Also, no known useful software works on Windows 10 S either. Quite the tradeoff.

Before you scoff at this as random trolling, think about what the odds are that Adobe, Autocad, and any real software packages are going to take a 30% haircut required by the MS store to run on this turkey. Sure MS programs will be there but Steam worn't be, nor will much else useful other than a sub-section of Windows Phone apps.

But no malware as of today will run. They said the same thing about Windows 8.x upon release. And Windows 7, and.....

Why is Windows 10 considered an upgrade to anything save, oh, Bob or GEM?

Luckily he won't have to. The latest diff patch slated for April 1 should fix over 72% of those. It weighs in at a mere 73GB and is considered essential by Microsoft because an exec's husband wrote portions of it for the Bob project. Awfully caring of Microsoft to help out users like that.

There is one real up side to this. Microsoft as you know only puts out small, efficient updates in the minimal needed package sizes. This should be great comfort to users on metered connections, they are only being lovingly graced with the minimum needed amount of bytes. Can you imagine if Microsoft was one of those companies that pushed out near-daily 100+MB behemoths to update a spelling error in notepad's FAQ? Luckily they don't do this, and we all win!

                    -Charlie

Note: Yes this is sarcasm. If you didn't get that by the 19th word, go play with some tiles.

Yup, checked in on it, you are dead on.

                -Charlie

The cables have an ID chip in them that will specify their rating as to amps and voltage, plus a few other things. If you read my USB-PD story linked above, you will get the details. In short both ends start at the USB base and negotiate up their capabilities for voltage and amperage for send, receive, or both. They will do this within the bounds of the cable connecting them, and while both sides have limited capabilities to sense the cable properties, they really depend on the USB-PD ID chip.

This ID chip is of course counterfeit-proof, something we know that low end manufacturers are not capable of cloning or getting around in, oh, say, 12 seconds. So in short DO NOT BUY CHEAP/NO-NAME USB-PD CABLES FROM EVEN A POSSIBLY QUESTIONABLE SOURCE. Amazon, I am looking at you. Really. 100W = big fire quickly.

            -Charlie

Basically yes, but not necessarily operating the phone circuit at optimal efficiency. I think it is engineered to charge the battery as quickly as possible while minimizing damage/degradation to the cells. The charger circuitry efficiency is a big concern too, but secondary to preserving the cell life. That said this problem is optimization on a dozen axis or more, not just A vs B.

              -Charlie

The GN7 used QC2 from what I understand, likely because of their decision to split the GS7's SoC between QC and Samsung parts. I know that the phone version used QC2 because of lowest common denominator support and I am fairly sure that carried over to the Note.

That said the problem with the GN7's fires was not a battery defect but a manufacturing/assembly problem where the batteries were physically damaged and 'crimped' to the point where they internally shorted. I should be talking to someone today who probably knows if the QC-like tech has the ability to detect and stop this. I doubt it, but I am going to ask anyway.

                  -Charlie

Yes. First see what the guy below said (currently ranked 0 but worth a read), and then there is the responsiveness. USB-PD doesn't have the granularity and speed to deliver power in a way that won't hurt the battery. It can't shift quickly enough of finely enough to avoid hurting the battery. Could you do the same with USB-PD? Eventually yes, but it is really designed for charging laptops and powering big monitors, not for careful charging of mobile devices.

As was said below, you effectively have to dissipate the pressure of the firehose from USB-PD, QC3 and possibly others allow you to modify the inputs to your requirements from the source. This allows you to both match your input requirements precisely and to avoid generating heat at the source (charger) rather than on the device itself. Heat is REALLY bad for battery life, that alone makes schemes like QC3 worth it.

              -Charlie

Think about who makes these phones. I have been in meetings where the OEM/ODM on the other side of the table looked at me and said, "that would add $.14/1000 units, totally out of the question". Don't hold your breath.

              -Charlie

Both are fine but they don't actually address what QC3 does, they just deliver more juice. QC3 will change voltage in 200mV increments on the fly, allow 2 chargers for lower temps and better heat distribution, and actively monitor the battery for conditions which degrade life. There is a lot more to it, but pushing more wattage through USB-PD is REALLY BAD FOR BATTERY LIFE. I wrote up some pretty in-depth articles on both USB-PD and QC3 lined below if you care.

This is the long way of saying what Google is asking for is idiotic. If you look at the size of modern batteries and the rate at which USB-C can deliver power, we are bordering on all-night charges already. If you up the delivered power via PD, you will not meet the 500 charge minimum life carriers demand thus not sell any phones. Worse yet that number is about to go to 800 really soon if it is not already there. Plus you will have people pissed off that their phone is drawing more current than the charger is supplying while plugged in and being used.

In short I question Google's sanity on this one. I am asking around to see what the official take on this is from involved parties, but I suspect the original article's take is way off base. I won't say why yet, I like to know before I mouth off publicly.

              -Charlie

http://semiaccurate.com/2012/0...

http://semiaccurate.com/2015/0...

Dell has some pretty spiffy laptops with Linux pre-installed, up to date ans supported drivers and the rest. They also sell Steamboxes.

You should check again and filter by SteamOS/Linux. Then sort by cost, you will see a fair number of triple A games there. Sure a lot are missing but my last check had over 1000 games available. If you don't NEED game-of-the-moment-X, there is plenty there to keep you happy for years.

              -Charlie

Given their attitude, horrific user 'support', painful and extortionist pricing, repeatedly screwing over of entire platforms, and other customer indignities, I am Beyond caring about them. The world has moved on, no one cares about this dying platform any more.

While I was slightly interested in new updates, the fact that they removed the two features that would be useful to me on the builds I need shattered that faint hope. I should have known better than to expect functionality much less quality from Adobe. All this seems to be is that someone figured out it was less work, and therefore cheaper, to keep up with Linux builds than to update a years old code base that no one remembers how to patch. It isn't largesse, it is CYA on security

I would say I told you so, but when they announced a pullback on platforms ~4-5 years ago I did tell them so. All my friends there laughed and said I didn't have a clue. Within six months they had all quit. Within 2 years, Flash was walking dead, everyone with a stake in the market had solidified the alternatives and it was just a matter of time. Now they are trying to spin cost savings as a step in the right direction. The corpse is rotting but still managing to do PR, let it die the lonely death it deservers. Nothing to see here, move along.

Step 6 feet under.