Microsoft has been in the news this week. While any publicity is better than none, the headlines and statements have been particularly scathing:

• Windows 8 is Microsoft’s “New Coke” fiasco
• Windows 8 sales slump is killing the PC industry
• users are confused by Windows 8

Windows 8 was an ambitious project. The OS attempted to merge smart phone, tablet and desktop concepts into a cohesive experience. Microsoft should be applauded for trying something new but, in reality, Windows 8 is two OSs bundled as one.

Tami Reller, head of Windows Marketing and Finance, admitted:

the learning curve is definitely real

Few would disagree. I’ve been using the OS for seven months and, while it feels comfortable now, those initial weeks without a Start button were disorientating. Metro can be — and still is — quirky on a standard desktop PC, but I rarely use Metro apps other than the media player.

If you’re in the industry, you’re paid to use technology for its own sake; learning something new is part of the course. However, for most companies, technology is a tool which helps them achieve business objectives. Unless there are clear commercial benefits, the costs associated with changing that tool and retraining staff are prohibitive.

I suspect people new to PCs actually grasp Windows 8 concepts better than older versions of the OS (clicking Start to shut down was an obvious metaphoric breakdown). Unfortunately, most people have used Windows before; they can understand evolution but revolution is a different matter. Besides, if you absolutely must learn something new, why not try Mac OS or Linux?

Windows Blue

It’s impossible to determine figures but I’d be amazed if Windows 8 sales matched those of Windows 7. Fortunately, Microsoft has listened to user criticism.

Pre-release versions of the next version of the OS, codenamed Windows Blue, were leaked on to the web recently. Microsoft won’t make any public comments, but hinted a preview release could appear in June. Version 8.1 is the most likely name but many of us old hands will think of it as Service Pack 1.

The interface looks much the same, but the leaked OS offers a number of revised features…

An optional Start button
In my Windows 8 review I speculated:

I would not be surprised to see the Start button make a triumphant return

I rarely miss the Start button now I’ve created appropriate taskbar shortcuts and use the keyboard Windows key to access the Start screen. The new logo-shaped Start button will probably do the same as the lower-left screen gesture, but having a button present will reassure many people.

Boot to desktop
Microsoft was criticized for showing the Start screen rather than the more familiar desktop after login. It’s a minor point since launching any standard application will instantly switch. That said, a new “boot to desktop” option will bring joy to many.

Configurable tile sizes
Start screen tiles are currently either “larger” or “smaller”. Even the small size doesn’t permit many icons on a desktop display so a new icon-sized tile will use a quarter of the space. Interestingly, a new super-sized option may also appear which could provide some interesting possibilities for live tiles.

New apps
Many of the existing Metro apps will be updated and a new video editing application could appear.

The OS should also include better SkyDrive integration. I’ve been impressed with Microsoft’s DropBox-like online file storage system and I suspect an increased number of applications will be SkyDrive-aware.

Internet Explorer 11
IE11 is a more exciting prospect although there’s no guarantee it’ll reach the final build. If expectations are correct, the new browser will fill the final missing gaps in IE10 — namely a few minor HTML5 features and WebGL (it’ll be interesting to hear how Microsoft engineers overcame the WebGL “security issues” they identified).

A long-overdue update to the F12 Developer Tools could also appear…

The current tools are adequate but clunky and ugly when compared with Firebug, the Webkit Inspector, Dragonfly or any other Microsoft development software. The company is enticing users back to IE but projects such as modern.IE a solid set of development tools will get developers on-side.

In summary, Windows 8 is changing but don’t expect it to revert back to Windows 7. Time will tell if the updates are enough to convince buyers.

Are you using Windows 8? Do you prefer it? Do you detest it? Do you want your Start button back? Will Windows 8.1 address your concerns?

We’re one third of the way through 2013 and an interesting battle has commenced between the two leading vendors. These are the latest figures according to StatCounter…

Worldwide Browser Statistics March 2013 to April 2013

The following table shows browser usage movements during the past month.

Worldwide Browser Statistics April 2012 to April 2013

The following table shows browser usage movements during the past twelve months:

The tables show market share estimates for desktop browsers. The ‘change’ column is the absolute increase or decrease in market share. The ‘relative’ column indicates the proportional change, i.e. another 10.3% of IE6 users abandoned the browser last month. There are several caveats so I recommend you read How Browser Market Share is Calculated.

Chrome jumped another 1% during April. That growth can’t continue, but there’s no sign of it stopping yet. Only one application managed to put up a fight: IE10. Microsoft’s browser grew an impressive 4% in one month following the automated update for Windows 7. While the other versions all dropped, IE10 more than made up the difference.

Talking of which, IE8 had a 1% drop and has fallen below 10%! While the browser did much to rectify the issues in IE6 and IE7, development will be far easier when we can depend on widespread HTML5 support without shims. It still has a healthy percentage but many businesses will be forced to consider alternatives when Microsoft drops Windows XP support next year.

IE6 and IE7 have become mostly irrelevant. I’m tempted to remove them from the chart, but…

1. some developers use the figures as justification for dropping the decrepit browsers, and
2. it gives me a smug sense of satisfaction to watch the numbers tumble.

However, I’m relieved Microsoft can take on Google because the others are struggling.

Firefox holds just over 20% of users but is likely to fall below that threshold next month.

Safari didn’t have a great month and fell 0.5%. It’s a reasonable browser but would it be so popular if Apple didn’t enforce usage on iOS? Users could fall further if Webkit development falls significantly behind Blink.

Finally, 14% of Opera users switched last month and it’s dropped to 1%. Perhaps that’s understandable; Presto has been abandoned for Blink so is there any point sticking with a browser which will soon be superseded?

Mobile Browser Usage

Mobile usage decreased slightly to 13.9% of all web activity in April 2013.

The primary mobile browsing applications:

1. Android — 30.96% (up 0.18%)
2. iPhone — 23.94% (down 0.50%)
3. Opera Mini/Mobile – 15.35% (down 0.19%)
4. UC Browser — 8.74% (up 0.47%)
5. Nokia browser — 7.03% (up 0.07%)

In comparison to the desktop market, there’s very little to report. I guess it’s a quiet time of year with no significant releases or disruptive technologies. Nothing to see here. Please move along and return next month!

According to a recent survey by International Data Corporation (IDC), PC sales had the biggest slump since records began in 1994. Shipments dropped by almost 14% in Q1 2013 compared to the previous year. Cue doom-laden stories from The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, ABC News, Business Insider and the BBC with subsequent share price drops for Microsoft, Intel and HP.

The meltdown has been attributed to factors including the continuing recession and a poor reception for Windows 8, but the primary reason was highlighted by ABC News:

The ailing personal computer market is getting weaker, and it’s starting to look as if it will never fully recover as a new generation of mobile devices reshapes the way people use technology.

So we can conclude that people have started to shun personal computers … in favor of portable personal computing devices. Why is this a major news event?

The survey indicated more than 76 million PCs were sold in the first three months of 2013 and the industry is on target to sell 300 million by the end of the year. In addition, tablets should account for a further 200 million sales. Is half a billion units a decline?

The real story here is the viability of tablet and smartphone devices combined with increased reliance on cloud computing. Most people are data consumers; if you’re browsing information or sending short messages, a portable tablet with a simpler OS, long battery life and online collaboration makes a lot of sense.

That said, I attempted to write this article on a tablet and it’s a painful experience; an on-screen keyboard, small display and awkward text selection makes me long for my PC. Data production requires a more suitable device and let’s not forget a tablet is a secondary computer for many people.

The news would have been more concerning were portable machines significantly less expensive. If anything, a decent tablet or smartphone cost more than a mid-range laptop. Perhaps the only commercial concern is the extended life of PCs. Component reliability, cloud processing and alternative computing options result in a reduced incentive to upgrade as frequently. However, this must be offset against users owning multiple gadgets.

The most we can gather from this news is that mainstream computing habits are changing. A PC may still be necessary for “real” work, but a tablet or smartphone is useful for surfing the web, analyzing reports, sending short messages, reading eBooks, listening to music and watching videos. Device contexts have changed; not sales.

The good news for web developers: we don’t care what people choose to use (or shouldn’t — take note anyone who neglects to test multiple browsers!). A decade ago, desktop developers could target a single OS (Windows) and guarantee operation on most computers. In today’s mountainous computing landscape, developers must target multiple versions of Windows, Mac OS, iOS and Android to have the same degree of coverage.

Fortunately, the web offers a cross-platform standard (HTML5) with comparatively simple mobile support (responsible design). Perhaps the PC will die, but personal computing combined with web technology has a bright future.

March ended one week ago but, just as you think the browser market is stabilizing, Google puts another spring in its step. Here are the latest figures according to StatCounter…

Worldwide Browser Statistics February 2013 to March 2013

The following table shows browser usage movements during the past month.

Worldwide Browser Statistics March 2012 to March 2013

The following table shows browser usage movements during the past twelve months:

The tables show market share estimates for desktop browsers. The ‘change’ column is the absolute increase or decrease in market share. The ‘relative’ column indicates the proportional change, i.e. another 5.9% of IE7 users abandoned the browser last month. There are several caveats so I recommend you read How Browser Market Share is Calculated.

Just as I think Google cannot possibly increase their share further, Chrome takes another 1% bite of the browser market. The last time this occurred was July 2012. To put it into context, that’s the equivalent of every Opera user or all combined IE6 and IE7 users abandoning their browser in a single month.

Chrome was the only mainstream browser with positive growth last month and it’s clear other vendors are struggling to compete. Does Google have an unfair commercial advantage? Few users pass a day without using the search engine, GMail, Analytics, Reader or another vital service which politely suggests they switch to Chrome. Google also has the cash reserves to promote their browser on prime-time television, at the movies, in newspapers and magazines. And let’s not forget Google controls the world’s most-used smartphone platform and Chrome OS.

That said, advertising would be worthless without a good application. Developers like Chrome. Users like Chrome. Even the most ardent IE, Firefox, Safari and Opera fanboys have little bad to say about the browser. It may no longer enjoy significant technical advantages but other vendors must either produce more competitive software or hope Google becomes complacent.

IE9 has been hovering around 18% for six months but IE10 has begun to cannibalize its share following the recent Windows 7 update. At the end of March, IE9 had 15.81% and IE10 2.26%. IE8 dropped more than any other browser and looks likely to fall below 10% this month. IE6 and IE7 barely changed but they’ve become mostly insignificant.

Firefox fell another 0.5% and it’s starting to look like a monthly trend. The browser works well on Windows and is more than a match for Chrome but I suspect it’s lost most ground on Mac, Linux and mobile platforms. Unless Mozilla can convince users to stay, Firefox could drop below 20% by the end of May 2013.

Safari had a better month than most but almost 6% of Opera users abandoned the desktop browser. That could be a statistical anomaly or perhaps users are unimpressed with the company’s switch to Webkit? Let’s see how they fare on mobile devices…

Mobile Browser Usage

Mobile usage increased a fraction to 14.44% of all web activity during March 2013.

The primary mobile browsing applications:

1. Android — 30.78% (down 0.76%)
2. iPhone — 24.44% (up 0.08%)
3. Opera Mini/Mobile – 15.54% (up 0.14%)
4. UC Browser — 8.27% (down 0.07%)
5. Nokia browser — 6.96% (up 0.05%)

It’s difficult to spot trends because the mobile market is erratic and influenced by local factors. For example, the iPhone is massively popular in western countries, but less so in Asia, Africa and South America where Android and Opera compete for the top spot.

There’s been a slightly unusual fall for Android but I wouldn’t read too much into that. The Chrome mobile browser has a 2.02% market share and is starting to increase as rapidly as its desktop cousin. Google is everywhere.

IE10 brings Internet Explorer closer to Chrome and Firefox than it’s ever been. However, if you’ve visited a geek conference recently, you’d have noticed a proliferation of Macs — which can’t run the browser. That’s a problem for Microsoft…

• A large number of developers probably aren’t bothering to test sites in IE.
• Those who do, often test it very late in the development cycle.
• The inevitable problems lead to “IE’s still awful” comments. While IE10 may cause no more issues than any other browser, the mud sticks.

Microsoft released modern.IE in February. The site offers a page scanner, free virtual machine images, three months’ free subscription to BrowserStack and compatibility advice. However, to celebrate Microsoft’s sponsorship of the Webby Awards, several new features have been introduced today…

Free Parallels and Windows 8 USB Sticks for Mac Developers

If you’re a Mac developer, it can be difficult to justify the license costs for Parallels and Windows. Microsoft has made that decision a little easier for you by shipping free USB sticks with full copies of Parallels 8 and Windows 8.

The catch? There’s a limited supply — so act quickly — and Microsoft would like you to send a $25 donation to your favorite charity. Sounds like a good deal to me.

New Virtual Machine Images

Two new virtual machines are available: IE10 on Windows 7 and IE8 on Windows XP. Both remain free and all VMs are now available for Parallels on the Mac as well as Hyper-V, Virtual PC, VirtualBox and VMware on other platforms.

Scan Sites Behind Firewalls

It’s now possible to install a local instance of the modern.IE webpage scanner so you can test intranet applications or websites which have not yet launched.

Guess what platform the scanner requires…

You’re wrong! It’s node.js. That’s a surprisingly sensible choice which means it’ll run on Windows, Mac OS and Linux out of the box.

The scanner has a number of useful new features:

• deeper scanning with ‘how to fix’ suggestions
• responsive web design analysis
• touch optimization hints, and
• assistance for sites which have blocked Flash content.

Better Internationalization

modern.IE is available in 18 languages including Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese.

It’s good to see modern.IE evolving and Microsoft making life a little easier for web developers. Now, if only we could persuade Apple to release Safari on Windows again…

If you’re one of the 50% of PC users with Windows 7, be prepared for an essential update coming your way. Internet Explorer 9 has been officially retired to make way for IE10. The new browser will be installed as part of the standard Windows Update unless you explicitly prevent it (please don’t!)

It’s an important milestone for web developers. While IE9 was a radical step up from IE8, it was missing features we take for granted in Safari, Firefox, Chrome and Opera: CSS3 gradients, text shadows, animations, transitions, column layouts, flexbox, ECMAScript strict mode, media query listeners, the file API, web workers, local storage, etc. IE10 plugs many of the HTML5 gaps.

There’s another vital feature in IE10: automated updates. While Microsoft are yet to use it, IE10 can receive smaller incremental tweaks over time. I’m not expecting a Chrome or Firefox-like six-week delivery schedule, but two or three times per year would be significantly better than the current 18-24 month delay.

IE9 is likely to die rapidly especially since system administrators will not experience the upgrade issues which dogged previous versions. It will remain the default browser on Vista but the OS currently holds 6% of the PC market and is dropping fast.

IE6 and IE7 are dead. They still roam zombie-like across certain sectors of the web but, for most of us, the days of IE-specific hacks and fixes are long gone.

The IE8 Problem

Which leaves us with IE8. The browser holds 10% of the market and is the only version available for Windows XP which is used by one quarter of PC users. Many have stated that IE8 is the next IE6 (including me), but I’ve recently revised my pessimistic opinion…

• It depends on the statistics you believe, but competition from Google has changed the market. Chrome can be installed on XP, is advertised throughout Google’s ecosystem and light years ahead of IE8.
• IE8 usage is dropping by 0.5% per month. If the trend continues, it will hold just 5-6% of the market by the end of 2013.
• IE8 may not support HTML5, CSS3, SVG or media queries but it has few of issues we had to deal with in IE6 and 7. Your site will be missing rounded corners and drop-shadows, but the HTML5 shim will fix the majority of layout problems. It may not be pretty, but your site should work.
• IE8 is two versions old. Version numbers rarely matter to developers but it’s an important psychological gap for your clients.

It would have been great had Microsoft released a version of IE10 for XP and Vista but it’s probably not worth the effort. IE8 will die a natural death regardless of Microsoft’s aging OS platforms.

But let’s look at the positives: IE10 does much to catch up with the competition. It’s taken too long to arrive but I hope it becomes the most dominant version of IE within a few short months.

It may have been a short 28 days since our last look, but there have been some interesting movements in the browser chart. Here are the latest figures according to StatCounter…

Worldwide Browser Statistics January 2013 to February 2013

The following table shows browser usage movements during the past month.

Worldwide Browser Statistics February 2012 to February 2013

The following table shows browser usage movements during the past twelve months:

The tables show market share estimates for desktop browsers. The ‘change’ column is the absolute increase or decrease in market share. The ‘relative’ column indicates the proportional change, i.e. another 9.1% of IE6 users abandoned the browser last month. There are several caveats so I recommend you read How Browser Market Share is Calculated.

Internet Explorer has fallen below 30%. Prehistoric browser usage statistics are a little hazy, but I suspect it had that total during the early days of IE4 back in 1997.

Some news which will make web developers rejoice: the combined total for IE6 and 7 has fallen below 1%. The biggest drop occurred in China where the browsers held more than 30% twelve months ago, but now hold 6%. Admittedly, 1% of the worldwide market is still a lot of people, but the figures are dropping fast and — unless you’re very unlucky — they’re no longer of any concern for you or your clients.

It’s not all gloom for Microsoft; IE10 grew by 20%. It remains the fastest growing browser but, at 1.21%, any movements are exaggerated. Interestingly, Windows 8 holds 3.16% of the OS market; we can therefore deduce that 38% of Windows 8 users have IE10 as their default. Usage trends are more complex and early adopters are likely to be predominant users of Microsoft software but IE10 is a solid browser. The recent release on Windows 7 and automated updates should increase its market share rapidly.

February’s biggest winner was Chrome. It’s growth has been relatively sedate recently so a jump of 0.56% is striking for a browser which holds almost 40% of the market.

Firefox barely moved, Safari enjoyed a small rise, and Opera also increased — its first rise in many months. Perhaps the news that Opera is switching to WebKit raised its profile.

WebKit is starting to dominate. It’s approaching a 50% share on desktops, has 56% of the mobile market and a near monopoly on smartphones and tablets. That makes me a little nervous — look out for 5 Reasons to Reject the WebKit Monoculture on SitePoint next week.

Mobile Browser Usage

Mobile usage increased a fraction to 14.35% of all web activity during February 2013.

The primary mobile browsing applications:

1. Android — 31.54% (up 0.69%)
2. iPhone — 24.36% (up 1.28%)
3. Opera Mini/Mobile – 15.40% (up 0.05%)
4. UC Browser — 8.34% (down 1.41%)
5. Nokia browser — 6.91% 7.46% (down 0.55%)

Apple’s iPhone appears has enjoyed a recent resurgence; it’s amazing that a single company holds 25% of the mobile market (well, a quarter of those using a phone to access the web). Android also continues to do well.

It’s difficult to see anyone breaking the Android/iPhone stranglehold, but perhaps Mozilla has a chance with their recently-released Firefox OS. The organization is targeting more affordable devices with lower hardware requirements and has almost 20 manufacturers on board. Firefox OS seems capable and is HTML5-based — you can even change OS styles and colors with a quick CSS update. The phones could become popular in developing countries, with school children and those unwilling to pay bloated prices.

The final gold release of IE10 is available for Windows 7. Microsoft has taken their time — it’s been four months since it appeared with Windows 8 — but it’s here now.

If you’ve been running the IE10 Release Preview, you should receive an update during the next few days. Those using IE9 will be automatically upgraded over the coming weeks. If you can’t wait, head over to windows.microsoft.com/ie and download a copy.

So why should you upgrade?

• Microsoft state that IE10 is 20% faster than IE9 — which is no slouch.
• IE10 supports 60% more web standards than IE9, including CSS3 transformations, animations, gradients, web sockets, the file API, pointer events, etc.
• A HTML5 test score of 320+6 / 500 and 100 / 100 Acid3 test result.
• Increased privacy controls and Do Not Track enabled by default.
• There’s nothing to lose. If IE9′s your favorite browser, you’ll love IE10. If you’re a web developer, it will become increasingly important to test IE10…

IE9 will die fairly rapidly once the Windows updates kick-in. Large organizations and governments may take some time to evaluate and deploy the new browser, but there are far fewer fundamental differences and obstacles than those we experienced between IE6, 7, 8 and 9. Within a few months, I would expect IE9′s market share of 16.9% to exchange places with IE10′s 1.2%. In addition, Windows 7 is the world’s most-used OS and it’s installed on more than 50% of desktops — IE10 deployments will increase accordingly.

It may have taken too long, but Microsoft has finally delivered a clean, fast, capable browser which supports the majority of modern HTML5 web standards. It’s not particularly exciting and IE10 offers few compelling reasons ditch your favorite application but, at the same time, there’s no reason to ridicule those who prefer it. Let’s just hope this is the first in a series of rapid updates; the standard IE two-year gestation period is far too slow.

Read my IE10 review, the IE10 announcement and download IE10 from Microsoft.com…

Hyper-V is a native hardware-assisted virtualization platform provided in Windows 8 Pro and Windows Server 2008 R2 and above. In essence, a Virtual Machine is a PC emulation running on your PC. You install VM software on your physical host machine, then boot up and install any number of guest OSs. Popular VM software includes VMware, VirtualBox and Microsoft Virtual PC (which was used to power XP Mode in Windows 7).

VMs are essential for web developers:

1. They allow you to test alternative browsers such as historical versions of IE or Linux installations.
2. You can set up development servers such as Linux with Apache, PHP and MySQL on a Windows development PC.

VMs are hard disk images so they can be backed-up, cloned and moved far easier than a real PC. In addition, most VM software allows you to make snapshots so you can test software or configurations and revert back in the event of catastrophic failure.

Hyper-V has a number of benefits including speed, multi-core processor support and booting to VMs (users can use a guest VM as their daily OS so they can’t trash the host). But the main advantage is that VMs operate in the background. There’s no need to start the software; it’s always running and controlling your booted guest OSs. Similarly, there’s no need to open or connect to the guest OS desktop — if you’re running a development server, you can simply transfer files like you would to any other device on your network.

So let’s look at the basics of using Hyper-V. I’m using Windows 8 but Windows Server is similar.

1. Enable Hyper-V

From the Windows Control Panel, select Programs and Features followed by Turn Windows features on or off. Check Hyper-V and all platform and tools sub-components. It’ll take a few minutes to install.

2. Configure Hyper-V Defaults

From the Start screen (or Win+Q), run the Hyper-V Manager. You can change the default settings in Action > Hyper-V Settings.

3. Create a New Virtual Machine

To create a new VM, select Action > New > Virtual Machine…. Enter a name for your VM and select a different file location if necessary:

Now enter the amount of memory you want the VM to use — keep it as dynamic unless you want to specify a maximum:

You can now create or use an existing hard disk image and specify a maximum size (it will grow as the VM requires more space):

Finally, you can choose to install an operating system from a physical drive or ISO image:

Hit Finish to complete the wizard. You can now boot your VM (click Start in the Actions pane) and install a guest OS. Remember this occurs in the background; to view the desktop, click Connect… in the Actions pane.

Note that the VM will not be able to connect to a network yet — you may wish to configure that first so updates can be downloaded.

4. Connecting to Your Network

Connecting to the network is slightly unusual compared to other VM software. Hyper-V creates a virtual switch device which is subsequently used for all host and guest connectivity. Under the right-hand Actions pane, click Virtual Switch Manager…. Select External and hit Create Virtual Switch.

Assign a name (Virtual Switch is as good as any), select the real network adapter used for networking on your host OS, and hit Apply. The dialog can then be closed.

Now, right-click your VM and choose Settings… (or click Settings… under your VM in the Action pane). Select the Network Adapter tab and ensure Virtual Switch (or whatever you named it) is selected.

Reboot your VM and, with luck, you should have network connectivity.

Network Troubles?
Many people experience networking problems with Hyper-V guests — I did. A separate hardware NIC adapter is recommended, but this is impractical for most desktop and laptop PCs. If you can’t connect or connectivity randomly drops, try the following remedies:

1. Configure the guest OS to use a fixed IP address.
2. If it continues to fail, disable TCP Checksum Offload and UDP Checksum Offload in your physical NIC adapter settings (they may have slightly different names).

5. Connect to Your VM

As mentioned, you can click Connect… in the VM’s Action pane to view the desktop. Alternatively, you can use Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Connection tool much like you would with any networked Windows device.

Hyper-V offers some great features which will benefit web developers. Do you have any interesting uses for the platform?

Apologies for the geeky article, but it solves a problem experienced by many web developers who use Windows as their primary OS. Thumbs.db is an image cache which makes thumbnail viewing faster. The file is automatically created in Windows Vista, 7 and 8 whenever images are encountered in a folder. It’s usually hidden but can appear, disappear and is often impossible to delete.

I understand the point of Thumbs.db, but that doesn’t prevent several irritations:

• It affects version control. If you’re using a system such as TortoiseGit or TortoiseSVN, Thumbs.db will cause “changed” icon overlays to appear when you’ve not modified any files.
• They often get uploaded to live servers where they’re pointless.
• Unless you’ve got a slow PC, you probably won’t notice any speed improvement.
• I don’t want auto-generated files cluttering my system, thank you!

Fortunately, there’s an easy way to prevent further Thumbs.db hassle:

1. Ensure you’re logged in using an administrator account.
2. Hit Win+R, type gpedit.msc in the Run window and click OK. The Local Group Policy Editor will be launched.
3. Navigate through the tree to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > then either Windows Explorer (Windows Vista/7) or File Explorer (Windows 8).

   

4. In the right-hand pane, double-click “Turn off the caching of thumbnails in hidden thumbs.db files”.
5. Select Enabled (don’t make my mistake of choosing “Disabled” — you’re enabling the switching off of Thumbs.db. Not particularly intuitive, Microsoft!)

   

OK your way out and it’s job done — you’ll never be troubled by Thumbs.db files ever again!

Windows 8 may initially frustrate and confuse you but many familiar features are lurking beneath the glossy Metro/whatever-you-want-to-call-it surface. Fortunately, Microsoft has provided a number of keyboard shortcuts so you can avoid all that swiping nonsense on your desktop PC.

Starting Up

There’s no need to perform any complex gestures — just click the mouse or tap a key and the login password or image will float into view. Hit Win+L to lock the computer again.

Launch Applications

Hit your keyboard Window key to reveal the Metro Start screen. If the application’s not there, use Win+Q to view and search through all applications.

If all else fails, navigate to the old Start menu folders using File Explorer (Win+E):

• C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu
• C:\Users\<your-name>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu

Locate the shortcut, right-click and select either Pin to Start, Pin to Taskbar, or Send to > Desktop.

Alternatively, the old Run dialog can still be launched with Win+R. Alt+Tab switches between applications.

Finally, the Windows key plus a number from 1 to 0 launches the corresponding pinned application on the task bar. Use Win+Alt+a number key to open that application’s jumplist.

Window Hotkeys

Need to close a desktop program or Metro app? Alt+F4 has been supported for as long as I can remember.

Application windows can maximized and minimized using the Windows key in conjunction with the up and down cursor keys. You can dock windows to the left or right-half of the screen using Win+left and Win+right respectively.

Peek at the desktop using Win+D and tap it again to re-view your active applications. Alternatively, Win+M minimizes all windows and Win+Shift+M restores them.

Finally, if you’re using a tablet device, Win+O locks the screen orientation.

Power User Hotkeys

If you only remember one hotkey, make it Win+X. It displays a menu of useful options such as regularly-used Control Panel settings, Disk Management, Computer Management and the Command Prompt.

Other hotkeys:

• Win+C — display the Charms menu
• Win+I — the Settings charm
• Win+H — the Share charm
• Win+K — the Devices charm
• Win+W — settings search
• Win+P — the second screen bar
• Win+Z — displays the Metro App bar
• Win+PrtScn — saves a screenshot to the Pictures folder
• Win+Break/Pause — display the Control Panel System dialog

Shutting Down

Navigating to the shut down option is slightly ludicrous — move the mouse to the lower or upper right-hand side of the screen (which is awkward on dual monitors), then click Settings followed by Power then Shut down. Ugh.

Here’s an easier option: shut the laptop lid or press your PC’s power button.

Who knew? You can change whether Windows shuts down, sleeps or hibernates in the Control Panel Power Options. Click “Choose what the power buttons do” link in the left-hand pane.

Have I missed your favorite Windows 8 hotkey or tip? Useful ones please … switching to another OS or downgrading to Windows 7/XP isn’t necessarily practical!

The browser market seemed relatively sedate during 2012. There were no big releases, major updates or disruptive surprises (sorry Microsoft — IE10′s a fine browser, but it’s hardly revolutionary). Fortunately, it rarely matters whether a user chooses Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Opera or IE9+ — they’re all capable applications which support most HTML5 features and run at a fast pace. So let’s look at the latest browser market statistics according to StatCounter…

Worldwide Browser Statistics November 2012 to December 2012

The following table shows browser usage movements during the past month.

Worldwide Browser Statistics December 2011 to December 2012

The following table shows browser usage movements during the past twelve months:

The tables show market share estimates for desktop browsers. The ‘change’ column is the absolute increase or decrease in market share. The ‘relative’ column indicates the proportional change, i.e. another 7.3% of IE6 users abandoned the browser last month. There are several caveats so I recommend you read How Browser Market Share is Calculated.

December is a slightly unusual month owing to the holiday seasons and hangover-induced work avoidance. Internet Explorer tends to fare a little worse since the ratio of home to business usage increases. That said, it’s surprising to look back at the market twelve months ago when…

• IE was the world’s most-used browser
• IE6 and 7 accounted for more than 6 in every 100 users
• Chrome and Firefox were neck and neck with a quarter of the market each.

At the beginning of 2013, Chrome had switched places with IE and enticed a number of Firefox users too. While I expected Chrome to overtake Microsoft’s browser, I didn’t expect the rapid pace of growth to continue. To put it into context, Chrome grows by a volume equivalent to Opera’s total user base every two months.

Speaking of which, Opera has had a poor couple of months. Perhaps it’s a statistical blip, but Opera appears to have lost a few passionate followers. It’s still a great browser but the competition has caught and overtaken in some respects.

Firefox fared almost as badly as IE8 during December 2013. It remains my preferred application but I’m a Windows user and it’s had more problems on other platforms. I also suspect it’s lost ground because it’s rarely supplied as a default browser; even Linux distros are replacing it with Chromium.

However, the good news story of 2012 is the demise of IE6 and IE7. The browsers are still used and I can’t promise you’ll never need to support them, but the days of frustrated HTML and CSS hacking are coming to an end (especially when you can use responsive techniques instead). But never forget their legacy. Anyone who longs for a single browser engine should be ridiculed and have their web development license revoked!

Mobile Browser Usage

Mobile usage increased by 1.5% to 14.55% of all web activity during December. I’m a little surprised by that figure — perhaps everyone was tweeting festive messages?

The primary mobile browsing applications:

1. Android — 28.28% (up 1.13%)
2. iPhone — 20.64% (down 0.34%)
3. Opera Mini/Mobile – 16.94% (down 1.05%)
4. UC Browser — 10.20% (up 1.12%)
5. Nokia browser — 9.08% (down 0.26%)

While it’s a little early to assess mobile device gift-giving figures, Android continues to do well. UC Browser has also overtaken Nokia to grab the #4 spot.

Opera Mini/Mobile is also in decline. It remains one of the best feature phone browsers but has stronger competition in the smart phone market. I also suspect most people stick with their phone’s supplied browser, although the strong adoption of UC contradicts that assumption?

Whatever browser you’re using, I hope you have a Happy New Year!

In part one of this Windows 8 review we discussed pricing, installation and the new interface. Part two examined the software provided in the new OS. In this final part, we look at productivity and performance before asking whether Windows 8 is right for you…

Windows 8 Productivity

Windows 8 retains the best productivity features including taskbar pinning, application rearranging, jumplists, libraries, peek, home groups, etc.

That said, Microsoft has made radical changes so be prepared for a few frustrating days learning how to navigate the new OS without a Start button. Fortunately, there are a number of keyboard shortcuts which make life easier (look out for an article coming soon).

Where’s XP Mode?

One of the primary reasons I upgraded to Windows 7 Pro was XP Mode; a fully-licensed copy of XP SP3 which allowed you to run virtualized legacy software as if it were a native application. The bonus for web developers was that you could run real versions of IE6, IE7, IE8 and IE9 at the same time on the same desktop.

Windows 8 does not include XP Mode. The Pro and Enterprise editions support Hyper-V hardware-assisted virtual machines, but you’ll require an additional XP/Vista/7 license to use it. A shame, but it’s not as though many of us are bothering to test IE6 and 7 any longer.

Windows 8 Performance

I was a little disappointed with Windows 7 performance; it was not noticeably faster than a service-packed Vista. A cold boot took around a minute to reach the login screen followed by ten minutes of sluggish performance while applications were pre-cached.

Windows 8 blasts its predecessors out of the water. Booting takes a matter of seconds and the system is usable immediately after login. The OS seems less resource-hungry than before; CPU, memory and battery consumption have been reduced. Perhaps that will change as I install further applications but, for the moment, I’m more than happy.

The Windows Task Manager has been vastly improved and it will help you discover performance issues:

• applications and background processes are separated.
• app history can be monitored
• start-up processes can be viewed and disabled (goodbye Adobe and Java updaters!)
• services can be started, stopped and restarted.

To increase speed further, Windows 8 hibernates rather than fully shuts down. This has a number of consequences, e.g. services which are set to start manually will still be running between subsequent shut downs. Only a system restart will stop them.

Should You Upgrade to Windows 8?

Consider the pros:

• reasonable upgrade price for the next couple of months
• boots and runs faster than previous editions
• lightweight desktop application windows (no Aero)
• simplified configuration
• excellent security and built-in anti-virus
• installs a clean system without any junk
• refresh feature to restore Windows back to a pristine condition
• Hyper-V virtual machines
• improved task manager
• the best features from Windows 7
• Internet Explorer 10

and the cons:

• initially confusing, e.g. no Start button
• switching between Metro and desktop modes can be jarring
• Metro apps have usability issues on PCs
• some bizarre configuration locations
• fewer customization options
• you’re forced to start on the Metro screen
• no XP Mode
• Internet Explorer 10 (yes, it’s also a pro point, but the browser is far from perfect!)

Microsoft has attempted to create a unified system but the Metro and desktop modes are simply different interfaces in one OS. It’s apparent the developers favored touchscreen devices at the expense of PCs where Metro can be clunky and confusing. Admittedly, the tablet market is ascending as fast as the PC market declines, but Microsoft’s core market is desktop business users. Windows 8 could be a little ahead of its time.

Perhaps Metro will feel natural to IT novices but, in reality, how many people have never used Windows before? Windows 8 is initially disorientating and I suspect businesses will be put off by the training costs and lost productivity. I’m not convinced the improvements justify that expense; many people will skip Windows 8 and wait for version 9. (Is Microsoft suffering from classic Star Trek movie syndrome where a ‘good’ release arrives every other version?!)

On the plus side, no one can accuse Microsoft of playing it safe. The company’s biggest competitor is itself and many people are happy to use decade-old editions of XP. Windows 8 tries a new approach and, while it may not convince long-term IT users, it it possible to return to the more familiar desktop and methods.

Windows 8 has one other benefit: Microsoft usually listens to criticism. I expect the OS will evolve rapidly — especially if sales are slow. Most business users wait for Service Pack 1 and the company has a good track record of supplying fundamental improvements. I would not be surprised to see the Start button make a triumphant return.

The first few days are frustrating, but I encourage you to persevere. I cannot claim undying love for Windows 8 — and thoroughly detest some features — but I’m glad I upgraded. For performance alone, it would be difficult to return to Windows 7. Unfortunately, it took several weeks to reach that conclusion and many people will give up before then.

Upgrade to Windows 8 Pro at Windows.com or windowsupgradeoffer.com. Alternatively, buy the 32 and 64-bit boxed retail version at:

• Amazon.com — $66.99
• Amazon.co.uk — £43.19
• Amazon.de — 52,00€
• Amazon.fr — 53,80€

All prices are discounted until February 2013.

In the first part of this Windows 8 review we discussed pricing, installation and the new interface. In this post I examine the software and applications provided with the new OS.

Windows 8 Software

A fresh Windows 8 installation has surprisingly few applications. Of course, that doesn’t prevent OEMs installing several hundred megabytes of crapware, but even that can be solved by opening the charms menu (Win+C) > Settings > Change PC Settings > General > Refresh your PC without affecting your files.

Windows 8 provides Metro apps (see my opinion of them) such as Mail, Messaging, People, Calendar, News, Finance, Sport, Maps, Music, Photos, Video, Travel, Weather, SkyDrive and Bing Search. Microsoft has implemented account synchronization options to simplify your online life. For example, the People app can import contact details from your Microsoft, Skype, Hotmail, Outlook, Google, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts.

However, most of these applications are very simple. For example, Mail is considerably less sophisticated than Outlook Express or Windows Mail. Novices and tablet users may prefer it. I didn’t, but it’s not as though you’re forced to use them…

As you’d expect, compatibility with existing desktop software is excellent. Microsoft work hard to support applications and it’s a safe bet to assume something which works in Windows 7 will probably operate in Windows 8. That said, I did experience a few weird issues which were mostly caused by tightened security. In most cases, temporarily running as an Administrator solved the problem.

To keep costs down, Windows 8 Pro comes without Media Center or many essential codecs for playing DVDs. Fortunately, you can obtain the Windows 8 Media Center Pack for free until January 31, 2013. Grab it while you can.

Windows 8 is the first edition of the OS to provide an App Store — and I suspect it’s another reason why upgrades are so reasonable. Admittedly, it’s a little clunky and doesn’t have a huge selection of titles compared to the Apple and Google offerings, but that’s likely to change. Microsoft provide a range of free apps similar to those installed in previous versions of Windows. It includes Minesweeper but, seriously, how has the game bulked into into a 106MB download?!

Windows 8 also provides Internet Explorer 10 which remains a beta on Windows 7 and will never be available for XP or Vista. My recent review was generally positive; the new browser offers strong standards support, good OS integration and automated updates. It no longer has a speed advantage and offers fewer features than competitors, but it’s a fine browser and there’s no reason to ridicule those who prefer it. European users will see the browser ballot screen but, if IE10′s your default, you can use it in either Metro or desktop mode.

Finally, uninstalling desktop apps is the same as always: Control Panel > Programs and Features. However, Metro apps are different — you need to right-click their tile and choose Uninstall. Another contributor to the general confusion.

Windows 8 Security

Historically, Microsoft caused more security scares than any other vendor. The company has turned the situation around and, despite Windows remaining the top target for crackers, it’s rare to hear of exploits. The key points:

• Microsoft Security Essentials anti-virus application is installed by default and is combined with Windows Defender. It’s lightweight and effective — although anti-virus companies will try to convince you that it’s not enough.
• The OS features Secure Boot Architecture to combat malware as Windows loads.
• Metro apps run in a sandboxed environment and cannot interact with each other.

Windows 8 won’t prevent users installing rubbish, but virus and malware developers have a tougher task ahead of them.

Windows 8 Stability

Unless you were unlucky or installed every dodgy application you encountered, Windows 7 was rock-solid. I don’t recall a major OS crash or blue screen of death in three years. Windows 8 builds on that success.

So far I’ve experienced just one instability issue: my keyboard went screwy and a process failed to shut down during reboot. While I suspect it was a quirky driver issue, Windows remained steady and I didn’t lose work.

In summary, there are few software faults in Windows 8. But the same could be said for most other editions of the OS. Even XP is solid and fairly secure following a decade of security updates. There’s little to get excited about but, similarly, there are no major irritations.

In part three we’ll discuss Windows 8 productivity, performance and whether you should upgrade…

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