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Windows Vista upgrade guide, part 1: software
Although we expect many of you already have a Vista build running somewhere in your home's bowels (or have at least fooled around with it), we don't necessarily expect everyone's going to run out and buy a new box just to run the latest version of Windows. What's more, we recently asked a Windows PM who they thought their biggest competition was, and not surprisingly the answer was "XP." (Aside, from an install-base view that's totally true, although we'd argue not so technologically speaking.) So we figured we'd help you along in your big decision as to whether or not Vista is for you with a disgustingly comprehensive feature comparison. Tomorrow we'll give you the hardware angle if you think Vista's where you want to be; click on for the good stuff!
Novatel planning another Rev. A product for Verizon
It looks like The Network has more tricks up their sleeves; too bad one of those wouldn't be launching their hi-speed data network, however beggars can't be choosers. Enter in the latest addition to Verizon's expanding lineup of Rev. A Aircards, the Novatel MCD3000. It supports speeds up to 3.1 mbps through its small flip up antenna, USB 2.0, and is backwards compatible with Rev. 0. The manufacture states that it supports Vista, XP, 2000 and Mac OS X, so the bases are covered from the operating system standpoint. One of our favorite tipsters, HTC Kid, says it's going to be available in the very near future -- so stay tuned for pricing details and launch date!
Carmack blasts Vista gaming initiative
id Software's John Carmack isn't ready for his studio to make the jump to Windows Vista. "Nothing is going to help a new game by going to a new operating system. There were some clear wins going from Windows 95 to Windows XP for games, but there really aren't any for Vista," Carmack recently told Game Informer during a lengthy interview, which also featured id colleague Todd Hollenshead.While Carmack remains keen on Xbox 360, he thinks the Vista initiative is bogus, accusing Microsoft of using the new OS's "artificial" tie with DirectX 10 to lure consumers (and developers). "They're really grasping at straws for reasons to upgrade the operating system. I suspect I could run XP for a great many more years without having a problem with it," concluded Carmack. Good news for those content with XP.[Via GamesIndustry.biz]See also: Games for Windows Vista: how the new brand & OS will change PC gaming
Belkin Easy Transfer Cable helps you share between XP, Vista machines
Belkin's just come out with its Easy Transfer Cable, which we're guessing by the cryptic name allows you to, um, easily transfer stuff via the magic of USB. You plug one end into your XP machine, and another into your Vista box, and voilà, the bits start flying. Belkin claims that this eight-foot cable will transfer at speeds of up to 480Mbps (yep, that's standard USB 2.0, indeed), which translates to 30GB in an hour. Is this convenience worth a pair of Jacksons ($40)? We'll let you decide for yourself.
Boot XP from external USB drive without Boot Camp
jarpy has an interesting post up on installing Windows XP to an external USB hard drive without using Boot Camp to repartition his internal drive. This method makes use of the Open Source rEFIt utility which we've mentioned before. The process itself looks somewhat risky (e.g. jarpy disconnected his internal drive to avoid corrupting his OS X install) and playing around with third-party boot loaders is always potentially dangerous in my opinion. However, the payoff of a USB-bootable Windows drive is rather appealing, so it might be worth a look for some of you. Proceed at your own risk. If any of you decide to get this working, please share your experiences in the comments.[Via Digg]
New Parallels beta on the street
Man, the development team at Parallels must have a secret stash of Jolt. While they're not quite finished with the two big-ticket features for the next release (USB 2 and 3D acceleration support) they have a laundry list of other items rolling out with the latest beta build: Boot from BootCamp partition directly into Parallels Desktop for Mac (my personal favorite) Read/Write Boot Camp partition (if this supports NTFS, another big win) Parallels Transporter Beta - migrate a Windows PC image, VMWare or Microsoft Virtual PC VM to Parallels Drag and drop files/folders between Windows and Mac OS X Graphics performance improvements and more. Once the Direct3D support comes along, this product will move from the "wicked excellent" category into the realm of "simply unstoppable."Update 5:20pm EST: The Parallels support forum post detailing all the changes & linking to the download is here.Thanks Kender!
Intervideo's WinDVD 8 launched in the US
All those looking to add Blu-ray and/or HD DVD playback to their existing PC get ready, Intervideo's WinDVD 8 is finally coming to US shelves. Already available overseas and as a pack-in with some Sony and Toshiba drives and laptops, it will finally be available as a standalone for those who bought a Blu-ray or HD DVD drive with no playback software. Set to run on Windows XP and the upcoming Vista, the Platinum edition of the software can also act as a UPnP server, streaming media to compatible devices. Out of the box its not ready for Blu-ray or HD DVD playback, an add-on HD Upgrade Pack will be necessary but no word yet on the pricing or system requirements there. The Gold edition has a price of $39.98, while the Platinum version with the media server and support for advanced HD codecs is $59.95. Look for it to show up on Intervideo's site...any minute now, and on store shelves in the next few weeks.
Mac Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.0
Apple has issued an EFI Firmware Update 1.0 which "fixes several Boot Camp and start up issues on Mac Pro computers." We've been hearing about these problems for a little while now, so here's hoping this 1.8MB update can let Mac Pro + XP owners sleep a little better at night. The updater requires Mac OS X 10.4.7 and is available here.Thanks Robert
Boot Camp updated for Core 2 Duo Macs
Boot Camp, Apple's software that allows Mac users to run Windows XP on a separate partition, has been updated to version 1.1.1. Specific in this release is support for Core 2 Duo Macs (Mac Pro and new iMac), though the Boot Camp page lists other updates, such as support for built-in iSight cameras and improved Apple keyboard support, that actually appeared in Boot Camp 1.1.This release weighs in at 186MB, and is available from Apple's Boot Camp page.Thanks Randy
How do we level? Let us count the ways
From reader Luclan comes a very important question: what, in our experience, is the best or fastest way of levelling up quickly?First off, I believe levelling quickly in the "power-levelling" sense, and levelling well, are two different things. Getting a level 60 friend to run you through all the lower dungeons for loot won't help you learn how to play your class in groups; spending five levels grinding in one spot doesn't equip you to deal with a wide variety of situations. The journey through each level should, in my opinion, be savoured and learnt from -- after all, when you end up at level 60, knowing as much as possible about your class is a great start.
More Mac/XP woes
Recently, I detailed the trying ordeal I endured while installing Windows XP on a MacBook via Boot Camp. While many of you shared your success stories, I've found at least one other IntelMac owner who had a less-than-pleasant experience. Julio Ojeda-Zapata at the Your Tech Weblog had a dog of a time getting XP to behave nicely on his Mac Pro. When Parallels resulted in "...numerous" kernel panics, he went to Boot Camp route, only to find that the Mac driver CD he was prompted to burn during the installation process wouldn't install (unsupported hardware).Isn't it nice to see all this frustration and wasted time become a part of the Mac experience?
Microsoft warns Europe of possible Vista delays
First the PS3, now this. Microsoft is warning that their oft delayed, Windows Vista operating system might be delayed even further in Europe due to "unclear antitrust guidance" from the European Commission. Apparently this all began in a letter from the commission to Steve Ballmer in March with concerns that some of the features in Vista would breach the same laws XP violated a few years back. According to Microsoft, they proposed some changes but never heard back, saying "Once we receive the commission's response, we will know whether the commission is seeking additional product design changes that would result in delay in Europe." Tit for tat, a spokesman for the commission's antitrust division said Microsoft's statement was "misleading to imply that the commission could be the cause of delays. It is not up to us to tell Microsoft what it has to do to Vista, the onus is on Microsoft to design its product in conformity with European competition laws, which it is well aware of." Meow! So is this just legal posturing by Microsoft in their never-ending European antirust battle or a bit of preemptive blame-shifting in case of further delay? We don't know. But hey, Europe, consider yourselves warned.
Vista forecast: 20% chance of delays
If you're one of the many folks eagerly awaiting the January release of Windows Vista, then there's a small-but-not-insignificant chance that you may be in for a letdown -- a 20% chance, actually, according to outgoing Microsoft CTO, lifelong Engadget reader, and occasional video pirate Bill Gates. During a presentation in Cape Town, South Africa, Mr. Gates informed his audience that although there's an 80% probability that the next-gen OS will ship as scheduled, "we've got to get this absolutely right," and stressed that "if the feedback from the beta tests shows it is not ready for prime time, I'd be glad to delay it." Now, we can't imagine that anyone would want to purchase buggy software, so it's reassuring to see that Microsoft is committed to only pushing a polished product out the door, but we have to say that Gates' choice of words here makes him come across as just a little cavalier. Because if he's "glad" to continue frustrating us with these tragi-comic delays, then there's probably quite a few people out there who will be just as glad to stick with their copies of XP out of spite -- or even worse, make the dreaded leap over to Leopard or Linux.[Thanks, Matt and Oliver O.]
Was Microsoft's vision for Vanguard Vista exclusive? [Update 1]
Sigil Games, developers of the upcoming MMORPG Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, shocked quite a few people by announcing that they were buying the publishing rights from Microsoft so that they could co-publish the title with Sony Online Entertainment. We've already provided some speculation about what the "varying visions and direction for the title's development" between Microsoft and Sigil were, but a tipster (who asked to remain unnamed) from E3 provides another possible reason for the split. Our tipster claims to have spoken to several developers working at Sigil and at another development company that has Microsoft as a publisher -- we'd say the meat of the tip is on the same level of credibility as someone saying that the Government is tapping your phone (yes, I made a political joke -- the first comment to judge my political affiliation wins my apathy!).According to our tipster, Microsoft intended to make Vanguard a Vista-exclusive title and Sigil didn't like it. The fact that XP users wouldn't have been able to play the game (limiting the user base quite drastically) and Windows Vista's notoriously slippery release date being the obvious disadvantages of such a move on the part of Sigil. If true, the motivation for Microsoft would have been that the title would be the first MMO to take advantage of Live Anywhere, Microsoft's online games platform which blends Xbox 360, PC and mobile phone devices: more Vista sales = profit!It's credible that Microsoft wanted to use Vanguard as the first MMO to work with Live Anywhere but that Sigil didn't want its game to be Microsoft's guinea pig and therefore bought the publishing rights. With Vista around the corner, Microsoft wants to provide as much incentive for gamers to upgrade and by making big name games playable exclusively on Vista it can gain that incentive. At the very least we get a kick out of discussing the vague PR explanations of the reasons behind leaving a game's publisher during the beta stage. It's impossible for us to believe that simple, meaningless "varying visions" caused this massive, late in the game move.Update 1: Brad McQuaid (Sigil CEO, creator of MMORPG Everquest) responds by saying "false rumor", but Joystiq commentator Jack Slater cleverly rebukes: "personally I would just deny everything if I was him, as there is no legal obligation for me to tell the truth on the forums but there is likely a legal obligation to keep the reason for leaving Microsoft undisclosed." Meanwhile, Ctrl+Alt+Del daydreams about how the meeting between McQuiad, Microsoft and Sony went. Funny stuff.
Parallels Workstation beta 4 raises the bar, offers improvements
Parallels has released a 4th Beta of their much-hyped Workstation software for Intel-based Macs that allows OS virtualization (not just Windows) within Mac OS X. Improvements and fixes in this new beta include: Introduced full screen mode Introduced dual-monitor support Improved real CD/DVD support Improved, easier to use interface Better sound support, including a fix for Windows 2000 guest OS Networking kernel panics resolved Bridged networking issues fixed WiFi networking issues fixed Fixed some of the issues encountered when entering "Sleep" mode when a VM is running Many other minor bug fixes Don't forget: in addition to running Windows XP within Mac OS X, one of the largest appeals of Parallels Workstation is that you can run a whole slew of other OSs from Windows 3.1 - 2003, any Linux distro, FreeBSD, Solaris, OS/2 and MS-DOS - all running inside a full-featured, secure environment within Mac OS X.
PC World welcomes Apple to their charts
In a move that's causing many to check out their window to see if the sky is falling, PC World has laid out a welcome mat for Apple's hardware into their Top Power PCs testing charts, thanks to Boot Camp. So far, no Macs have made the charts due to some policy quirks (they typically only test stock PCs - Macs don't ship pre-installed with Windows) and test compatibility hiccups, but from a blog entry covering their initial tests, the iMac running Windows XP fared pretty well.We certainly live in interesting times with Macs running Windows, rumors of virtualization in Leopard and now Apple's hardware being put to the test alongside its now (let's face it) PC brethren hardware. We'll keep our ears out for more results on just how well these new Macs stack up.
OnMac triple boots Mac from Boot Camp
Lest you think the team at OnMac.net (you know, the crowd that brought us the original Windows-on-Mac bootloader) would pack it in now that Apple has moved into their turf with Boot Camp, they've come back with a new hack that allows Boot Camp to be used to triple boot your Mac. That's right: no longer are you limited to a mere two operating systems when you start your Mac. Now, you can have a choice of OS X, Windows XP and the Linux distro of your choice (they went with gentoo). Their solution for this turns out to be fairly straightforward: rather than attempting to hack Boot Camp, they've chained the lilo bootloader to run off of the Windows loader. So, Boot Camp still shows you just two options -- OS X and Windows XP -- but if you choose Windows, you then get a second set of choices, which lets you pick Linux or XP. Now that this is done, we're waiting for someone to go to four: we really want to be able to boot into OS/2 Warp, and we suspect the solution is just around the corner.
Boot Camp users: We're stuck in Windows
Talk about a nightmare. Several Boot Camp users have logged on to Apple's discussion boards to share their horror story: The can't boot back into Mac OS X. Forum user TChi wrote:"It all worked fine until I wanted to start up OS X. Then the startup screen never progressed. I actually left and came back an hour later and it was still just the gear thing spinning around."There are at least ten other posts there that describe the same issue involving XP on a MacBook Pro via Boot Camp. A number of fixes have been posted, but (as of my typing this) a one-size-fits-all solution is yet to be offered. The lessons to be learned here? A.) Boot Camp is beta software B.) Carbon Copy Cloner is your friend and C.) Being stuck with Windows is your punishment for installing Windows (that last one was a joke)!Seriously, if you've had a similar experience and have found a fix, feel free to post it here (or at Apple's discussion board). Your fellow Mac users will thank you.[Via PC World]
Apple turning Windows into the new Classic?
John Gruber has posted an interesting analysis of Apple's treatment of Windows in light of Boot Camp and the rampant speculation as to the possibility of Windows virtualization built into Mac OS X 10.5, due out this fall.While many publications are cranking out guesses (regardless of their education) as to what Boot Camp means to Apple and the future of Mac OS X, Gruber's analysis brings some clarity to the noise as he delves into the various ways that Apple has marketed Boot Camp's abilities, including the interesting language they used on Boot Camp's site, which we briefly pointed out at the product's release.Check out John's analysis if you're interested in a thorough analysis from a respected Apple pundit on what all this Boot Camp business means.
Your MacBook Pro is a Windows speed demon
According to Macworld's benchmarks it looks like the MacBook Pro is a Windows XP speed demon, of course, C.K. already told you this. In particular, they found Office 2002 in XP on the Pro absolutely flew. I thought that laptop was a little too businesslike. Maybe the revamped iBooks will have some color (and be single core no doubt). Macworld and their sister pub PC World tested the iMac and MacBook Pro against a couple of Windows machines to see who was faster. Every machine was pretty darn close, really. Maybe the aerodynamics of Apple's gear gives it an edge?
