- On this episode of Ask Dan,
we're gonna be talking about the Lumia 950,
and is that camera still as good
as anything by Android today?
And what about Windows Core OS?
Will we see its tablet features come to Windows 10 Pro?
All that and more on this episode, stay tuned.
(upbeat music)
Will the tablet mode for Windows 10 Pro
or other existing SKUs benefit from the new shells
that Microsoft is developing?
Alright, so this is a really good question.
It's in reference to Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Home,
which you're using probably on your desktop or PC.
And how that relates to, say, Windows Core OS.
Now, one of the big complaints
about Windows 10 Pro and Home
has been the tablet experience.
It's just not that good.
I actually don't mind it too much,
but I understand the criticism,
especially when you compare it to what Windows 8 was like.
And so will we get a benefit from that?
There's no clear evidence right now that's going to happen.
Having said that, I wouldn't be surprised
if we start to see some shell changes
from Windows Core OS trickle down
to Windows 10 Pro or maybe even Windows 10 Home.
So maybe some of that stuff in tablet mode.
But just remember, the problem with Windows 10 Home
and Pro regarding shell and changes to it,
is the fact that it's so cumbersome and hard
because the code is so old compared
to what they're doing with Windows Core OS.
I think they'd rather put their more concentration
to Windows Core OS, which has more flexibility
and it can adapt to new devices,
rather than focusing on the old stuff,
which they can leave for desktop PCs and laptops.
But, we'll have to wait and see what Microsoft does,
but I wouldn't really bet on that too much.
I would instead count on new device experiences
with Windows Core OS, for the better tablet experience.
What privacy features do you expect
to be present in the new Microsoft Edge?
For context here, this question's regarding
how Edge is, right now, on Android and iOS.
If you've used it, you'll see there's
built-in Adblocker in there now,
as well as NewsGuard, which you can toggle on and off.
There's also automatic translation built in.
And so Microsoft's actually done quite a lot
for the Edge Browser, at least on the Android and iOS,
which is surprising, considering
it's not technically their own browser.
But they have brought a lot of features to it,
so will those features now trickle down to Anaheim,
what's now known as the Chromium browser version
that's coming to Windows 10?
Microsoft hasn't really specified what features
to expect in Anaheim, which will be out later this year.
But, yeah, I wouldn't be surprised
if what you see in iOS and Android,
will be translated over to the desktop and PC.
I think things like AdBlocker Plus,
NewsGuard, built-in translation,
and taking those most commonly used extensions
and building them right into the browser itself
as a shortcut for users,
I wouldn't be shocked at all if we see them do that,
but we'll have to wait to see what they say
at Build, if anything at all, regarding
what consumer features we should expect for this browser.
But, it shouldn't be too much longer.
Do you see Google or Apple giving Microsoft
a run for their money in the future
when it comes to gaming?
Alright, so it's no secret now that Google's
getting into gaming, specifically they're
gonna be doing their own streaming service
that uses their own technology
to provide mobile gaming to users.
Question is, will that compete
with Microsoft at some level?
I don't really think so.
Microsoft is more on the Sony level for consoles
and doing those big triple-A titles that we expect.
Although, Sony's still beating them there, as well.
But, no, Microsoft in gaming
is gonna be a very interesting story, I think.
Mostly 'cause of xCloud, which I think
part of the story relates to.
Now Google has their own technology they'll be using,
but Microsoft's gonna be able to sell their technology
to companies like Sony and Nintendo to license.
Microsoft's also been pushing Xbox Live
onto other platforms, so I wouldn't be surprised
to see say, Nintendo, iOS, and Android
with Xbox Live support coming soon.
Which would undercut, sort of,
what Google is trying to do here.
That's not to say Google won't see some success,
but we saw with NVIDIA SHIELD a couple years ago,
it was an attempt to also do this,
and it didn't really work out
and Steam Box didn't really work out either,
despite the success of Steam on desktop for PC,
so this is actually a really tough game to get into.
I don't blame Google trying to leverage
their own technology here.
They may have some success, but I don't think
Microsoft should be too worried here.
Is the camera on the Lumia 950/950 XL
comparable to the Note 9 shooter
or any other modern high-end smartphone?
Alright, I'm just answering this question
'cause I think it's kinda funny
that people are still using the Lumia 950,
and I don't really blame you.
It did have a lot good going for it,
and that camera was a strong point.
So the question is, image quality in the 950
as good as what's out there today?
I don't feel it is, personally.
I think it also depends on how you're shooting.
If you're just doing very still shots,
say, right now, the city behind us,
the Lumia 950 actually would do very well,
especially in this kind of scenery.
And, in that regard, actually probably would
compare well to sort of what the Pixel does and everything.
But that's not how most people uses the camera.
What the biggest innovations in camera today have been,
it's been the improvement over HDR,
also the speed at which the camera works.
And that's always been a sore point
with the Lumias, was how slow the camera was,
both for snapping the photo and processing.
And you don't get that as much
on Android anymore or the iPhone.
And so, when it comes to say, shooting your kids
or small animals or low nighttime shots,
unfortunately, Android's gonna absolutely
blow away the Lumias these days.
So it's not just about the still image quality,
it's about everything else around that, the experience.
And all that is absolutely blowing away
where the Lumia 950 was in 2015,
and that should be expected.
There's really not much technology in 2015
we're using today that's better than what we have today.
And that's no different here for the camera, either.
So if you're looking into getting
a new camera that's better,
I would still definitely jump to something like Android.
The Samsung does very well,
Huawei stuff does very well.
Even OnePlus and, of course, the Pixel 3.
How do you feel about Microsoft releasing products
with seemingly no expectations of mass market success,
specifically the Invoke, GLAS,
and recently Surface headphones?
I like this question a lot 'cause
it's actually kinda controversial.
So one thing about Satya Nadella supposedly
canceling everything, and all your favorite stuff
like Band and Windows Phone.
We've always said that those things
actually started under Ballmer, so he's only
actually canceled things that came
from the previous administration, if you will.
And that's fine, he's trying to wipe the slate clean,
he wants to start with stuff
that's only gonna be a success.
Meanwhile, things like Surface Studio have launched,
HoloLens have launched, a bunch
of new Surface categories have launched.
So those all came under Satya Nadella,
and those don't look to be being canceled.
But the things you point out,
like the Invoke and GLAS, and even the Surface Headphones,
don't feel like the kind of things
that are going to catch on,
especially that GLAS Thermostat,
which, you know, really haven't heard too much about.
And same thing with the Invoke speaker,
which seems more of a test platform for Cortana,
instead of a mass market device.
And no one is certainly released
another version of that out there.
So I wouldn't be surprised if those get canceled.
I'm also not really sure what
the purpose of those devices are.
Are they supposed to be mass market?
Are they more for research to get it out there
and collect data to see what they can improve upon?
So what are the expectations
from Microsoft for those devices?
I'm not really too sure.
But, it is an interesting thing to bring up
'cause if those do get canceled,
those do fall under Nadella, and that does
speak volumes about why those products
were launched in the first place.
Something I'll try to find out at Build,
coming up in May, but good questions.
We'll have to wait and find out, though.
Alright, so that does it for this episode.
Remember, if you have a question,
use #AskDanWindows on Twitter,
or leave me a comment below with your question there
and I'll try to answer them.
You can also send me an email at askdan@windowscentral.com.
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Thanks for watching, take care everyone.
Alright, um, what privacy features do you expect
to be present in the new Microsoft Edge like Adblocker
or Trackblocker or in private-
oh, that's too much, okay.
What privacy features do you expect
to be present in the new Microsoft Edge?