What’s fresh in Windows 8?

Summary

A short time ago, Microsoft launched its new and revised Windows 8. In this article I will attempt to describe what I find fresh about the new Microsoft offering. I feel that this approach will help the lay users understand their requirement and help decide to upgrade or not from their current OS.

Windows 8: A Completely Fresh Perspective from Microsoft

I started using computers at a relatively early age and my first system was a Windows 95 PC in the early 90s. Till date I have worked with nearly all Windows variants- 95, 98, 98 SE, ME, 2000 Pro, XP, Vista and Windows 7 (I know NT and Server are missing from the list. Not into servers till date). After running apps on so many seemingly different Windows systems, I can say for sure that the basic structure of Windows had not changed much over the years, until Windows 8.

However, over the years, graphics have improved, new features have been introduced, security features have been added and improved, but the basic operational design had remained almost unchanged, till Windows 8. The new Windows is a completely new approach to desktops as it has been definitely designed keeping in mind a tactile interface and a majority of its apps are also specifically designed to operate on such an interface. The new OS does work with the traditional mouse and keyboard setup, though that’s not as much fun.

The Good Features of Windows 8

If you have a touch screen device such as tablet or a smart phone, this might be the first time you like using Windows OS on these devices. The new Windows allows you to download apps from the Windows Store and its new UI and start screen give a really cool look and feel. Depending upon your device, you might get a feel rivaling that of an iPhone or iPad, but probably not surpassing it. The Start Button as you have used all these years, has been completely thrown out, but you now have a full page Start Menu, which features separate tiles featuring your installed applications.

There is also a new feature known as the Charms Bar, which provides you shortcuts to often used features such as search, share, settings and devices. The brand new UI (User Interface) featured in this OS also allows you to use multiple windows and flip between applications as you would on any other touch-enabled device. Same functions are allowed by using the mouse scroll button and the keyboard Tab button, which allows you to access a top to bottom list of apps that are currently running. Downloading apps for Windows has also never been easier and any user can directly download apps from the Windows Store, which is built on the lines of the Apple iTunes store. These I feel are definitely good reasons to try out Windows 8, especially if you have a touch-interface setup already.

Things to Remember Before Upgrading

As with any new Windows OS, compatibility of current apps is a key issue to be considered and I have included a few things that you need to know before you go ahead with the upgrade. Windows 8 upgrade is available to users of Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista and Windows 7 with a few restrictions according to the OS being upgraded. Users of Windows XP SP3 can transfer their files, but none of the settings or applications can be transferred to Windows 8. For Vista users can transfer both their files and settings, whereas, Windows 7 owners can transfer their applications, files and settings to Windows 8 during the upgrade.



The author, Abhishek Chakravarti has been writing for the IT industry over the past few years. He has extensive experience in many a Software Development Company specially in the field of Open Source Solutions. He currently writes for eXtendCode Software Company in India. For More information visit: http://www.extendcode.com/

Beginners’ Guide to Conserving Battery Power for your Smart Phone

Summary

Smart phones are ubiquitous in our society and the always connected approach is an integral part of our current experience. But in this brave new world 3G/4G connectivity, we are still faced with battery power issues even in the newest devices. This article is designed to provide some battery conservation tips for your smart phone.

Smart phones and their Battery Woes 

When you buy a new phone with a new battery, you find that the battery holds out for almost the entire day and you can leave it for charging overnight, then pick it up in the morning and you are good to go. But that does not last long and about 6 months down the line you find that your cell dies by the time you leave work. Soon after, you have to charge your phone at work and can no longer play Angry Birds during your commute due to low battery levels. If this story sounds familiar, this article will help you find ways to minimize your battery usage, maximize your mobility and ensure that you continue remain “always connected”. 

Dim the Screen

Since the age of laptops, this has often been suggested and it holds true for the modern day smart phones. Even though your phone probably is smart enough to adjust its brightness according to lighting conditions, you are sure to get a longer battery life by manually setting the screen brightness to the minimum level that is comfortable for your use. Additionally, reducing the screen cut out time to 15 seconds or less is an added bonus.

Terminate All Unnecessary Connections

Some of us do not notice if the Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS or 3G/4G connections are still running even when the phone sits idly on the desk. These applications are a massive drain on the battery reserves of your device. Switching them on only when required and keeping these off at other times is a sure fire way to increase the battery life.

Stop Using “Vibrate”

All of us that work in an office or are often in meetings, find the vibrate function indispensable. Bad news for us - the vibrate function can drastically decrease the battery life of your device. The alternative to this is to use a system of lights with the cell on silent to conserve battery power. 

Hunt Down those Background Applications

All phones have applications running in the background, which troll the internet and continuously collect updates / notifications. By hunting down and terminating these apps, you gain a twofold advantage- battery power conservation and smart usage of your data plan. 

Some Apps that Help 

In case you are not that savvy, find the Advanced Task Killer app online to help you terminate background tasks. There are other apps such as Carat and JuiceDefender (for Android), which can help ensure effective battery usage. Such Mobile Application Development is being carried out by many an offshore Software Development Company to help extend the battery life of smart phones. Word of caution- please read the requirements etc. of any apps you are planning to install.      

Some Miscellaneous Thoughts on the Issue

The idea of more than one phone is not appealing to most, but I do recommend occasionally turning off the phone and maintaining a relatively constant battery temperature to increase the longevity of the Lithium-ion battery pack. Also the number of charging cycles of each battery pack being limited, conserving battery power translates into an extension of the battery life for your device. Having an extra charger at your workplace or in your car is definitely a good idea if you work long hours, travel a lot or play Angry Birds very often.                    

What Makes a Mobile App Great?

Summary

 

We live in a world, which is rapidly going mobile whether it is related to work, banking or shopping. The age of mobile apps has definitely begun and it is slowly but surely gaining control of many aspects of our existence. In this article I will try to put forward my views about what makes for a truly great mobile app and then try to predict further evolution of the market.

The Basics

If you ask a random group of enterprise apps users about what they look for in a mobile app or mobile productivity suite they are using, most responses are going to be: a good user interface (UI), an awesome user experience (UX), user friendly features and so on. These answers would seem to be copied right of the CoIT handbook (if there was one) and the same holds true wherever people are going mobile. It is no secret that new-age enterprise users are no longer satisfied by just an application that works, they want something that is easy to use, looks clean and provides an effortless increase of productivity.

No doubt that these are very valid points and the rise in CoIT is already beginning to produce an effect on the current Mobile Software Development industry as more and more companies shift towards a mobile-only strategy. However, if you ask the users about their favorite work-related apps, many would have some trouble naming a single one as they utilize multiple apps to perform the same, similar or related tasks depending on the type of work they need to do. This definitely runs contrary to the popular CoIT belief that a single application would be perfectly suited to carry out a specific task or related tasks. Such applications are still few and far between, hence, only a few of the current mobile apps are targeted at specific user segments.

The Analysis

Ever since available smartphone platforms expanded beyond RIM’s BlackBerry OS, the mobility market has been flooded with software packages for the newer platforms such as Android and iPhone/iOS. However, a closer inspection would reveal that a majority of these apps, even if not all, perform similar and closely related tasks, with minor variations in the UI, functionality etc. This has been an unfortunate side effect of the CoIT trend and gave rise to the appropriately named “crapplications”. Such applications do not provide any real value to the user and are developed to perform tasks which can be performed with equal ease in case of existing apps. These apps do not address the root cause of the problem and only thus do not usually provide users with better options than other productivity suites available in the market. 

The most pertinent question about how to be rid of “crapplications” is quite simple: “Why do we need mobile apps anyways?” The answer is quite simple too: Mobile Applications help users become more productive. How do you increase productivity? A skilled user ideally needs to have only a few tools at his/her disposal to perform the tasks efficiently and effectively. Thus the truly great app is almost like an extension of the user and the user hardly notices its existence. It seems the natural and arguably only way to carry out the assigned task or group of tasks assigned to the user. This is something that is often overlooked by developers and we end up with the same application with just a different packaging. In my view a truly great app is actually incapable of being replaced by a competitor and though we have already started on the quest, it might be sometime before we find the perfect app for our specific need.

The Possibility of Great Apps in the Future

The technology landscape is continuously changing and as the market evolves, newer apps are expected to be developed in line with the requirements of the users. The holy grail of mobile apps for the future would probably involve the user’s choices extensively in order to ensure that expectations are fulfilled in all cases and even surpassed in others. We have already started on this path mainly with respect to the open-source software market, where users freely contribute, share and discourse about changes that they can bring about in the existing coding to improve functionality, security, UI etc of the available apps/platforms.

In my opinion future mobile solutions whether closed source and open source would benefit from an increased customer insight. In consumer buying behavior, the client’s motivations for buying a product are often not quantifiable and referred to as a black box. Many mobile application development companies are realizing that the mobile apps market also follows the same principle. In such a situation, consumer surveys can only help to a certain extent, whereas, asking clients to contribute freely to the development process is sure to be a more effective way of reaching the goal – “development of a truly awesome mobile app”.