Windows 7: Starting Out

So the day arrived that Microsoft makes Windows 7 Release Candidate available to all. While it was easy to really get the disc image earlier than expected, trusting it is a bit tricky. Without a method and way to really check the validity of the image itself, I took it with a grain of salt. And then Microsoft made Windows 7 available to those who have paid their dues, with a public release being made about a week after. With it, a couple of "digital signatures" were posted that validates the disc image that was supposedly leaked.

Windows 7 is a hot item, and with good reason. Many have failed to see any reason to move to Vista despite that various hardware are being supported and software are retooled and updated to support Microsoft's current OS. With Windows 7 making rounds and numbers being published, the general feeling of Windows 7 seem to imply that it is indeed faster than Vista. It's faster to boot up and faster to do things. It's also being touted as more resource friendly than Vista with smarter service management. Although honestly, I have yet to see if this is true.

With 8GB of RAM now installed and running, I now run Windows 7 RC in 64bit. My first day experience was rather overwhelming. But there are plenty of things to note out.

I know that jumping on the 64bit bandwagon also means having some setbacks. It doesn't take much to know that a lot of today's software come in 32bit. But I was determine to see what programs I often use can be found in 64bit form. So the hunt begins.

In order for hardware to work well in 64bit, the drivers need to be built in 64bit. Companies like ATi, nVIDIA, and Creative Labs all have drivers available for many of their hardware. Actually, I'm quite surprised that Creative Labs now have drivers for Windows 7, because they are one of the last ones to publish drivers for their audio cards. Since I have a Creative Labs X-Fi audio card and a nVIDIA video card, I have two bases covered for the time being. I delayed looking for drivers/softwares for my TV tuner card, which will have to wait for a bit.

With the drivers installed, the video and sound both fired up nicely. They both performed well and did what they are supposed to do. Other tests will be done later when I have settled down with the OS.

Reinstalling all those applications that I use is going to be a pain. An even bigger pain will be determining if there is a 64bit build. First up is communications: Pidgin and Xchat. Pidgin, using the GTK+ libraries, have no 64bit build, for now. GTK+ has no 64bit build as well. Xchat also have no 64bit build, although the build I use is freely available as it was compiled using the public source code to the software. Winamp has no 64bit build but this is of little matter. For the time being, all of these software are not much of a bother to not run in native 64bit mode. To me, as long as they run and work, I don't care if there is no 64bit build.

I find that iTunes has a 64bit installer. So I will be checking that out once I get around to installing it. There is no 64bit build of Firefox and there is a good reason for that. The current codebase and limitation to Firefox is that if you were to build a 64bit Firefox, the plugins must be built in 64bit as well. As it stands now, all the various plugins that are out there, most notably Adobe Flash, are in 32bit. Extensions, though, are not effected, as they run within Firefox's environment.

As I move on, I need a media player that can handle it all. Using Media Player Classic has been the standard for me since Windows XP. But currently the codebase for MPC is so old and outdated that 64bit is nearly impossible. There is a fork/derivative of MPC that builds upon it. And fortunately there is a 64bit build. But there are a few issues. More later.

There is no official 64bit build for the XviD codec, due to the person who usually makes these installers only having a 32bit OS. The same can be said for ffdshow, since I need it for H264 playback, amongst other things. For subtitles, the problem becomes even worse. There is no x64 build for VSFilter and the code is so old and outdated that I question if there will ever be someone out there who can revise and rewrite the dll for x64 compatibility. After many hours of googling, I cannot find an official source or build in x64 form. Yet there is subtitle support for the fork of MPC. But support is tricky and limited in many ways. VSFilter renders subtitles so much better. Hopefully, someone out there can take up the challenge of rewriting VSFilter to be up to date and compatible/buildable for x64 platform.

For now, some of the anime and videos I've watched runs fine. I wonder for how long I can keep this up.

That's all for now, though. There are a couple more, which will then transition to Day 2 experiences. I'll have that up eventually.

Taking the chance

Running Windows 7 RC right now. So far, so good. I'll post follow-ups with experiences and reviews later on.

One small step

Normally I don’t follow the progress of a software unless it is something that I am waiting on.  This happens to be one of them.  When Microsoft made Windows 7 beta available to everyone, they got much more than they bargained for.  Their server for generating product keys for new users crashed under load and it took Microsoft a few days to get that issue resolved so that their servers can handle the load.  After a lot of tinkering, testing, playing, and for some people, a lot of reinstalling, they found that Windows 7 is not only faster but it is subjectively better than Vista in every way.  This does not mean, however, that the system requirement when compared to Vista will go down.  They remain the same.  Yet at the very least, when Windows 7 run, it will run faster, and more efficient than Vista, partly due to how it handles some its features now.

Like previous versions of Windows that came before 7, certain features and programs are run by default, despite that they are not needed or that there is no hardware for it (like the Wireless Zero Configuration service on a desktop PC with no wireless network card).  Microsoft claims that Windows 7 will be smarter on how it runs services, shutting down the ones that are not in use and starting up the ones that are needed.  This reduces memory footprint by a good margin and makes running the OS a lot better for hardware that need to conserve resources.

And then there are the interface changes which has taken a couple of pages from different operating systems or platforms.  While the new interface is different, whether or not it is good or bad is entirely a subjective matter.  People interact better when certain visual features help them identify and do certain task faster.  And that’s something people would look at.

Not too long ago, the big news dropped that Microsoft has completed Windows 7 RC1, the first release candidate and possibly the only release candidate.  However, it is an important step and an important milestone.  It marks the end of the beta and starts the road to the final build which will be sent to manufacturing for duplication (aka RTM).  But even though the RC build is finished and distributed to select companies and testers, others who have paid top dollars to get first dibs on Microsoft products won’t be able to snatch it up until a little later.

Actually, for many, they don’t have to wait.  That build has already been leaked and is being distributed amongst various BitTorrent network and sites.  Fortunately, those who have already signed up for the Windows 7 beta can still use their product key to install and activate it.  It makes waiting for the official release and possibly an RC-specific product key a pointless process.  But that matters very little for people who were anxiously waiting for the RC to come around to see how much has changed since the beta.

So why all the talk and jibber-jabber nonsense about this?  It is because I will be the early adopters of Windows 7 from start to finish.  It is not simply because I am itching to use it.  It is simply because it is the next step up due to hardware upgrades.  After spending some small cash to acquire new RAM, I now hold on hand 4 DIMM sticks of 2GB RAM, totaling 8GB altogether.  With the 4GB limit imposed by 32bit processing and addressing, I have to step up and break away.   My free licensed copy of Windows Vista Business is only 32bit and there is no transition to 64bit that is both economical and simple.  Purchasing a 64bit Vista is not an option at the time, as Windows 7 was already readily available (in beta) and was nearing close to completion (supposedly).  Purchasing 64bit Vista would be a bad choice for me personally with a new OS just around the corner.  And since the RC will be made available to the public at some point, it makes sense to give the new OS a try and to use that as a placeholder until the final product arrives on store shelves.

But nothing will ever prepare me for what I am about to go through.  Some software may not work.  And some devices may not work.  But that’s what I will have to deal with for the time being.  Fortunately, the underlying architecture of Windows 7 is similar to Vista so anything that can run on Vista is likely to run with minimal problem on Windows 7.  At least that’s the current theory of it all.

Ah, but there’s one thing I forgot to mention.  There are a few roadblocks that will prevent me from installing Windows 7.  The first is retaining data.  The second is timing.  My previous post mentions of a celebration going on Guild Wars at this very moment.  Everything will have to wait until I have finished sorting through all the new content and that I have successfully backed up all necessary files (importantly, my Call of Duty profile).  I do not know when I’ll finally flip the switch.  But I do know that I will run into some pain after freshly starting Windows 7 up.  Reinstalling games and software can be such a major pain in the ass.

The Fourth

As Guild Wars is about to celebrate its 4th year, players are now shown what’s under the hood for the 4th Anniversary update.  And with it, there are a lot of things to go through.  Some of them are questionable... but others are long in the making.

The most anticipated new feature is updates to the storage system.  Now players are given the option of acquiring an equipment pack which is used to store their armor and weapons.  Along with the equipment pack, players are now given the opportunity to purchase additional storage panes for their account.  It’s announced that they are offering the storage pane for US$10.  But some people have already pointed out that the pricing is not very economical.  In some stores, including online ones, one can get a new copy of Guild Wars, regardless of chapter/campaign, for the same price.  The cost of that new copy of Guild Wars would come with 2 storage panes plus 4 characters to use, which some people will end up using as “mules” for their items.

While the cost is indeed questionable, there are other purchasable items that players can choose from.  One of which is the makeover package which will enable people to redesign their characters and potentially mix different hairstyle, face, skin tones, and character height to their liking, including using different design options from other campaigns.

It’s too bad I won’t be able to fully look through all the new stuff that went into this update... at least, not right now.  I will be able to sort through it all.  I just need to get through several days of Nine Rings.

Disabled But Not Broken

Recently an update was published to the Call of Duty: World at War game for the PC platform.  That update came bundled with the game’s first Map Pack.  The update also comes with some fixes and changes to make the game play better, or at least that’s the intention of it.  Like many PC games that get updates from developers, there’s a list of changes that went into the game.  People would look at the change list and see what has been implemented in this update.  I am one of those people.

As I looked through the fucked-up mess that plagues the franchise forums, I came across a thread in regards to the game’s bipod.  As soon as I read that, I knew something is afoot, and with it I get a bad feeling on what I was about to read.  After following a few leads, I came across a thread where the poster expresses his frustration in the disabling of the bipod while in the prone position (aka laying down).  As soon as I heard that, I was also up in arms over this.

The big machine guns in the game all has one universal feature: a bipod.  The bipod enables users to mount their machine gun on a ledge or on a flat surface.  At the cost of mobility, you gain something much more: a machine gun with high accuracy and faster firing rate.  Sure, mounting the MG on a ledge may not always be ideal.  But when you stare down a long hall or alley, it is one of the best defensive option in the game, bar none.  There is nothing like this as enemies have very little chance to survive once the gunner is locked in.

What baffles me is the reason Treyarch disabled the bipod while prone.  Their excuse is that they feel that there is a potential threat that can possibly lead to a denial of service attack.  Whether or not this affects the client or the server software remains to be seen.  And there has been no widely publicized case of a certain bipod-related bug ever happening.  Yet Treyarch feels that the threat is so big that they need to disable it without telling anyone about it.  That’s right.  The update notes that I mentioned before contained no information with regards to the disabling of bipod while prone.  This frustrates me and throws me for a loop.  It’s one thing to say that you’re going to make a change to prevent a potential problem from occurring.  But it’s another to make that change without telling anyone about it.  In effect, they removed the one defensive option that I rely on because I find the option to be the best when I have the equipment and time on hand to deploy.

This undocumented change thing is nothing new.  Such a thing happens all the time, more often in the world of MMO’s.  But undocumented changes tend to be so small and so minor that it doesn’t affect anyone.  In many cases the change tend to be visual rather than gameplay-related.  This undocumented change is gameplay-related, which changes the way people set up defenses and suppression fire.

I’m ticked off that Treyarch would go behind the gamer’s back and make such a change without saying a word.  Not only did they screw this up but this is another bullet point to add to the things that Treyarch has done wrong with this game.  I have been tolerant on how they are supporting the game.  But this one hits me really hard.  So what happens now?  What will become of this?  Who knows?  I just know that I cannot deploy my bipod while prone even though it would help immensely in keeping enemies away.  Now I gotta deal with the machine gun’s recoil... That’s just fucking terrific...