2006

BOOT CAMP ARCHIVE 2006

BOOT CAMP 430 (27/06/06)

Windows Vista, part 1

July 11th 2006 marks the end of an era as Microsoft retires the Windows 98, SE and Millennium Edition operating systems (see Tip of the Week). After that date there will be no more paid-for support or security updates but as one version of Windows reaches the end of its life so another one is born.

Windows Vista, previously known as ‘Longhorn’ is due to be launched later this year and is now in the final stages of its Beta Testing phase. This is usually carried out in relative privacy by a small army of PC manufacturers, software developers, expert users and volunteers who seek out the remaining bugs and glitches, prior to operating system going on sale but this time Microsoft has decided to go public, and anyone with a suitable PC can try Vista for themselves.

Over the next few episodes of Boot Camp we’ll be looking at how you can safely install the latest Beta 2 release of Windows Vista on your current PC but before we begin we’ll take a close look at the background to this new operating system, and what it can do for you.

The first thing to say is don’t panic! It will take a couple of years for Windows Vista to become established; there are no immediate plans to withdraw support for Windows XP and it will continue for at least another five years. Any new XP PC bought today will see out its normal working life and if does what you want it to do there’s no compelling reason to stop using it. In fact it would be unwise to switch to Vista too soon. Windows XP is a stable, tried and tested operating system whereas, if past experiences are anything to go by, the early days of Vista will be blighted with technical problems and security alerts, moreover there are bound to be compatibility issues with existing ‘legacy’ software and hardware.

In order for Microsoft to maintain its dominant market position it to innovate but in the past there was a clear need for Windows to evolve to keep up with the advances in computer hardware and software (or was it the other way around?). But this time there are no major step-changes in computer technology on the horizon. The introduction of dual processors and the gradual move from 32-bit to 64-bit computing has been underway for some time and is already addressed by existing versions of Windows XP. However, there has been a huge shift in the way that we use our PCs.

As recently as five years ago the primary role for most PCs was running standard office applications (word processing, spreadsheets, databases and so on), web surfing and routine multimedia applications, all of which Windows XP handles very well, but in that relatively short space of time much has happened that wasn’t fully anticipated when XP was conceived in the mid 1990’s.

A modern PC now has to deal with broadband Internet and wireless networking as a matter of course, plus a plethora of gadgets all demanding a connection to a computer. These include digital cameras, camcorders, web cams, personal digital audio and video players, PDAs, tablet PCs and mobile phones, to name just a few and the list keeps on growing. Add to that the massive reductions in the cost of computer memory, hard disc and solid-state storage and the on-going convergence between PCs and audio and video home entertainment technologies and it’s obvious that Windows XP will be unable to cope with the demands being put upon it for much longer.

Windows Vista has many new and interesting features geared towards the specific needs of the new generation of electronic gizmos but most of the development work has been concentrated on visual appearance with a fancy 3D interface called Aero and making it easier to search for and find files stored on your PC, network PCs and the Internet.

Microsoft has been careful not to compel would-be Vista users into changing their PCs and the system requirements are fairly modest. In fact most PCs made within the last five years with an 800MHz or higher CPU, 512Mb of RAM and a Direct X 9 capable graphics adaptor will be Vista ‘capable’. However, to take advantage of its advanced or ‘Premium’ facilities the minimum recommended spec is a 1GHz or faster processor, 1Gb of RAM, a graphics card with 128Mb of memory plus a DVD-ROM drive, more than 15Gb of free hard disc space and an Internet connection.

The quick and simple way to find out if your PC can handle Vista is to download and run a small Microsoft utility called the Vista Upgrade Advisor, and there’s a simpler browser based checker called Vista Readiness Centre being trialled on the PC Pitstop website. Both of them run through series of checks to see if your PC is suitable, and will advise you of any changes that need to be made to utilise Vista’s core features.

NEXT WEEK - Windows Vista, part 2

JARGON FILTER

BETA TESTING

Pre-release version of a program or application, made available to testers and volunteers on an at-their-own-risk basis, to help identify any last remaining bugs, glitches and conflicts

DUAL PROCESSOR

On the premise that two processors are better than one, dual-processor PCs are designed for demanding applications, like computer aided design (CAD) that require greater speed and processing power

64-BIT PROCESSOR

A new(ish) generation of CPU chips that process twice the amount of data (compared with current 32-bit CPUs) by utilising larger amounts of memory, resulting in faster operation and the ability to handle much bigger files

TOP TIP

Although Microsoft Support and security updates for Windows 98 SE and ME will no longer be available after July 11th online self-help support will continue until at least July 10th next year and thereafter archived on the MS website. The huge amount of third-party information and help available on the web will continue indefinitely.

If you have any other ageing Microsoft products you might like to take a look at the MS Lifecycle Information site, which details the start, retirement and extended support dates for all of its products. It makes interesting reading. Office 2000 was retired two years ago but Extended Support continues until July 14th 2009, and MS was still responding to cries for help with Windows 3.1 right up until the end of 2001. Don’t forget, there’s a full archive of previous Boot Camp Top Tips at www.rickmaybury.com