Kratos Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 https://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Gringo Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 Is there a short version?!? My brain went numb after reading through the three first paragraphs.If they put all this content protection into Vista then it's just not worth getting.And letting the system decide to degrade and even cut of certain pieces of hardware due to this content protection routine is just FUBAR.Is this what they have cooked up in the dungeons of Microsoft HQ since they delayed the release of Vista for some 6 month?!?If so, then it is just wasted time in my book.A PC shall remain in the users control and not in the control of the OS manufacturer, copyright group, hardware companies and all the other goons out there trying to rob the user of control over his PC.The only thing that needs protection is the users control over his/hers PC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorondor Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 I simply can't resist to quote some of the gems shared on that article with those too intimidated by its bulk. And, BTW: thank you M$... "Amusingly, the Vista content protection docs say that it'll be left tographics chip manufacturers to differentiate their product based on(deliberately degraded) video quality. This seems a bit like breaking thelegs of Olympic athletes and then rating them based on how fast they canhobble on crutches." (...) "The threat of driver revocation is the ultimate nuclear option, the crack ofthe commissars' pistols reminding the faithful of their duty." (...) "In order to prevent active attacks, device drivers are required to poll theunderlying hardware every 30ms to ensure that everything appears kosher. Thismeans that even with nothing else happening in the system, a mass of assorteddrivers has to wake up thirty times a second just to ensure that... nothingcontinues to happen." :: "As a user, there is simply no escape. Whether you use Windows Vista, WindowsXP, Windows 95, Linux, FreeBSD, OS X, Solaris (on x86), or almost any otherOS, Windows content protection will make your hardware more expensive, lessreliable, more difficult to program for, more difficult to support, morevulnerable to hostile code, and with more compatibility problems." :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bomb Bloke Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 As a guy who's still quite happy with the graphics in Enemy Unknown, I could care less about all the new DRM hardware/software that the main stream producers now want to force onto the main stream consumers. My video card became obsolete years ago; I won't be able to play Afterlight, as Aftershock doesn't operate on my machine and even Aftermath chugs away a bit. On the other hand, I deal with people who do like to have modern components/media, and they don't like to be messed about by this sort of thing. It's one thing to have to purchase an upgrade because your machine is underpowered, it's another to do it because content owners want control of your rig. There will be a lot of yelling down phones. As articles such as this one point out, it's the honest ones who suffer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matri Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Accounting Troll Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Microsoft have defended themeselves against the allegations in the report link. I'm probably being paranoid here, but I get the feeling that every new version of Windows is designed with the specific aim of making the time of the earlier version seem like a golden age in comparison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matri Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 All I'm gonna say is: I sure as $@#! hope the Vista team never takes any advice from the RI/MPAA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Praetoris Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 My 'designer-friends' keep nagging on me about getting a mac instead of a pc...because apparantly that's what I'm supposed to be using since I'm into a lot of art-related stuff. That would however mean no more pc-gaming, but with these kind of warning signs hanging over Vista I'm beginning to like the white little machines more and more. oh dear...am i gonna end up geting a mac? And I who once swore not to get one.. damn you microsoft! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Gringo Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Yea, yea. Sure macs are nice for all that art related stuff. And as Intel now sits on the processor parts of hardware they can now run that Mac virus called Windows.What you need are one of these: Nvidia Quadro Plex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Praetoris Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 That's a pretty hilarious 'rig' you've found there wouldn't mind having one of those...until the bill for the electricity arrives that is. Seriously though, I doubt I'll ever bother getting a Mac. Game-design is pretty hopeless if you can't test your work in-game etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Gringo Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Then a homebrewed server board with a couple of Quad Cores and an large bucket of RAM and you are in business...Graphics card....Your choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matri Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 My new Dell here is a Core 2 Duo with 4GB of RAM and 1GB video card. I'm in love Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bomb Bloke Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 *jaw drops to ground* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Praetoris Posted January 24, 2007 Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 Bloody hell matri. Cost? and I who thought I had a decent rig with my Core2Duo 6400(+), 2gig ddr2 and X1900 guess I'm put to shame then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matri Posted January 24, 2007 Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 Yeah well, I'm in debt until July '08. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bomb Bloke Posted January 25, 2007 Report Share Posted January 25, 2007 ... By which time the same rig would come for a fraction of the cost... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Gringo Posted January 25, 2007 Report Share Posted January 25, 2007 ... By which time the same rig would come for a fraction of the cost... Yep...I have a rule of thumb where I say that a brand new top of the line machine will be able to keep up with technological developments for about three years. There after I consider the machine 'obsolete'. Of course a upgrade such as a new graphics card can extend the 3 year limit life span.Reality is of course that my obsolete machine still can get the job done. Just not as fast as I want it done. I remember hacking my way through a game with 10 frames a sec. Oh the pain! I had my old PIII 1000 Mhz for some 6 years and it got the job done pretty good until it became really obsolete. So it became spare emergency parts for my friends and family computers and was scattered in the winds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimli Posted January 25, 2007 Report Share Posted January 25, 2007 I have my PC for 3 years now, and it worked fine until recently when I tried to fire up the demo of the new Splinter Cell game, which requires Pixel Shader 3 support and my Radeon 9600 Pro doesn't support that. Still, as long as I can run games even on the low settings, I really don't care. As for Vista, I got my copy off of MSDNAA, or rather one of the campus PCs, I have to find my MSDNAA username and password though, to get the serial key. I won't do it yet, installing Windows (and all the programs) will take all day, besides, I don't have enough free space on the hard drive, maybe it's time for a new one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matri Posted January 25, 2007 Report Share Posted January 25, 2007 Well, considering my previous rig was a 4-year-old single-core Pentium 4 with 256MB of RAM and a 64MB video card, and a failing 40GB harddrive... I consider this upgrade not only well worth it but necessary! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Gringo Posted January 25, 2007 Report Share Posted January 25, 2007 Your new toy is indeed no upgrade. Its a entire new machine. Enjoy and me very merry. I always build PC's with an eye upgradability to prolong their lives.The next upgrade for by current beast is the graphics card once ATI comes out with their new ones in 1 to 2 months. (I am an Nvidia man but my current motherboard only supports ATI in dual setup.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikal Posted January 27, 2007 Report Share Posted January 27, 2007 My new Dell here is a Core 2 Duo with 4GB of RAM and 1GB video card. I'm in love my commiserations on buying a Dell. we ahve two here and they both need various upgrades which just are not possible due to the way Dell put things together with odd sized bits and pieces. New more powerful PSU? fat chance - without more power there's not much point ramping up graphics etc. I've gone back to building my own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matri Posted January 28, 2007 Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 Well, I simply lack the expertise and the effort to spare to build my own. And Dell is actually quite decent, with the exception of (in my limited experience) the processor fan and the RAM banks (which are non-standard) everything else appears to be pretty much standard equipment. Besides, can't beat the warranty. Previous one had it's motherboard and HD replaced (and data copied) completely free of charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan100 Posted January 28, 2007 Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 Thanks M$! What comes next, OS verification at startup? "No internet connection? Sorry mate, you should have read the EULA. Have fun with your BIOS until you get your connection back" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Praetoris Posted January 28, 2007 Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 Besides, can't beat the warranty. Previous one had it's motherboard and HD replaced (and data copied) completely free of charge. Just to add to that: So far I've only heard good things about DELL's warranty etc and they seem to offer excellent support as well. Where I live they even have some kind of "within-a-day-support" for anyone who buys a complete package from them. If you're ever in trouble and it's needed then mr. fix-it-all will knock on your door withing 24 hours - Apparently they have deals with the local computer shops in order to provide it.And yes, that's free of charge as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matri Posted January 29, 2007 Report Share Posted January 29, 2007 This is true, but you don't need the complete package. Just don't purchase the minimum and you're set, at least the 1-year option if I recall. Anyways, back on topic: No more Unified Drivers?!??! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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