In Windows 7, user-initiated actions are distinguished from software-initiated actions. If the action is user-initiated (such as clicking a button in Control Panel) then by default, Administrator-level users don't receive any prompting; the action just happens. If, however, the action is software-initiated, a UAC prompt is shown, much like the existing Vista ones.
This reminds me of the hardware event requirements of certain calls in the WoW API. Such a smart idea, and I think this will solve almost all of the anti-UAC sentiment.
You see if Windows was made by a company that just made operating systems and wasn't so tied into the other companies by stuff like Xbox Live Marketplace, Zune, being a game publisher, being an ISP, and countless other ways that Microsoft is forced to be a puppet of the entertainment industries, they could have just told them to all fuck off and said no to DRM and still would have been able to play everything on Windows just because its the most popular operating system and the consumers would have demanded it from the entertainment industries.
Right now its got such strict DRM engineered into the core of the operating system that it makes me fear for my life when people start using it for critical computer systems.
The biggest problem I had with Windows 7 was Creative and X-Fi drivers. It was no surprise really, because the problems have been there on Vista too. Only thing is that on Windows 7 the problem happens 100% instead of 2-3%. Hopefully Creative can fix better drivers for W7 soon. It mostly happens for users with older motherboards and x64 + 4GB or more. Has happened for other users too (constant crackling sound). http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=692688&st=45
I have to bar to the left too. It's a bit weird in the beginning but it is really nice on a widescreen at 1920x1200. I have only played WoW on Win7 so far, but it works perfectly.
Indeed, after having used it on the left side a while, it felt really good. Also because the taskbar is higher in Windows 7, and on a widescreen I want full use of the vertical resolution, while there is space to use on the sides.
jokeyrhyme: That explains why there are fewer UAC prompts where I expected them. Good reading.
The biggest problem I had with Windows 7 was Creative and X-Fi drivers. It was no surprise really, because the problems have been there on Vista too. Only thing is that on Windows 7 the problem happens 100% instead of 2-3%. Hopefully Creative can fix better drivers for W7 soon.
I don't want to go off-topic, but Creative & drivers have never been friends. My worst nightmares when it came to driver issues have always involved Creative at some point. Good hardware, but poor quality of drivers, so I wouldn't put my hopes on (stable) W7 drivers anytime soon.
You see if Windows was made by a company that just made operating systems and wasn't so tied into the other companies by stuff like Xbox Live Marketplace, Zune, being a game publisher, being an ISP, and countless other ways that Microsoft is forced to be a puppet of the entertainment industries, they could have just told them to all fuck off and said no to DRM and still would have been able to play everything on Windows just because its the most popular operating system and the consumers would have demanded it from the entertainment industries.
Do you honestly believe this?
Because if you seriously believe that the entertainment industry would give a ferret's anus if people have to watch their content via a player rather than on their computer, then I just don't know what to say to you.
The DRM doesn't even run unless the file requests it to. And considering the fact that thus far, the only people who believe that digital downloads are the future are pirates, I think it's fairly safe to say that the complaints that Blu-Ray players for the PC could not play HDCP-flagged content would fall on deaf ears.
And who the hell records off cable anyway? ... I've been internet-only for a few years now, and I've been so much happier for it.
What?
The DRM is meant to shut down/downscale the content being played back if it detects that you're trying to record the output from the video card.
The idea is that if all links to the monitor (including even the monitor) is a "trusted module", then it can simply check for any unknown links and then whine about it.
Yes, it's the most consumer-unfriendly thing in the history of the internet, but what people are completely ignorant about are the following facts:
It doesn't run for non-HDCP flagged content.
Even if you don't have HDCP-compliant hardware:
Your old files will continue to play.
Your non-HDCP files will continue to play.
Your Blu-Rays that are non-HDCP will continue to play.
They might never activate this flag on their content.
Thus far, I don't know of any Blu-Ray movies that have this flag enabled, mainly because I think even they realise that people aren't willing to pay $5k just to watch their shit.
I could be wrong on this statement, but I do know that this is a per-movie optional flag that movie studios can enable.
Without support for it, it would still be there.
Okay, PC is a major entertainment device in the home. But I dare say that a larger percentage of your average home cinema enthusiast has a 52" plasma with a surround sound setup independent of their PCs, than those who have said setup connected to a PC running Media Center.
What does that leave? That's right, players. Blu-Ray players, to be more specific.
You think they don't have HDCP support? Of course they do.
Would the entertainment industry give a shit if you had to buy an additional player instead of just connecting your TV to your PC? Hell no! They make more money, they are lulled into a sense of security about their content. Win-win as far as they're concerned.
Unless someone can dispute these points, I'd like to ask people to stop blindly believing in FUD.
Well, I'm not so sure that some form of DRM isn't active all the time. I read the reasons Microsoft gave for absolutely all file accesses being so much slower than in XP (apparently due to a "smarter" cache system). I'm not convinced this is particularly true.
In Vista, why does it take so long to delete files? Why does moving files to another place on the same partition take so long? Why does copying take so long? Why were they suspiciously able to improve performance in some use-cases, but not others? Why was the hotfix so hard to obtain until SP1?
Do I believe that Microsoft implemented a better IO system that actually performs slower for some reason? I guess that's possible. But the other explanation is that the files are being examined more than necessary. Perhaps there's some secret switch content creators asked for so that they could prevent file-copies at the OS level? Obviously no-one has thrown the switch yet, but I don't think HDCP has been used for anything yet either.
I would very much like someone playing with 7 beta to comment either way on whether or not file transfers are faster, slower, or the same as in Vista. I'm really hoping Microsoft have lifted their game in this respect, because basically everything you do on your computer involves file access.
It has actual tests which should be repeatable by you the reader, and a fairly detailed technical explanation.
I think some folks just don't want to believe the answer, and really *want* to believe that its really part of an evil plot so they can keep their nerd rage fueled.
Well, I did suppose that there was no evil intended.
Has anyone tried to use Vista to copy their Interface folders? Or delete them? On my system (quad-core, 4GB RAM, PCIe graphics, other okay stuff) there are roughly 3000 files in my Interface folder, and it takes Vista almost a minute to copy them to another SATA hard drive, 10 seconds to delete them after. Linux on the same hardware take a quarter of the time.
Thank goodness we aren't in the pre-SP1 days where just moving files seemed to take 5 seconds per file (regardless of the size).
And considering the fact that thus far, the only people who believe that digital downloads are the future are pirate
Well, I don't pirate shit, and I think digital downloads are the present. iTunes, Steam, Hulu, DLC on Xbox Live, World of Warcraft.... Hell, even my mom will watch tv online from time to time.
Thew new keyboard shortcuts may be the best part of 7.
As former tech support on a media company Win+P and the External Display Options would have meant a lot of help to users doing presentations. To bad it's 5 years late as a standard. Having to fiddle with multiple different implementations both hardware and software sucked.
I'm using windows 7 atm. however, my video card seems to be slower.. even using the latest "vista" drivers for it..
Meh.. my system isn't exactly a speed demon to start with, but.. meh
I have nVidia and it automatically installed latest beta drivers from Win7 on first boot. Works flawless, at least with WoW. Maybe it is not the same for ATI cards.
I have nVidia and it automatically installed latest beta drivers from Win7 on first boot. Works flawless, at least with WoW. Maybe it is not the same for ATI cards.
My latest beta is dated 2006, and I have an nvidia card..
5700FX to be exact, it's not a dog, but it's no cheetah either..
^^ exactly.. 96.85 is the version that windows update installed, and it -claimed- '08 Dec, however more involved details show files dated '06 and the version is .. 96.85, which was released in 06... and it's the latest "vista" driver on nvidia's site for my card, as well...
Works fine on my card, tested a few games with it. Think it is a modified Catalyst 8.11. Anyway there is a driver available on windowsupdate too, but it's only the driver without control panel.
^^ exactly.. 96.85 is the version that windows update installed, and it -claimed- '08 Dec, however more involved details show files dated '06 and the version is .. 96.85, which was released in 06... and it's the latest "vista" driver on nvidia's site for my card, as well...
break19
Vista's new 'security' *cough*DRM*cough* requirements forbid the usage of anymore unified drivers so now all those so called unified drivers are really just the drivers for every single hardware version bundled together and the installer picks the correct one. So you can perty much throw away any graphics cards older than 2 or 3 years since you have no hope of anybody actually spending time to update the specific drivers for them.
Oddly those same requirements disallow the usage of just wiring the sound cards SPDIF output into the video cards HDMI output but I've heard that's exactly what Nvidia has been doing. But then again when Vista launched and for quite a while afterwords there wasn't a single video card that supported HDCP.
Vista's new 'security' *cough*DRM*cough* requirements forbid the usage of anymore unified drivers so now all those so called unified drivers are really just the drivers for every single hardware version bundled together and the installer picks the correct one.
That is just plain wrong.
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Curse PremiumThis reminds me of the hardware event requirements of certain calls in the WoW API. Such a smart idea, and I think this will solve almost all of the anti-UAC sentiment.
Right now its got such strict DRM engineered into the core of the operating system that it makes me fear for my life when people start using it for critical computer systems.
http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=692688&st=45
Indeed, after having used it on the left side a while, it felt really good. Also because the taskbar is higher in Windows 7, and on a widescreen I want full use of the vertical resolution, while there is space to use on the sides.
jokeyrhyme: That explains why there are fewer UAC prompts where I expected them. Good reading.
I don't want to go off-topic, but Creative & drivers have never been friends. My worst nightmares when it came to driver issues have always involved Creative at some point. Good hardware, but poor quality of drivers, so I wouldn't put my hopes on (stable) W7 drivers anytime soon.
Because if you seriously believe that the entertainment industry would give a ferret's anus if people have to watch their content via a player rather than on their computer, then I just don't know what to say to you.
The DRM doesn't even run unless the file requests it to. And considering the fact that thus far, the only people who believe that digital downloads are the future are pirates, I think it's fairly safe to say that the complaints that Blu-Ray players for the PC could not play HDCP-flagged content would fall on deaf ears.
What?
The DRM is meant to shut down/downscale the content being played back if it detects that you're trying to record the output from the video card.
The idea is that if all links to the monitor (including even the monitor) is a "trusted module", then it can simply check for any unknown links and then whine about it.
Yes, it's the most consumer-unfriendly thing in the history of the internet, but what people are completely ignorant about are the following facts:
It doesn't run for non-HDCP flagged content.
Even if you don't have HDCP-compliant hardware:
Your old files will continue to play.
Your non-HDCP files will continue to play.
Your Blu-Rays that are non-HDCP will continue to play.
They might never activate this flag on their content.
Thus far, I don't know of any Blu-Ray movies that have this flag enabled, mainly because I think even they realise that people aren't willing to pay $5k just to watch their shit.
I could be wrong on this statement, but I do know that this is a per-movie optional flag that movie studios can enable.
Without support for it, it would still be there.
Okay, PC is a major entertainment device in the home. But I dare say that a larger percentage of your average home cinema enthusiast has a 52" plasma with a surround sound setup independent of their PCs, than those who have said setup connected to a PC running Media Center.
What does that leave? That's right, players. Blu-Ray players, to be more specific.
You think they don't have HDCP support? Of course they do.
Would the entertainment industry give a shit if you had to buy an additional player instead of just connecting your TV to your PC? Hell no! They make more money, they are lulled into a sense of security about their content. Win-win as far as they're concerned.
Unless someone can dispute these points, I'd like to ask people to stop blindly believing in FUD.
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Curse PremiumIn Vista, why does it take so long to delete files? Why does moving files to another place on the same partition take so long? Why does copying take so long? Why were they suspiciously able to improve performance in some use-cases, but not others? Why was the hotfix so hard to obtain until SP1?
Do I believe that Microsoft implemented a better IO system that actually performs slower for some reason? I guess that's possible. But the other explanation is that the files are being examined more than necessary. Perhaps there's some secret switch content creators asked for so that they could prevent file-copies at the OS level? Obviously no-one has thrown the switch yet, but I don't think HDCP has been used for anything yet either.
I would very much like someone playing with 7 beta to comment either way on whether or not file transfers are faster, slower, or the same as in Vista. I'm really hoping Microsoft have lifted their game in this respect, because basically everything you do on your computer involves file access.
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Curse Premiumhttp://blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich/archive/2008/02/04/2826167.aspx
It has actual tests which should be repeatable by you the reader, and a fairly detailed technical explanation.
I think some folks just don't want to believe the answer, and really *want* to believe that its really part of an evil plot so they can keep their nerd rage fueled.
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Curse PremiumHas anyone tried to use Vista to copy their Interface folders? Or delete them? On my system (quad-core, 4GB RAM, PCIe graphics, other okay stuff) there are roughly 3000 files in my Interface folder, and it takes Vista almost a minute to copy them to another SATA hard drive, 10 seconds to delete them after. Linux on the same hardware take a quarter of the time.
Thank goodness we aren't in the pre-SP1 days where just moving files seemed to take 5 seconds per file (regardless of the size).
http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/01/14/windows-7-tips-and-tricks
Meh.. my system isn't exactly a speed demon to start with, but.. meh
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Curse PremiumThew new keyboard shortcuts may be the best part of 7.
As former tech support on a media company Win+P and the External Display Options would have meant a lot of help to users doing presentations. To bad it's 5 years late as a standard. Having to fiddle with multiple different implementations both hardware and software sucked.
I have nVidia and it automatically installed latest beta drivers from Win7 on first boot. Works flawless, at least with WoW. Maybe it is not the same for ATI cards.
My latest beta is dated 2006, and I have an nvidia card..
5700FX to be exact, it's not a dog, but it's no cheetah either..
break19
Have to check what date and version i got when i get home from work.
EDIT: Nvida WDDM 1.1 179.23. Can't find exactly when it was released but late December or January. How can you have a beta driver from 2006???
break19
http://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&questionID=39069
Works fine on my card, tested a few games with it. Think it is a modified Catalyst 8.11. Anyway there is a driver available on windowsupdate too, but it's only the driver without control panel.
Vista's new 'security' *cough*DRM*cough* requirements forbid the usage of anymore unified drivers so now all those so called unified drivers are really just the drivers for every single hardware version bundled together and the installer picks the correct one. So you can perty much throw away any graphics cards older than 2 or 3 years since you have no hope of anybody actually spending time to update the specific drivers for them.
Oddly those same requirements disallow the usage of just wiring the sound cards SPDIF output into the video cards HDMI output but I've heard that's exactly what Nvidia has been doing. But then again when Vista launched and for quite a while afterwords there wasn't a single video card that supported HDCP.
That is just plain wrong.