1:
    Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and tap Settings.
    (If you’re using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and click Settings.)

    Step 2:
    Tap or click Change PC settings.

    Step 3:
    Tap or click Update and recovery, and tap or click Recovery.

    Step 4:
    Under Refresh your PC without affecting your files, tap or click Get started.

    Step 5:
    Tap or click Next, ensure that your Surface is plugged in, and tap or click Refresh.
    Surface restarts and the Surface logo displays while the refresh process completes (this can take several minutes).

    Refresh from USB recovery media

    Note

    To learn how to create a USB recovery drive, see Create a USB recovery drive or Download a recovery image for your Surface.

    Refresh your Surface from a USB recovery drive by following these steps:

    Step 1:
    Make sure Surface is shut down and plugged in.

    Step 2:
    Insert the USB recovery drive into the USB port on Surface.

    Step 3:
    Press and hold the volume-down button while you press and release the power button.

    Step 4:
    When the Surface logo appears, release the volume-down button.

    Step 5:
    When prompted, select the language and keyboard layout you want.

    Step 6:
    Tap or click Troubleshoot, tap or click Refresh your PC, and then tap or click the target operating system you wish to refresh.

    Step 7:
    On the Refresh your PC screen, tap or click Next, and tap or click Refresh.
    Surface restarts and the Surface logo displays while the refresh process completes (this can take several minutes).

    Solution 3: Reset your Surface

    Warning

    A reset returns Surface to its factory settings:

    • A reset reinstalls Windows and apps that came installed on your Surface.
    • All of your personal files will be deleted and your settings will be reset. All apps that you installed will be removed. For info on backing up your files, see Back up photos, documents, and more.
    • After a reset, you’ll be able to set up Surface as if it were brand new.

    Make sure that you have access to the product keys and installation files for any desktop apps (for example, Microsoft Office) that you plan to reinstall after the reset. This includes desktop apps you installed from websites, discs, or USB drives.

    Tip

    Make a list of the desktop apps you plan to reinstall and gather the above information beforehand. This way, you’ll be sure to have everything you need to get Surface set up and desktop apps reinstalled when you’re done.

    Note

    If you updated Surface Pro from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1, a reset reinstalls Windows 8 (not Windows 8.1) on your Surface Pro. You can update to Windows 8.1 again after a reset.

    To reset Surface

    There are three ways to reset Surface Pro or Surface 3.

    Important

    If you see the message, “Insert media: Some files are missing. Your Windows installation or recovery media will provide these files,” you need to download a recovery image and reset from a USB recovery drive. For more info, see Reset from USB recovery media below.

    Reset from within Windows

    Step 1:
    Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and tap Settings.
    (If you’re using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and click Settings.)

    Step 2:
    Tap or click Change PC settings.

    Step 3:
    Tap or click Update and recovery, and tap or click Recovery.

    Step 4:
    Under Remove everything and reinstall Windows, tap or click Get started.

    Step 5:
    Tap or click Next.

    Step 6:
    Choose either Just remove my files or Fully clean the drive.
    The option to clean the drive is more secure, but takes much longer. For example, if you are recycling your Surface, you should choose to clean the drive. If you are keeping your Surface, you just need to remove your files.

    Step 7:
    Tap or click Reset.
    Surface restarts and the Surface logo displays while the reset process completes (this can take several minutes).

    Reset from the Windows sign-in screen

    Notes

    • If you’ve lost your password, you may not have to reset your Surface. See I forgot my password before
      performing these reset steps.
    • If you don’t have a keyboard connected to your Surface Pro or Surface 3, you’ll need to use the on-screen keyboard to do these reset steps. From the Windows sign-in screen, tap or click the Ease of access icon Ease of access icon in the lower-left corner of the screen, and then tap or click On-Screen Keyboard.

    Step 1:
    From the Windows sign-in screen, tap or click Power Power icon in the lower right corner of the sign-in screen.

    Step 2:
    Press and hold the Shift key.
    (If you’re using the on-screen keyboard, tap or click the Shift key.)

    Step 3:
    While the Shift key is still pressed, tap or click Restart.
    If you get the prompt Restart anyway, tap or click Restart anyway.
    After Surface restarts, the Choose an option screen will appear.

    Step 4:
    Tap or click Troubleshoot.

    Step 5:
    Tap or click Reset your PC.
    Surface restarts and the Surface logo displays while Windows prepares to reset your Surface.

    Step 6:
    On the Reset your PC screen, tap or click Next.

    Step 7:
    Choose either Just remove my files or Fully clean the drive. The option to clean the drive is more secure, but takes much longer. For example, if you are recycling your Surface, you should choose to clean the drive. If you are keeping your Surface, you just need to remove your files.

    Step 8:
    Tap or click Reset.
    Surface restarts and the Surface logo displays while the reset process completes (this can take several minutes).

    Reset from USB recovery media

    Note

    To learn how to create a USB recovery drive, see Create a USB recovery drive or Download a recovery image for your Surface.

    Reset your Surface from the USB recovery drive by following these steps:

    Step 1:
    Make sure that Surface is shut down and plugged in.

    Step 2:
    Insert the USB recovery drive into the USB port on Surface.

    Step 3:
    Press and hold the volume-down button while you press and release the power button on your Surface.

    Step 4:
    When the Surface logo appears, release the volume-down button.

    Step 5:
    When prompted, select the language and keyboard layout you want.

    Step 6:
    Tap or click Troubleshoot, and tap or click Reset your PC.

    Step 7:
    If prompted for a recovery key, tap or click Skip this drive at the bottom of the screen.

    Step 8:
    Tap or click the target operating system you wish to reset. This refers to the current operating system installed on Surface.

    Step 9:
    Tap or click Yes, repartition the drives, and on the next page, tap or click Next.

    Step 10:
    Choose either Just remove my files or Fully clean the drive. The option to clean the drive is more secure, but takes much longer. For example, if you are recycling your Surface, you should choose to clean the drive. If you are keeping your Surface, you just need to remove your files.

    Step 11:
    Tap or click Reset.
    Surface will restart and the Surface logo displays while the reset process completes (this can take several minutes).

    After the reset

    Here’s what to do after you’ve reset your Surface:

    • Complete the Surface setup steps, including selecting your region and language.
    • Sign in with the same Microsoft account you were using before so that things like the Windows Store apps you’ve purchased will be available to reinstall. For more info, see All about accounts.
    • Check for important updates. To learn how, see Install Surface and Windows Updates.
    • Reinstall Windows Store apps. From the Start screen, tap or click Store. Tap or click Account, and tap or click My apps. Select the apps you want to install, and tap or click Install.

    Source: http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/warranty-service-and-recovery/restore-refresh-or-reset-surface-pro#before

     

  • JimUBC 6:54 pm on May 25, 2015 Permalink | Reply  

    Surface Pro 3 for Developers – Sighting in the Wild 

    When I’m out and about and I fire up my Surface Pro 3, I look around for other Surface devices. I guess I’m looking for kindred spirits.

    I was at a Developers’ event on the weekend. As usual I glanced around and there were about thirty portable computers of various kinds from mega-gaming machines to tiny tablets.  Seven of them were Surface Pro units (mostly Surface Pro 3). Except for the Microsoft Store,  that’s the most Surface  devices I’ve ever seen in one place.

    That was fun and edifying. We compared notes. Several of us have the docking station. Most of us use the Surface Pro 3 as our main computing device replacing some combination of desktop and a portable device. All of us were happy with the decision to get one.

    Don’t underestimate the value of small and light. This was a four hour event in a tiny demonstration room. There were power outlets on only one side of the room. That side of the room was crowded and populated by the mega-laptop people. The Surface guys were on other side of the room with more elbow room and without the tangle of wires that goes with being tethered to power.

    image

    Thanks to Mark Schramm for organizing the event.

    Speaking of shedding wires three of the four presenters used Surface Pro devices  and at least one of them used the Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter.

    On another note here are some more things to explore

     

  • JimUBC 6:52 pm on May 10, 2015 Permalink | Reply  

    OneNote: A Few Thank You Notes 

    Surface | Windows Touch & Tablet

    I’ve been using OneNote since it came out in 2003. It was one of the first applications that treated ink as a first consideration in design. It was unconstrained by the traditional concepts of horizontal lines and vertical borders. It could search your ink; Ink that you created using a pen and active digitizer. It was one of the best applications for what we used to call Tablet PCs.

    OneNote was clearly different in terms of workflow. You didn’t have to save your work and you didn’t have to consciously synchronize  your notes across multiple devices.  It was a great tool for doing research. Copying anything from the web automatically created a link back to the source.  You could record audio and if you wrote notes during the recording, your notes were linked to point at in the recording when you took them.  Later, you could tap start the audio playback at the precise point in time when made the note.

    I shared notebooks across all my devices it was easy to have access to my information everywhere, even on my phone.

    Don’t get the wrong impression as I write in the past tense. OneNote is still around, still does all those things, and it’s better than ever, especially on Surface 3 and Surface Pro devices.  Surface 3 and all Surface Pro devices support ink.

    For me, there’s nothing more efficient than a pen for marking up a document as you edit it. If you’ve used Microsoft Word with track-changes and comments, you know that you can get distracted by the technology and the work-flow.  Do it with ink and it’s simple, direct, and the technology is transparent.

    I still keep all the pen and paper type notes in OneNote. I’ve mentioned in previous posts that I still have  old Tablet PCs scattered around my workspaces so that I can jot things down and have those notes everywhere including my phone.  I’m still amazed at how well OneNote can find a word or a phrase that I wrote in ink months or even years ago.

    It turns out that OneNote is absolutely brilliant as a tool for collaborative writing. If you share your notebooks with others, then OneNote keeps track of each author’s changes, and everyone is always looking at the same version.

    Yes, it’s a digital and somewhat binary world, but there are still plenty of times that the analog approach – writing in ink is just better.

    If you have wanted an easy way to store lyrics and add guitar chords, it is just plain annoying to get things lined up with ordinary text based tools. It’s easy to do it with OneNote, and you can even draw chord diagrams if you need them.   Of course you can buy apps for this but it’s so much easier with the pen, especially if things are in the early stages of creation.

    I think that’s why I really like OneNote. It allows me to capture thoughts and ideas relatively unfettered by constraints of planning, typing, and saving and syncing and notifying others of changes. It’s great at the early stages of things when there’s no time to be perfect, and no need for the distraction of trying to be. And yet as chaotic as that sounds it is brilliant at finding things, no matter how you created them.

    If you don’t know OneNote, then check it out. If you haven’t looked at it lately, it’s worth a second look.

    It’s not just for Windows anymore, and it’s free.

    And here are some more things to explore

     

← Older posts

Newer posts →

c
Compose new post
j
Next post/Next comment
k
Previous post/Previous comment
r
Reply
e
Edit
o
Show/Hide comments
t
Go to top
l
Go to login
h
Show/Hide help
shift + esc
Cancel

Spam prevention powered by Akismet