Vista is pretty XP minus compatibility. 7 is the real next OS< not the PoS 'advancement' Vista was. Not saying Vista is bad. I like it. But god the compatibility is such a pain.
I didn't find any compatibility problems with Vista, it was nice being able to play Grandia 2, Red Alert 2 & Tiberian Sun (among other titles XP won't run properly).
What? Anyways those three games I mentioned all have problems running on my XP (They ran just fine on my old Windows 98 PC though), Grandia 2 has no sound & texture issues, Red Alert 2 refuses to install, & Tiberian Sun crashes after 15 minutes, even when using compatibility mode mind you. None of those issues popped up when I installed them on my Vista laptop (with the exception Grandia 2, I had to run it in compatibility mode)
I have my PC set up for XP/Vista dual boot to get around these problems. So far I've only needed XP for Dungeon Keeper 2 and X-Wing Alliance, but I'll use it for GTA IV. Vista just demands so much more RAM than XP.
Well not my copies anyways, I wonder it has do with the fact I got Tiberian Sun some time around 1999 & my copy of RA2 X-mas of 2001(A used copy mind you). :confused: I personally like OSX, hell I'd switch, but just about every game is meant to run on Windows (Yeah I know there's stuff like Boot Camp but I want run it natively, besides very few people ever mod the MAC version of the game :/) .
I already tried compatibility mode (my second post in the thread), & the PC with XP on it only has an AMD Athlon 64 (not x2) so I'm guessing it's on a single core anyways :/ . Beside it runs just fine on my Vista laptop (had to turn of UAC though) so I'm good. [noparse]:D[/noparse]
I've run Red Alert 2 just fine on my 32 bit Windows XP. Never had any issues with it, other than when I tried to make IPX networking work (IPX has never worked since Windows 2000.)
It's not just the OS that affects compatibility. Modern drivers can mess with old games, and every machine has a slightly different set. I used to keep three different versions of my graphics drivers and have to switch between them for different games.
My main issue with vista is just the compatibility. I can't even properly downgrade my laptop to XP for compatibility as my sound drivers have to be force installed for the speakers to work, and my headphone jack becomes a volume de-limiter that makes my speakers go louder than the volume CP allows. Which then starts a feedback loop can can only be fixed (without risking speaker blow out) by booting to safe mode and reinstalling the drivers from scratch.
I don't like thats it's a resources hog. Haveing 2gigs of RAM using XP is a good amount, even today. Vista 2 gigs is the minimum for a gaming machine. Shouldn't a newer OS be more, not less, efficient? especially when it appears to simply be doing exactly the same as the older version (but with pretty transparent windows! oooh! That's worth the money!)
I'm definitely looking forward to Windows 7. The changes they're making sound really nice, and it seems like it'll have more positive buzz on launch.
Maybe the purposely screwed up Vista to make false buzz for the next one? And so they can make money off the sapps who bought retail versions?
