Vista RC1/5728 Review
For those in the dark, Windows Vista is Microsoft's next operating system, touted as 'The Next Big Thing ™'.
So whats new/improved over Windows XP you ask?
- Security - Updates to the Security Control Center include User Account Control (UAC), Windows Defender (Malware) and the Windows Firewall
- Search and organisation - without a doubt, the new search is one of the 'big' things in Vista. Its faster, its more successful, its more intergrated…its just better
- Internet Explorer 7 - not Vista exclusive, but will ship with Vista
- Sidebar/Gadgets - Similar to Apple OS X's dashboard/widget system, possibly one of the worst features of Vista
- Performance - ReadyBoost and ReadyDrive are set to take advantage of USB memory to 'upgrade' your computer
- Visuals - Aero is the new desktop rendering system (more on it below)
- Direct X 10 - Vista only, offers some neat visuals, but no hardware/games are out for it yet
..and thats just the beginning
RC1 (Release Candidate One) was released a little while ago, which was available for 'anybody' to download and install.
The Bad
Surely I should start with The Good? No, The Bad is whats going to decide if you will change from your current OS.
Application support
Unfortunately, there are many of your existing applications that simply just don't function under Vista.
The majority of things that don't work are 'utilities', rather than general use applications, but its still annoying.
Some of my utilities that don't work:
- Partition Magic
- AntiVirus - some do, most don't. "Vista specific" versions are needed in nearly all cases
- Nero - yes, thats right, just how various versions didn't work in WinXP, Nero is broken again
- Daemon Tools/Alchohol 120%/VirtualCloneDVD (in build 5728)
- FRAPS
Drivers/Driver performance
Windows XP has been around for a long time, since 2001 infact, which means a lot of devices over the last 5 years have great Windows XP drivers.
However, not all drivers work on Vista.
Audio is a big problem
Creative drivers are only in beta, and they are dropping certain models (SB Live!)
My RealTek AC'97 performs poorly, with no SPDIF output in certain driver versions (and when I had SPDIF, I had crackling!)
Video cards now use the 'Windows Display Driver Model' (WDDM), which has its ups ('crashing' isn't a big thing now, it simply 'reboots' the graphics portion, and your system stays online) and downs (performance)
Display drivers take huge performance hits in Vista, which in turn greatly effects games.
You can expect 50%->100% of the performance of WinXP, with the 'average' being about 75%.
Often, this is all that is needed to change a game from playable, to jerky as hell.
There are also other problems associated with it, in certain games, objects may not appear (Settlers II - 10th Anniversary, enable PostFX, and all of a sudden, you have no buildings), or render incorrectly, etc.
Is this Microsoft's problem?
Yes. And no.
Its their problem because their operating system performs poorly because of their new display model, and its not entirely their fault, because its up to the graphics card makers (nVidia/ATI/Intel) to get their drivers 'up-to-scratch'.
I believe ATI is the current 'king' of drivers in Windows Vista, theirs at least has WHQL Certification, unlike nVidia.
This seems nearly unbelievable, when nVidia has long been known as having the 'best' drivers (less bugs, more support on other OS's etc).
As of 2006-09-29, nVidia's drivers are far from being adequate. They exhibit large performance hits, and still have compatibility problems
Gaming
I only have a 7600GT and a 7800GT to test on Vista, so I can't say the same for ATI's drivers, but as mentioned before, performance is a bit hit and miss.
Below is a list of games I've tried under Vista. I haven't benchmarked them in XP, and I'm not dual booting, so unfortuantely, I can't give the numerical differences.
Games with minimum performance hit
- Unreal Tournament 2004 (Windowed) depends on the 'mode'. Full-screen DX/DX9 'unplayable', but windowed (even if in fullscreen resolutions) are fine. OpenGL renderer is fine in either mode.
- Savage: Battle for Newerth
- Quake 4
- Call of Juarez
- Guild Wars (Windowed)
- Company of Heroes (Demo)
- Civilization 4 (+ Warlords Expansion)
Games that are unplayable
- Call of Duty 2
- Guild Wars (Fullscreen) frame rates are fine, except you can't see it because of the glitches.
- Unreal Tournament 2004 (Fullscreen + DX)
Start Menu
Yes, they've changed the Start Menu again.
Instead of a 'All Programs' folding out like it used to, it 'replaces' the most recently used list
The Good
Aero
Aero? Doesn't sound too descriptive.
Aero is the new graphical interface/visual style in Vista.
Apple's OS X is pretty, most people will admit that. How is it so fast and pretty at the same time? It uses the graphics card to power the interface.
Vista follows in the footsteps of OSX, and offloads the user interface to the video card.
Pro's
- Pretty interface/visual effects - animations, transparencies
- Free's up the CPU/System RAM
- Proper Antialiasing available on fonts
Con's
- Steeper hardware requirements (although if you don't meet Aero's requirements, it'll revert to AeroBasic, which uses the CPU ala every other version of Windows)
- Higher power consumption (maybe, I'm not sure on this one)
The hardware requirements aren't really all that much - any system bought within the last two -> three years should be able to power it (providing there is a semi decent video card).
Flip3D (screenshot) is much like Exposé, except less useable. Think of the standard application switch dialog (Alt+Tab), then all the applications get put on an angle.
You can see video still playing, which is neat.
I admire what Microsoft were trying for, but it just doesn't work as well as Expose. It looks pretty though, which many people will love.
Flip3D is activated by pressing Windows Key and Tab at the same time (pressing or holding tab will cycle through the items).
Flip, however, nice.
This is the 'enhanced' version of the standard application switch dialog, and is still accessible in the same way (Alt+Tab).
It provides 'live' views of whats happening in each application, but the best feature is, you can click on whatever application to switch to it.
Minor, I know, but I wonder how I did without it now.
Installer
Vista's installer is now usable by the 'Everyman'. Gone are the days of the initial 'daunting' DOS mode, gone are the over complicated configuration options, installing Vista is simple (and pretty!)
Not all SATA controllers have drivers, but a fair few do - my SATA drive was picked up without a problem.
Despite the size of Vista being much larger (at least for RC1/5728), the installation process takes about the same time.
On my system, it took about 27 minutes to install, or about 31 minutes until the system was 'in my control' (so, including first boot optimisation proceedures).
All this being said, the installer does have problems. It cuts down on the configuration options during the installer to reduce the total install time, however it isn't a true reduction as you still have to setup such values once you get into Windows.
There is also a lack of indication of activity in a few locations - not a big deal, sure, but its nice to know if your system has locked up or not.
User Account Control (UAC)
UAC is one of the big annoyances to some people (and, I must admit, even to me at times).
Instead of allowing you to exectute this, or delete that, UAC pops up, asking you to confirm or cancel the action you've just requested.
It can be tedious, having to confirm to delete files (if you delete files regularly!), however it is fantastic for those…how should I put it…less knowledgable computer users.
Audio & Video
Thats right, I mentioned these were bad points earlier, but that was the drivers themselves.
WDDM is great, when it crashes, instead of bringing the system down, it'll just 'reboot' the driver. Advantage is, you get increase stability. Be warned though, if it crashes while a game or video is playing, don't expect either to like it ;)
The sound mixer now has per application sound controls, which are fantastic.
For example, say you want Windows Live Messenger (WLM) sound alerts on, but you're listening to music, so you don't want it to be loud like your music, you can change the slider for WLM, and it'll be much softer.
Monitoring tools
(thanks to Will for the heads up on this one)
Task manager has been expanded, showing more information, but thats just the start.
The Reliability and Resource Monitor is available through Task Manager, or Control Panel (Performance Information and Tools > Advanced Tools > Open Reliability and Resource Monitor. This gives you a little bit extra information relating to reliability).
Although my current install of Vista is too recent, the Reliability Monitor looks very interesting too.
It graphs how 'reliable' your system is, based on errors (hardware, software - application, software - driver), as well as tracking installed drivers/etc.
It appears to be a great tool for those who have to diagnose when/how a problem with a system started.
Bundled Applications
Most people will look at Vista, and see a pretty version of Windows XP. While that isn't true, it does have some merit.
A lot of the benefits of Windows Vista are in the bundled applications.
Windows Media Center (WMC)
Depending on what version of Vista you have (RC1/5728 are 'Ultimate Edition'. You'll need Home Premium or above for WMC), WMC is included.
If you've ever used Windows Media Center Edition 2005 (MCE, which is WMC + WinXP), you'll know its a fantastic application for DVD and TV (DVB-T/Analogue/etc) playback (and recording).
The interface is simple to use, the picture/sound quality of DVD output is just as good as commercial software such as PowerDVD.
With HTPC's becoming more and more popular, Microsoft have done well to include it into Home Premium, its certainly one feature that'll encourage to get it over Home Basic.
Windows Photo Gallery (WPG)
While I don't have many photos on my computer, I had no idea how nice photo organisation software is.
I've played with iPhoto on OS X, and yes, its very similiar. WPG isn't incredibly powerful, but it gets the job done, and it does it well.
Windows Calendar
Yeah, okay, its nothing spectacular, and you can get applications that do this job just as well (if not better), but its nice to have something included with the operating system.
Build 5728
Builds with numbers in the 57xx range are in the 'RTM' (Release-To-Manufacturor, the copy you'll see on the shelf) family (or so I've heard), so you'd expect an improvement from RC1, which was Build 5600.
RC1 was a huge improvement over Beta2 (the public build prior to RC1), however 5728's differences are a little harder to find.
- Peformance in Media Center is improved - its faster to load, and faster to alt tab (and seems to consume less resources)
- Startup sound can now be disabled (it was previously hard coded in)
- GUI changes (new icons and wallpapers)
Is Vista Worth It?
Yes and no.
A lot of the changes are minor (and I feel for the best, such as 'Recent Places', the improved Sound Mixer, WDDM) and aren't advertised by Microsoft.
The advertised features such as Flip3D seem more novelty value than anything.
Eventually, applications will come out on Vista 'exclusively', starting with games (because of Direct X 10), but for now, Windows XP is still 'better' for most people.
I'll be getting Vista, depending on if nVidia release decent performing WDDM drivers, I prefer the interfaces changes, I like Aero/AA'd fonts, and I have a decent system, so it runs fantastically (excluding games).
Comments
3 Comments
Trackbacks / Pingbacks
-
[...] In the red corner, we have Picasa2 from Google, and in the Redmond corner, we have Windows Photo Gallery, which will be introduced in Vista - perhaps as an answer to iPhoto on the mac, or even to Picasa. [...]
Ill be using it for the DX10 when i get a new system with the new DX10 vid cards… but probably not for another 10 months.
That said, ill give the RC1 a go just to try it out.
Other things to consider are the commercial environment, rather than the home.
I had a chat to the guys at work, who deal with creating an SOE (Standard Operating Environment) for a company who have roughly 10,000 PC users Australia and NZ wide, about 2 weeks ago… their verdict?
"No way, not for another few years, if at all."
Why? the system requirements alone are crazy and unsuitable for your standard office PC - P4 2.8ghz, 512 meg of ram and a shared video card Although the PC I have in the office has duel awesome ATI x300's for the duel screens :)
Just upgrade? yeah, sure… spend an extra $500-$1000 per PC to run vista? would cost between 5-10 million extra for the company to use software that provides zero benifit to the company, only possible problems.
So, where is the market heading with Vista?
Is it focused on home PC users, which makes up how much percentage of the worlds computer population… then how many of them users actually *purchase* the software?
If its not focused on the home user, who is to benifit? and when?
How will your everyday average Joe Blow handle the change from windowsXP to Vista? a whole new learning curve for something they dont want to use.
2.8ghz, even on a Pentium 4, is suffice.
As is 512mb of RAM.
Intergrated video will give a toned down version of Aero (Aero Basic), unless its GMA950 or perhaps nvidia's gf6000/7000 intergrated solutions.
Eventually, businesses will move to Vista - you wont' be able to buy XP Pro as easy, and I'm sure Microsoft will have other incentives.
I didn't cover any 'business' advantages, I guess..