Vista Ultimate Extras – Dreamscene puts in an appearance

You might have been distracted by the slew of patches that MS released today for Windows XP and Office 2003, but those of you who are especially eagle-eyed will have noticed that MS also released a ‘preview’ version of it’s Dreamscene Ultimate Extra add-on for Vista.

Dreamscene allows you to run video clips as animated wallpapers on your desktop, and ships with an example wallpaper, a clip of the Windows Energy screensaver. You can even add your own clips to use as wallpapers, as long as they are in MPG, WMV or MPEG formats.

This preview version of Dreamscene certainly is interesting, although from the promises that MS made regarding the addon not eating into the battery life of your notebook, it’s clear to see that there is still some way to go before the final version is released.

Early tests using a variety of video clips as desktop wallpaper put CPU usage at anything from 30 to 48% of maximum. If the video clip you have selected to use as your wallpaper has sound, this currently does not play back with the video. 

Still, it’s a very nice addon and will certainly get you a couple of cool points when you show it to your friends, but I do wonder if some might find it distracting.

Opinion: Intel’s 45nm process technology

Over the past few weeks we’ve  heard of the enormous breakthrough that Intel have made using Hafnium-based compounds instead of Silicon, for the manufacture of it’s latest 45nm processors (codename Penryn). This, along with a new process technology, allows for greatly reduced current leakage, allowing them to manufacture even cooler running processors at higher frequencies and lower voltages. So when will they appear?

Lately, we’ve heard conflicting rumours that these processors will be put back until Q1-08 or brought forward into 2H-07. Nothing definite or attributable, of course – except that the process is in great shape and everything is good to go on the 45nm front.

It’s my belief that both rumours have some credibility. I think we will see one or two high-end parts based on 45nm tech. appear towards the end of the year – say a new Extreme Edition and one part a speed grade below for mainstream, with a full ramping and general availability in Q1-08.

There’s plenty of headroom left in the Conroe architecture, so we will see a 3GHz and possibly a 3.2GHz or 3.33GHz Core 2 Duo later this year. If AMD’s Barcelona core performs as well as they are currently saying, Intel could strike back with Penryn at 3.33GHz for sure.

I guess it all depends on how well AMD can deliver with Barcelona, which will be along in the next couple of months.

Vista Superfetch – Thanks for the memory!

So we all know that Vista needs more memory than it’s predecessor did, right? But how much more – and what does it do with it all?

Well, Microsoft recommends 512MB as a minimum, with 1GB as preferred. As a rule of thumb, I’ve learned over the years of working with Microsoft OSes that the minimum will just about get you started, but if you want to be able to do anything beyond web browsing and checking email that it’s best to double up on the MS recommendations. So for Vista, 1GB of RAM will get you up and running, but if you really want to unleash the beast then 2GB (or more) is a must.

So why did MS set the minimum required RAM so low?  One rumour is that pressure from Dell came to bear, who had the idea that specifying 1GB might deter people who thought it might be too expensive.

The truth is, however, that throughout the development of Longhorn, and long before the name Vista was adopted as the official title of the replacement for Windows XP, Microsoft had said on many occaisions that the next version of Windows would need at least 1GB of RAM. 

I currently have 1GB in my home machine and plan to get another gig as soon as possible. With just Vista, an antivirus package and the Windows Firewall running (no other apps loaded) my system is running at 63% of RAM utilised.

So – where does all of this memory go?

Well, Vista is more complex than XP and naturally needs more memory, but one of the more interesting technologies to be found under the hood is the Superfetch feature.

This isn’t something that is configurable by the user. Instead, it is an intelligent caching system that learns from the user and configures itself as you use the OS.

Once the system has started up and all background processes have been launched etc., Superfetch will monitor how you use your system and preload your most-used applications into RAM, ready for you to use when you need them. As I mentioned, this is an intelligent caching system and will change what it loads over time. Thus, if you normally start up your email client at 10am, Superfetch will ensure your email client is already cached and ready to run. If you nip in and out of an Access database all day, it will learn the times you use it and ensure it is cached into local RAM and waiting for you (of course, you still have to launch the app).

The idea is that empty RAM is wasted RAM, and Superfetch is not only designed to cut down on loading times and HDD thrashing, but to make more efficient use of your system and it’s available resources.

Naturally, if your system suddenly needs more available RAM, it will start paging the stuff that’s already loaded into memory in order to free up space for that HD video you’re editing, or that big database you need to query.

So, how much RAM will be right for you?

Well, if you needed 1GB of RAM under XP, you’re going to need 2GB to work happily with Vista. If you already had 2GB of RAM with XP, because you run some of the more intensive games, or work with large video files, etc., then 4GB may be more suitable.

The days of “640KB should be enough for anyone” are long gone.

Windows Vista Ultimate Extras – not for all Ultimate users?

OK, so by now you will know what Ultimate Extras are in relation to Vista, but for those that don’t, they are goodies like extra games, utilities to enhance the Bitlocker drive encryption software, and Dreamscenes - the animated wallpapers that allow video clips to act as desktop wallpapers. Ultimate Extras are a replacement to the Windows Plus! packs which were available to purchase when earlier versions of Windows launched.

These extras are supposedly free to users of Vista Ultimate – only, they don’t seem to be available to all users of Vista Ultimate.

I have loaded Vista Ultimate x64 onto a couple of machines this week – one a full retail copy, the other was the Ultimate x64 OEM version. Both versions were activated once installation had finished and the machines had been configured sucessfully. The Ultimate Extras appeared on the same day that Vista went live on the machine that had the full retail version installed, but the other machine that had the OEM version hasn’t seen any Ultimate Extras at all!

For the record, these extras were a Texas Hold ‘em poker game and the BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool, which is designed to make Bitlocker drive encryption easier to use.

Windows DreamScene is still in beta and will be released at a later date. Once installed, it will allow you to use video clips as a desktop wallpaper (yes, they play fullscreen as your desktop background and look really cool) although I can’t help thinking they could be a little distracting at times.

 Anyway, for a demo go along to the Microsoft site and have a look for yourself:

http://windowsultimate.com/blogs/extras/archive/2007/02/02/windows-dreamscene.aspx

As these Ultimate Extras only appear to be available to people who have purchased the full retail version and not the OEM version, it seems not all Ultimate users are considered equal!

First Vista Install

Earlier this week I installed my first copy of Vista Ultimate x64 RTM. I’d like to say it went swimmingly, but I can’t.

 Despite ensuring I had downloaded all necessary x64 drivers for the hardware I was upgrading (and despite the fact that Vista comes with a huge driver library anyway) I spent over four hours just getting the networking to load.

The customer’s motherboard had onboard ethernet and they had always used this for their broadband connection under XP. Not a problem, I thought – either Vista will have a driver for their ethernet or I can download one.

To quote the Bangles - Nah-nah (goodbye!)

As it was, the motherboard was a mid-range socket 939 board (only purchased last year) and the manufacturers had stopped providing support for it – which meant no 64-bit drivers. Also, Vista didn’t have any drivers for the onboard ethernet either.  Looking around the web, I discovered that I wasn’t the only one who was having trouble with this particular implementation of onboard ethernet.

To cut a long story short, we ordered a popular brand of network card and decided to use this instead of the onboard solution.

Despite the Vista Hardware compatibility list saying this card would work with x64 – in fact, the drivers were supposed to be supplied – I still could not find a driver for this network card and Vista steadfastly refused to connect to the internet.

Remembering that XP x64 Edition drivers will sometimes work on Vista, I searched for and finally found such a driver for the new NIC.

Success!

Finally, we were able to connect and get all required updates, both for Vista and the antivirus software.

So, the moral of the story is this… when upgrading to Vista, if you think you have it covered, have downloaded all required drivers or have them on CD, just ensure you have another machine handy so that you can search for any drivers which may be required.

You may have it covered – then again, you just might not!

Well, I did it!

After much pontificating, I decided to start a blog of my very own. Although primarily technology-orientated, I would also like to add other news items of interest… anything that’s of interest to my friends, both old and new.

So feel free to stop by and drop in and ask a question or just leave your opinion on something I’ve already posted!

AMD’s Barcelona

Are you looking forward to the next generation family of processors from AMD?

Have you been a lifelong Intel devotee, but are keeping your options open with the rumours swirling that AMD’s new processors will be upto 40% faster than their Intel equivalent?

Or did you always use AMD processors, but have been swayed to the Core 2 duo side due to their lower power consumption and better performance?

Whatever processor you use, share your thoughts as to the next generation of processors and let everyone else know where your hard-earned cash will be going the next time you upgrade your machine, or buy a new PC altogether.

Windows Vista: Have you upgraded yet?

Whilst I realise that it is early days, Vista has been available in one form or another for a few months now, whether it be the Business Edition or the public release earlier this week.

So are you an early adopter and have you taken the plunge – or are you still waiting to see how it works out for others before diving in?

All comments posted here will of course go to help others who have adopted Vista or are considering doing so, so please feel free to let others know your thoughts on the subject.

For my part, I have been testing and reporting on the various x64 betas for some time (yes, I’ve even been paid for it at times!) and I must say that initial impressions are favourable, although the cost of upgrading their hardware to take full advantage of all of the features of the new OS may prove prohibitive for many people, at least initially.

So, if you have already adopted Vista, let the rest of us know how you have got on – and if you haven’t, let us know your thoughts with regard to doing so – both positive and negative.