Only if the other application has in fact been swapped out to start with. Generally swapping an application (most apps are under 20) doesn't take terribly long. The time when switching out of games is mostly due to the display changing resolutions - the video card has to resync the monitor (Yes, even a DVI LCD) to the new resolution. By the time that's done generally the application you're switching to is swapped back into memory space, if it has to swap at all. The entire game isn't paged out of memory space, only as much as is needed to bring whatever application you're switching to back into memory... Hm, that sounded redundant but I can't think of a better way to word it.
If your game is running at the same resolution as the desktop, generally a task switch should be "instant." The reason for this is that a full screen game is in fact just a window, with its borders (the title bar and side borders) outside of the screen... It isn't a special drawing mode where the game takes over the video card.
As for Vista, the only thing that scares me about it is PMP and PE. That really could affect my work as I'm both a developer and a musician, and a lot of the external devices I use (for one my Vetta II guitar amp, which has a direct digital feed to the computer) don't have signed drivers, and I don't know if Line 6 is going to get that signed. That would break PE by having an unsigned driver in memory space, and Cubase SX may refuse to run then... Scary. Also I'd be kinda pissed if I have to buy a new monitor for PMP, as I just spent $1600 on a Sony 23" LCD. I refuse to replace that.
Haha I absolutely agree. Games like Half-Life 2 simply own games like Doom 3. Hands down. Though, I must say, Serious Sam was great fun for a mindless shoot everything that moves game.
I definitely will check them out. I'm not too big on the other bands that are playing with them though, so I may only stay for part of the show. I'm not sure if my girl and my two pals that I'm bringing would want to sit through a whole bunch of other shows.
Also, just curious, but how long did DT play? Was it one of their usual 2-3 hour sets or shorter because of all the other bands?
Hehe, this thread is getting way off the topic of the article. Oh well.
Heh, neat. I'll ask him about that after the next show I go to - I know Mike Portnoy and am kinda acquainted with the rest of the band... They're hooking me up with tickets for the show in West Palm Beach on the 7th too.:D
I know Rudess is really interested in doing movie scores, he's scored something before (don't remember what) and while we were talking about music (this was last year) he mentioned that he'd love to do another score. I dunno, I personally think that they could do a great job, or even just one.:)
I'll be sure to check out what JP did for that pinball game, that could be interesting.
I have no idea, it seems as if any and all GSM/GPRS traffic near any powered and non shielded sudio devices (even some shielded devices like my Logitech speakers) causes this noise. I've also noticed that sometimes there's an echo where I can hear myself... My girlfriend has that happen to her phone too all the time. Stupid cell phones.:)
I don't know if you've seen any of Kamelot's videos... They're a prog rock band. They do some crazy stuff too. They're kinda medieval fantasy themed, which is neat. Fairly talented too.
Here's one: The Haunting Pardon the QuickTime, but it was either that or Real... And this is the lesser evil.
I'd like to see these guys or Dream Theater score a game, that could get interesting.
I was just about to suggest the soundtrack to Morrowind... Simply amazing for a game soundtrack. Half-Life 2 has a great sound track too, for the genre. I've seen Oblivion in action (the new Elder Scrolls) - I'm friends with the CEO of ZeniMax, and he let me see how the game plays, etc... It's going to be insane. I can't say much under the NDA though. The soundtrack for that was amazing.:)
My speakers/headphones make a lovely beeping noise seconds before I recieve a call... With the headphones it's handy because I could be doing recording work (I'm a musician) and not hear it ring, but the buzzing in my ears alerts me that there's a call coming in. I have an LCD so I can't say I've seen the effect that a cell has on a CRT, but I can surely imagine that it would happen.
Heh, could be... Took me a second to realize were saying I may have fallen for a troll, not that I was a troll.:P
Touching on your point, I think it'd be cool if a bunch of open source developers actually could agree on a standard UI for *nix, and then develop it like hell and make it the best thing since sliced bread. Probably won't happen for a long time though.
I could get a Mac, but they're too pricey (also defeats the purpose of a nice open source platform)... That and I don't want to have to buy a copy of Cubase for Mac along with some of the VSTis I use for my recordings... So I'm stuck with Windows for the desktop... FreeBSD on all my servers - I'm not a Linux fan but hey, to each his own, I have nothing against Linux.
I think the HURD/HERD thing could be really useful to start a new OS based on... Seems like a great concept, we'll see how well it turns out.
And yes I know this entire post is nothing but offtopic rambling, but hey!
I'm pretty sure it isn't necessary anymore. Hell yes I completely agree that Microsoft needs to start telling developers how to do things properly, so many people are stuck in the things that you had to do back in 95 and 98... and ME (ugh)
Also, I've installed huge applications such as VS.NET 2003 without a single hitch and no need to reboot at all... I figure if Microsoft can make a program that big install all its shared libraries, and immense amounts of registry entries without a reboot, the developers of that application you mentioned (don't remember the name) should be able to install a damn archiver without rebooting... Typical that they can't.
Nope, definitely was 2003. I've seen some installs require it to reboot, like the copy that came with my sister's laptop. The copy from my university didn't require a reboot and worked right off the bat. Same with VS.NET 2003. *shrug*
I've installed Office 2003 without a reboot... Didn't even ask me to reboot! Too many damn versions of MS software out there. It was a volume licensed copy from my university though.
No, you are confused. While it's true that it will do more with each instruction, those instructions will take multiple cycles. In RISC architecture each instruction takes one cycle (with a few exceptions). In CISC, some instructions take up to 5 cycles to complete. Basically, one instruction != one clock cycle.
Might as well comment on that - Petrucci uses a setup almost identical to Jordan's, cept he has 8 different tone switches on a pedalboard, and two other switches that he uses to switch from song to song. It's kind of like a patch library on a keyboard - each song is a bank, has its own tones in it. Choose a tone, and it tells his amps how to set themselves up.
Yeah he has two of everything in the rack... Though in the event of a failure of one he has to switch cables... You'd think he'd have some cool rig in case that happened.:P He also has a second korg karma just incase. (since they only come in keyboards, he has it sit on top of his rack) It's a neat setup... Petrucci's setup is pretty crazy itself, I can tell ya a bit about that if you want.
I was actually about to comment about Jordan Rudess... I've talked to him extensively about some keyboard stuff - I know him in person. Anyway, he uses one keyboard but has several different modules - he uses the K2600 only as a controller for a K2600 rack module, Triton rack module, Korg Karma, and a mini moog. He's got a pretty neat setup... Another neat fact is that he has it on a huge UPS system so if the power goes out he can keep playing for 30 minutes... I don't see the point for that, but it's neat.
If your game is running at the same resolution as the desktop, generally a task switch should be "instant." The reason for this is that a full screen game is in fact just a window, with its borders (the title bar and side borders) outside of the screen... It isn't a special drawing mode where the game takes over the video card.
As for Vista, the only thing that scares me about it is PMP and PE. That really could affect my work as I'm both a developer and a musician, and a lot of the external devices I use (for one my Vetta II guitar amp, which has a direct digital feed to the computer) don't have signed drivers, and I don't know if Line 6 is going to get that signed. That would break PE by having an unsigned driver in memory space, and Cubase SX may refuse to run then... Scary. Also I'd be kinda pissed if I have to buy a new monitor for PMP, as I just spent $1600 on a Sony 23" LCD. I refuse to replace that.
Haha I absolutely agree. Games like Half-Life 2 simply own games like Doom 3. Hands down. Though, I must say, Serious Sam was great fun for a mindless shoot everything that moves game.
Also, just curious, but how long did DT play? Was it one of their usual 2-3 hour sets or shorter because of all the other bands?
Hehe, this thread is getting way off the topic of the article. Oh well.
I know Rudess is really interested in doing movie scores, he's scored something before (don't remember what) and while we were talking about music (this was last year) he mentioned that he'd love to do another score. I dunno, I personally think that they could do a great job, or even just one. :)
I'll be sure to check out what JP did for that pinball game, that could be interesting.
I have no idea, it seems as if any and all GSM/GPRS traffic near any powered and non shielded sudio devices (even some shielded devices like my Logitech speakers) causes this noise. I've also noticed that sometimes there's an echo where I can hear myself... My girlfriend has that happen to her phone too all the time. Stupid cell phones. :)
Here's one: The Haunting Pardon the QuickTime, but it was either that or Real... And this is the lesser evil.
I'd like to see these guys or Dream Theater score a game, that could get interesting.
I was just about to suggest the soundtrack to Morrowind... Simply amazing for a game soundtrack. Half-Life 2 has a great sound track too, for the genre. I've seen Oblivion in action (the new Elder Scrolls) - I'm friends with the CEO of ZeniMax, and he let me see how the game plays, etc... It's going to be insane. I can't say much under the NDA though. The soundtrack for that was amazing. :)
My speakers/headphones make a lovely beeping noise seconds before I recieve a call... With the headphones it's handy because I could be doing recording work (I'm a musician) and not hear it ring, but the buzzing in my ears alerts me that there's a call coming in. I have an LCD so I can't say I've seen the effect that a cell has on a CRT, but I can surely imagine that it would happen.
Really? Honestly I had no idea. Good to know... Too bad it's dead though, it sounded like a good idea.
Touching on your point, I think it'd be cool if a bunch of open source developers actually could agree on a standard UI for *nix, and then develop it like hell and make it the best thing since sliced bread. Probably won't happen for a long time though.
I could get a Mac, but they're too pricey (also defeats the purpose of a nice open source platform)... That and I don't want to have to buy a copy of Cubase for Mac along with some of the VSTis I use for my recordings... So I'm stuck with Windows for the desktop... FreeBSD on all my servers - I'm not a Linux fan but hey, to each his own, I have nothing against Linux.
I think the HURD/HERD thing could be really useful to start a new OS based on... Seems like a great concept, we'll see how well it turns out.
And yes I know this entire post is nothing but offtopic rambling, but hey!
I'm pretty sure it isn't necessary anymore. Hell yes I completely agree that Microsoft needs to start telling developers how to do things properly, so many people are stuck in the things that you had to do back in 95 and 98... and ME (ugh) Also, I've installed huge applications such as VS.NET 2003 without a single hitch and no need to reboot at all... I figure if Microsoft can make a program that big install all its shared libraries, and immense amounts of registry entries without a reboot, the developers of that application you mentioned (don't remember the name) should be able to install a damn archiver without rebooting... Typical that they can't.
Nope, definitely was 2003. I've seen some installs require it to reboot, like the copy that came with my sister's laptop. The copy from my university didn't require a reboot and worked right off the bat. Same with VS.NET 2003. *shrug*
That's called incompetence on the part of the people writing ZipGenius.
I've installed Office 2003 without a reboot... Didn't even ask me to reboot! Too many damn versions of MS software out there. It was a volume licensed copy from my university though.
Worked fine for me in Firefox 1.06/Windows... Odd :|
Well I think the big corporations in the US beg to differ. Microsoft surely hates competition. :P
Yeah, we all know Windows is really just blazing lots of pot!
No, you are confused. While it's true that it will do more with each instruction, those instructions will take multiple cycles. In RISC architecture each instruction takes one cycle (with a few exceptions). In CISC, some instructions take up to 5 cycles to complete. Basically, one instruction != one clock cycle.
Someone mod parent up - he has a good point.
Someone mod this guy funny! :D
Might as well comment on that - Petrucci uses a setup almost identical to Jordan's, cept he has 8 different tone switches on a pedalboard, and two other switches that he uses to switch from song to song. It's kind of like a patch library on a keyboard - each song is a bank, has its own tones in it. Choose a tone, and it tells his amps how to set themselves up.
Yeah he has two of everything in the rack... Though in the event of a failure of one he has to switch cables... You'd think he'd have some cool rig in case that happened. :P He also has a second korg karma just incase. (since they only come in keyboards, he has it sit on top of his rack) It's a neat setup... Petrucci's setup is pretty crazy itself, I can tell ya a bit about that if you want.
I was actually about to comment about Jordan Rudess... I've talked to him extensively about some keyboard stuff - I know him in person. Anyway, he uses one keyboard but has several different modules - he uses the K2600 only as a controller for a K2600 rack module, Triton rack module, Korg Karma, and a mini moog. He's got a pretty neat setup... Another neat fact is that he has it on a huge UPS system so if the power goes out he can keep playing for 30 minutes... I don't see the point for that, but it's neat.