Vista Media Center - Thumbs Up

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Czar of Turd Polish
Member Since: Jun 20, 2006

So I finally did it, not on my recording PC mind you but the wifes HTPC. Upgraded to Vista Home Premium. Just FYI, the upgrade process was very smooth minus a couple older applications. All accounts, settings and documents were maintained nicely.

So far, I like it alot. At times it feels sluggish compared to XP, but I remember when XP felt sluggish compared to Win2K, by this time next year the standard PC will be more than capable if zooming through all tasks Vista. Honestly, I could probably remedy the situation if I turned of some of the bells and whistles, but I really like them.

Now with the sluggish comment, I was quite afraid my gaming would feel the same way, far from the truth. It actually games very nice, has played all the games I am used to playing and even worked well with STEAM and all 15+ games I have purchased through it.

Once I turned off the "User Control" feature that warns you waaaaay too often things felt very normal. I love the desktop gadgets, all the new features for working with photos and video, and it also connected to my Xbox 360 far easier than it did in XP Media Center.

I run a E6400 dual core (2.13Ghz) with 2GB of ram and feel they are up to the task. I would not want to run it on a sinlge core processor or less than two gigs of memory, thankfully I am blessed with decent computers :)

So anyway, with all the negative Vista news these days I figured I would chime in with my experiences. For gaming, photo\video management and all around basic function PC I think Vista is quite fantastic. For a dedicated studio PC I will stick with XP for now but would not mind testing things, here's why.

Echo has finally released 32-bit and 64-bit vista drivers for my Layla 24/96. Once Audition supports 64-Bit Vista (currently only 32-bit) I will take the plunge at great risk to myself for the benefit of the greater mankind (ok maybe that was a little over the top). Plus, I want to be able to use 8GB of Ram on my recording rig :)

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Answer:On a good day, lipstick.
Member
Since: Jun 24, 2004


Jan 22, 2008 03:45 pm

Quote:
Once I turned off the "User Control" feature that warns you waaaaay too often things felt very normal.


Agreed.

I don't use my Vista laptop for gaming or music, but once you get past the "Are you really, absolutely, positively sure that you want to minimize the window" type nagging it's actually pretty cool.
Nowhere near as stable as WIN2K, or even XP, but some of the features are nice.

I am not a crook's head
Member
Since: Mar 14, 2003


Jan 22, 2008 04:56 pm

I haven't noticed any stability problems whatsoever with my Vista machine. No crashes, blue screens, unexpected reboots or other system-level misbehavior.

The only issues I've had are with drivers. Actually lack of drivers. M-Audio still hasn't gotten off their asses and coded up Vista drivers for their Delta series cards. BOOOOOOO!!!

My mouse has had some issues (getting dropped upon reboot, freaking out and spinning uncontrollably until its recentered, not connecting right away upon reboot) but that's pretty much it.

But I contracted a virus not too long ago and I can't get rid of the damn thing. I think I'm going to have to wipe my system and start over. Ive tried everything but this damn trojan still keeps popping right back up.

Czar of Turd Polish
Member
Since: Jun 20, 2006


Jan 22, 2008 05:05 pm

MS User Access Control: "Are you sure you want to get rid of the Trojan?"

Yeah, no stability issues here either. Mouse and KB both work fine. Honestly my only complaint is that ITunes tends to hang up my computer for a few seconds now and again. If I leave it off it does not happen. Not sure who is to blame for that one.

Member
Since: Jul 02, 2003


Jan 22, 2008 10:25 pm

I've been using Vista since getting my new computer and haven't had any problems with it. I had gone to all the troube to set up a dual boot with XP Pro, but M-Audio finally released Delta drivers for Vista and I haven't booted XP once. If you haven't installed the RC of SP1 for Vista you might want to, it's working even better since that. UAC I agree is a bit of a PIA, I only turn it off though on the occasions I'm going to be doing system stuff, in normal operation I rarely run into it.

Dan

Eat Spam before it eats YOU!!!
Member
Since: May 11, 2002


Jan 22, 2008 10:36 pm

so... you upgrading to Windows 7 next year? :)

Member
Since: Jan 18, 2003


Jan 22, 2008 11:43 pm

what trojan did you get

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