(Approx. 963 words)

From My Vista
by Rob Limbaugh, President, Danbury Area Computer Society, CT
www.dacs.org
relimbaugh(at)dacs.org

Obtained from APCUG with the author's permission for publication by APCUG member groups.

Just about every year I make some sort of ‘major’ effort to move forward with technology in some way on my primary home workstation. I periodically wipe out the machine and start a fresh OS install from scratch. I reasoned that as laborious a reinstall is, I may as well bite the bullet and this time make the move to Vista. What made the timing right was that Microsoft gave Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit w/SP2 for those who attended the APCUG 2008 LDC. Here’s my experience.

Check Compatibility
When loading an OS it is important to make note of your hardware and key software. Vista Update Advisor will highlight any hardware or software compatibility issues of which to be aware. In my case, the only issues to address were applications that would be replaced with new Vista versions—no big deal. In terms of hardware, my machine
checked out OK. Last I had heard, my ATI All-In-Wonder 2006 video card was not yet supported in Vista, so I double checked the AMD (they now own ATI) website and confirmed there are now Vista drivers and software. It’s a Go!

Backup Data
Next, I made backups of all my important data. This time around I used an external USB hard drive and just dragged and dropped the data to a ‘backup’ folder. I wanted to start fresh and clean, so I didn’t bother making a backup of my Windows or Office user settings. There aren’t any new BIOS updates for my motherboard, so I was all set to go.

Time for Install
I started the install process around 8 p.m., electing to wipe all partitions on the hard drive. My first boot to the desktop post install was shortly after 10 p.m. So far, so good. And, considering this is a P4 2.4GHz machine, I was rather impressed. Vista’s graphics worked from the get-go because the ATI All-In-Wonder 2006 uses an ATI Radeon 9600 compatible chipset for which Vista loaded drivers. Sound worked. Networking worked. I expected SOMETHING to be wrong, due to all the horror stories I had heard! My machine even received a 3.2 on the “Vista Experience Index”. That means I can use
Aero! Now we’re cooking!

Post Install Issues
A notice appeared that Windows detected hardware and needed to install drivers. My
system’s motherboard has an integrated Realtek AC’97 sound card. Unfortunately there isn’t a Vista driver for the MIDI interface. If I want to hook up MIDI devices in the future, I will probably need to disable the built-in sound card and install a properly supported one to gain MIDI interface functionality. 

Watching TV is one of the things for which I built this machine, and I expected to use Vista Media Center. This is where my second issue came up. While AMD (they bought ATI) has released updated Vista drivers and software for the ATI AIW 2006 video card, they didn’t actually ‘fix’ the issue with how the ATI Hydravision software accesses the TV Tuner. I searched around for a solution and came across a Home Theater application called “Beyond TV” by SnapStream. So far that seems to solve my issue. Beyond TV has a ton of cool features (worth looking at even if you aren’t going to Vista).

Reality Check
In my consumer opinion, lack of proper drivers for an OS is the fault of the hardware integrator and not the OS maker. AMD is blaming Microsoft’s changes in DirectX 10 D3D (which happen to address performance and security) as why the ATI TV Tuner software doesn’t work. Well, AMD, how come SnapStream could figure it out? AOpen has not released any new drivers for their implementation of the AC’97 chip on my motherboard. I can live with AOpen’s choice because most people don’t use the MIDI interface feature of sound cards. AMD has no excuse for not supporting an expensive video card that is bought for the very feature they aren’t supporting. My buying habits will be adjusted accordingly in the future.

Supporting Apps
Along with Beyond TV, I installed what I consider ‘Base Supporting Apps’. These included Avast! Antivirus, Notepad++, Pidgin, Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash Player,
Adobe Shockwave Player, TrueCrypt, PrimoPDF, and WinSCP. Office Ultimate
2007 is going to round out the Office Suite. Everything installed smoothly. No issues, arguments, or contentions between apps.

Where I Stand 
My machine has paid its dues many times over and the driver issues didn’t affect my ability to use what I needed, so I was OK with that. Others with more particular needs should be aware that integrated soundcards, atypical hardware, old devices, and fancy graphics capture cards may require special attention. Replacements may need to be considered. I’m not suggesting everyone run out and install Vista. This is now the fourth
time I’ve installed Vista on a machine—first time on one I plan to use regularly. All
said and done, the experience has been pleasant and not anything like the horror
stories I’ve heard. At the time of this writing it’s been about two weeks and all continues
to work well. This article was typed on that system using Word 2007 and sent
to the editors with Outlook 2007. 

From my vista, Vista works just fine.

Vista Upgrade Advisor:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/p r o d u c t s / w i n d o w s v i s t a /buyorupgrade/upgradeadvisor.mspx
Compare Vista Editions:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/choose.mspx
SnapStream Beyond TV:
http://www.snapstream.com/products/beyondtv/

This article has been provided to APCUG by the author solely for publication by APCUG member groups. All other uses require the permission of the author (see e-mail address above).