Microsoft - Vista this time 2007
Posted by: Chumpy on 12 June 2007
Although I absolutely love what MS XP etc has let me do on several PCs, I confess that after 4 months of furtive use that now I am on my main PCs using MS Vista.
Although VISTA has a few 3D whizzy things/although it is shit at sound-recording, it is great at MAIL security compared with alternatives.
It is overpriced/un-necessary/the side-bar gadgets are redundant junk.
Ready Boost is great.
Most incompatible programmes/installation CDs can be sorted by allowing MS Vista (online etc) to find best good drivers).
Midge Ure 'Vienna' ...
IMO XP (apart from 'Mail') was/is best MS OS.
Although VISTA has a few 3D whizzy things/although it is shit at sound-recording, it is great at MAIL security compared with alternatives.
It is overpriced/un-necessary/the side-bar gadgets are redundant junk.
Ready Boost is great.
Most incompatible programmes/installation CDs can be sorted by allowing MS Vista (online etc) to find best good drivers).
Midge Ure 'Vienna' ...
IMO XP (apart from 'Mail') was/is best MS OS.
Posted on: 12 June 2007 by Rasher
Problem lies with having to replace my PC on a fairly regular basis and I have no alternative but to get Vista with the new one (I need it to come ready to go). Are there any serious flaws still? Is it going to be a nightmare?
Posted on: 12 June 2007 by Sir Cycle Sexy
Rasher, specifically regarding sound Vista can trip up playing multiple audio streams (or running applications which provide multiple simultaneous audio processes) leading to distortion, dropped samples and a/v drifting out of synch.
Also most games now operate with only basic sound facilities and some are completely broken - games sporting OpenAL being the exception.
Get something fast and be willing to replace older peripherals. And don't despair, Vista's not bad but it requires developers to take some new approaches and this will take time.
The gory technical details (Mac users beware!) boil down to some necessary changes to improve overall system reliability largely involving barring third party software hooking into the kernel but this has meant new approaches to gaining the tight timing required by audio applications, specifically the new Wave RT miniport driver model but as this was developed very late on in Vista there's little third party adoption right now. OpenAL and ASIO still work as they always plumbed straight into the HAL.
There's a good deal of backward compatibility but it's mostly done under emulation. Specifically Direct Sound is emulated hence no hardware acceleration for gaming audio. The old kernel mixer seems also to have taken this approach which could be the cause of the multiple stream distortion hence my advice to buy something fast and not to rely instead on sound hardware acceleration.
Erm, I'll get me coat...
C
Also most games now operate with only basic sound facilities and some are completely broken - games sporting OpenAL being the exception.
Get something fast and be willing to replace older peripherals. And don't despair, Vista's not bad but it requires developers to take some new approaches and this will take time.
The gory technical details (Mac users beware!) boil down to some necessary changes to improve overall system reliability largely involving barring third party software hooking into the kernel but this has meant new approaches to gaining the tight timing required by audio applications, specifically the new Wave RT miniport driver model but as this was developed very late on in Vista there's little third party adoption right now. OpenAL and ASIO still work as they always plumbed straight into the HAL.
There's a good deal of backward compatibility but it's mostly done under emulation. Specifically Direct Sound is emulated hence no hardware acceleration for gaming audio. The old kernel mixer seems also to have taken this approach which could be the cause of the multiple stream distortion hence my advice to buy something fast and not to rely instead on sound hardware acceleration.
Erm, I'll get me coat...
C
Posted on: 12 June 2007 by Jim Lawson
Well said Sir Cycle. Nice to have knowledgeable response a good question.
Cheers
Jim
Cheers
Jim
Posted on: 13 June 2007 by Phil Barry
XP is still available on business PCs...Lenovo, HP, etc. - but not the consumer-level PCs.
Phil
Phil
Posted on: 15 June 2007 by Chillkram
I've been sent a free copy of Vista as an upgrade to my current XP Media Center. I haven't installed it yet as I was unsure whether it would be an improvement or whether many programmes would be compatible with it yet.
What do you guys think? Should I install it or leave it alone?
Mark
What do you guys think? Should I install it or leave it alone?
Mark
Posted on: 15 June 2007 by Phil Barry
Run the compatibility tool - http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/.../upgradeadvisor.mspx - what's the verdict?
Even if without a graphics engine that supports advanced graphics, I find Vista graphics to be clearer than XP's.
But I want 2 GB of RAM, fast CPU, fast HDD.
Regards.
Phil
Even if without a graphics engine that supports advanced graphics, I find Vista graphics to be clearer than XP's.
But I want 2 GB of RAM, fast CPU, fast HDD.
Regards.
Phil
Posted on: 16 June 2007 by Mike Hughes
My feelings on Vista are as they were on XP Pro. Wait 1-2 years and then all you need will be in place and the experience will be a pleasure.
Mike
Mike
Posted on: 16 June 2007 by GerryMcg
around 6 weeks ago the power supply on my laptop died a death and I replaced it with a compaq using Vista home premium. I much preferred vista and having experienced no issues with comtability I bought a vista home premium to install on my desk top machine (note bought from PC worlds business section for £65 - academics version!).
Again for the first week this was trouble free, however since then I have experienced many problems and on both machines, I now create manual restore points every 2 days as I frequently need to restore both machines to earlier configurations.
Problems I have experienced are:
Lost contact with desktop DVD player
Lost many utilities on my HP printer, this happened on both machines, however I was able to restore on my laptop but I could not find an early restore point on the desk top. and I have been unable to reload the software as uninstall programme will not remove the old software.
This problem re-occurs every week.
Could not get Excel 2007 to load on laptop- but managed to re-install.
I frequently lose contact with my Router/Modem both wirelessly and wired.
Frequently lose contact with the printer on desk top.
I believe most problems are due to driver issues, and would still not go back to XP due to the many advantages of Vista.
Gerry
Again for the first week this was trouble free, however since then I have experienced many problems and on both machines, I now create manual restore points every 2 days as I frequently need to restore both machines to earlier configurations.
Problems I have experienced are:
Lost contact with desktop DVD player
Lost many utilities on my HP printer, this happened on both machines, however I was able to restore on my laptop but I could not find an early restore point on the desk top. and I have been unable to reload the software as uninstall programme will not remove the old software.
This problem re-occurs every week.
Could not get Excel 2007 to load on laptop- but managed to re-install.
I frequently lose contact with my Router/Modem both wirelessly and wired.
Frequently lose contact with the printer on desk top.
I believe most problems are due to driver issues, and would still not go back to XP due to the many advantages of Vista.
Gerry