Ask Your Vista Questions Here.

Let me tell you that MS is planning to come up with a replacement for DX10 for Windows XP. But it will purely be a replacement -- i.e. it won't include all the functionality of the vista version of DX 10. If you still haven't understod, Re-Read what I said earlier.

If you don't want to use vista, nobody is forcing you to, go ahead. Stick with whatever OS you are using right now. But you dont have any right to call other vista would-be users foolish.

 

Pirates Activate Copies of Vista Over Spoofed Server

Despite its best efforts, Microsoft's activation server gets cracked

Despite all the talk surrounding its security and beefed up anti-piracy measures we all knew that it wouldn't take long for hackers to take a stab at Vista's activation scheme. Cracked copies of Windows Vista started flooding the internet soon after the operating system was released to manufacturing and ahead of its official release.

Microsoft's new Volume Activation 2.0 system requires that each copy of Vista for volume licensees be activated through Microsoft servers. This wasn't the case with Windows XP numerous pirated "corporate" editions of the operating system flooded the internet.

Microsoft's solution for making Volume Activation 2.0 easier for administrators has been attacked, however. Hackers have spoofed Microsoft's Key Management Service (KMS) server which allows corporations with 25 or more networked computers to activate Vista installations. The software hack is making the rounds around the web and in a nod to Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is named after his wife, Melinda.

According to reports, the software hack uses a VMware image of the KMS server to activate copies of Windows Vista Business and Enterprise. APC Magazine reports:

The download is a VMware image, and the idea behind it is that you download and install VMware Player (a legal free download), boot the image and use some VBS script (supplied with the activation server download) to have the client Vista machine get its activation from the local server. And that’s it -- no communication back to Microsoft.

But for those that think that all of their problems are solved with this software hack, you may want to hold your horses. A valid KMS product key is still required and the activation is only valid for 180 days.

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=5299

 

Playing it safe with Windows Vista

By Joris Evers
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Microsoft is pitching a security feature in Windows Vista as a boon for consumer online safety, but others think its benefits lie elsewhere.

The software maker is promoting the use of Windows Security Center, a feature in the long-awaited operating system, as a way for Web sites and third-party software programs to gauge the security status of customer PCs. This could be used to deny computers that aren't fully protected access to online services, which ultimately is good for user safety, Microsoft said.


"Let's say you're trying to buy something online, and before you enter your credit card information, the site checks if you're up to date and gives a green light," said Adrien Robinson, a director in Microsoft's trustworthy computing group. "As more people find out the security state of their computer, the more safe customers will be online."

Microsoft is actively pitching the possibility of the PC security checks to banks and online retailers. The feature was actually introduced in Windows XP Service Pack 2, in August 2004, but Microsoft hasn't talked about it much. "We are promoting that a lot more to the community now than we did with SP2," Robinson said. Windows Vista is slated to be broadly available in February.

Though they say Microsoft's goal is noble, others don't expect many consumer Web sites or online services to start conducting PC security checks. According to Microsoft's own data, about 70 percent of consumers aren't running up-to-date antivirus protection. That's a large number of potential customers a business could lose, analysts said.

"I do not believe they will be willing to stop doing business with the consumers that are not up-to-code," said Natalie Lambert, an analyst at Forrester Research. Also, consumers could balk at the perceived privacy intrusion if Web sites start checking their PCs.

Moreover, a security check doesn't protect customers against identity theft or other such crimes, said Gartner analyst John Pescatore. "A bad guy could be pretending to be me, and Windows could be telling the Web site that he is running antivirus--what good would that do?" he asked. "Online banks or Amazon.com really don't care whether you are running antivirus."

On the dashboard
The security information is made available through the Windows Security Center, which checks on the status of security applications on a PC--for example, whether the antivirus is able to catch the most recent threats. In Vista, the Windows Security Center keeps track of the firewall, security updates, virus and spyware protection and other Windows-related security settings.

Through a special dashboard, consumers can see the security status of their PC. Windows Security Center also has its own alerts, which will pop up if a computer isn't adequately protected. A Web site or software program can tap into the Windows feature to find out whether a PC is "green," "orange" or "red"--Microsoft's metaphor for fully secured, lacking some security, or insecure, respectively, Robinson said.

"The key benefit would be for people who have fears around identity theft and things of that nature, who may not realize that they turned off their firewall. Or they may not know that they turned off alerts and their antivirus is out of date," she said.

Likewise, a video game manufacturer could prevent PCs from logging onto online services if they are not running a firewall, according to a recent Microsoft white paper. This would help reduce risk to other players and offer a more secure online gaming experience, the company said.

Although Microsoft is pitching Security Center checks as good for companies to use with consumers, the first solid taker for the technology is IP Commerce, a Denver-based business software maker. IP Commerce plans to build the security check feature into tools used by credit card-accepting merchants, to help them keep an eye on whether their systems comply with security rules laid down for the credit card industry.

"If you are dealing with card holder data, then you are mandated to have a firewall, to have the latest security patches, to have antivirus installed and running and up-to-date," said Chip Kahn, chief executive officer at IP Commerce. "Windows Security Center, we think, for the first time provides real-time awareness of security compliance."

Other uses for the technology are in the area of network access control. For example, a business could run a "health check" on a PC before letting it onto a corporate network, said Pescatore, the Gartner analyst. "For businesses, it is definitely a feature they would be using," he said.

On the consumer side, banks currently recommend the use of security software and in many cases have special pages on their Web sites with security tips. But they seem to be stopping short of requiring security tools.

"We are committed to educating our customers about fraud and identity theft protection and recommend steps for customers to take to secure their PCs," Wells Fargo spokeswoman Andrea Mahoney said. Bank of America spokeswoman Betty Riess echoed her words.

While analysts don't think businesses would want to add security checks to their consumer sites or services, some regular Internet users do see value in it.

"Security needs to be taken seriously, and long as it doesn't become overly burdensome, it may actually have some benefits," said Brian Lambert, a student at Southern Illinois University. "This just adds another reminder, especially to people who ignore the pop-up notices that Windows provides."

Jeff Rosado, owner of a computer consulting company in Pensacola, Fla., agreed. "A system that is showing as secure, with running antivirus, firewall, and up-to-date security patches, is less likely to be harboring malicious software that could steal a consumer's password or identity," he said.

But Rosado and Lambert, both members of CNET News.com's Vista Views panel, do see some potential pitfalls. Privacy is one concern. Another is the compatibility of outside security programs with the Windows Security Center.

"I don't want to be excluded from sites because I don't use Microsoft's preferred program, and more importantly, I don't want private information like that to be disclosed," Lambert said. Also, users should be able to access Web sites without having up-to-date security, after acknowledging the risk, he said. "Consumers might welcome the warning."

Despite that so far only one company has signed on, Microsoft is optimistic that its PC security checks will gain traction. "I am sure we will see more and more applications start to do it as Windows Vista rolls out," Robinson said. "Our No. 1 objective is that customers are secure and safe online."
http://news.com.com/2100-7355_3-6142265.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news

 

Vista: $70 billion for MS partners

p2pnet.net News:- "Windows Vista will be an important launch for Microsoft, but it will be an even more important launch for a much larger and more extensive community around the world," says a new IDC report.

Commissioned by Microsoft itself, it suggests Vista will, "contribute $US70 billion to Microsoft's US partners during its first year of release," says IT Wire, quoting IDC analyst John Gantz as stating, "Relatively rapid and widespread adoption of Windows Vista means that its launch will not only affect Microsoft, but will also have a positive impact on local economies throughout the world."

IDC calculations, "suggest that for every dollar that Microsoft earns from Vista, its partner channel stands to make $18 - a calculation doubtless driven in part by the expensive hardware upgrades needed before most people can run the new OS. Hardware upgrades account for more than half of the $18 figure," says IT Wire.

IDC also, "boldly predicts that the launch of Vista will add 100,000 jobs to the US market, while 35 million copies of the OS will be sold in the US from a worldwide total of 90 million," says the story, observing, "Microsoft makes around 60% of its operating income from the Windows client, IDC said."

Piracy was the subject of another much-quoted study produced by IDC on behalf of the BSA (Business Software Alliance).

Bill and the Boyz are founder BSA members and, "The association's figures rely on sample data that may not be representative, assumptions about the average amount of software on PCs and, for some countries, guesses rather than hard data," said The Economist.

"To derive its piracy rate, IDC estimates the average amount of software that is installed on a PC per country, using data from surveys, interviews and other studies. That figure is then reduced by the known quantity of software sold per country-a calculation in which IDC specialises. The result: a (supposed) amount of piracy per country. Multiplying that figure by the revenue from legitimate sales thus yields the retail value of the unpaid-for software. This, IDC and BSA claim, equals the amount of lost revenue."

The Econmist piece was entitled, BSA or just BS?
If your Net access is blocked by government restrictions, try Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto's Munk Centre for International Studies. Go here for the official download, here for the p2pnet download, and here for details. And if you're Chinese and you're looking for a way to access independent Internet news sources, try Freegate, the DIT program written to help Chinese citizens circumvent web site blocking outside of China. Download it here.

Also See:
IT Wire - Vista: Making money for everyone except Microsoft, December 11, 2006
much-quoted study - The Economist angers BSA, June 15, 2005

p2pnet newsfeeds for your site | | rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss | | Mobile - http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php

(Monday 11th December 2006)
http://p2pnet.net/story/10706?PHPSESSID=c30008454ee39556890d7935781f392e

 

Actually, considering that i work in the IT business, and i actually ran a trial with the corporate version of this hunk of junked code,i think i can afford myself the liberty of stating that anyone blindly installing vista just because they want the newest shiny sh*t is an idiot.

And just to over explain since you obviously are missing what i meant when i told you to re-read what i said :

While what I said was :

Which, if you would have read it properly would have lead to you understanding i meant an open source version of directx 10, you [long set of expletives deleted], not XP itself.

 

I am on a worse service,Satilite internet,its like the bastard child of dailup and board band everyone hates it but its still "there" how I wish there was soemthign better in the area.....

 

So just because you are in the IT buisness, you can assume that anyone who wants to get vista is doing so only becuase it's the 'newest shit', is that right?

And as for your second flare, that's my mistake. I assumed "which can lead to open source versions for XP" to be "which can lead to open source versions of XP". Neither did I get what you meant by 'ports of directX 10', so that's my mistake again, OK?

I'm not here to argue, so let's cut this out right here and get back on topic.

 

Yes, since most users that get, or want to get vista have no idea why they're getting it, other than that it LOOKS nice, or that they want the newest product because they ASSUME it's better, i think i can safely say that.
Hell, scrap that, i [bold]know[/bold] i can safely say it, examples abound on these forums alone.

 

The_Fiend
know anything abotu wine/cine?
one of them wanted a subscription and that left me cold but little by little I am getting more interested in it.
but I can never get any help with lunix crap. and without a 2nd PC to fully test it on I been putting it off to no end.

 

my thoughts on VISTA-POOP

 

I'd say check the linux forum zippy, there's a thread one wine.

 

even johnny cash has some to say about vista-poop

 

Windows Vista supports WiFi sleep mode, but only in a perfect world

12/11/2006 11:59:33 AM, by Jeremy Reimer

The revelation that Windows Vista supports a "sleep" function for WiFi connections has caused a small ruckus online. It all started with a blog post by senior product manager Jason Leznek on the Microsoft Windows Vista team blog that described post-RC1 changes to wireless networking settings for laptops. When the smoke had cleared, TechWeb ran a story on the matter, claiming that "Vista Wireless Access Could Cause Laptop Battery Drain." Our interest piqued, we decided to take a look at the situation.

Before Vista went gold, Microsoft had established "Medium Power" settings as the default settings to be used when a laptop was running on battery power. This setting made use of a "sleep" function that was recently made part of the 802.11 wireless standard. Its purpose was to put the WiFi adaptor into a low power mode when on battery, but it's probably best described as "micro-sleep." Rather than shut down the adaptor, the low power mode tells wireless access points to queue up packets and send them in larger chunks, giving the adapter more time to rest between updates.

However, beta testers found that when they were hooked up to wireless hotspots backed by certain brands of older routers, the router did not correctly identify clients as being in sleep mode, causing the client to lose packets. Recognizing that not all access points support this feature, Microsoft changed the default wireless networking settings to "Maximum Performance" in order to avoid these issues. The setting can be changed by the user, or even by the OEM before the computer is shipped.
Go to sleep, 802.11

The "sleep" standard is indeed part of the 802.11 spec, but it was only implemented recently, and some older wireless routers do not properly support the feature. This is the sort of problem that can happen when new standards are augmented before all the ramifications have been worked out—the concerns over interoperability between various devices implementing the not-yet-ratified 802.11n standard are another example of this effect.

Will this result in lower battery life? When comparing Vista RTM to Vista RC1, the answer is yes. When looking at the bigger picture, what we find is that the wireless settings are essentially unchanged from Windows XP, as that OS does not support 802.11 sleep by default. Users upgrading from XP to Vista will notice no difference.

Microsoft's solution doesn't sound like much of a solution, however. It is likely that access points that do not support 802.11 sleep will continue to dot the landscape for many years to come. Rather than make it an all-or-nothing service, why not dust of the if... then statements and support 802.11 sleep when it is detected and verified as being present and properly functional?

In the meantime, we look forward to seeing broader support for 802.11 sleep mode, especially for handheld devices which can especially feel the hurt of extended WiFi action.

Ken Fisher contributed to this report.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061211-8397.html

 

Vista won't be worth buying until after the the first sp-1 or SP-2 500Mb service pack...

 

hell, it won't ever be worth pirating, much less buying.

 

thats why I got a Xbox and halo 2

 

that connection doesn't make any sense to me. >.<

 

Why You Don't Need Vista Now



Windows Vista will have a major impact on the personal computing experience of millions of users worldwide during the coming years, but that doesn't mean Microsoft's latest operating system is a killer product, nor something you necessarily need or want.

Wired News recently obtained a copy of the final RTM, or Release to Manufacturing, build of Windows Vista Ultimate from Microsoft. This edition of the operating system is the most powerful and advanced of the four editions Microsoft will make widely available Jan. 30, 2007.

Other editions of Windows Vista are made for home users (Windows Vista Home Basic, $200, $100 upgrade), users who want a better entertainment experience (Windows Vista Home Premium, $240, $160 upgrade) and business users (Windows Vista Business $300, $200 upgrade). Windows Vista Ultimate ($400, $260 upgrade) is made for the hard-core gamer, the media collector and anyone wishing to squeeze the best performance out of drool-worthy high-end machines.

Visual splendor is Vista Ultimate's greatest selling point -- the new operating system does offer a graphically intensive interface that differs greatly from that of Windows XP. Also, Vista dumbs everything down for you, streamlining the Wild West of complex OS software into a useful product. This makes tasks ranging from networking to setting parental controls a lot easier.

However, I encountered several bumps in the road during testing that show Vista is not ready for everyday use by millions of people just yet -- no matter how pretty it looks.
Installing Vista

Vista developers managed to adhere to Microsoft's tradition of making the operating system much easier to set up than the previous generation of Windows. Two decades ago, installing DOS was a delicate and risky process that often required professional help.

Incremental improvements were made over the years, and Windows XP was about as easy to install as a video game. I found that Vista coddles you even more than Windows XP did during installation.

For our tests, I used two different machines: an HP Compaq nc8430 laptop and an Advanced Micro Devices Athlon 64 PC I had built. I installed 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Vista Ultimate on two separate hard drive partitions on the Athlon desktop, and the 32-bit version on the laptop. Every installation took less than an hour to complete.

System Performance Rating Tool
Vista scans your computer when you install it and applies a performance rating to your hardware. Microsoft calls this rating the Windows Experience Index. The software then adjusts its settings to best match your hardware's score.

I was humbled to learn that my AMD Athlon 64 3500+ PC with an Nvidia 6800 Ultra graphics card -- albeit with the minimum 512 MB of DRAM required just to run Vista -- merited only a 2.9 rating out of a possible 5.9. Why Microsoft chose 5.9 for the high end we may never know, but the index will be adjusted to include higher numbers (6, 7 and upward) as newer and faster hardware becomes available.

As reported earlier by Wired News, a stand-alone graphics card is required to load what Microsoft calls the "Windows Aero" visual experience, replete with Vista's enhanced translucent folders and 3-D images. Assessed by itself, the Nvidia 6800 Ultra graphics card, which can sufficiently run high-powered games like Oblivion, rated a 5.3.

The system performance rating is designed to give you a high-level indication of how well Vista will perform on your current hardware. This may explain in part why vendors are so excited about the new operating system. Users who want to have what Microsoft calls the "ultimate Vista experience" will have to spend a lot of money upgrading to high-end hardware components.

At the same time, whether or not you have the most beautiful graphics interface does not have much bearing on your applications. Whether your Windows Experience is rated at 3.1 or 5.1, you will probably notice little if any difference in performance while drafting a spreadsheet, using a word processor, browsing the web or even watching a DVD.

How Different Is It?
The first thing you notice about Vista when you load it up is its pretty graphics, which are still not any more beautiful than those of my equally robust (and much less expensive) SuSE Linux operating system.

However, other than the new graphics, Vista's overall look and feel are not drastically different compared to XP.

Vista has media, networking and other features that XP does not, but I have yet to find a single feature not already available with Linux distributions or freeware.

The e-mail software, called Windows Mail, is fundamentally the same compared to Outlook Express. Navigating the "Start" and "All Programs" menus is essentially the same.

Adding Peripherals
When I tried to plug in my peripherals, my troubles with Vista began. Since I was missing a 5.1 sound driver for my speakers, an audio device error screen appeared when I connected speakers to the PC. I had to plug in a set of headphones in place of my speakers to get the sound to work.

Also, Vista didn't recognize my Hewlett-Packard Deskjet 5150 printer when it ran the initial peripheral-compatibility check. When I tried to load the printer driver software anyway, it would not install. A Google search did not reveal any readily available drivers, so I gave up. I ran into the same problem when I tried to install my Logitech webcam -- the driver wouldn't load.

While the Vista version I tested is exactly what consumers will receive in January 2007, compatible drivers for peripherals might become more plentiful as the launch date approaches.

Story continued on Page 2 »




Watching a DVD
Windows Vista Ultimate comes bundled with Windows Media Center, a package that allows you to watch and record TV (provided you have the required TV tuner hardware), burn and watch DVDs, and play video or music files. Nevertheless, many commercial software packages -- as well as freeware -- that do the same have long been available for Windows XP.

I was able to immediately watch DVDs on the Athlon machine using Vista's preloaded Windows Media Center. However, when I downloaded and installed codecs and decoders from HP's website to watch DVDs on the test laptop, my installation of InterVideo WinDVD software did not work.

Security and Privileges
Security has been one of Microsoft's key talking points when hyping Vista. Given the vulnerabilities that constantly emerge within Windows XP, who can blame the company? Wired News did not seek to exploit or discover any Vista security flaws. However, Vista does make some simple security features available that you would previously have had to install separately under Windows XP.

After setting up a user with administrator privileges, you can configure Vista to require the administrator to key in a password when new software is installed. This comes in handy when someone is logged in as another user and is not permitted to download potentially damaging software without your permission (such as the smiley faces that my 11-year-old daughter once installed to pop up in every outgoing e-mail message in Windows XP's Outlook Express).

Having to key in your admin password to install software might represent an aggravation for some, but given how quickly a Windows XP machine can amass 50 or more programs -- often mixed with malware that constantly runs in the background while you are caught unaware -- I welcomed this feature.

Parental Controls
I turned on Vista's parental controls and selected them for my daughter's account. Access to certain websites -- as well as games with a mature rating -- could be blocked. When I tested this feature using my daughter's account, I found that English-language porn sites could not be accessed.

One flaw I found is that the website-blocking feature is not worth much in a multilingual home or office setting. Good ol' American porn sites were blocked, but I had carte blanche access to the raunchiest of raunchy French and Spanish sites. I was also able to use Google to search for vulgarities in those languages.

I found this particularly aggravating since I live and work in France. Microsoft is able to detect my France-based IP address, and I know this because it imposes French-language web pages on me when I try to access its help sites. If Microsoft can figure out how to switch over to a French site based on my IP address, why can't it make its website-blocking feature multilingual?

Admin privileges also allow you to track the websites your kids visit and e-mails they send, among other user activities. Whether you choose to do this or not is up to you.

File Sharing
Enabling file sharing between PCs under Vista is a lot easier when compared to the often painstaking process under XP. Still, file sharing remains quirky in Vista.

For example, Vista blocks you from accessing the "Set Up File Sharing" option in the "Network and Sharing Center" menu unless you are first connected to a LAN. Only after connecting the two Vista test PCs to my LAN's router was I able to enable what Microsoft calls "Sharing and Discovery." Next, I was prompted to toggle File Sharing, Public Folder sharing and other choices on or off. After inadvertently switching all of the choices to "on" -- enabling "Password Protect Sharing" in the process -- I was blocked from accessing a shared folder from my other Vista PC when my login name was not recognized.

Sharing folders and files between a PC running Windows Vista and one running Windows XP was a royal pain. After finagling with the shared folder settings and the internet protocol, or TCP/IP, settings to enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP through Local Area Connection properties, then disabling the Windows firewall, I managed to allow a Windows XP computer to access the Vista PC's shared file folders. However, when I tried to browse shared folders on the XP machine from the Vista machine, my user name and password were rejected even after I enabled file sharing on the XP machine.

Power Consumption
Vista has garnered some initial criticism because of the ample amount of computing power it devotes to its graphics interface. At least in theory, more computing power requires more energy, which in turn eats up a notebook's battery life.

Surprisingly, the nc8430 laptop's battery lasted longer with Vista running than it did with XP running. And that was without tweaking Vista's power settings to extend the battery life.

During my test, I ran the laptop at full load -- complete with a sample picture menu, 10 Internet Explorer windows open and a DVD of Endless Summer playing. The battery lasted 3 hours and 5 minutes with Vista, compared to just 2 hours and 35 minutes with Windows XP. Both XP and Vista became glitchy under the load with only 512 MB of memory, but the applications managed to run.

The Verdict
Vista's power consumption superlatives aside, I would not recommend going out and buying Vista off the shelf or pre-installed on a PC when it becomes available. Users will likely suffer many headaches with missing peripheral drivers and a lack of backward compatibility with legacy software, and those headaches will not make Vista worth its hefty price tag.

If possible, wait a year or more after Vista's launch to invest in the operating system. At least by then, numerous updates, hardware drivers and service packs will likely have been released.

One potential treat I hope to review in the near future is how game developers will take advantage of Microsoft's DirectX 10 API, which Vista offers. Unfortunately, DirectX 10 games and capable graphics cards were not yet available when we ran our tests.
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/reviews/0,72295-1.html?tw=wn_story_page_next1

 

Windows Vista Gallery

Windows Vista will have a major impact on the personal computing experience of millions of users worldwide during the coming years, but that doesn't mean that Microsoft's latest operating system is a killer product, nor something you necessarily need or want.

While testing Windows Vista Ultimate, we found that the new operating system provides improved performance and an intensely rich graphical interface. We also discovered a few bumps in the road along the way.

Walk through our in-depth review of Windows Vista Ultimate screen by screen and decide if it's worth an upgrade when OS becomes widely available on January 30, 2007.
Vista scans your computer when you install it, and then adjusts its settings to best match your PC's graphics hardware. A stand-alone graphics card is required to load what Microsoft calls the "Windows Aero" visual experience, replete with Vista's enhanced translucent folders and 3-D images.

more here (pictures)

http://blog.wired.com/wiredphotos7/

 

Auslander
not much of gamer are you? Halo 2 PC is vista only.
I have finished Halo 2 xbox uhg I so hate devs now adays glithes up the arse but what gets me is there is no button mapping you get acouple cookie cutter control figs and thats it...hell even castlevina lets you pick your buttons....oy..oy...oy.....if a console FPS dose not have button mapping thats a 2 point strike right there....
its a shame I got XII/13 for the GC for 4.99 and it dosent even have southpaw mode or extra pad configs....sad...very...very...sad....