Windows 7 is still with us and when I just looked at the number of available copies from a distributor, I discovered that you can still get both the 32 and 64 bit version of Windows 7 Professional (3500 copies) with a list price of $169 but none of the Windows 7 Home version.

Windows 10, on the other hand, is available in both 32 and 64 bit versions and lists for $129 for the Home version and $179 for the Pro version. This is what it will cost you to get it for a new computer when you do just consider that the $299 computer you are buying with Windows 10 already installed on in must have only about $200 worth of parts in it. No wonder they only come with a 90 day warranty. You do get what you pay for. I have talked before about if you should upgrade your current machine and will repeat again, if it is a fairly new computer (less than 2 years old), you might go ahead and do it but for older machines still running Windows 7, don’t bother, you may find that you are missing drivers that are just not available for the older hardware.

Blocking Windows 10 from upgrading your computer is also getting to be quite the sport as I have heard from several people that tell me that the Windows 10 update started without them telling it to. There are several articles on the web telling you how to block it and if you are not going to upgrade to Windows 10 on the computer you have, then you better start doing it. See the Tech Republic Article. And, just so that you know, if you do upgrade to Windows 10 on your computer and need to replace it very soon, you can’t take it with you.

At CES this year, (the show formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show) I received one of the newest Huawei Mate 8 smartphones. So far, it has not been released in the USA for sale but after using it for four months can easily say I like the phones features and power. Great battery life, super camera with a pro style interface, and the size with a six inch screen is great to use and type on.  What I don’t like is the Huawei EMUI user shell that sits over the Android operating system. It gets in the way and while it is gives the phone an IOS look and feel, it just doesn’t quite cut it. And partly because of the difficulty I had setting up and then removing the calendar and contacts from the iPhone to Outlook on my computer, I still haven’t accomplished the synchronization of Outlook with the phone mostly because I am hoping that Huawei updates the EMUI to work better. Unfortunately, their technical support page on their website is abysmal though I am amazed to see they now have live chat available but was not too helpful for my phone as it is not yet released. Will try again next time.