Impending Vista and current GPUs - is SM3.0 enough?

chavvdarrr said:
I just don't get, whats so "cool" with Vista?
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I think the phrase "Your Mileage May Vary" fits in here :smile:. As a graphics programmer I'm loving Windows Vista - from my perspective it's better than XP. Then again, there are plenty of parts of Vista that I don't much care for...

chavvdarrr said:
Stacked 3d windows when pressing win+tab !? I prefer to be sure which icon which app represents, with dynamically changing icons (or whatever are they called) that will be harder...
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Not entirely sure I understand you here... but pressing the ALT+TAB key you're already familiar with yields pretty much the same results. You aren't forced to use WIN+TAB - it's just there if you want it. I've personally taken to replacing ALT+TAB with hovering over each minimized application in the start-bar as it pops up a "mini preview" so I can see what is in each window...

chavvdarrr said:
Fancy effects when windows are opened/closed ? Who uses such things?!
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They're pretty subtle. After the initial gimmick wears off (took about an hour of opening/closing lots of dialogs and windows in my case) you actually have to look for them to see them. I quite like the shadowing effect though - makes it a bit easier to see which windows are on top of each other when you clutter your desktop up :LOL:

chavvdarrr said:
I have a feeling that MS will shoot themselves in the leg trying to make a more ecure OS, a more responsive OS AND more... don't know how to name it... funny OS ?
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Time will tell I suppose. The more I mess with the CTP's the more I start to think that they might be on to a winner. There's something "fresh" about a lot of what they're changing. Sure, I don't like all of it but it's given me the impression that they've actually taken a few steps back and given it some thought rather than just a rehash of what we've already got in XP.

chavvdarrr said:
So far these beta version can be used for everything but working on them
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I've been using Vista for proper development work for about 4 months now. It's not my primary OS (still XP), but that's more because I'm too lazy to setup my work environment every 2 months. If it weren't for the 2 month clean/reinstall cycle I'd probably contemplate using 5308 as my main OS.

Jack
 
nelg said:
How about sic?
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My leet Dictionary.com searching skills say sic means:

Thus; so. Used to indicate that a quoted passage, especially one containing an error or unconventional spelling, has been retained in its original form or written intentionally.
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I've actually always wondered the exact meaning of this myself and thought it indicated an incorrect spelling in a quotation. Not too far wrong.
 
I think that if I ever get windows Vista I'll run it in classic mode. (which I like better in XP, it at least allows to change the colors BTW)

as you may know, XP actually supports transparency, used for fade out but else you need app support or to use a tool (there are dozens of them, and for example nview does it). but ever tried to keep your contact list on top with transparency? if you, say, browse your files or the web, or do almost anything, you have text over text.. it looks like garbage.
Pseudo transparency for terminals in linux is cool, but real transparency is the most useless feature ever.
I don't like minimizing/maximizing animation, and menus animations either, they add latency to the GUI, I don't even "show window contents while dragging" because I prefer it that way.
So, I wouldn't have 3D windows flying around, rotating, rolling/unrolling etc., whatever :)

Only semi-useful Vista UI feature would be the win-tab, but it'll be a slower alt-tab in the end.

(BTW, did you know you already have a win-tab, try it, it's useless but it's there :))

The only vista new stuff I care about is the VDDM (or WDDM?) drivers, it should allow playing these stupid games (BF2, FEAR, and other to come) at max texture detail with "only" 1GB RAM (as textures wouldn't need to be fully replicated in system RAM)
 
Well, for text on text, of course transparency is garbage. But it can be pretty cool for, say, watching TV while browsing the web.
 
Chalnoth said:
Well, for text on text, of course transparency is garbage. But it can be pretty cool for, say, watching TV while browsing the web.
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That's what Dual Monitors are for... :)
 
I plan to do that.. going dual screen ;) (I should get a free 17" CRT. but as it's late, I might as well use a 13" VGA IBM to begin, now what I lack is a digital pci or usb tuner, and running a RF cable through the ceiling :))
 
Reverend said:
Thanks for an update on the beta version of this OS.
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I don't recall saying anything bad about the os, just citing some bugs that it currently has but as I also said it does seem to already be faster than XP in certain situations, and it's only a beta as you well reassured me.

I really appreciate the sarcasm. ;)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Blazkowicz_ said:
as you may know, XP actually supports transparency, used for fade out but else you need app support or to use a tool (there are dozens of them, and for example nview does it). but ever tried to keep your contact list on top with transparency? if you, say, browse your files or the web, or do almost anything, you have text over text.. it looks like garbage.
Pseudo transparency for terminals in linux is cool, but real transparency is the most useless feature ever.
I don't like minimizing/maximizing animation, and menus animations either, they add latency to the GUI, I don't even "show window contents while dragging" because I prefer it that way.
So, I wouldn't have 3D windows flying around, rotating, rolling/unrolling etc., whatever :)

Only semi-useful Vista UI feature would be the win-tab, but it'll be a slower alt-tab in the end.
Click to expand...
No relation whatsoever mate... GDI+ is still 2D-accelerated. This means that whenever you use fades, transparencies etc etc you place a heavy burden on your CPU. There is a program from Stardock, called WindowFX; look for it, it allows for many of the effects that Vista allows right now. But when you enable those effects, keep Task Manager open and see CPU usage skyrocket.

Aero is 3D accelerated, and thus poses no strain on your CPU. From my experience, Aero is actually faster than Windows Classic in Windows Vista, since the latter is not accelerated.
 
Kombatant said:
Aero is 3D accelerated, and thus poses no strain on your CPU. From my experience, Aero is actually faster than Windows Classic in Windows Vista, since the latter is not accelerated.
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Only the composition is done with the 3D part of the chip. The client areas are still draw with GDI. The main performance improvement is based on the better usage of your video memory. Aero cache all client areas in the video memory. As long as it does not changed there is no need to redraw. The old XP driver model that draws direct in the front buffer need to redraw client parts every time you move a window around even if it has not changed.

For full 3D acceleration even for the client part the application must use the new WPF API.
 
So aero is going to keep my GPU busy for all the eyecandy right .. now has anyone checked what the GPU temperature/fan speed are going to be under extended normal desktop useage compared to XP ?
 
no_way said:
So aero is going to keep my GPU busy for all the eyecandy right .. now has anyone checked what the GPU temperature/fan speed are going to be under extended normal desktop useage compared to XP ?
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I was wondering about that a while back... Quality of design/build might well become an interesting factor in future GPU's.

Jack
 
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