Windows Vista x64 - Some Observations

There have been some interesting pluses to installing the 64 bit version of Vista.

One is the full 4GB of RAM on the system is now utilized. Another, and this could be purely subjective as we haven't run any actual tests yet, is that the system seems to run faster - way faster. Photoshop just opened for the first time in a couple of seconds. It definitely did not do that previously.

After booting, the system settles in around 2-2.5GB of RAM allocated. Keep in mind that this particular system has a lot of TSRs on it. This is a screen shot with several browsers and Outlook open in the background:


That resource metre is always kept open on the desktop. It is a bird's eye view of what is happening on the system at any given time, and is a good indicator as to an application's ability to utilize all four cores on this system.

Even Outlook 2007 doesn't seem to stall as much as it did before. There is still some waiting for some emails to open when clicked on, but no where near as bad as the "go get a tea and come back" waiting that it was before when running on XP Pro 32bit.

There are some issues with third party software though:

• To install Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional, one must extract the AdobePDF.dll_64 from the data.cab to the desktop and name it AdobePDF.dll when the install chokes and asks for the AdobePDF.dll from the "Windows Vista CD-ROM"!
• The Adobe PDF "printer" does not work as it should for creating PDF documents from applications. From IE, it just hangs IE and the Spooler. From an application like Word the print job flashes through the print manager with no dialogue to save the newly created PDF.
• Chapura's PocketMirror Professional for Windows Mobile is not compatible with Vista x64 despite the "Now Supports Windows Vista" logo on their site.
• The Creative X-Fi drivers did not setup properly the first go around. The noise that came from the speakers was unbearable. After one day of the system being on though, Vista popped up the "Problem with" dialogue that had the Creative driver site link in it to "resolve" the problem. Funny thing though, since that dialogue box came up the sound has been working fine!

IMNSHO, this operating system ROCKS! :D

Why do I say that? Because there are two people in my life who are examples of typical Windows users: My wife Monique and my Dad. We transitioned to Vista at home back in October of last year, and with a bit of orientation, Monique has picked up on the OS and its features with no problems. My Dad, whom I introduced to the world of technology and its benefits around ten years ago, has worked his way into the more advanced features of the OS after we upgraded his system last winter. They both made the transition with little effort.

The OS does improve a user's computing experience. The user needs to know that those features are there before their experience improves!

I do believe that the so called "negative" side of the OS does not exist. The problem has more to do with third parties not having their stuff together for drivers, or application coding trying to run over Vista's new security enhancements. This in turn damages a user's perspective of the OS and its abilities.

All in all, I agree: "The Wow is Now".

And, to the old guard ... remember managing those TSRs?!? ;)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

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