me and Windows 7

The internets have been buzzing about Windows 7 for a while now. I resisted the urge to snatch up a build until this past weekend, because nothing I saw got me hot enough to try it out. A lot of slick little tweaks here and there, but nothing relovutionary. But, to be fair, I had to ask myself what I expect from an OS anymore (out of the box, so to speak) and got this: stable, solid hardware support and ease of use. And after coming up with this I decided to give it a try. What the Hell, I have a spare computer just laying there, longing to be used anyway. I was curious, too, to see how the OS worked on a system driven by an old single-core AMD 3400+.

I grabbed a torrent of build 7068 on Saturday night off mininova and had the ISO waiting on Sunday morning. Once burned and then loaded into the disk tray, the install took ~20 minutes, which, subjectively, was much better than I remember with Vista a couple years ago (on, mostly, the same hardware). I did have to grab a public key for activation off the net (not hard to find). I went through 2 restarts before the final welcome screen popped up. Once the desktop showed up I instantly I noticed the sound icon with the little red "x" through it. Funny enough, within moments, Windows both detected the hardware problem, downloaded the driver and had the sound working (a Realtek driver). Very nice.

Quick thought: Aero desktop effects are smooth (I have an 8800 GT so this is expected). No driver needed on initial startup (I later went to Nvidia's site and grabbed their newest Win7 driver anyway), and the aspect ratio was correctly detected (1680x1050) with glass effects turned on by default. Again, very nice. I quickly went to tinker with the personalization screen (desktop right-click > Personalization) next. The layout is more robust now. I like it. Packaged themes are now easier to enable, while individual options like wallpaper choice or screen saver choices are nicely located at all times on the bottom of the screen. A lot of little things like this have been made easier to access where once some digging had to be done in the Control Panel.

The Big Thing in this release of Windows, however, is the new taskbar. At a glance: it is fatter. I thought about this, too, and I think it may be because screen sizes have ballooned in the last 2-3 years. I used to like to have the taskbar marginalized as much as possible, which makes this shift interesting. Before I digress too much, I should say that the quick launch toolbar has now been merged with running programs/opened windows. Have IE in the quick launch? Now when it is opened, but minimalized, it goes back to the quick launch icon. Hover the mouse over it and you get a preview of all open tabs (very slick). As more tabs/browsers are opened, more little stacks appear on the quick launch symbol. And this makes it clear why the taskbar was enlarged: visibility of the new functionality. Even loading urls are reflected in the symbol with a green fill-effect scrolling across the icon. Weird at first, but I find it very welcome.

The right-side of the taskbar (usually referred to as the tray) has a very nice little flag icon which, when clicked, informs users of important messages. Things like recent hardware changes, solved problems, etc come up when the flag is clicked. It is pretty cool really.

Those are the things that jumped out at me when playing with it for an hour or so. The system feels stable, too. No crashes, very responsive. I cannot say I am surprised, because the buzz has been positive, but it felt good to try it out. Nice to know that the Vista pitfalls (lack of drivers, instability, initial sluggish-ness) have been addressed. The leap to 7 will be easy for Vista users as it is not nearly as dramatic as it was for Vista from XP. I am comfortable with the idea that 7 will be on the next gaming PC I build (sometime next year?).

So, now I can throw some Linux flavor back on the spare PC and tinker with something else.

Oh and before I forget, more information on Windows 7 from Microsoft.

HTPC: the quest is on (maybe)

I had this post all set a week or two ago about getting amped up to build an HTPC, but now I don't know. Nothing much changed, but I am hesitant to pump 500ish bucks into another PC that attaches to the TV just to watch internet stuff. My wife has her own laptop (she is perpetually on) and I am already on my (powerful, multi-screen) PC far more than in front of the TV, so is it worth it? And we have a DVR through Comcast so, again, is it worth doing? Especially with the economy in the tank and both of us never really knowing if we'll be out of a job.

Here is the post (for history: I may look back and get a chuckle):

I'm going to take the HTPC plunge this year. I'll pick the parts up here and there, check by check. My budget is $500 total. This should not pose a problem. I quickly whipped up a cart in Newegg and got under the limit. This included a 45w AMD, a 780G mobo, and a BD player (among other parts).


Typically, the priciest part is the case, but Apevia has a decent looking enough box (with a psu, however cheap). The AMD chip has a great track record and 780G chipset was built to handle HD playback, so they are no-brainers. BD/HD playback is a must. I want to stream Hulu and Netflix, but also have the option to pick up a BD disk, too, if I fancy it. A 500 GB HDD should be fine enough to hold torrents/backups as well.

The only real question I have is with software: what OS do I go with? I may try Ubuntu and have Vista as a backup. I still have to decide. Luckily, I have plenty of time. I want this up and running by the time the summer rolls in. Still lots of time.

Resident Evil 5 First (disapointing) Impressions

Let me start off by saying that Resident Evil 4 may be one of my favorite games of all time. Actually, it probably is. I have been waiting for Resident Evil 5 since I finished 4 (of course) and when I found out the demo was released, I rushed to download it. It looked about right from the title screen. Same old deep Resident Evil voice. Same old menu system.

Then the game starts and the first thing I notice is that the body movements feel more robotic than I remember from 4. It looks like they took the camera from 4 and put the robot back in from all previous Resident Evil games. Also, my main issue, is they took away the ability to move the camera while running. You have to use the left stick and press the "a" (or "x" button on ps3) to run instead of it just always being on. And...another camera issue is that the camera angle is way to close to the character. He just takes up too much of the screen. Then there is the inclusion of a second AI, or if you want, real player which takes up even more of the screen. There is hardly enough room to see zombies.

Then on top of that, the colors have turned so vivid that you can not see the laser sight when aiming into a group of zombies. The best part about the last game was that all the subdued colors made it easy for the red dot to pop out. This time around it looks like I am aiming into a Prince of Persia game. AND on top of all of that, the graphics just look shitty. The blood looks less realistic than No More Heroes for the Wii. I just feel like Capcom wanted to make Gear of War lite instead of Resident Evil 5.

Fallout 3: Operation Anchorage is less than awesome

I finished Operation Anchorage last night. I could have zipped right through it the first night. It was short, very short. My thoughts? Meh. I have no idea where the supposed 5-6 hours of play time was; it was 2-3 hours long. There is really no way it could have taken longer either because the role-playing portion is nonexistent. The add-on is nearly all action, and this is a shame because, while Fallout 3 was fun, the combat is the weakest part. I like shooting mutants and raiders while exploring, but going through a simulation and not being able to explore anything, pick up anything, or even search for loot on Chinese soldiers is pretty lame.

**SPOILER SECTION**
I was expecting bigger action, too. The end sequence with the T51bs marching to the gates was merely okay (why wasn't I outfitted with one?). The fight with the tank was laughably easy. Is it really that hard to create a traditional boss character to fight? I do not really agree with Bethesda's decision to focus on combat, or stealth with this. Fallout 3, again, is a role-playing game with a strong focus on exploration. This add-on neglected that entirely. Why make a simulator at all? Why not a malfunctioning teleporter that throws the hero into the past (seriously)? Going that route would make it possible to at least pick items up off the ground.

And the pay-off after the simulator is over--what the hero is there to help the Outcasts obtain: a "winterized" T51b that is strangely a little weaker than the ordinary suit in the main game, a Glauss rifle, an electric sword and a Chinese ninja suit. Cool items, but none of them amazing.

I am disappointed. Usually, I would wait and read a review, but I enjoyed playing the main game so much I did not hesitate to pick this up. Hell, I had to go through the annoyance of buying the content on Windows Live, too (last post). Oh well. I still have hopes that the next 2 add-ons will be better. No more simulations!

Games for Windows Live is a joke

I am staring at a blank Windows Live screen while trying to purchase points in order to get Operation Anchorage, the add-on for Fallout 3. Compared to Steam, Live is a total joke. Having to install the LIVE portion of Fallout 3 was dumb. Having to install a separate client on my PC later was far more annoying. But not being able to buy some stupid kiddie points is maddening. Let me pay with my fucking credit card already. Enough with the baby shit. Guess Microsoft missed the memo: this is a PC.

Now I see that I have to go to the Zune Marketplace to buy points. Log in again, but this time to a browser (why not the standalone client I just installed?) input my info and see I can't just say what points I want to buy; I have to buy 400 points twice (because the next highest is 1000 and I'm not giving MS money for something I'm not buying).

God, the Steam purchasing experience is polished, easy and quick compared to this. What garbage. Getting in to actually buy points I can only pick from select increments. Let me buy what I want. Should just have copied Steam--one client to manage, support and buy games.

But if you don't believe me, there is always Rock, Paper, Shotgun.

Dirt Cheap PC Games

I have several games in my drawer that have yet to come out of the shrink wrap: Sins of Solar Empire, Assassin's Creed, Supreme Commander (with Expansion), and until a couple days ago Spore. Spore was a Xmas gift, but the others? I picked them all up at Target. See, Target nearly throws away PC games. Unless the game has "Duty" or "Warcraft" in it, it will end up tucked away in a bargain section. Each of the games I mentioned I bought for less than $10 (they were actually $7 and change). They usually start more expensive in the bin, but they get lowered every week that goes by (because no one buys PC games at Target). I am exactly surprised that Target even maintains a PC game section (meager as it is). But for as long as they do, I will continue to pick up nice deals for outstanding prices. I have actually passed up prior deals (although my mind is blank on titles at the moment) simply because I knew I would never get to them.

Consider this a PSA: find the electronic bargain section at your local Target store (they exist in some hidden-away crevice) and grab a quality PC game. They aren't always there, but its always worth checking.

A Game to Get Excited about for the Wii...Madworld

MadWorld 'Pre-TGS 2008' gameplay

Check out this trailer. Looks kind of like the next version of No More Heroes or something. Only other game I'm excited for this year aside from Resident Evil 5 and Street Fighter 4.