Newsletter Archives

• A brief history of Windows Settings

  Posted on March 10, 2025 at 02:45 CDT by Simon Bisson • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 22.10 • 2025-03-10

  WINDOWS 11

  

  By Simon Bisson

  The real story about the Windows Control Panel is a long and winding road that goes all the way back to DOS.

  Windows has always had a way of managing its settings. Right from its first version, it had a control panel that let you configure your installation. Today, it’s a collection of tools that have evolved considerably over the years from that first control panel, going from a simple applet with a handful of functions to today’s one-stop Settings shop for configuring everything Windows.

  That evolution has taken us through multiple designs and redesigns, from icon-based tools with buttons and sliders, to today’s text-first Web-like interface. It hasn’t been a smooth journey either, with Microsoft’s commitment to backward compatibility leaving you switching across different generations of Windows as you drill further down into settings dialogs.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (22.10.0, 2025-03-10).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Windows 11 AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS, Control Panel, CPL, Microsoft Management Console, MMC, Newsletters, Windows, Windows 1.0, Windows 10, Windows 10X, Windows 11, Windows 2.0, Windows 3.11, Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows XP

• How Xbox and Windows work together

  Posted on December 11, 2023 at 02:44 CST by Simon Bisson • Comment in the Forums

  WINDOWS

  

  By Simon Bisson

  Windows, Xbox, and the cloud are changing the shape of gaming. And maybe Windows itself.

  Microsoft’s Xbox gaming console is, at heart, a very specialized Windows PC built around a custom AMD processor and designed to be a living-room gaming and media platform. Because developers can use the same tools to build Xbox and Windows apps, it is as much a replacement for gaming capabilities of the discontinued Windows Media Center edition — with applications from most streaming providers, as it is a built-in Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) support.

  But there’s more to the relationship between the two platforms than that, with Microsoft starting to blur the boundaries between its two consumer platforms.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.50.0, 2023-12-11).

  Windows Cloud Gaming, Gaming, Newsletters, Remote Gaming, Stream Deck, Windows 10, Windows 11, Xbox

• Understanding Windows Subsystem for Android

  Posted on September 4, 2023 at 02:43 CDT by Simon Bisson • Comment in the Forums

  WINDOWS 11

  

  By Simon Bisson

  Fill the “app gap” by running Android applications on your PC.

  PC software is disappearing. Where there used to be full-featured desktop applications, there are now mobile apps and the Web. That’s a problem, especially when it comes to working with smart homes and financial services. We don’t always want to use a browser for devices such as doorbells and security cameras, and reaching for a phone to respond to an alert quickly takes you out of your flow.

  That all adds up to a growing app gap, with the PC rapidly left behind.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.36.0, 2023-09-04).

  Windows 11 Amazon Appstore, Android, Android Apps, Microsoft Store, Newsletters, Windows Subsystem for Android

• Why not?

  Posted on July 3, 2023 at 02:41 CDT by Simon Bisson • Comment in the Forums

  WINDOWS 11

  

  By Simon Bisson

  Every Windows update has been contentious, and I’ve seen a lot of them over the years.

  The question of whether to update always gets asked, and my answer has been much the same: “Yes, if your PC meets the requirements, go ahead and update.”

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.27.0, 2023-07-03).

  Windows 11 lifecycle, Newsletters, Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows end of life

• Getting started with winget

  Posted on May 22, 2023 at 02:45 CDT by Simon Bisson • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 20.21 • 2023-05-22

  WINDOWS

  

  By Simon Bisson

  If you’ve used Linux, you’ll be familiar with package managers such as Debian’s apt and Red Hat’s yum.

  They keep track of what’s installed on your computer — downloading updates and installing new software, managing dependencies so you always have the right libraries for your code. Drop into your command line, type a few keystrokes, and you’re automatically up to date.

  Windows hasn’t really had the same design philosophy.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.21.0, 2023-05-22).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Windows 10 App Management, Deployment, Newsletters, Windows, winget