Vista is shite...

[Tigershark]

..for backwards compatibility!

Recently changed my PC to a Vista 64 graphic card beast mutha. Why? Well basically because my old one died and I thought what the heck.

Anyway, after installing everything needed to get it to work I then tried installing my older games (eg. The Reap etc) only to discover they no longer work!

When playing my old DOS games on my old (sadly deceased) PC with XP sp2, there was always a clever little program that allowed it to work.

Anything similar for VISTA 64? Anything in the pipeline? I've trield compatibility mode but this simply doesn't work.

TS.

[Ed Oscuro]

Windows hasn't had good DOS compatibility since...well, since they stopped using DOS under the hood (and of course ME was crap). Sounds like you're stuck with DOSbox. That or pony up for a DOS computer, they're not that expensive.

[MX7]

I haven't had any compatability issues with Vista yet. On the whole, I'm pretty impressed, despite absolutely dreading the upgrade.

As far as DOS games go, just use DOSbox, innit.

[BulletMagnet]

Not directly shmup related, so moved to OT.

[doodude]

This wont help with your DOS games but maybe make the Vista transition a little easier.
It sure helped me out...

http://www.howtogeek.com/tag/windows-vista/

[captain ahar]

oh how i miss rebooting into DOS

[neorichieb1971]

Vista, just like everything else, requires a running in period. MS do seem to sell products in the very early stages and just as everyone gets something to work with it, they change it again

[Tigershark]

Thanks. However not sure a Dos programme will help with games like The Reap which need to be windows 95 compliant?

[Ceph]

Vista is shite

What else is there to say?

/end of topic.

[Ed Oscuro]

Vista is better for me than XP. At least it will be once I've got everything settled right...

[DC906270]

i cant get mame to work

[FRO]

Vista is shite

What else is there to say?

/end of topic.

Agreed.

[Ceph]

"I like Vista, because I like how Microsoft can tell me what I can and can't do with my own files. DRM ftw"
"I also enjoy telling Microsoft my CPU's serial number and what componets I have in my PC, and having to re-activate Vista online each time I change components. I like this feeling of being watched. It gives me a sense of security."
"Like being watched by God (tm)."

I wonder if that's what people who use Vista think. It's got to be either that or "Duhhh, what's an operating system? Me like shiny things!"

[MX7]

God, Vista is FUCKING SHINY

[Ed Oscuro]

I wonder if that's what people who use Vista think.

DRM hasn't been an issue for me.

The improvements in large directory file access alone made it worth the change.

What else? The ability to change partition size from within Windows is admittedly not much of a selling point for me, but the idea I can keep my data in a separate partition and reinstall Windows on the other one if the system goes to hell is very nice (especially with the prospect of having to reinstall XP on my home PC and lose lots of stuff).

There's also (finally!) the ability to scale icons cleanly no matter what resolution or DPI your screen is running at. My folks' old XP machine is running at the wrong resolution on an LCD screen because running at the monitor's native res would make the icons too small for their old eyes.

The look and feel of Vista otherwise wasn't a selling point to me, but neither was XP's. I just switch to classic mode.

User Account Control seems like a pain, but I've left it on. I'd rather prevent drive-by-installation of crap onto my machine. There are some issues related to this, for example the slow deletion of files and links from certain areas of the computer, but it's not bad (we're talking a little progress bar for two seconds on my laptop while I can do other things).

Microsoft can have my CPU's information - it's not like there is a "Child Porn Unit" out there that they will go "OMG reported to authorities."

[Ceph]

It never ceases to amaze me how willingly some people trade in their right to privacy and self-determination for a handful of shiny things. Or to "help fight terrorism".

[Ed Oscuro]

It never ceases to amaze me how willingly some people trade in their right to privacy for a handful of shiny things.

If you wanted to read instead of stroking your superiority complex, you'd note that I put "classic mode" in my last post. You know that that is?

I made Vista look like Windows 95. There is absolutely nothing "shiny" about it. The reasons I switched over to Vista are laid out above, and it's vaguely insulting that you just ignore all those valid points as if they weren't made.

Or to "help fight terrorism".

If Microsoft's people want to commit suicide after seeing the horrible pr0n I keep on my PC, they can go right ahead. Nothing illegal here!

But "fighting terrah" ...yes, this definitely factored into my purchasing decision!

Actually, the laptop came bundled with Vista (which is how most copies are selling anyway). I gave it a shot and ended up finding significant improvements over XP, and that's how it went. Downgrading to XP or installing Linux would've been silly. On the other hand, I've got another copy of Vista lying about for use with my next self-built PC - I just need to get the 64-bit media because those horrible fools at Microsoft won't give it to me.

The real problem is that the Linux/Mac/other scenes aren't up to offering a viable replacement for Windows yet. I'll probably always have some sort of Windows machine bumping around for compatibility's sake, even in the (not so unlikely) event that a replacement does show up eventually. Same reason I've got my old game consoles.

I've actually ranted here and there about Vista, but I've also told Microsoft that the inability to upgrade OEM versions of Vista to 64-bit is crippling.

The final thought here: The "DRM and CPU reporting" aspects of Vista are usually most hyped up by people who haven't ever used the system (such as myself, before I ever used Vista). If you routinely buy DRM-protected media (which is when the DRM system actually comes into play), I don't know what to say. For my part, I haven't noticed any problems playing all sorts of media on the computer. Sure, it's more than annoying that Microsoft has sold out to movie studios and is crippling certain types of video connections - but again, that's if you're playing DRM protected media, in which case you really haven't got a reason to complain in the first place. Don't want crippled performance? Don't play DRM'd media.

[Skyknight]

...Since when does Windows NOT run on DOS?

{grumble} This is going to make playing the Bard's Tale games a pain, I can tell...

[Ex-Cyber]

...Since when does Windows NOT run on DOS?

Since the Windows 95 codebase was scrapped in favor of using the Windows NT codebase for both "consumer" and "professional" versions.

[Asherdude]

For some reason, Microsoft thought that having Windows as a DOS shell was a bad thing, so they never bothered to upgrade their core DOS system. Instead, they trashed it in favor of NT, which required a Graphical User Interface (GUI) to run. Linux and OSX are just GUI shells setting on top of a command prompt system and it works wonders for them. Most Linux file servers don't even have a GUI installed.

[Ceph]

There is absolutely nothing "shiny" about it. The reasons I switched over to Vista are laid out above

Your reasons are what I called "shiny things", it's an analogy.
The "fight terrorism"-remark was aimed neither at you nor at Vista; it was another example of how little is needed to make people trade in their rights.

Imagine a car-manufacturer forced you to register your engine and re-activate your car every time you exchanged a component like a tire or the stereo and inform your car-manufacturer of what you installed. No-one would put up with that. Unfortunately Windows has a ~90% market share (obtained by illegal business practices, as asserted by US courts), which apparently makes people willing to bend over instead of looking for a substitute.

Windows Vista is much like Mr. Garrison's "IT" (a wheel-shaped transportation device that supposedly is very fast and uses very little energy, but which penetrates your mouth and rectum while you use it):
http://www.southparkzone.com/episode.php?vid=511

[MX7]

The privicy thing certainly does suck. I hate this mentality of 'I've got nothing to hide, it doesn't matter'. Even though I have nothing illegal on my computer (aside from hundreds of pirated games that i'm sure MS won't give a shit about tbh), it still bugs me that I'm having my configuration monitored.

I was forced to buy a new laptop, and I remember pleading with the girl in the shop to sell me one with XP, but she calmly explained they only had vista, and if the worst came to the worst, I could just shove XP on it.

Now I've got it, it runs everything, it looks nice. I'm still keeping my XP stuff at hand, but I'm content for now.

[Tigershark]

You can't be insulted by people you don't know. Their lack of metaphysical proximity makes all they say about you personally (directly or indirectly) groundless and without merit.

Anyway, moving on. How can Vista know what's in your drives anyway? That would require a lot of scanning and bandwidth. Configeration and hardware, yes; content, surely not.

I hate the big brother mentallity of today's society. People who say that they have nothing to hide and therefore don't mind it fail to see the straw on the camel's back.

[junkeR]

Ceph, you seem to have so much anti-DRM/Microsoft hate... yet you're still using Windows 2000, correct? It just seems that all your talk of software restrictions means nothing while you're still using a proprietary OS.

[moozooh]

I hate this mentality of 'I've got nothing to hide, it doesn't matter'.

I hate the big brother mentallity of today's society.

How long until we have an "I hate the mentality of hating another mentality" mentality?

[Ed Oscuro]

Imagine a car-manufacturer forced you to register your engine and re-activate your car

You used this argument against me yesterday in IRC and it didn't impress me then either

Of course, I reuse my IRC material now and then, so that was a cheap shot.

You can't pirate a car off Bittorrent; the analogy doesn't hold. I think that this state of affairs was pretty much inevitable given that piracy was always going to happen except in the event that you had a free OS like Unix take hold before a commercial one.

The "university OS takes world by storm" scenario strikes me as pie-in-the-sky. The robust graphical backend that you see in DirectX could've happened; OpenGL seems to be slightly behind DX lately, but not enough to make a difference to end-users.

The problem with even that "best" likely scenario is that cartels and "alliances" would've formed in the business community, and they ruin everything.

What else? Apple (to reuse what I said earlier) is on the upswing after its decade-long (at least!) nightmare, and seems to have something like 30% growth of their market share annually. Of course, Apple aren't the defenders of the customer's right to choose, witness their adoption of a broken (from the customer's standpoint) file scheme for iTunes.

Eh, it goes on and on.

I think that piracy didn't quite force Microsoft's hand on adding the DRM and other issues; that's a naive assumption that there should be an action-consequence relationship which allows the "righteous" PC users to assign guilt (I myself briefly used a pirated copy of XP, long ago), but rather I think it was fated to happen that there would be some issues like that along the way.

Remember all the complaints about security? Microsoft made a lot of headway on that front, by abolishing the horrible svchost monster process model and by bringing the secure attention sequence to the forefront. That, to me, is one of the core issues confronting PC users: with a free system like Linux, you have all sorts of people setting up sub-optimal situations for normal use.

It almost sounds like I'm making an homage to Thomas Locke here, but on issues of PC security most people can't trust themselves, and at best they probably won't want to be bothered with learning more about security than they want to. I don't think Vista strikes the balance perfectly (oh god i'll install the worst AV software I can find just so this popup goes away), but it certainly reminds people that they need to do things to protect their data and identity.

[Specineff]

"Like being watched by God (tm)."

But God uses a Mac.

[Ed Oscuro]

I thought God used a Cray. What he needs is a starship.

[Specineff]

He switched after Jobs sacrificed his son on top of a mountain.

[Tigershark]

Dragged this game out again and searched Google for solution. Nothing doing. Downloaded dosbox but cuoldn't get that to work. Has there been any software that will help me play this game again?

Thanks.