Project: Vista for Games

I am currently using Windows 7 for most of what I do on a daily basis. This primarily includes web-surfing and and watching movies and podcasts. However, my machine also has a second partition with Windows Vista installed on it. Since I started using Windows 7, I haven’t really gone back to Vista. The thing is, I like playing PC games and I’m not sure how games like Bioshock and Crysis will run in the Windows 7 beta. That’s why I have decided to use Vista, the more stable of the two, primarily for games. What makes it even better is that I have a 26 inch Vizio LCD HDTV. In Vista, I can easily set it up so that my Vizio is the primary monitor. Doing so will allow me to play my games on that monitor. Previously I tried this with both screens activiated and could not switch the monitor that my games played on. Having a dedicated operating system for games will make it a lot better, and easier.

Project OS Unity Update

I now have Windows Vista and Mac OS X Leopard running on my computer side-by-side. I did this by first using the Kalyway Leopard 10.5.2 install disk to install the operating system to a spare HDD that I had. Once it was installed, I did a quick search on the insanelymac.com forums which revealed that the NVKush driver would work perfectly for my nVidia GeForce 8800 GS graphics card. I then restarted my machine and booted into Vista. At this point I wanted to add Leopard to Vista’ s boot manager, which I did with a program called easyBCD. I then restarted my computer again, selected Leopard from Vista boot manager, and successfully booted into Leopard.

I then found a way to make my computing experience A LOT better by never having to actually “switch” between operating systems. No, I’m not giving up on Vista. I’m actually using it and Leopard at the same time! To do this, I had to first download and install vmWare Fusion 2.0, Once I lauched the program, it recognized that I had Windows on a Boot Camp disk and started the operating system as a guest in my Leopard host. After installing vmWare tools in Vista, I am now able to make use of my dual-screen setup. By using Leopards Spaces, I can now easily have both operating systems running at the same time and even share files between the two. This is simply amazing!

The next step for Project OS Unity is the get Ubuntu 8.10 installed in its own partition on my computer. Once thats done, I’ll not only have completed the project, but also have achieved unity between operating systems. Hence the name. Project OS Unity.

nVidia GeForce 8800 GS and Project OS Unity

This past weekend I looking around on Tigerdirect.com, and you would not believe the deal the I found there. It was an nVidia GeForce 8800 GS for $75! I have never seen a GeForce 8800 card for below $100 before, so this was quite a pleasant surprise. I wasted no time in ordering it, and now it will be arriving on my doorstep at any moment.

Now that i’ll have a decent graphics card, I can finally tri-boot my machine. For those who don’t know, tri-booting means that I will have three operating systems running on my computer. Currently I only have Vista, but tonight I will be installing both Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron and Mac OS X Leopard. Part of the reason I got the new nVidia card was because I could not get Leopard to run on my system with the 8400 GS card that I have. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve heard that 8800 cards tend to work better with Leopard.

I can’t wait for my new nVidia card to get here so I can get started on Project OS Unity!

Sunday is Work Day

I’m a bit of a procrastinator. Scratch that. I’m a HUGE procrastinator. But, fortunately for me, I work well when I have less time to do stuff. That’s why, this morning I got my scripting lab for this week, and I have just finished writing a paper for my Network Defense course on why most hosts are insecure and how to fix that problem.  All I have left is the homework for my Network Infrastructure and services course, which shouldn’t take too long.

While I’m getting all that done, I’m also getting some other stuff done. I am currently installing Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista. I’ve heard that it significantly improves Vista’s performance, so I’m looking forward to benchmarking it. I just got done installing the nVidia driver for my machine, since I was having some graphics issues. I still have to download Fedore Core 8 iso and burn it to a disc, because I have to install it on four Linux at my school tomorrow during my internship. I’ll alsos be installing Kubuntu there as well.

Til next time, this is AR in AZ!

The Vista Trials

I’ve recently installed Vista on a spare computer I have and I am currently using that as my primary machine. I’m doing this so that I can get a real feel for what the OS is actually like. I’ve been hearing nothing but bad news from the media about VIsta. Some sites even say that Vista may be the new Windows ME. You know as well as I do that the Mellenium Edition version of Windows was THE SUCK, mainly cuz there were barely any programs that were compatible with it. However, my experiences with Vista so far haS not been nearly as bad that the media makes it out to be. The one thing that I’ve seen complained about more than anything else in Vista is its confirmation box. This is the box that appears when a program or application opens. This may annoy some people, but not me. Its there to protect your computer, and it goes away after you click “Continue.” So big deal. Another reason people don’t like Vista is because they can’t cope with change. I for one like the new layout of Vista. It is much better than XP IMHO. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out where everything is in Vista. If you take some time, I’m sure everyone can find what they need to in Vista. I’m sick of hearing all of this bad news about Vista. It’s really not all that bad.

I’ll have more on Vista when I experience anything new with it. Til then, the Trials Continue….