RIGUY

I am so tired of all Adobe software! Argggg.
It is bloated software and constantly has ongoing updates. It is not even an operating system and I am pretty sure it has more security and patch or enhancement updates than even Microsoft or Linux systems! Anyway, I was in need of some printing to PDF.

What is “printing to PDF”? For those who do not know: certain PDF related software is used to literally add a printer icon to your workstation. This software is installed and an icon is set up in your Printers folder so that you can “print” to it. Except it has nothing to do with printing. It just outputs the file to a .PDF. You pick where to save it. Pretty cool.

I recently ran into a situation where I needed to print to PDF. The catch? The need was on a server. I did not realize that you cannot use Acrobat Reader in order to print to PDF on a Windows Server 2008 (R2) system. Adobe Forum elders make it clear this has something to do with Licensing terms. As this was a test database server, I was not going to put a full licensed version of Adobe on this server. Only absolutely required software should go on a server, even a test one. After all, servers are not toys. So, I had to go somewhere else, away from the Adobe machine.

I remembered from several years ago that I used a very useful freeware piece called BullZip software for this very task, albeit on a standard PC. So I typed in bullzip.com to research and sure enough, it is still there. There is other software offered as well. I cannot vouch for the other programs, but BullZip PDF Printer is top notch. Not only is it still there, but I installed it on the server, tested it, and it works great. The download site let me know this freeware also works on Windows 8 and Server 2012. It appears they are forward thinking. This tells me they will be around for a long time!

Use and Support BullZip!

If you are a Microsoft Hotmail user, then you will be seeing solicitations in your Inbox to upgrade to “Outlook.Com”. Basically, this is a new interface that streamlines some services, for example, SkyDrive, Calendar, Skype (coming soon). But really it is a harbinger of things to come or things that are already here: Windows 8.

If you have used Windows 8, as I have, then you will notice that Microsoft is merging the Metro styled interface across the board: on tablets, on PCs, on laptops, on phones, and …online.

Go directly to Microsoft’s Outlook site for any questions

I do not mean to seem like an AT&T advertisement, but this is a really good deal. It is a Windows based phone that costs 1 Cent. Here is the catch: it is refurbished. That should be pretty self explanatory, but if you are looking to get an essentially free Windows based phone, then this is the time. It is a web only offer, and of course, you need to sign up for a voice and data plan with AT&T.

Hey, it is at least worth investigating and comparison shopping.

AT&T Store for 1 Cent Phone

It looks like developers will are able to essentially save their custom built apps to the Cloud. This is intriguing for Developers across the Microsoft spectrum.

From ZDNet:

“One of the new development concepts introduced with Windows Phone 8 is compiling applications in the cloud. But what does this mean, exactly?
Among the hundred-plus developer sessions that Microsoft execs presented at the company’s Build 2012 conference (and which are now viewable for free by anyone, not just conference-goers) was one touching on Microsoft’s cloud-compilation strategy.
The Softies first mentioned intentions to provide compilation in the cloud in June 2012 — when Microsoft first opened up about some of the features coming in Windows Phone 8. Details were scarce, other than the fact that Microsoft, and not individual developers, was expected to be the one doing the compiling of apps once they were submitted for approval. Up until last week, Microsoft officials declined to say anything further about how cloud-compilation would work for Windows Phone.
(One thing we did know is that cloud compilation is/was part of Microsoft’s strategy to insure that existing Windows Phone 7.x apps work well on Windows Phone 8.)
There’s now more publicly available information. In addition to the aforementioned Build session, a new Microsoft Channel 9 “Going Deep” episode digs even further into cloud compilation, which Microsoft is advertising as enabling “really fast startup of Windows Phone 8 .Net apps.”

ZDNet Article

Microsoft Surface sales numbers higher than tought? Interesting opinion …

“If Microsoft’s tablet has a sales problem — and let’s strut that I-F again — distribution is the reason. The product isn’t overpriced or flawed. Microsoft only sells Surface through the company store; that’s online and (by my count) 66 retail shops. Sixty stores are in the continental United States, five in Canada and another in Puerto Rico. There are only a limited number of places anyone can buy the tablet, which limits how many the company can sell. What matters more is how many Microsoft sells per store. Pundits crying “fail” are nincompoops of the nth degree. If any of them bothered to look at Apple Store, they would understand.”

BeatNews Article

Regarding my previous post on the Lumia 920 freezing up, I have a coworker who has the latest HTC: same Windows 8 Phone OS. The HTC was chosen by him because it was slimmer and a bit lighter. Some would say it looks better. Personally, I prefer the beefier Lumia 920 and also I was used to the same sized 900, so he chose HTC and I chose Lumia 920.

He has actually had his phone for 2 weeks longer than I have had the Lumia 920. He has had absolutely no freezes at all. This is interesting, and leads me to believe the Lumia 920 screen freezing issue is more hardware related than OS related. It is not a major issue becasue a reboot should resolve. Hopefully, there will be a fix for it regardless. Of course, this is not very scientific, it is only anecdotal.

As stated, overall I love the Lumia 920. The AT&T cellular data is 4G and fast. The phone connections are reliable and the Windows Apps store is really starting to grow. I love the integration with Zune, SkyDrive and my Windows desktop. Also, software updates are very easy to accomplish when connecting the phone to the computer via USB.

I had a Windows Update installation failure that lasted 1-2 months. I never had time to really try to fix the issue. I did remove my ESET Anit Virus, but that did not help. The updates would cycle through (15%, etc), reboots would ensure, and all would look good. Then after a few minutes I would get a note from the updater that updates had failed. Sigh …

The updater offers a tool to fix this, but it did not work.

Try this, it worked for me. (instructions are per Microsoft):
“Click the Start button, type msconfig in the search box, and then click msconfig.exe. If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
On the General tab, remove the checks for “Load Select Services”; also, go into Services and remove the check for “Hide all Microsoft Services”. Then “Disable All”. Click OK, and then click Restart …
[After Reboot]
In the left pane, click Check for updates, and then wait while Windows looks for the latest updates for your computer.
If any updates are found, click Install updates.  If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
Once updates are installed, restart your computer. Click the Start button, type msconfig in the search box, and then click msconfig.exe.  If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
On the General tab, click Normal startup (also verify the Services are all enabled again), click OK, and then click Restart.
If you continue to see this error, see this automatic troubleshooter on the Microsoft Support website, or go to the Microsoft Answers website for more assistance.

Error codes this applies to:
WindowsUpdate_80071A90
0x80071A90″

These ASUS VivoTab units look real sharp. And they are now available for preorder, per this article.

“The $800 Asus VivoTab TF810C runs Windows 8 and features an 11.6-inch Super IPS+ screen set at 1366 x 768 resolution.”

This Windows 8 Laptop, as seen in this CNET Video review, looks stellar. It is a hybrid tablet and/or laptop. In other words you can put this system into Touch or Tablet mode, or just use it as a laptop. It is nice to have these options. Windows 8 is going hard for the new generation Tablet (Touch) market. And with this Microsoft and Lenovo combination, they have hit a “laptop” home run.

Good review of the Lenova IdeaPad Yoga