21-Apr-2007, 04:27 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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Fixed Error!
Posts: 4,202
Join Date: Mar 2007
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Windows Vista finally working
I am posting this blog entry from Vista, using Firefox 2.0.0.3. Before that, I read email with Thunderbird 2.0.0.0. The Dell Photo 926 printer now prints, and Joost works great.
What did I do? Well, after upgrading the BIOS on my Intel 975 BX2 Express board, Vista 64 booted again. I activated it over the phone as it had expired and was deemed NOT GENUINE (Microsoft: having to enter eight groups of six digits first on the phone, then have them read out to you and then enter them into the activation screen is... excessive to say the least) and it Just Worked.
Windows Update pulled down some 103MB worth of updates, including security and compatibility fixes, device drivers and Extras like Dreamscene and Hold'Em Poker; the only one that didn't take was the SigmaTel High Definition Audio driver. Installing the update from Intel's site took care of that however, and all the hardware onboard my system is recognised by Vista64. No driver signing issues, in other words.
This is a fresh install of Vista on a powerful, Intel quad-core computer with 2GB of fast Corsair DDR-2 RAM; it's got enough grunt to run anything well. Nevertheless, I'm struck by how fast the OS feels. The multi-tasking seems much smoother than under XP SP2 and my favourite part of Vista, the DirectX-enabled user interface, is great for high-resolution screens. There's no lag or tearing as you move windows around on the screen, as Vista uses hardware acceleration to render them individually. It's hard to explain this in words but if you try it out on a high-resolution screen by moving windows around, you'll see what I mean - literally.
I'm quite chuffed about this as it means I can now use Vista for my day-to-day stuff, without having to boot back into XP.
Now of course I'm wondering what it is that's wedging some apps and the Dell 926 printer driver on my Vista x86 32-bit installation. What I haven't done on the Vista64 installation yet is to install Office 2007, try to set Firefox and Thunderbird as the default browser/email program, plus install iTunes and Hamachi. In theory, none of that should harm Vista but... stay tuned.
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