Re:Time restrictions gone, play restrictions still
on
ZOMG New Zunes
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· Score: 1
Also note the post below about how wireless syncing requires the Zune to be docked! Also note that the post is wrong. Manual wireless syncing (select "sync" from the menu) can be done with the Zune undocked. Automatic wireless syncing requires the Zune to be docked in order to preserve battery life. (Source: Ars Techinica - "An in-depth look at the new Zune lineup; Q&A with Microsoft")
I think this misconception (that all wireless syncing requires docking) comes from Microsoft's non-detailed press release. It is, after all, just a press release for products that are coming in November.
XBox Arcade ("Go play!"), no HD, 256MB memory card, wireless controller, and 5 arcade games
XBox Pro ("Go Pro!"), former premium (20GB HD, 30-day Live Gold trial, headset)
XBox Elite (Go Big!"), with 120GB HD and HDMI cable in black. The latest "leaks" (from TFA, the Ars blog entry, and an Ars update) reveal some significant additions:
You mentioned XBox Arcade ($280) getting 5 arcade games, but you didn't mention that the Pro ($350) and Elite ($450) are getting bundled with Forza 2 (normally $60 retail) and Marvel Ultimate Alliance ($26).
You mentioned the Elite having an HDMI port, but the new Pro and Arcade (Core) packages will also be getting HDMI ports.
Personally, I would have preferred a bigger price drop over the Forza/Marvel bundle, but those games aren't worthless.
What Intel seems to think, and what my admittedly limited testing seems to bare out, is that you can double up on your cores and it works fine for normal usage. They did it with the Pentium D (2 single cores) and now with the Core 2s. Perhaps we'll see more of it, 2 4 core sets to make an 8 core. It seems to work well in the ability to offer more cores on a package sooner and at a lower cost, and still give good performance. FYI, Intel will break this "two dies on one package" pattern with Nehalem, the 45nm successor to the current Core 2 architecture. Intel's first 8-core CPUs will actually have all 8 cores on one die. Also, Nehalem will have an on-die memory controller and QuickPath Interconnect (a HyperTransport-like system interconnect).
I agree that Intel's "two dies on one package" strategy worked great for the Core 2 architecture, but it seemed pretty lousy when they did this for the Netburst architecture (Pentium D). I guess the superior per-core performance of Core 2 overcomes the "messy hack" of putting two dies on one package.
The real question - the critical one - is how long they will support XP. I can't tell if you know about Microsoft's well-known lifeycle policy, but they'll offer Mainstream support (defined in FAQ #3) until April 14, 2009 and Extended support (including security updates, paid support, and knowledge base) until (at least) April 8, 2014. A potential problem (if they go through with this) is that MS plans to stop offering XP licenses via retail and "direct OEM" on January 31, 2008 and to "system builders" on January 31, 2009.
They'll need to continue to support XP until they get a system out that is an actual improvement, and not just a corporate-ass kissing piece of crap. Even if MS goes through a bunch of delays again and goes five years between OS releases, XP will still be getting Extended support when Vista's successor is released. However, I'm not assuming Vista's successor will be any good or that XP will still be "useful" for all users late in its Extended support phase.
For example, I have a desktop running Windows 2000 which gets Extended support until July 2010. Most useful non-free software continues to support Windows 2000, but a few non-Microsoft apps (like Photoshop) are dropping W2K support with their new versions. Of course, MS is dropping support with their apps (Office, IE, Media Player) because they want users to upgrade Windows. Also, there's less incentive to update freeware for W2K.
so they go to all that trouble (original producer, soundboard, etc.), but no glen matlock, who was responsible for their arrangements? hmmm... ...and they're leaving Glenn out for the one song he actually played bass on? (Yes, he wrote the arrangements, but Steve Jones supposedly played bass in the studio.)
Note that the press release came from Activision, so those publicists at that gaming company might not know the band's history. I wouldn't be surprised if most people thought Sid Vicious was an "original member" and assumed Glenn was "Sid's replacement" for the reunions. Sid represented the look and the attitude of the Sex Pistols. Glenn was the geek who created the music.
For the record Glenn Matlock was the original bassist in the Sex Pistols, and it is his bass lines you here on all of 'Never Mind the Bollocks.' It's funny really. He was booted from the band weeks before the recording, and Sid could not play properly. So Glenn was hired back as a studio musician, and Glenn wound up with more money in his pocket then the rest of the band after the recording sessions were over. The record is a little hazy. No one seems to dispute that Glenn wrote almost all the bass lines on Bollocks. Heck, the song writing process was usually: Glenn wrote the music, Johnny Rotten wrote the lyrics.
However, I think the most accepted version of events has guitarist Steve Jones playing Glenn's bass lines on Bollocks except for one song played by Glenn ("Anarchy in the UK") and one song by Sid ("Bodies"). Glenn did get proper song writing credits, so he got paid.
I believe the story about Glenn being hired back as a studio musician came from John Lydon's 1995 autobiography, but others have denied this happened. The memories of creative musicians always seem hazy, even without alcohol.
Anyhoo, Glenn's my hero. During the Grundy interview, he seemed more like a geek than a punk.
As for quality, I did my own listening tests between 192Kbps MP3 and 128Kbps AAC when Apple first added support for AAC, and I could clearly hear a difference (using iTunes encoding, maybe it was their ripper). To my ears AAC sounds much better than MP3. If you used the default MP3 encoder in iTunes, then you probably used the worst MP3 encoder available (I'm pretty sure it was Fraunhofer back then). On the other hand, the AAC encoder in iTunes is one of the best. So if you used iTunes to encode both MP3s and AACs, then it wasn't a fair test.
As many others have noted, Amazon uses LAME, which is the best MP3 encoder. At equal bitrates, LAME MP3 should be roughly equal in quality to iTunes AAC. At 192kbps MP3 vs 128kbps AAC, LAME should be clearly better. At 256kbps, there should be no difference to all but those with canine hearing and zillion-dollar stereo systems.
Roberto Amorim and Sebastian (who appears to be continuing Amorim's work) have done some interesting "public double-blind listening tests."
Amorim's AAC at 128kbps test v2 (February 2004) shows iTunes AAC performing much better than other AAC encoders at the time. At least we know that the vast majority of home-created AAC files (created with iTunes) are pretty good quality.
So is Vista for people that really want a mac but don't want people to think they are gay:)
You see there is one thing I never got with that joke.
Gay men: We like masculinity. Somebody who can get things done. Something strong and robust that performs well.
Straight men: You want some tiny, smooth , gentle girl who uses a lot of make-up and can talk to you in a seductive way.
That depends on if whether a straight man sees his computer as an extension of yourself ("real men use PCs") or his lady ("she's a beauty").
Personally, I think it's all bullshit.
Re:Read between the lines
on
Halo 3 Review
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· Score: 1
Also worth noting: Halo 3 has not lived up to Halo 2's preorders. If you define "lived up to" as "equal or greater than," then Halo 3 has at least barely lived up to Halo 2's preorders (if you believe Microsoft). From a Market Intelligence Center article (also covered in other publications):
MSFT Microsoft announced today the launch of its new "Halo 3" game, which goes on sale at midnight Monday. The company announced it had received more than 1.5 million pre-orders for the game and expects to "shatter entertainment sales records."
As we all know, Halo 2 had 1.5 million pre-orders.
I am fairly sure the Pre 800mhz Macs are not QuartzExtreme-compatible. I'm assuming you meant to include 800MHz Macs in the "not QuartzExtreme-compatible" group, but there are many "800MHz and under" Macs that are QE-compatible:
4 years is a good run for a PC. And you are not forced to upgrade to the New OS. Software will be available for the old OS for years. That's three and a half years for some iBooks and eMacs, but I agree with your point (it will be a good run). However, although software will be available for years, OS X Tiger will stop receiving security updates when OS X 10.6 is released (if Apple continues its undefined OS lifecycle).
There is no reason to make people get their OS elsewhere, just offer a choice of (customized) OS installation CD's to be included at full retail price. That sounds like a great option to me (especially the customized OS part), but isn't the choice limited to Windows-only for most new hardware? A large percentage of new consumer hardware is released with (mostly) working Windows drivers, but only semi-functional drivers for other operating systems (like Ubuntu).
Last May, a new PC with a just-released Radeon 2900 video card was only usable with Windows. Offering alternative operating systems would have been a hassle to support and require complicated "product info" pages that explained what didn't work without Windows. For example, a Windows/Ubuntu notebook linked to in another comment offers Ubuntu with this disclaimer: "Great freeware. Conditions apply on upgrades, support and some drivers."
I don't think "unbundling" Windows would change our choices much. Dell offers a few models with Ubuntu, but Dell purposely chose components that they know have decent Linux drivers. Offering Ubuntu on most of their other models would probably be too much of a hassle to support (because of poor or semi-functional drivers).
Dr. Death has arrived. After only 3 years, requiem for an OS: Bill Gates is software's Dr. Death, ready to kill software prematurely that customers want to use. He has decided that Windows XP will die soon: January 31, 2008. I'm not trying to dispute the spirit of your post, but I think saying XP "will die" on January 31 is "greatly exaggerating." That's just the date Microsoft will stop making XP available to retailers and OEMs. That's not the date MS stops support.
According to MS's Windows XP Pro lifecycle page, "mainstream support" for XP lasts until April 14, 2009 and "extended support" (which includes security updates and paid support) lasts until at least April 8, 2014 (the same dates apply to XP Home). That's actually a heck of a lot longer than any other OS AFAIK.
The really major problems in Windows XP stopped only after SP2 was released, on August 25, 2004. That means we have gotten only 3 years of good use from Windows XP. Since XP will continue to get security updates, paid support, and free knowledgebase support until at least April 2014, you should be able to get at least a few more years of use from XP. If you need a bunch of additional licenses, order them before January 31 (to be safe). If you only need a few additional licenses, it should be easy to find old stock after that date.
That said, Linux distros have gotten a heck of a lot better since XP was released nearly six years ago. Also, desktop versions of Ubuntu LTS guarantee 3 years of support, which is pretty darned good for a free download that's updated every 2 years (LTS versions).
"But wait," you say, "they can get a digital cable box and keep the older TV!" Well, sure, but then we get to hear about how the cable company is bleeding it's customers dry by charging for equipment. I call horseshit on this one. Cable companies charge an average $7.50 monthly lease fee for the box that costs them $300 upfront, plus maintenance and repair. In "only" 40 months of maintenance free operation of that box, the cable company breaks even. Yeah...that's certainly not what I would call milking the customer. I've seen simple little Motorola DCT700 digital cable boxes deployed by Comcast that are smaller than a Mac mini and have just two video outputs (coaxial and composite). Aren't these "barebones" cable boxes more than good enough for old TVs? Will these cost anywhere near $300 in 2009? They look pretty cheap to me and I expect them to be cheaper in two years, but I could be wrong.
My video card is a Geforce 7900 GTX (512mb) and my CPU is an AMD Athlon X2 4600+. Athlon X2 CPUs have on-die memory controllers, so you'd also have to upgrade your CPU (in addition to the motherboard and memory). That seems like a waste (to me) since the X2 4600+ is still a pretty sweet CPU. If you're currently using DDR, then your CPU and motherboard uses Socket 939. To use DDR2, you would need to get a Socket AM2 CPU and motherboard.
With that setup, would my RAM be holding me back? Not by much, if at all. Since your next memory upgrade will require a CPU upgrade, your next upgrade should probably have quad-core CPUs in mind (or octo-core if you can wait another year). Intel quad-core CPUs currently start at less than $300. AMD Phenom (desktop version of quad-core Barcelona) is scheduled to be released before the end of this year, which should significantly lower the entry-level quad-core price.
I'm looking for a motherboard that has DDR2 and DDR3 slots, but also a firewire port (and eSATA would be a plus), necessary for video editing. Check again in nine days. There should be at least a few more boards with both DDR2 and DDR3 slots when Intel's X38 chipset is "officially" launched in on September 23 (early X38 boards are starting to appear in stores). Since X38 will be Intel's "performance" chipset, most motherboards should have firewire and eSATA ports (in addition to PCI Express 2.0).
or they can offer digital SD only and roll out converter boxes to all their subscribers (which could be expensive).
It seems like they'll pick option #2 here, and then either charge legacy users a fee to get a box, or just jack up everyones' rate by $5. Everyone is going to end up with a box either way I think the process has already started in a few markets. I recently saw a tiny, very simple digital converter box (Motorola DCT700 from Comcast) connected to my friend's analog television in Novato, CA. It's smaller than a cable modem and has only two video outputs: coaxial and composite. I assume something like this is enough for analog televisions and I don't think they will be too expensive in 2012.
Of course, that won't stop the cable companies from using any excuse to jack up their rates.
Have you asked the new neighbor to update his/her firmware? I'm not sure if this will help, but the new 802.11n Draft 2.0 certification is supposed to prevent interference problems with legacy 802.11b/g gear. Some, but not all, "draft" 802.11n routers can be upgraded to Draft 2.0 with a firmware update.
I heard 802.11n can cause interference problems with other Wi-Fi networks. Is this true?
In some configurations, 802.11n products can interfere with other Wi-Fi networks when they are trying to achieve the best performance. However, all products that are Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 802.11n draft 2.0 are required to implement a good neighbor protocol that helps ensure that interference is not a problem. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 802.11n draft 2.0 products will operate in a manner designed to cause the least interference.
Specifically, Draft 2.0 access points are supposed to switch from 40 MHz to 20 MHz when it detects an 802.11b/g neighbor. However, according to a SmallNetBuilder blog entry, some early Draft 2.0 certified gear don't implement this protocol correctly.
You could pay for SchedulesDirect listings for a few years and still come out money ahead of the cost of MCE. Assuming Microsoft will provide free listings until extended support ends (April 2014), Windows XP MCE 2005 ($110 at Newegg) will continue to get free listings for at least 6.5 more years. That's less than $1.50 per month if g2racer continues using the OS until April 2014. How certain can we be that SchedulesDirect or other services will continue to provide fairly priced listings?
You paid for the listings in the overpriced software. Windows MCE is not for everybody, but I think a heck of a lot of PVR builders will gladly pay for MCE's ease of installation, ease of use, hardware support (drivers), application support (if they use more than just the PVR functions), and tv listings. Heck, MS has made a lot of crappy software, but I think their PVR interface is the only one that's as good as TiVo.
Foobar2k! Best audio player for Windows ever. http://foobar2000.org/ Quite minimalistic, but highly configurable. I'm a foobar man myself. However, I think foobar2000 is too minimalistic without at least a few components. Other popular music players are at least "okay" without add-ons. I think most first-time downloaders will install foobar2k without components and think: "What the fuck?" Where's the volume control?
Any time foobar2000 is recommended, popular components should be mentioned as well (also a link to that hydrogenaudio-hosted wiki). My essential components (all on that linked page):
Columns UI
LyricsDB
Monkey's Audio decoder
Autoplaylist Manager
...and my configuration is minimalistic compared to most power users (I think). There are components for album art, iPod management, and other stuff I don't need.
Also, foobar2k includes transcoding settings for LAME MP3 and Nero AAC, but the binaries aren't included (for licensing reasons I assume). Foobar2k asks for the locations of "lame.exe" or "neroaacenc.exe" the first time you try to encode to these formats. They can be downloaded for free:
Cisco is specifically releasing a device that's got firmware based on Draft 2.0 from Task Group N, which has been certified as an interim release by the Wi-Fi Alliance. What all that means is that Cisco and other firms had to go through lab-based (not just plugfest-based) interoperability and conformance testing to get the Draft N Wi-Fi label. That's the baseline for the next year to 18 months for what 802.11n will look like. It also means that this device (like all Draft 2.0 gear) is guaranteed to work with the final 802.11n specification. The Wi-Fi Alliance finally started releasing Draft 2.0 "certificates" late last month, so now is the logical time for Cisco to release 802.11n gear. Cisco just waited until they could guarantee compatibility with the final standard. What's wrong with that?
Companies are hardly sheep for trying to seize a first-mover advantage. However, I do think some of them are a-holes for selling gear (before Draft 2.0) that interferes with legacy 802.11b/g gear and will not be compatible with other manufacturers' 802.11n gear.
Also, the Wi-Fi alliance is testing and certifying interoperability of 802.11n Draft 2.0 equipment, so in some sense it is a standard, just not an IEEE one. Also, Draft 2.0 gear is guaranteed to be fully compatible with the final 802.11n standard (with firmware updates). With Draft 2.0, the core technology is all but set in stone, but the ratification process is slooooowwww. Wi-Fi certification finally started last month (August), so I think it's now "safe" to buy 802.11n Draft 2.0 gear.
The reason I'm so against n-draft access points is because of how they don't peacefully co-exist. They're specifically designed to reduce interference -- for the 802.11n devices themselves. We're three neighbours here living wall-to-wall, each with our own 802.11b/g networks, on channels 1, 6 and 11. If any one of us switch to n, the other two will suffer. The one with the weaker signal and most problems already will suffer the most, due to n's genius approach of avoiding other strong signals. I'm not sure if this is related, but 802.11n Draft 2.0 certification (supposedly implemented by the Aironet 1250) requires a "good neighbor protocol" that's supposed to prevent interference problems. From the Wi-Fi Alliance's Draft 2.0 FAQ (PDF file):
I heard 802.11n can cause interference problems with other Wi-Fi networks. Is this
true?
In some configurations, 802.11n products can interfere with other Wi-Fi networks when they
are trying to achieve the best performance. However, all products that are Wi-Fi CERTIFIED
802.11n draft 2.0 are required to implement a good neighbor protocol that helps ensure that
interference is not a problem. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 802.11n draft 2.0 products will operate in a
manner designed to cause the least interference.
Specifically, Draft 2.0 access points are supposed to switch from 40 MHz to 20 MHz when it detects an 802.11b/g neighbor. However, according to a SmallNetBuilder article, some early Draft 2.0 certified gear don't implement this protocol correctly.
So if you want to take advantage of 802.11n speeds without being an a-hole neighbor, I think it's possible if you chose access points that implement the protocol correctly. Unfortunately, it appears we can't rely on the "Draft 2.0 certified" sticker. I guess we have to read reviews that specifically test this function.
Did Universal have an *exclusive* digital distribution contract with iTunes? I don't think so - I seem to recall seeing music from Universal being available on Yahoo!. Amazon Unbox sells NBC shows like Heroes for $1.99 per episode. Requires Windows, though.
Slashdot Mirror
I think this misconception (that all wireless syncing requires docking) comes from Microsoft's non-detailed press release. It is, after all, just a press release for products that are coming in November.
XBox Pro ("Go Pro!"), former premium (20GB HD, 30-day Live Gold trial, headset)
XBox Elite (Go Big!"), with 120GB HD and HDMI cable in black.
The latest "leaks" (from TFA, the Ars blog entry, and an Ars update) reveal some significant additions:
- You mentioned XBox Arcade ($280) getting 5 arcade games, but you didn't mention that the Pro ($350) and Elite ($450) are getting bundled with Forza 2 (normally $60 retail) and Marvel Ultimate Alliance ($26).
- You mentioned the Elite having an HDMI port, but the new Pro and Arcade (Core) packages will also be getting HDMI ports.
Personally, I would have preferred a bigger price drop over the Forza/Marvel bundle, but those games aren't worthless.Anandtech has a nice write-up of Intel's Nehalem presentation at IDF: "Nehalem: Single die, 8-cores, 731M transistors, 16 threads, memory controller, graphics, amazing."
I agree that Intel's "two dies on one package" strategy worked great for the Core 2 architecture, but it seemed pretty lousy when they did this for the Netburst architecture (Pentium D). I guess the superior per-core performance of Core 2 overcomes the "messy hack" of putting two dies on one package.
For example, I have a desktop running Windows 2000 which gets Extended support until July 2010. Most useful non-free software continues to support Windows 2000, but a few non-Microsoft apps (like Photoshop) are dropping W2K support with their new versions. Of course, MS is dropping support with their apps (Office, IE, Media Player) because they want users to upgrade Windows. Also, there's less incentive to update freeware for W2K.
*eyes McCartney and Ringo ominously*
I was about to suggest Paul, Sean (Lennon), Dhani (Harrison), and Zak (Starkey). I actually forgot Ringo was still alive. How embarrassing.Note that the press release came from Activision, so those publicists at that gaming company might not know the band's history. I wouldn't be surprised if most people thought Sid Vicious was an "original member" and assumed Glenn was "Sid's replacement" for the reunions. Sid represented the look and the attitude of the Sex Pistols. Glenn was the geek who created the music.
However, I think the most accepted version of events has guitarist Steve Jones playing Glenn's bass lines on Bollocks except for one song played by Glenn ("Anarchy in the UK") and one song by Sid ("Bodies"). Glenn did get proper song writing credits, so he got paid.
I believe the story about Glenn being hired back as a studio musician came from John Lydon's 1995 autobiography, but others have denied this happened. The memories of creative musicians always seem hazy, even without alcohol.
Anyhoo, Glenn's my hero. During the Grundy interview, he seemed more like a geek than a punk.
As many others have noted, Amazon uses LAME, which is the best MP3 encoder. At equal bitrates, LAME MP3 should be roughly equal in quality to iTunes AAC. At 192kbps MP3 vs 128kbps AAC, LAME should be clearly better. At 256kbps, there should be no difference to all but those with canine hearing and zillion-dollar stereo systems.
Roberto Amorim and Sebastian (who appears to be continuing Amorim's work) have done some interesting "public double-blind listening tests."
Gay men: We like masculinity. Somebody who can get things done. Something strong and robust that performs well.
That depends on if whether a straight man sees his computer as an extension of yourself ("real men use PCs") or his lady ("she's a beauty").Straight men: You want some tiny, smooth , gentle girl who uses a lot of make-up and can talk to you in a seductive way.
Personally, I think it's all bullshit.
- MSFT Microsoft announced today the launch of its new "Halo 3" game, which goes on sale at midnight Monday. The company announced it had received more than 1.5 million pre-orders for the game and expects to "shatter entertainment sales records."
As we all know, Halo 2 had 1.5 million pre-orders.- iBooks: April 2003 until (discontinued) April 2004 (2 revisions)
- eMacs: April 2002 to April 2004 (2 revisions)
- iMac "Luxos": January 2002 to September 2003 (2 revisions)
- PowerBook G4s: October 2001 to November 2002 (2 revisions)
- Power Mac G4s: January 2001 to August 2002 (3 revisions)
4 years is a good run for a PC. And you are not forced to upgrade to the New OS. Software will be available for the old OS for years. That's three and a half years for some iBooks and eMacs, but I agree with your point (it will be a good run). However, although software will be available for years, OS X Tiger will stop receiving security updates when OS X 10.6 is released (if Apple continues its undefined OS lifecycle).Last May, a new PC with a just-released Radeon 2900 video card was only usable with Windows. Offering alternative operating systems would have been a hassle to support and require complicated "product info" pages that explained what didn't work without Windows. For example, a Windows/Ubuntu notebook linked to in another comment offers Ubuntu with this disclaimer: "Great freeware. Conditions apply on upgrades, support and some drivers."
I don't think "unbundling" Windows would change our choices much. Dell offers a few models with Ubuntu, but Dell purposely chose components that they know have decent Linux drivers. Offering Ubuntu on most of their other models would probably be too much of a hassle to support (because of poor or semi-functional drivers).
According to MS's Windows XP Pro lifecycle page, "mainstream support" for XP lasts until April 14, 2009 and "extended support" (which includes security updates and paid support) lasts until at least April 8, 2014 (the same dates apply to XP Home). That's actually a heck of a lot longer than any other OS AFAIK.
The really major problems in Windows XP stopped only after SP2 was released, on August 25, 2004. That means we have gotten only 3 years of good use from Windows XP. Since XP will continue to get security updates, paid support, and free knowledgebase support until at least April 2014, you should be able to get at least a few more years of use from XP. If you need a bunch of additional licenses, order them before January 31 (to be safe). If you only need a few additional licenses, it should be easy to find old stock after that date.That said, Linux distros have gotten a heck of a lot better since XP was released nearly six years ago. Also, desktop versions of Ubuntu LTS guarantee 3 years of support, which is pretty darned good for a free download that's updated every 2 years (LTS versions).
Foxconn and MSI showed "hybrid" DDR2/DDR3 boards based on this chipset at June's Computex.
Of course, that won't stop the cable companies from using any excuse to jack up their rates.
From the Wi-Fi Alliance's Draft 2.0 FAQ (PDF file):
- I heard 802.11n can cause interference problems with other Wi-Fi networks. Is this true?
Specifically, Draft 2.0 access points are supposed to switch from 40 MHz to 20 MHz when it detects an 802.11b/g neighbor. However, according to a SmallNetBuilder blog entry, some early Draft 2.0 certified gear don't implement this protocol correctly.In some configurations, 802.11n products can interfere with other Wi-Fi networks when they are trying to achieve the best performance. However, all products that are Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 802.11n draft 2.0 are required to implement a good neighbor protocol that helps ensure that interference is not a problem. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 802.11n draft 2.0 products will operate in a manner designed to cause the least interference.
Any time foobar2000 is recommended, popular components should be mentioned as well (also a link to that hydrogenaudio-hosted wiki). My essential components (all on that linked page):
Also, foobar2k includes transcoding settings for LAME MP3 and Nero AAC, but the binaries aren't included (for licensing reasons I assume). Foobar2k asks for the locations of "lame.exe" or "neroaacenc.exe" the first time you try to encode to these formats. They can be downloaded for free:
- LAME MP3
- Nero AAC
Encoders for open source codecs (like FLAC and OGG) are already included, of course.Finally, essential reading for newbie foobar2k users: Bachi-Bouzouk's Guide to Foobar2000 v0.9.
Ars Technica had an August 22 news story on the first wave of Draft 2.0 certified gear: 802.11n gets a boost with flood of Draft 2.0-certified gear .
That article also linked to a list of early Draft 2.0 certified gear. Yup, Cisco's Aironet 1250 is there.o ducts.php?search=1&advanced=1&lang=en&filter_compa ny_id=&filter_category_id=&filter_subcategory=&fil ter_cid=&date_from=&date_to=&selected_certificatio ns%5B%5D=33&x=32&y=5
http://certifications.wi-fi.org/wbcs_certified_pr
- I heard 802.11n can cause interference problems with other Wi-Fi networks. Is this
true?
Specifically, Draft 2.0 access points are supposed to switch from 40 MHz to 20 MHz when it detects an 802.11b/g neighbor. However, according to a SmallNetBuilder article, some early Draft 2.0 certified gear don't implement this protocol correctly.In some configurations, 802.11n products can interfere with other Wi-Fi networks when they are trying to achieve the best performance. However, all products that are Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 802.11n draft 2.0 are required to implement a good neighbor protocol that helps ensure that interference is not a problem. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 802.11n draft 2.0 products will operate in a manner designed to cause the least interference.
So if you want to take advantage of 802.11n speeds without being an a-hole neighbor, I think it's possible if you chose access points that implement the protocol correctly. Unfortunately, it appears we can't rely on the "Draft 2.0 certified" sticker. I guess we have to read reviews that specifically test this function.