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WindowsVista posts

Filed under: Software, Switchers

Texas bans Microsoft Vista from Government Use

We're not Microsoft Windows haters here at TUAW. In fact, Microsoft makes some very fine products for the Mac including some very useful ergonomic keyboards and some terrific mice. They also make a pretty decent suite of Office applications that many Mac owners use each and every day.

Heck, a guy even made a movie using Microsoft products, which we featured right here at TUAW. However, after seeing that the entire State of Texas has decided that Microsoft Windows Vista should not be used in any government agency, we might have to take a minute and reconsider our opinion on the giant from Redmond's flagship product.

According to Sen. Juan Hinojosa, vice chairman of the Finance Committee who proposed the ban, he did so because "of the many reports of problems with Vista." He goes on to say that:

"We are not in any way, shape or form trying to pick on Microsoft, but the problems with this particular [operating] system are known nationwide. And the XP operating system is working very well."

That's all well and good and for many of you Windows XP may, in fact, be working without problems. However, given the well-known issue with Vista, perhaps the Texas legislature is on to something? Who knows, given their current mindset, maybe they'd be interested in switching everyone in government to the Mac?

You hear that Apple, Texas needs you to give them a call.


(Thanks for the tip Melissa)

Filed under: Hardware, OS, Software, Blogs

Vista SP1 to support EFI booting standard - what does this mean for Boot Camp?



Rounding up on 9 months of Vista being on the market, Microsoft is of course at work on Service Pack 1 which is slated for an early 2008 release. At the official Windows Vista blog, Brandon LeBlanc has offered extensive details on what the focus of Service Pack 1 is, and while much of it is targeted at businesses and independent software vendors, an interesting section outlining some of the fundamentals mentions that support for the EFI booting standard is on its way (under the Introducing Windows Vista Service Pack 1 section; there aren't any anchors I can link in this extensive post, so you'll have to search for that title or simply 'EFI').

In their hype and marketing for Boot Camp, Apple makes a pretty big deal about Intel-based Macs supporting EFI while "Windows XP, and even Vista, are stuck in the 1980s with old-fashioned BIOS" (check the sidebar of the Boot Camp page). So what could it mean if Vista catches up to the EFI bandwagon? I'm not quite sure yet. It could likely make the Boot Camp engineers' lives a lot easier, and while I know less about virtualization software like Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion, they might be able to sleep better at night as well. Ultimately, if EFI support in Vista makes it easier for Apple to support running Windows on a Mac, this could likely yield even more sales from swtichers - especially those who need Vista for things like work or gaming. As to speculation on whether this could bring some of the wilder stuff like running Windows apps in Mac OS X without the need for the Windows OS or virtualization tools, I'll leave that to the tin foil hat enthusiasts in the audience.

Thanks Adam

Filed under: Gaming, Software

Ricochet Lost Worlds is fun - and it's 45% off at MacZOT today



I own a Wii, and i installed Windows Vista in Boot Camp on my MacBook Pro primarily so I could play Half Life 2 and catch up with some of the other rockin' games coming out for PCs (buying Vista at OEM prices via a local computer shop numbed some of the pain). With all this rockin' gaming I have going on, however, I am still admittedly a sucker for a good Breakout-style game, and Ricochet Lost Worlds is just such a game. Yes I know Breakout is one of the traditional jokes about Mac gaming, but those stereotypical days are disappearing anyway. Cool powerups and some unique challenges in Ricochet caught my attention, and a today-only sale at MacZOT for $10.95 instead of its regular $19.95 in the Mac Game Store just netted a PayPal purchase from me. If you're looking for some basic gaming that doesn't take an hour just for the warmup, Ricochet Lost Worlds is a good choice.

Filed under: iPod Family, Software

Microsoft releases final Vista/iPod fix

Awhile ago we blogged about an issue some Vista users were encountering when ejecting their iPods. The long and the short of it is that the iPod would get corrupted after being ejected. Microsoft issued a patch, but it didn't fix the issue. Today comes news from the Windows Vista blog that a final patch has been released which should fix the problem once and for all. It is interesting to note that Apple and Microsoft worked together to fix this problem.

The patch is available on the web now, and will be available on Windows Update May 22nd.

[via Infinite Loop]

Filed under: OS, Software, Beta Beat

Apple releases Boot Camp 1.2 with Windows Vista support


Apple has just released Boot Camp version 1.2, ushering in support for the 32-bit version of Microsoft Windows Vista. Plenty of other driver updates and new features are included in this release as well, such as:
  • Updated drivers, including but not limited to trackpad, AppleTime (synch), audio, graphics, modem, iSight camera
  • Support the Apple Remote (works with iTunes and Windows Media Player)
  • A Windows system tray icon for easy access to Boot Camp information and actions
  • Improved keyboard support for Korean, Chinese, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Russian, and French Canadian
  • Improved Windows driver installation experience
  • Updated documentation and Boot Camp on-line help in Windows
  • Apple Software Update (for Windows XP and Vista)
This is great news for anyone who might (unfortunately) want or need to run the latest version of Windows.

I want to issue one word of caution, however, as I don't believe the system requirements list on the Boot Camp page have been updated specifically for Vista's hard drive requirements: the last I remember, any version of Vista besides Home Basic wants nearly 15GB just to install everything that is included, so be sure you partition some extra space if you were still working from XP's numbers.

With that said, get out a blank CD and head over to the Boot Camp page to download the new version.

Filed under: Hardware, OS, Software

Guide for installing Vista in Boot Camp



As reluctant as we might be to admit it, we have our reasons for tinkering with Windows Vista behind closed TUAW office doors. Parallels has pretty decent support for it (3D hardware is still a work in progress), though we've been having to search across the vast interwebs for some help on how to get Micrsoft's latest... 'achievement' to play nice with Apple's Boot Camp. Fortunately, someone we only know as Nja247 has posted this walkthrough at a Geocities page that guides Mac users through every step in getting a 32-bit version of Windows Vista running on a Mac. The walkthrough delves into nearly every essential step, including stripping the necessary drivers off the CD that Boot Camp creates because Apple's auto-installer for Windows breaks in Vista.

Don't get the wrong idea though: we still agree with the US National Institute of Standards and Technology in saying no to Vista. Per our duties as card-carrying Mac users and bloggers, however, we still need to tinker with a few things to make sure we're staying on top of what Redmond is up to. Kinda like Ze Frank says: we're testing Vista, so you don't have to.

Filed under: Software, Apple

Why you shut down OS X as you do

There has been a spate of interest in Windows Vista's convoluted shutdown process started by this Joel on Software post. Fuel was added to the fire when Moishe Lettvin blogged about the design process that was involved with the 'shutdown feature.' The short version: lots of people, lots of meetings, and very little actual code was involved.

We can compare Microsoft's process with Apple's thanks to this post by Arno Gourdol, formerly lead of the Mac OS X Finder team. Not too surprising Apple's process was much more straightforward and involved less people. However, lest you think that all is roses and candy corn in Cupertino, one Apple exec insisted that the 'Log Out' function should have a keyboard shortcut. Not a horrible idea, right? How about if I told you the key combo that exec wanted to use was Cmd + Q? I can imagine many people trying to quit an app and logging out instead. Luckily, cooler heads prevailed and Shift + Cmd + Q was the chosen one.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, OS, Apple

Vista very OS X like

Our good friends at Lifehacker installed the latest beta of Windows Vista and experienced deja vu. Where had they seen these UI elements before? A focus on search? Gadgets?

Oh, right, OS X. Check out the full post for a side by side look at some OS X like features of Vista.

Personally, I hope that Microsoft comes up with some really sweet new features in Vista to give Apple a run for their money (competition is good for the consumer).

Filed under: OS, Software, Macbook Pro

Vista on a MacBook Pro



Marc Orchant got the Vista install disk working with a MacBook Pro and Boot Camp.  What was his secret?  Well, he just inserted a Vista disk instead of a Windows XP disk. There are also reports that Boot Camp supports various distros of Linux.

Update: Well, it looks like the Vista install process works, but Vista itself? Not so much. So, you can install Vista on an Intel Mac but you just can't run it.. much like a PC. I kid, I kid.

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