From the kernel to the shell, Windows Vista is a very different OS than XPSP2. How so? Here, Charles interviews Architect Nar Ganapathy whose team of highly skilled engineers write the Windows IO system, driver frameworks and related technologies. So, what, exactly, is new in Windows Vista with regard to IO? What does it mean, exactly, to users and developers? Tune in. Learn.
To view parent comment, click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Member since:2005-07-06
Whereas Windows XP only supports loading drivers from floppy disks while the setup environment is initially loading, Vista additionally supports loading drivers from USB and Firewire storage devices, and CDs and DVDs from within the main setup wizard.
And exactly how many years did we have to wait for such a basic functionality ? Geez, how many times I swore over the lack of it during the last decade, given that I had to borrow fdds for windows installs for about seven years now.
Also command prompt during setup would be nice if you could use it for something other than watching a blinking cursor (e.g. ssh-ing, using remote shares, etc.). I have also bad dreams about rootkits using the "features" of the filtering platform to give us major headaches. WMP11's features really are a new gui and heavy loads of drm. By default it will still not be able to play most popular video formats. In some betas I couldn't even play some dvd's (originals), since it give me some access errors without reason. WCS as a self-proclaimed evolution of ICC color profiles is another bit I don't like. But it's typical for MS to often choose a path not following standards. I also don't like when I read lines like "better supported", "better performance", "performance optimizations", since without proof, numbers or some blind trust these words mean nothing.
Thing is, trying betas and wainting the final, I hope what we have seen up to now will improve a bit more. Other than that, we should come back on the topic afer we have the disks in our hands and used them for a few weeks.
Member since:2005-11-11
"I have also bad dreams about rootkits using the "features" of the filtering platform to give us major headaches. WMP11's features really are a new gui and heavy loads of drm. By default it will still not be able to play most popular video formats. In some betas I couldn't even play some dvd's (originals), since it give me some access errors without reason. WCS as a self-proclaimed evolution of ICC color profiles is another bit I don't like. But it's typical for MS to often choose a path not following standards. I also don't like when I read lines like "better supported", "better performance", "performance optimizations", since without proof, numbers or some blind trust these words mean nothing. "
Spot on. Well said. Well worth repeating.
Member since:
2005-11-10
Has anybody compiled a list of all these new features that will be in Vista?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Features_new_to_Windows_Vista
Not sure how complete it is, though.