The start menu is a mixed bag. The start menu itself has an improved layout, but the new programs submenu really blows. It took me a while to get used to it. Basically, instead of expanding menus like the XP Programs menu, think a compact tree view shoved into the area of the existing start menu. Its a lot harder to navigate.
Luckily, I don't use the programs menu that much. Most of my programs are accessed through the top-level start menu shortcuts.
I will add that I disagree with the article that Vista increases efficiency. Its flashy, and my GUI is a bit more responsive, but in terms of efficiency its not much better, if at all, than XP. At least in my 2 months of using it.
Waiting is a good idea, Vista isn't worth dropping $200 or so dollars for.
Are people with older systems being forced to upgrade to Vista? I don't know if Microsoft has any sort of agreement with companies like Dell that would force them to put Vista on unsuitable systems....
Based on what people are saying, it really seems like the sweet spot for Vista is at least a dual core system with 1 gb of RAM and a good video card.
You need a high end system that isn't being totally utilized. I imagine that if I had a single core system with a lesser video card, it wouldn't be as apparent, if at all. Vista only operates smoother on my system because there was a lot of potential there that wasn't being utilized by XP.
I imagine that if I ran solid benchmarks for a single type of task that it would come out less than for XP, but when I multitask my perception is definately that Vista runs smoother.
Yes, Vista is noticably more performant on my system. However it is a higher end system, and the increase in speed is due to the fact that Vista makes better use of the resources. Its an Athlon X2 system with 2 gigs of ram and an nVidia 7800 GT. Offloading rending to the card, better use of the second processor core, and using more of the RAM to cache applications, I did notice an increase in performance.
If thats the case I wonder if it will hurt them. The rapid fire release of add-ons and consoles killed Sega back in the day. Of course, Wii is pretty cheap, so it could be that they could release another cheap console with back-compat within 4 years without pissing off their customer base.
Well yeah, because all the consoles in the past have been designed to put out images on an SD television set. Now that there are 2 consoles out there with HD as their focus, the state-of-the-art in terms of graphics is HD resolutions. For a series that has sold out to the eye candy, its pretty hard to imagine them passing up two systems with superior graphical power for the Wii.
Sold isn't the same thing as installed base. While I still have my original Playstation 2, I know a lot of people that are on their second or third Playstation 2. I have no idea what the failure rate for Gamecubes or XBoxes are, though. I only knew one other person with a 'cube and two other people with XBoxes.
Source for "record setting preorders" in Europe? What is this based on?
The FF series from 7 onward have had a pretty huge focus on eye-candy. Its pretty hard for me to imagine the main line of FF games moving to any console that doesn't support HD resolutions from this point onward.
I ask the gamestop around where I live every month or so what the status of Wiis are, and it seems like you still have to be there when they open the boxes where I live. They have had PS3s available in the last month that I know of, but I'm waiting at least until end of 2007 for that purchase... probably until a price drop or two hit.
First of all, tone down the aggression, its not helping you at all. It makes you look like a child. Second of all, I believe a Sony exec stated near release that the number of games with problems was something along the order of 100-200, although this seemed like a guess to me. Regardless, the figure of 99% is a pretty good one, and they seemed to have fixed a lot of issues with the upscaling as well, which means you're correct. Third of all, do you have a link to this database? You've mentioned it a couple of times, and I'd like to do some searches on my Playstation 2 games to see if there might be any compatibility problems. Its mostly just music games, right?
Are you basing the 4:1 ratio on some total number? Because based on the NDP numbers its a bit less than 2:1. Of course, doing an assessment based on total sales isn't exactly fair at this point, since PS3 has yet to launch in Europe.
It's a bit too early to call the game altogether. We're talking millions and tens of millions in an industry where the biggest player last round sold over 100 million consoles. We'll start seeing real indications when more exclusive games start comming around.
Tell me about it. As if Sony's misdeeds aren't enough, the loud, obnoxious Sony fanboys tend to drive me away from the console more than anything else.
On one hand, I hope that he is a paid shill, because its sad to think that someone is so emotionally invested in a toy. On the other hand, I also hope he isn't, because lets face it, he's pretty incompetent at the whole astroturf thing.
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Oh come on. A site called desktoplinux says that Linux is better? Wow, color me surprised.
That was sarcasm by the way. Don't you think theres a problem citing a Linux site as fact when it concerns a Microsoft OS?
I never really ran into DRM problems. But then again, I don't buy or play DRM media.
The start menu is a mixed bag. The start menu itself has an improved layout, but the new programs submenu really blows. It took me a while to get used to it. Basically, instead of expanding menus like the XP Programs menu, think a compact tree view shoved into the area of the existing start menu. Its a lot harder to navigate.
Luckily, I don't use the programs menu that much. Most of my programs are accessed through the top-level start menu shortcuts.
I will add that I disagree with the article that Vista increases efficiency. Its flashy, and my GUI is a bit more responsive, but in terms of efficiency its not much better, if at all, than XP. At least in my 2 months of using it.
Waiting is a good idea, Vista isn't worth dropping $200 or so dollars for.
Are people with older systems being forced to upgrade to Vista? I don't know if Microsoft has any sort of agreement with companies like Dell that would force them to put Vista on unsuitable systems....
Based on what people are saying, it really seems like the sweet spot for Vista is at least a dual core system with 1 gb of RAM and a good video card.
You need a high end system that isn't being totally utilized. I imagine that if I had a single core system with a lesser video card, it wouldn't be as apparent, if at all. Vista only operates smoother on my system because there was a lot of potential there that wasn't being utilized by XP.
I imagine that if I ran solid benchmarks for a single type of task that it would come out less than for XP, but when I multitask my perception is definately that Vista runs smoother.
Yes, Vista is noticably more performant on my system. However it is a higher end system, and the increase in speed is due to the fact that Vista makes better use of the resources. Its an Athlon X2 system with 2 gigs of ram and an nVidia 7800 GT. Offloading rending to the card, better use of the second processor core, and using more of the RAM to cache applications, I did notice an increase in performance.
You forgot to mention using "awesome," "amazing," and "going gaga over."
Don't forget to play up the PS3 as if its the second comming of Christ.
The black knight always triumphs!
Ah so its pretty subjective then. Thanks for your post, I've been kind of eyeing HDTVs, since my current TV is 13 years old.
Exactly. Its foolish to call the winner in the console wars this early, even with the Wii doing so well.
If thats the case I wonder if it will hurt them. The rapid fire release of add-ons and consoles killed Sega back in the day. Of course, Wii is pretty cheap, so it could be that they could release another cheap console with back-compat within 4 years without pissing off their customer base.
Are 720p HDTVs really all that good of a deal though? I thought that you would want 1080p at this point.
Excellent points, I don't really have a response. I guess I'll have to concede.
Look Richard, saying "the retailers" isn't a source, just passing the buck.
And its not damage control to point out that sales != installed base. This applies for GameCube, Xbox, Wii, PS2... any console. It just isn't true.
If anything is pathetic, its going around insulting people on Slashdot, and calling people fanboys when you are an incredibly huge fanboy yourself.
Well yeah, because all the consoles in the past have been designed to put out images on an SD television set. Now that there are 2 consoles out there with HD as their focus, the state-of-the-art in terms of graphics is HD resolutions. For a series that has sold out to the eye candy, its pretty hard to imagine them passing up two systems with superior graphical power for the Wii.
Sold isn't the same thing as installed base. While I still have my original Playstation 2, I know a lot of people that are on their second or third Playstation 2. I have no idea what the failure rate for Gamecubes or XBoxes are, though. I only knew one other person with a 'cube and two other people with XBoxes.
Source for "record setting preorders" in Europe? What is this based on?
The FF series from 7 onward have had a pretty huge focus on eye-candy. Its pretty hard for me to imagine the main line of FF games moving to any console that doesn't support HD resolutions from this point onward.
I ask the gamestop around where I live every month or so what the status of Wiis are, and it seems like you still have to be there when they open the boxes where I live. They have had PS3s available in the last month that I know of, but I'm waiting at least until end of 2007 for that purchase... probably until a price drop or two hit.
First of all, tone down the aggression, its not helping you at all. It makes you look like a child. Second of all, I believe a Sony exec stated near release that the number of games with problems was something along the order of 100-200, although this seemed like a guess to me. Regardless, the figure of 99% is a pretty good one, and they seemed to have fixed a lot of issues with the upscaling as well, which means you're correct. Third of all, do you have a link to this database? You've mentioned it a couple of times, and I'd like to do some searches on my Playstation 2 games to see if there might be any compatibility problems. Its mostly just music games, right?
Are you basing the 4:1 ratio on some total number? Because based on the NDP numbers its a bit less than 2:1. Of course, doing an assessment based on total sales isn't exactly fair at this point, since PS3 has yet to launch in Europe.
It's a bit too early to call the game altogether. We're talking millions and tens of millions in an industry where the biggest player last round sold over 100 million consoles. We'll start seeing real indications when more exclusive games start comming around.
Tell me about it. As if Sony's misdeeds aren't enough, the loud, obnoxious Sony fanboys tend to drive me away from the console more than anything else.
On one hand, I hope that he is a paid shill, because its sad to think that someone is so emotionally invested in a toy. On the other hand, I also hope he isn't, because lets face it, he's pretty incompetent at the whole astroturf thing.
NDP is American and Canadian sales, not Japanese. Or am I missing something?
As far as I know, 360 is still doing pretty terrible in Japan.
Vista runs fine for me with 2 GB of DDR400 RAM. Athlon X2 4200 (Socket 939), SATA 3GB drive, Nvidia GeForce 7800 GT.
More than you would think. Most of the hiring managers I meet consider it very high prestige.
In game advertising is one of those things that has to be done really subtly to avoid pissing off the player. If anyone can do it right its Google.
Hopefully this means we won't have intrusive and loud ads added to our games.
It was pretty easy to find 64 bit drivers for all my hardware. nVidia video card, RAID controller, nForce 4, SB Audigy 2, Gigabit ethernet, etc.