Running a pretty basic PC really:

AMD 2200+ O/C to 2400+ (running at 2.02 Ghz)

1GB PC133 SDRAM :eek:

NVidia GeForce 5500 PCI (yes PCI)

And yet it is running Aero with DreamScene (awesome) unbelievably quickly. I mean, as fast as XP yet far better graphics.

In fairness I have tweaked it a fair bit but i'm still suprised by how well it goes, and it looks the part.

I've even linked it to my 360 using the media extender so I can watch all my music/video's/pictures and browse the net from the comfort of my armchair.

It cost me a fortune *ahum* and it works a treat

Yup, i've had it running for a while now (technet plus). Almost every machine has been upgraded at home. The last one will be the MCE machine tonight.

Where did you get dreamscene from? its not out yet? :confused:

Where did you get dreamscene from? its not out yet? :confused:

Ha - just about to ask the very same question...I have been running Vista RC's for a while as dual boot, tried to do an upgrade with the RTM version this weekend but it wouldn't let me :(

Had to do a clean install, but now looking sweet.

[Edit]Forget the question, I tracked it down [/Edit]

Hi guys, can I ask a really dumb question. Sometime this year I will probably have to upgrade my by then, 4 year old laptop and will probably look for something akin to 2gb+ Core 2 Duo, 516mb of GFX, 2 gb memory and a 17

Hi guys, can I ask a really dumb question. Sometime this year I will probably have to upgrade my by then, 4 year old laptop and will probably look for something akin to 2gb+ Core 2 Duo, 516mb of GFX, 2 gb memory and a 17” WUXGA screen. I realise that there are many flavours of Vista but I’m baffled about which are which, what they can do and which is probably the best one to run things like Photoshop 2 (which I think can be run as a 64 bit prog if you download the correct updates, but I’m not 100% sure on this)

Any clues gratefully accepted.

Basically theres two distinct "flavours" Home and Business..

within home theres home basic, and home premium - has extra functionality like media centre and other home use things

business has more business things, better networking, group policy etc

Ultimate is all of the above

All vistas will run your programs the same... tbh id still stay away from 64bit as its more trouble than its worth... theres absolutely NO reason to put 64bit on a laptop, or a desktop for that matter, unless you were going to use more than 8gb of ram

Basically theres two distinct "flavours" Home and Business..

within home theres home basic, and home premium - has extra functionality like media centre and other home use things

business has more business things, better networking, group policy etc

Ultimate is all of the above

All vistas will run your programs the same... tbh id still stay away from 64bit as its more trouble than its worth... theres absolutely NO reason to put 64bit on a laptop, or a desktop for that matter, unless you were going to use more than 8gb of ram

8gb of RAM OMG! Wont 64 bit progs start appearing soon though? Also is Ultimate the version that has all the natty transparentcies and wizzy moves? Sorry to sound clueless, but I am.

8gb of RAM OMG! Wont 64 bit progs start appearing soon though? Also is Ultimate the version that has all the natty transparentcies and wizzy moves? Sorry to sound clueless, but I am.

theres no benifits to 64bit home computing.. its a marketing gimmick thats more trouble than its worth.

have a read of this

My bro has got vista 64bit on his athlon system.. and theres no point to it..

theres 2 internet explorer icons (32bit and 64bit) to maintain compatibility with internet plugins like flash, java and others that dont do 64bit..

other than that theres no performance increase, youll struggle getting 64bit drivers for your hardware etc etc.

All versions of vista except home basic have the fancy moves..

Yikes! That

General consensus I'm seeing, except amongst the M$ fanboys at work, is to hold off Vista until SP1 releases, probably in July or August.

Also, see http://www.briskoda.net/forums/tech-shed/warning-i-tunes-users/72117/ for some more of our comments on Vista, particularly relevant if you use I-tunes.

I havn't had a single problem with vista, and I work mainly with unix platforms.....

It is big step up from XP, everyone who goes on about how it's only a look and feel change don't understand the code re-writes that have occured.

For example Vista is now easier to image as it isn't tied to a HAL... at boot Vista will detect what HAL is needed and preloads it using Windows PE before the main OS boots.

If you use mainly unix platforms why on earth would you want to run windows?

You have to ask yourself what exactly have microsoft been doing for the last 5 years.. scratching their arses trying to make windows into something between linux and osx it seems. I will be keeping xp before i upgrade to a 24" imac after os x leopard is released.. i just cannot deny the fact that macs are better any longer!

cue windows vs apple rants.... 3.... 2.... 1.... GO!

Places where Windoze is better than Linux or OS X:-

1) Games.

2) M$ Office compatibility

3) Em what happened to 3? AH, I know, there is no 3!

Open office is as good as if not better than ms office in my opinion!! and its totally free..

Macs run windows now..

Places where Windoze is better than Linux or OS X:-

1) Games.

2) M$ Office compatibility

3) Em what happened to 3? AH, I know, there is no 3!

There is only 1 point there as M$ sell office for a mac and there is already a tool for office 2007

Of course you all know im not biased am i

i started working for an apple reseller 4 years ago the most die hard PC guy on the planet.. there was no way in hell i would ever buy a mac..

here i am 4 years on wishing i had the money to boot my pc out the window and get the mac asap! I can no longer think of a single reason to not get a mac!

The majority of people i come across who are PC mad that say they dont want to buy a mac, is because they are tight fisted and want a £299 dell and they are scared of what they dont know.. and when they try and use a mac they try and use it like a PC and struggle to grasp the concept that things are just easier!

I have it on good authority that converting a Wurd file to OO and back loses formatting, hence the file compatibility thing.

If you use mainly unix platforms why on earth would you want to run windows?

I use unix for server based work, vista for desktop.

The desktop Apps I have and use arn't avail for the Mac, the games I play arn't avail for a mac etc etc

Oh and there is no way on earth I would pay the rather high prices apple kit demands.

I have it on good authority that converting a Wurd file to OO and back loses formatting, hence the file compatibility thing.

The new office 2007 file formats are nothing like the old ones. For example a new word doc is actually a compressed archive. Unzip it and you file all the constituate parts that make it up. You'll have any images files included, an xml descriptor for formating, a page body file for the content etc etc.

Ket's see if I've understood this correctly. A Wurd 2007 file with an "included graphic" will always include a copy of the original file, rather than a link?

There are apps in os x for 99% of windows apps

As for paying the price of the hardware. If you do a 100% comparison you will see that its not as expensive as you think.

Oh and i think that PC Magazine in the states was the last place to do such a comparison

I'm a Microsoft propoganda merchant and took it off all my machines:rolleyes:

Framerates in every game have in some cases dropped by over 50%, I ended up disabling half of the eye candy / features to get the performance back and just thought .... may as well go back to XP .... so I have

Performance issues are mainly with games though and it was fine in general use, and I do have a half decent lappy and desky to run it with

i started working for an apple reseller 4 years ago the most die hard PC guy on the planet.. there was no way in hell i would ever buy a mac..

here i am 4 years on wishing i had the money to boot my pc out the window and get the mac asap! I can no longer think of a single reason to not get a mac!

The majority of people i come across who are PC mad that say they dont want to buy a mac, is because they are tight fisted and want a

Have 2 computers with vista on now, and they are both performing well. I upgraded my HTPC from MCE2005 to Vista home premium and everything works perfectly. Freeview tuner, sound card, and graphics.

The games issue is a known problem, first one is a biggy. MS have removed directsound from directx, so games or drivers need to be rewritten to take this into account. Currently apart from the poor built in drivers most are still in Beta, especially the creative labs soundblaster drivers. The other problem is graphics drivers, Nvidia are still releasing Beta drivers with somewhat limited functionality. ATI are gettting there but not quiet ready yet.

These are all the same issues as when XP was released, and a lot of people went back to ME or 98. Once the drivers are sorted gaming will be far better. That said I dont play games on my PC at all, I use the 360 for that. My PC is used for multimedia, TV, photo editing etc.

Have 2 computers with vista on now, and they are both performing well. I upgraded my HTPC from MCE2005 to Vista home premium and everything works perfectly. Freeview tuner, sound card, and graphics.

The games issue is a known problem, first one is a biggy. MS have removed directsound from directx, so games or drivers need to be rewritten to take this into account. Currently apart from the poor built in drivers most are still in Beta, especially the creative labs soundblaster drivers. The other problem is graphics drivers, Nvidia are still releasing Beta drivers with somewhat limited functionality. ATI are gettting there but not quiet ready yet.

These are all the same issues as when XP was released, and a lot of people went back to ME or 98. Once the drivers are sorted gaming will be far better. That said I dont play games on my PC at all, I use the 360 for that. My PC is used for multimedia, TV, photo editing etc.

Your right of course and as I say, by the very nature of my business I am not a microsoft basher, but it's late being released to the public and vendors should have their fingers out of their arses with regards to drivers, it's not like they have not had their beta or rc's for a short period of time.

I am pretty peeved with nvidia in particular as I have got a couple of 8800gtx's and a 7900gs in use. I will stick with XP for another 6 months or so and let drivers stabilise and a few patch's make it out.

Want some Irony ........ the official (MOC)Vista course is run ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................on windows XP SP1 with virtual PC