scooby_dooby
Legend
patsu said:
But in a year you're going to be upgrading all your PC's to windows Vista anyways. So all you really need is a wireless extender(360 or other) and possibly an upgraded HDD.
2006: Battle for the Living Room
- Thread starter Carl B
- Start date
But in a year you're going to be upgrading all your PC's to windows Vista anyways. So all you really need is a wireless extender(360 or other) and possibly an upgraded HDD.
expletive said:Even if you take out the people who are or arent upgrading, think about how many PCs Dell/HP/Gateway(?) sell in a year. Then add the upgraders, then add the people who 'upgrade' and dont get counted on any stat sheet.
Well if we weren't including future media center PC sales based on the OS in the coming years' 'war,' there wouldn't even be this thread to begin with.
I do think it will factor large, but first the thing has to launch - and it *is* Microsoft, know what I'm sayin'? December 2006 could turn into June 2007 readily enough. And second, well... after it does launch there's going to be a span of at least a year I think before we can call it's reach ubiquitous.
I'm not downplaying Vista, I'm just taking a wait and see approach with it.
In the meantime I think the Media Center PC's will be decent banner-carriers for the concept.
scooby_dooby
Legend
I agree it will take a solid year or two until 'everyone' has Vista (of course not literally everyone) but I was just assuming that anyone on this board would more than likely upgrade to Vista very soon after launching, so in HIS case, he doesn't need to purchase a media centre PC, just wait until next year when we will upgrade his OS anyways...
scooby_dooby said:
People could install Vista but that doesn't mean they will be able to view any content which requires HDMI output.
Your PC and display now likely do not have the Protected Video Path (PVP) or HDMI/DVI with HDCP support.
So you'll have to buy new drives, new video card, new displays. More than likely, a whole new PC.
May I ask why you assume that? I'm still on Win2k as it suits me fine. I know a lot of people have upgraded to XP because it adds a lot of convenience and a new pretty interface. But what reason do they have to buy a new OS if the existing OS serves them so well already? Unless Vista is going with a totally new interface and losing all the Windows stupidities like the Registry, it's just going to be XP+. I haven't been following Vista's development, and the bits I catch here and there are only of features being dropped. So far it looks and sounds like XP but with more Microsoft-friendly securities. And requires a very high-end system. So I can't imagine everyone rushing out to upgrade, save to be able to play all the Vista-secured media that can't run on non-MS-sanctioned hardwarescooby_dooby said:
Seriously though, you're expecting a fast and high adoption it seems. Why?
wco81 said:
Do I need those stuff if I'm going to use Xbox 360 as an extender in the future ? Or are they just for viewing DRM'ed HD content on that Media PC ? If it's the second case, I don't need it and I can just upgrade the OS of the old machine.
But regarding OS upgrade...
It is not that straightforward. What happens if I already have 3rd party applications running on it (which I do) ? I may have to upgrade them too. What happens if my PCs are used for semi official purposes. There are work related setup (Domain setup, VPNs, etc. etc.) that may or may not break. I'll have to go bother the IT guys again ? PCs are generally used for many many tasks. It's just a mess when you have to move on.
IMHO, it is not a path that most consumers should/would take. When friends come to me for advices, I'd point them to the simplest way so they won't come back and bother me when there're setup/change management issues.
dubyateeeff
Newcomer
scooby_dooby said:
Depends... are we talking consumers or corporations? A lot of corporations will move to Vista within a few months, but the majority will wait for service pack 2 before they even think about it*. Consumers otoh will buy Vista with new PCs. So how often does people buy computers these days? Since they are cheaper now I would say every 3rd year, but for the sake of replying I believe it will take atleast 2 years and closer to three... of course it depends on your definition of 'everyone'... I would say 2-3 years then.
*But with more security focus this process may be speed up.
http://www.microsoft.com/events/executives/billgates.mspx
there is no bypassing wintel. they are going to be everywhere. the ps3 will need a content server that will be the pc until ken cell server is up, if it ever is.
it is the best marketing that will win. who re-educates customers that this is what you want get the big slice.
media center is a dumbed down Xp shell, do people know you dont even need a htpc?
viiv pc is this re-education tool. under $999 in a small box.
there is no bypassing wintel. they are going to be everywhere. the ps3 will need a content server that will be the pc until ken cell server is up, if it ever is.
it is the best marketing that will win. who re-educates customers that this is what you want get the big slice.
media center is a dumbed down Xp shell, do people know you dont even need a htpc?
viiv pc is this re-education tool. under $999 in a small box.
Scooby_Dooby said:
Shifty Geezer said:May I ask why you assume that? I'm still on Win2k as it suits me fine. I know a lot of people have upgraded to XP because it adds a lot of convenience and a new pretty interface. But what reason do they have to buy a new OS if the existing OS serves them so well already? Unless Vista is going with a totally new interface and losing all the Windows stupidities like the Registry, it's just going to be XP+. I haven't been following Vista's development, and the bits I catch here and there are only of features being dropped. So far it looks and sounds like XP but with more Microsoft-friendly securities. And requires a very high-end system. So I can't imagine everyone rushing out to upgrade, save to be able to play all the Vista-secured media that can't run on non-MS-sanctioned hardware
Seriously though, you're expecting a fast and high adoption it seems. Why?
In addition, I'm wondering how well Vista will work on the average consumers PC (which is probably somewhere between 1 GHz to 2.4 GHz) without a shiny new GeForce or Radeon card built in. Will those people need to upgrade their PCs as well if they want to enjoy Vista? Each and every OS update was coppled with inconvinience and the hassle of getting parts or new hardware all together to be able to use the new OS at the same speed as the old one (most notably, RAM upgrades that were a requirement going from 95 -> 98 -> ME / 2k / Xp). Also, with Vista's new interface and support of using the graphicscard for its GUI, how many people will actually get that with their old PCs?
Oh it will take a lot more than 2 years till EVERYONE has Vista.
What the hell, i still see people with bloody Win95 and Win98!!!
That's 10 years for Win95 and 7 for Win98!! Thinking that Vista will only take 2 years to penetrate the masses is silly, especially seen the ridiculous system requirements.
What the hell, i still see people with bloody Win95 and Win98!!!
That's 10 years for Win95 and 7 for Win98!! Thinking that Vista will only take 2 years to penetrate the masses is silly, especially seen the ridiculous system requirements.
Scoby did say 'DEveryone' not really actually 'every one of them' but more a substantial majority. These days I think something like 70+% of people are on XP. Least it's that ratio that buy from my website. Win2k didn't get that much penetration. That was with XP looking different (prettier) than it's predecessors. Vista looks the same, so won't have that attraction. Hence there'll be tech-types who upgrade, and buyers of new computers. I don't know how MS are going to sell what amount to a rebadged tweak of an existing product to everyone else though. Talk of security is big these days and maybe that'll convince people? If they could ensure IDs couldn't be ripped when you access the internet on Vista, they might have a hook.london-boy said:
Joe DeFuria
Legend
fireshot said:
Huh? Sure you can upgrade to Vista...including version with Media Center capabilities.
scooby_dooby
Legend
If you buy Vista Media Centre you'll be getting Windows Diamond, the new version of media centre, 2GB ram minimum specs. Vista should support basic MCE 2005 functionality.
