The Knowledge...
If youwantyournewlaptoptogetnoticed,
looknofurther:theMSIPrestige 14 is about
aspinkasit gets.It maybesaccharine-
sweet,butit’snoslouchintheperformance
department,witha 10th-generationInteli
processorinsideaswellasa slimlineand
powerfulgraphicscard.Naturally,thatsort
ofmusclemeansit won’tbecheap(we’d
expectthebasemodeltostartaround
£1,000)but,shortofa spray-paintsession,
it’stheonlywaytogothispink.
Is Windows 10 about to
get a whole new look?
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P
reparetowavegoodbyeto
Windows10’sLiveTiles.The
animatedicons,showingoff
thecurrentweatherand
flashingupthelatestnews
whenyouclicktheStartbutton,have
beenaniconicWindowsfeatureformany
years.Theyactuallystartedasa partof
WindowsPhone7 andwerecoreto
Windows8 which,initsearlydays,didn’t
havea Startmenuatall– justa big,
brashpagefullof
LiveTiles,meantto
beperfectlysuited
totouchscreen
devicesaswellas
traditionalPCs.
Microsofthassincemoveditsfocus
awayfromthephoneandreconsidered
itsdesignchoicessomewhat.The
companyhasn’tupdateditsLiveTilesin
recenteditions,andsomehaveeven
stoppedworkingaltogether;clickthe
StartbuttononyourWindows 10 PC
andlook,forinstance,atwhetherthe
Weathericonis actuallyshowingyou
somethingrelevant.Microsoftinsiders
arenowsuggestingthatthe‘live’aspect
willbedroppedaltogetheraroundthe
beginningofnextyear,replacingthose
spotsnowreservedforLiveTileswith
staticicons.
Butit maybemorethanjustthat.
LookingatWindows 10 X,theWindows
versionbeingdevelopedforthenext
generationoftouchscreendevices,
revealsa radicallydifferentandfarmore
simplifiedStartmenu,oncewhichmay
bea signofthings
tocome.Microsoft
hasalreadybeen
testingnewicons
forthosetrialling
futureversionsof
Windows10,soanupdatedlookis
clearlyonthecards.Wewouldnot
betheleastbitsurprisedtoseea
completelyrevisedStartmenulanding
soonerratherthanlater– though
Microsoftmaychoosetoemployan
iterativeredesigninordertoensure
thatusersdon’tfeelalienatedor
confusedwhena bigfeatureof
Windowschangesovernight.Microsoft drops one of Windows’ most iconic
features – could this lead to a much bigger overhaul?
Flywheel
Is this an exercise bike?
It is an exercise bike. A smart one, capable
of linking you to group riding sessions,
and interactive training. Or, at least, it was.There must be a good reason you’re
talking about an exercise bike.
Don’t worry, there is: following a losing
patent dispute with rival smart bike
manufacturer Peloton, in which it was
forced to admit copying the company’s
sensor-based training and competitive
leaderboard system, Flywheel opted to
completely shut down its home bike
operation, effectively cutting off training
for all users who couldn’t make it to a
gym. A fully functional smart device
turned, in an instant, into a dumb one.That’s pretty bad.
It’s not even the end of it. Users didn’t just
wake up one day to find their bike a brick
– they woke up to an email not from
Flywheel but from Peloton in their inbox,
imploring them to trade in their
equipment for a Peloton bike as a
replacement. Unless they picked up their
(expensive) Flywheel bike on finance, that
is – those cyclists were left high and dry.Thank goodness this doesn’t affect me.
That’s not really the message here:
whether you have an exercise bike or not,
the fact is that services, software licenses,
device updates and the like are nebulous.
If a company decides (or is forced to
decide) that it is no longer going to
provide something, that’s it. There’s
nothing you can do. If one day you’ve paid
hundreds for an expensive device, and the
next day that device no longer works,
you’re out of pocket.What can I do about it?
The Flywheel case is, thankfully, a rather
rare example. But it’s important to be
aware that in the modern world nothing is
forever – at some point, you’ll have to
upgrade, switch, or take a different path.BRIGHT SPARK The Prestige 14’s screen is
delightfully bright and rich in contrast.SLIM AND SLEEK It’s ultra thin, ultra light, and
carries far cleaner lines than many competitors.MAXIMUM COMFORT Open the lid, and the back
props itself up to make typing more pleasurable.
TICKLED PINK
“Prepare to wave
goodbye to Windows
10’s animated Live Tiles”
Discover
Are Live Tiles for the chop?
April 2020 | |^7