Windows Vista Beta 2 – Is Silence Really Golden?
 

I thought you might want to read my comments about Windows Vista Beta 2....

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It would appear that no native sound drivers exist in ether Windows Vista Beta 2 32 or 64 bit platforms. For the average user that installs Windows Vista Beta 2, all you are going to hear from this multi-media powerhouse is the sound of silence.

I have a Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 and I did download and try both the 32 bit and 64 bit drivers for Windows Vista, but they do not work with Beta 2. Finally I did get sound to work in the 32 bit Vista version after loading the Windows XP drivers, but they don’t really work properly. Any attempt to play a video or music file longer than two minutes finds the audio to first become distorted and later it just shuts down completely. I don’t recall a Windows Beta OS in the past that did not include any native audio driver support. A whole lot of changes must occur before Windows Vista will be worthy of even a release candidate version.

Here are the full details with my experience with Windows Vista Beta 2:

Computer Hardware Specs:

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ CPU
ASUS A8N-VM motherboard (built-in Sound, Network and Video are Disabled)
2 gigabytes of RAM
300 Gig Seagate PATA hard drive
NVIDIA (BFG Branded) 6600 GT OC w/128 megs of RAM video card
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Sound card
D-Link DFE-530TX+ PCI 10/100 Network Card
Memorex Dual Layer 16x DVD/CD Burner
1.44 meg 3.5” Floppy Drive

Present Partition Configuration:

4 Partitions Setup in Dual Boot between Windows Vista Beta 2 (HD0,0) and SuSE 10.1 Linux 64 bit (HD0,4). Partition 2 is a FAT32 Logical data storage volume and Partition 3 is a Linux Swap Partition.

Installed Version:

I am presently using Windows Vista Beta 2 32 bit version. I actually have loaded the 64 bit version twice and the 32 bit version once. The total load times on my PC for the two versions were:

Windows Vista Beta 2 32 bit load time – 40 plus minutes total
Windows Vista Beta 2 64 bit load time – 70 plus minutes total

Both versions did successfully load the first time. However, after being unable to get sound to work with the 64 bit version, I decided to try the 32 bit version. I have sound working now, but only because I have loaded the Windows XP driver which does not really work properly.

Windows Vista Beta 2 64 bit Problems:

1. I could not get sound to work even after loading the Creative Labs Windows Vista 64 Sound driver. I think the driver does not work because it was not intended for use with beta 2.
2. I did not get the networking to work until I went out and purchased a D-Link network card that included both Windows Vista and Linux networking.
3. When I tried to load the NVIDIA Video Driver, it failed to load and told me I was not running Windows Vista.
4. I downloaded and installed the CA eTrust free antivirus software but real time virus protection did not work.
5. After two loads of 64 bit and no sound I gave up on the 64 bit version.

Windows Vista Beta 32 bit Problems:

1. I could not get the Creative Labs Windows Vista Sound Driver to work and did not get sound until I loaded the Windows XP drivers. The XP drivers do not really work properly and sound becomes distorted after running for a couple of minutes and many times sound just stops working.
2. The D-Link 10/100 network card I purchased worked properly with the Vista 32 bit version as well as the 64 bit version.
3. The NVIDIA Windows Vista 32 bit video driver loaded properly and without a problem.
4. The CA eTrust antivirus software did load and appears to work properly.
5. When the selected screen saver kicks in, the computer just beeps and the monitor goes blank. The keyboard and mouse are unresponsive and you must hard reset the computer to gain computer operation.

Comments:

Of course we know this is beta software, but the present version is not really usable in any meaningful way and just a curiosity to look at and play with to see what the future of Windows holds for us all. Much more work is thusly required by Microsoft and hardware driver writers to get this product ready for shipment.

I shall continue to see what works and what does not work in Windows Vista Beta 2. I have ordered MS Office 2007 beta and will load it on top of Windows Vista. That should be interesting.

I can only say that the 64 bit version of Windows Vista Beta 2 does not even come close the operation of Linux 64 bit. Windows users might be seeing things in their rear view mirror that has Linux written on it.

James D McDaniel
Austin, Texas

I just got the discs for Vista Beta 2 and got the download of Office 2007. I too was curious about what Windows has in store for the future. There is a good chance that we will have some Vista machines at work in the near future and it helps to not be in the dark. I am going to put it on a spare box so I don't care if it crashes and burns, and is a pain in the neck. I saw listed that it was about a 15 gig install for the OS and that just blew away my curiosity. As soon as I receive my DVD drive for that machine I will be on my way.

I tried out Vista beta 2 32bit , and it lasted just 4 hours before being kicked out : 512 RAM weren't enough for the system with 4 open explorer windows!!! Got working sound, and graphics, but no networking (D-Link DWL-G122). Anyway, after 2 hours of use its fate had been decided, when the memory use climbed over 512 MB (having started at 400MB). 2 hours later it was at 600MB, and it went... Now I have a triple bootloader : LILO, WinVista command line loader, and WinXP loader.
Worth mentioning it destroyed access to linux (MBR overwriten). That to say, that I'm quite impatient to see the minimal config to run it, and to run games like Oblivion...

I have not attempted to use Vista yet, but from what I hear, the permissions confirmations (eg, "You are doing something that might not be safe, are you sure?") are a deal killer. Personally I don't plan on using Vista, unless it's required at the office

I'm not going to use Vista. I've already decided that from now on, I will use Linux (among other Unix-based systems) everywhere. I still keep a WinXP partition for games though. Games that won't run under XP won't matter for me. I'm a bit tired of games for PC too: Strategy, Shooter and Massive RPG's. Nothing new, nothing exciting except for the graphics. I'm going back to the old school gaming with emulators ^_^.

If in my working place Windows Vista is going to be used, then fine. Home, Windows is a no-no.

Windows Vista and Linux
 

Thanks for everyones comments. I know that many in the Linux community can not imagine having to use Windows Vista, but the reality is that it will effect everyone in one way or another. If you are a hard core gamer, you are going to need a dual boot machine to use all of the games that will not come out for Linux. Further, the work connection will tie most everyone in a year or two to a copy of Windows Vista. Since it is the number one operating system on the desktop, we can not ignore it, but rather attempt to use it to our advantage, if that is possible to do.

For me, I will buy the top of the line Windows Vista for home use when it comes out. I have several computers at home and it will be on one of them. However, I will no longer go out and buy five copies of Windows. Never, Never, Never again will I do that stupid thing! All other computers in my house will be running Linux. Anyone that uses Linux knows that all required functions; Web, Mail, and Document Creation can be done by any distribution of Linux and you can download it for free. At present I am using SuSE 10.1 64 bit Linux and I also intend on buying a single copy from Novell to help their cause and I think that $65 bucks delivered to my house is a bargain.

And speaking of 64 bit, Linux has really got the edge in that category at the moment in every way. I hope that some how, the Linux community can make a big deal about that and take advantage of it since Windows Vista will not be released for the common folk until next year. It is too bad that Novell stepped on their you know what with version 10.1 and the online updating feature and other things. I have my copy working like a champ now, but I had my doubts and even had to reload the OS a second time before all of the patches came out after messing it up trying to manually get updates to work.

I am so happy to have found Linux last year and mad at myself for sticking completely with Windows for so long. One thing is for sure, Linux will get better and better and Windows will have to do the same or it will die a terrible death. Competition is good for everyone and Linux is the first OS to give us a real race in a very long time.

Thank You,

James D. McDaniel

Good man! :D Though I myself wish I could Gens to work under Linux, thats the best Sega emu IMO, because of MegaDrive/SegaCD support, even though it also supports 32X, never really cared for it. I am still anxiously awaiting a non beta version of a 3DO emulator, but it seems that project has stalled. :( Other than that, I need to find a good NES emulator, ZSnes is perfect!

Oh my ^^ Another emu fan :). I've just managed to compile Gens on Ubuntu. I've tried to convert some .rpm to .deb and even found a .deb package for gens, but it still was crashing on me all the time. It took a while to build gens because of the dependencies but it is working perfectly now. If you need help, start a thread about compiling gens and I can help (or else we will go too off-topic here ^_^). This thread might be interesting for you as well:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=323771

Good luck!

EDIT: fceu is probably the best NES emulator available for Linux. Check the above thread I recommended for some tips ;)

I'll look into fceu, since I never heard of it. I come from the days of Nesticle, even though that project has been abandoned a long time ago, to me it was the best NES emulator, though only for win32.