Vista supports four speaker configurations, stereo, 4.0, 5.1, 7.1.
DTS-ES Discrete is the only standard for 6.1. Granted it's only one standard, but it does exist.
I need to replace Creative and I need to do it now!
- Thread starter Quitch
- Start date
Vista supports four speaker configurations, stereo, 4.0, 5.1, 7.1.
DTS-ES Discrete is the only standard for 6.1. Granted it's only one standard, but it does exist.
I don't exactly understand your questions, but I will provide answers with what I think you are trying to ask.
You can use programs like AC3Filter to decode Dolby Digital/DTS in Vista (or you can use an external decoder).
Vista supports DirectSound (and in turn DirectSound3D) in software. Creative has also provided OpenAL support in Vista. If you have the right software and sound card, audio in Vista is almost the same as audio in XP (I know I'm oversimplifying here, but from an end users standpoint).
but you cant use an internal decoder (one built into the sound card) ?
Technically yes (there is a really old Creative Vista driver that supported hardware decoding) but IHV's are not suppose to include this functionality in Vista (so essentially no). I'm not sure if Creative has plans to bring this feature back (I'm guessing probably not). Vista has the capability to support hardware decoding, just not the approval of Microsoft.
You mean like how only WMV files show thumbnails? Not Divx files or MPGs. Oh our fav "non-monopoly". Windows isn't even an OS anymore, it does way too much shit. It's trying to do absolutely everything and with each release it replaces various 3rd party apps that were cropping up with "free" built-in Windows apps . It's called "added value" in the business world, and "assimilation" by the Borg. Heh heh.
MS does not innovate. It figures out what the competition is doing that's neat and then copies it in a sneaky semi-non-obvious way. At least what they do usually works ok in the end.
Well, it did, before they released Vista, and (in a lesser sense) Office 2007.
Actually no i mean ms are trying to dictate what features hardware can have and what features hardware cannot have (quick example is soundcards not allowed to decode dolby, another example is humus exposed gemotry instancing for dx9 cards he got into trouble for that, apparently ms didnt like it im sure humus can explain it better but he seems a bit tight lipped on the subject)
so with ms dictating hardware features, software only talking to hardware via ms api's + the hardware abstatraction layer, in the future is it going to matter much what hardware you buy ? as it will all do the same thing ???
in a way its a good thing but on the other hand is there a point in hardware manufacturers inovating ?
and we know that if ms controls something its not good at putting the people interests first
edit: another thing, if ms bring in compulsory wdm certification for drivers (eg: o/s wont install none certified drivers) and they charge for testing/certifying those drivers then they've effectively introduced a tax on hardware (you want your hardware to run on windows you have to pay us)
so with ms dictating hardware features, software only talking to hardware via ms api's + the hardware abstatraction layer, in the future is it going to matter much what hardware you buy ? as it will all do the same thing ???
in a way its a good thing but on the other hand is there a point in hardware manufacturers inovating ?
and we know that if ms controls something its not good at putting the people interests first
edit: another thing, if ms bring in compulsory wdm certification for drivers (eg: o/s wont install none certified drivers) and they charge for testing/certifying those drivers then they've effectively introduced a tax on hardware (you want your hardware to run on windows you have to pay us)
Last edited by a moderator:
Rainbow Man
Veteran
I thought MS had already done that with Vista 64-bit.
From what I hear ti won't install drivers that don't have a valid digital signature and to get that you need to pay a couple hundred bucks a year or somesuch. Or that's what I reead on the internet anywaty.
..And we know that everything you hear ont he interwebs is true.
I also think I read it's possible to override this nbehavior at bootup but it seems it has to be done manually every time you booit up. Essentially annoying the user to death.
Peace.
Tell that to the cheap-asses like A4Tech and some of the other small guys who refuse to bring out 64-bit drivers for Vista. The basterdz!
Stuff like ATI Tray Tools and ATI Tool don't work with Vista x64 unless you turn off the driver signing requirement. Neat huh? Hard to make free software if you need a big money license to make it installable. Some say the driver signing in Vista x64 is a first step towards more control over multimedia playback, mainly focusing on DRM. The next Windows could require driver signing in all editions, if there even is a 32-bit version of it.
Think about what you said there. Could your Vista play Divx files out of the box? Didn't think so. So Microsoft is suppose to add the function to a format they have no control over? Awesome, I'll call them up because one of my Divx files isn't working in Windows Media Player.... oh wait. You know why Windows tries to do everything? Because it has too. OSX includes many applications that are not a core part of the OS. Hell one of Apple's favorite marketing slogans goes something like "Does what you want out of the box" or some bullshit. Linux comes loaded out its ass with useless applications for 80% of distros and certainly all the popular ones are like that. But damn it! If Microsoft includes MS Paint in one more OS I'm going to rebel! Damn them for trying to make a half decent image viewer. Screw them for trying to do some basic multimedia tasks without me having to purchase or download a third parties application!
Here is a clue, hardly anyone innovates. Shocking, I know. Nearly every product you've bought was not purchased from its inventor. Therefore you won't find me shocked when neither is the OS I purchased. Welcome to life, brought to you by humans.
I never use the stumped build-in ones. I use good OpenSource alternatives, that do it well.
what if that extended to programs, what if they had to be windows certified ?
then they could only sign their own windows dev tools put in the same liscence as the xbox dev kits have and you have the same situation if you want to develop for windows you have to pay ms just like the xbox - just a thought
Err, my divx and mpg files do show thumbnails. Maybe you need to update your codecs or give windows time to index the files?
Maybe he's talking about a fresh install? That would be a pretty silly argument imo. And yeah it does thumbnails for divx etc fine as long as the codecs are there. It's very uick and I love that Vista grabs a random screen from the movie if the first frames are black (which they often are).
I just remembered Creative's Aalchemy last night and installed it. Only game I've played so far is LOTRO and it's stuttery compared to running on XP (identical settings and hardware). One sound-related issue I had is I went to launch 3DMark06 for testing and it said I'm missing OpenAL32.dll.
You need to install OpenAL (install link). Yeah, Vista Audio can sometimes be a real PITA. Sometimes installing the Creative drivers install OpenAL, and other times it doesn't.
Similar threads
