Official Vista Thread

[VEGETA]

since we got lots of Vista things going around, lets make a thread where links can be posted and where we can discuss things.

One that just came up which is kind of funny and in all Honesty I don't think M$ saw coming is the following

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=416

Basicly M$ Vista has a speech control system, meaning you can talk to the system to tell it what to do and such. In all honesty I never knew about this but it is a interesting feature. but a issue is coming up where sound clips from say a web site was being heard by the system as the mic picked up the sound form speakers and ended up implementing some command. Talk about a fun way to screw with someone. I don;'t blame M$ for this, but it could be a issue that needs to be addressed some how. computer virus literally telling this system to e mail people at 3 am could be annoying.

now what is teh equivlent of rm -rf / in windows

[Gator]

That's funny.

I just installed an OEM version of Vista Home Premium on our 3rd computer (didn't want to take the leap yet on anything important).

Successfully installed on ASUS SK8V/Opteron 148/X800/Audigy2.

Vista had no trouble with the X800. It did not like my DLink wireless card. It did not like my onboard LAN either -- had to go get drivers manually.

initial feedback:
1) UAC - User Access Control. Annoying feature that you can easily disable. Would be useful to prevent children/novices from doing something stupid, but is just annoying to an "expert" who is changing configurations, etc. This was the first thing I disabled. May re-enable after initial setup phase.

2) "Malware" removal feature. Veg, this is the one you were railing against in another thread. Are you familiar with WinXP Firewall? It's just like that -- you can just turn it off. I've left it on for now. In fact, it's just another section of the "security center" or whatever it's called where it tells you if you have a firewall, AV, etc. Now it also notifies you if UAC is enabled or if the malware filter is active. In fact, recall when windows xp shipped and there was all the brouhaha about how the "defaults" we set with the firewall off and when they went to sp2 they changed it to the default was on? Well, I see this the same way except they learned the lesson and made the malware filter default to on ... this is probably best for all the moms/pops who buy their vista pc from best buy or whatnot.

Any other questions/issues you'd like investigated? Let me know and I'll test it.

[Buffalo Six]

will it shovel my driveway?

[Gator]

perhaps

[Hammer]

if you talk to it... ;)

or if i put a soundbite on the forums that plays when you open it:

computer, format c:
<pause 2 seconds><pop up> this will destroy all exisiting data on drive c:, are you sure?
yes

[BlackHawk*K]

the Trial of vista i downloaded i liked pretty well. the games seemed to run smoother and looked a bit better ( on a 6800 GT card ) the only problems i had was some older PCI cards i have installed, one a older Wifi card and my TV card. the XP drivers worked ok on the wifi card. but it doesnt even recognize the TV card. but thats ok. its old anyhow. other then that it seemed to run smooth. when i was having problems with NWN2, i would switch over to vista and the game ran smooth. not sure what the difference was though. i just simply dont have the expertise or the paitience to dig into the nitty gritty to find the why's of it.

i might consider upgrading to vista after my trial. if and when either the hardware requires it, or i find a game that interests me enough to consider it. ( maybe in a year or two? )

the only thing i didnt like about vista realy, is simply the changed layout of things like IE etc. i have to go hunting around to find some things i used to know where it was at. but thats just relearning stuff like going from win98 to melinium to win2k to xp etc.

( next time i got ot find the spot to disable the UAC though lol )

[VEGETA]

Ok got some fun links for your viewing plesure

http://www.neowin.net/index.php?act=view&id=37734
the Vista Family discount package which is a group key idea, apparently the keys are invalid for most if not all. It sounds like a goof in the keys shipped with them but hey, still got to suck. So dose not sound like a issue with Vista itself but still related, so until this is fixed DON't get a family pack


http://www.computerworld.com/action/art ... Id=9009961

This one talks about the lack of "I have to get Vista because of X feature". Even I am surprised at how few people are excited Vista is here. It relay has nothing thats really GREAT and a must have or any compelling reason to upgrade. We may be forced to it as gamers in the end (direct X 10) but most of us would not just jump to get it as it relay has nothing new. XP for example, had some remarkable features over win2000 and 98 (we ignore me as it never happened). but with al other windows versions even including XP people where excited, lots of positive press and such, but this time, there is just no excitement.

[Gator]

i think most would acknowledge that Vista will get into people's homes when they buy new PCs which is hurt by the fact that MS couldn't ship before the holiday shopping season. I wouldn't expect most average users to go out and buy the upgrade. Enthusiasts, perhaps, but not the average.

[VEGETA]

thats the funny part, unlike say 95,98, 2000 and xp, even Enthusiasts are not jumping up and down to get vista and install it yet. I remember when XP hit, I had at least 5 different people ask to help install it, this time they have all said, nope I am happy with XP, no need to upgrade. And thats just it, M$ has failed to make Vista something you just want to have. In the end we will ALL run it at one point or another, but none are running for that point.

[PanzerMeyer]

I just saw this online. Interesting stuff about Vista and PC gaming....


MS on Vista Game Compatibility

Windows Vista and Games on Gamerscore Blog offers a statement from Games for Windows director Rich Wickham about compatibility issues being reported from those trying to play certain games under Windows Vista

Word is:
Some of you may have heard about some incompatibilities with games running on Windows Vista. I’d like to clear up some misconceptions.

With any launch of a platform of this magnitude there will be growing pains. A large part of our development time was spent ensuring game compatibility on Windows Vista, and we’ve tested over 1000 games so far. The vast majority of games work great on Windows Vista. Obviously we haven’t been able to test every single game that exists, but we will continue to work on ensuring all your favorite games will work with Windows Vista.

We're not the only ones who are excited about gaming improvements in Windows Vista. Developers and publishers, like Electronic Arts, PopCap Games, Vivendi Universal, THQ, Slam Games, WildTangent and others have taken the SDKs and information we’ve shared with them over the years and are delivering great games experiences on Windows Vista. Clearly folks see the value and opportunity in supporting Windows Vista, and we’re thrilled to see their games take advantage of great features like the games explorer, Direct X10 and parental controls.

Let's talk about parental controls for a second. For the first time, people now have easy to use tools to monitor and control what happens on their computers. Using these controls are optional, so you can choose to block specific content (including unrated or specific game titles), or not. The choice is yours, and that’s the way it should be!

Parental controls are just one part of the improved security in Windows Vista. You will be notified when a program attempts an installation on your system, so you will have the choice to block it, or accept it. By being given a choice, you will have a larger say in the overall health and performance of your system.

So, here’s the party line: “Windows Vista offers gamers, from core enthusiasts to casual game players, the safest, easiest, and most fun experiences of any platform.â€

[Gator]

veg, I have to say this: If they were enthusiasts, they wouldn't have asked for nor needed help with XP ;)

as to compatibility issues with games on vista: the problem is more than likely the use of beta drivers for video and audio hardware since most of those vendors STILL haven't issued stable drivers.

[VEGETA]

Gator man, you would be surprised on how many people want the latest and greatest and relay have no clue what its good for, how to use it and da da da. I have seen many of these kind of people jump at new OS systems, but this time just don't seam like anyone is excited.

This seams like its one of those things that in the end most will have, but no one is rushing to get. I am still waiting for some bugs to be reposted, and some virus to be made to remove programs that takes advantage of MS own built in programs

[Hammer]

i bought two laptops from dell yesterday, and can only get Vista now. no more XP.

[PanzerMeyer]

i bought two laptops from dell yesterday, and can only get Vista now. no more XP.

Wow, Microsoft can even twist Dell's arm quite well!

[Buffalo Six]

GREAT!....now extract the dx10 stuff and put it in the file server =)

[Falker]

Windows XP vs. Vista:

The Benchmark Rundown



January 29, 2007

Our Windows Vista coverage began with a hands-on diary by MobilityGuru's Barry Gerber, followed by an assessment on gameplay under Windows Vista by graphics presidente Darren Polkowski, as well as a complete feature rundown of Vista. Barry took the new operating system and its look & feel with a grain of salt, while Darren was disappointed because OpenGL support was dropped along the way, meaning that Windows Vista currently offers horrible performance for graphics applications utilizing the Open Graphics Library.

We are sure that mainstream users will appreciate the improved usability of Windows Vista, and the average office/multimedia user will likely never notice the lack of OpenGL. However, a chapter on the overall performance of Windows Vista requires more dedication. In particular, two things require an in-depth analysis:


Basic Windows Vista Performance
How does Windows Vista perform compared to Windows XP? Will applications execute equally quickly, or will they even run slower due to the new features and the AeroGlass interface?


Windows Vista Performance Enhancements
With SuperFetch and ReadyBoost, Windows Vista introduces two features to make use of today's technology in order to improve the user experience. This means that more application data should be actively cached into all available memory (SuperFetch), whether that is physical RAM or a USB Flash memory device (ReadyBoost). Microsoft's goal was to create balanced performance by removing delays in everyday work.



This article deals with basic application execution under Windows Vista Enterprise, which is representative of the other editions. We put together a high-end test system and performed a comprehensive benchmark session both with Windows XP Professional and with Windows Vista Enterprise to see if there are differences. And indeed, we found that there are some...


Software And Vista
Although the main Windows Vista core has undergone lot of modifications, many of your applications will work with Vista. There is, however, no guarantee. You should definitely try any essential software on Windows before you upgrade.

Process scheduling and thread pooling have been improved in Vista; a deadlock protection mechanism and hardware partitioning for virtualization support were added, together with many more features.

We tried lots of different programs under Windows Vista Enterprise, and came up with a list of software that definitely works.

Games•

Call of Duty 2
• Far Cry
• F.E.A.R.
• Unreal Tournament 2004
Applications
• Adobe Acrobat 8
• Adobe Photoshop CS2
• Autodesk 3DSMax 8.0
• AutoGK 2.4
• Hamachi
• KeePass 1.06
• LAME MP3 Encoder
• MainConcept H.264 Encoder
• Miranda Messager 0.5.1
• Microsoft Office 2003
• Microsoft Office System 2007
• Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.1
• Mozilla Thunderbird 1.5.0.9
• Nokia PC Suite 6.82.22.0
• Ogg Vorbis 1.1.2
• OpenOffice 2.1
• Picasa 2
• Putty
• Skype 2.5.x and 3.0
• SmartFTP 2.0
• Sungard Adaptive Credit Risk Calculation 3.0
• SonyEricsson PC Suite 1.30.82
• SQLyog 5.22
• Symantec AntiVirus 10.2.0.224
• UltraEdit 32 12.10
• WinRAR 3.70
• XviD 1.2.0
Benchmarks
• 3DMark 06
• Cinebench
• PCMark05 Pro
• SiSoft Sandra 2007
• SPECviewperf 9.03


In other cases there were some issues.

We found Vista updates for the Futuremark benchmark programs 3DMark and PCMark, as well as the popular data compression tool WinRAR. Lots of video-related software such as DivX could no longer be installed; new versions are required. The popular audio player WinAMP 5.32 throws up an error at startup, yet it works properly. Quake IV can still be executed, but the installation program did not work. Applications that run their own memory management won't benefit from Vista's SuperFetch function. For example, Adobe Photoshop takes care of creating a temporary work file every time it launches - Vista has no access to this process and cannot speed it up.

There are some types of software that you should only use if they have been specifically designed for Windows Vista: firewalls, anti-spyware and anti-virus software needs to be Vista-Ready.

Source

[VEGETA]

Ok new article

http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:%20/20 ... n-slammed/

Basically it shows that the virus software developed by M$ called Live OneCare did not make the VB100 Certification. Basically means it snot as good as it should be for finding and removing viruses. Now they are not the only one to fail this testing, so did several others including McAfee's VirusScan Enterprise, G DATA's AntiVirusKit 2007, and Norman's VirusControl. Considering how many delays there where in vista, you would think these guys had the time to get it right. that being said, I know for Vista M$ was not helping virus scanner company's at all as they where pushing there own software, so they at least get a excuse. But M$ itself should have at least got it as hey they can even look at the source code if needed to get it right.

What dose this mean, well simple, the virus scanners for Vista are not up to par of what they should be. This will change but its another reason to at least delay for now for getting Vista.

[VEGETA]

Another article, this one about drivers.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070206-8784.html

Basically people are ticked that NVIDIA drivers for vista are not up to par. Some even want a lawsuit, and there is a website to that effect. Sue because you can't game under Vista, great idea really (note scarscasum). Now that being said, this is common when a New OS hits, for example Win XP. Took a few months for the drivers to get up to par. M$ is not always the most helpful out there for this kind of thing, but thye do help as no drivers for vista means vista is useless. but this is just the breaking in the new system as developers get use to vista, so its just because Vista is new. This will be solved in the end, but its one reason in general why you don't just rush out and get a New os the moment it comes out, Especially gamers.

[VEGETA]

http://computerworld.com/action/article ... rc=hm_list

Ok this one relates to us, basically about issues with games under vista even tho Vista was ment to be backwards compatible with win xp and direct x9. Now even I am going to toss vista a life line here and agree that right now the video drivers are just not up to par yet and that is not relay vistas fault. But it still a reason to avoid vista any time soon for a gaming pc.

[VEGETA]

Ok I know atleast one person did instal vista on a non priority pc. figured this would be helpful

http://www.radarsync.com/vista/

List of drivers for vista. With all new OS, drivers always a pain, hope this helps.