MaximumPC 2008 06

http://www.maximumpc.com | JUN 08 | MAMAMAXIMXIMXIMXIMUUUUMMPPPCC | 95

NEXT MONTH

or can’t be downgraded to
XP on a laptop is what the
manufacturers want us to
believe. I encountered the
same issue when I tried to
downgrade my HP laptop
from Vista Home Basic to
XP. HP stated on its website
that this cannot be done and
should never be attempted.
I surmised that PC or
laptop hardware is not
Vista specific. Hardware is

hardware and the XP driv-
ers needed to run a machine
can be found on any hard-
ware manufacturer’s web-
site. Even if you don’t know
what brand of hardware
your laptop has (without
cracking it open), Windows
XP can still find drivers for
it via the web or you can
download them from the
setup disk (if supplied) that
came with the unit. I was
able to successfully down-
grade my laptop to XP.
In my opinion, manufac-
turers like HP and Gateway
are either being bullied by
Microsoft to exclude sup-
port for downgrading the
OS or they just don’t want
to be bothered by their
customers. In any case, it’s
a shame that they delib-
erately cover up valuable
information for those who
desire to get rid of rubbish,
meaning Vista.
—Steve Cox

Senior Editor Gordon Mah
Ung Responds: I think you
actually missed the point of

the original reader’s ques-

tion. I believe the reader was

looking for a solution from

Gateway, as in a disc that he

could trade for his Vista disc,

so he could install XP. Sure,

he could install Windows XP

on his new notebook, but he

would have to pay for a copy

of Windows XP after having

paid for the copy of Vista that

was on the notebook. If you

ask me, that’s bunk, which is

why we recommend that you

purchase a notebook with XP

preinstalled.

The No BS Podcast

Now on Zune

Hello, from what I see, you

host the No BS Podcast

through iTunes. Is there

any way I could get your

podcasts directly sent to

my Zune software? Or is

the only option now to

download and export using

iTunes, convert it to Zune

format, then send it to my

Zune? This would be a great

addition if you could have

an RSS that was compatible

with Zune.

—Brendan Gaulin

Executive Editor Michael

Brown Responds: This was

an oversight on our part—we

never submitted our podcast

to the Zune Marketplace. But

we have now, thanks to your

question. Assuming Microsoft

doesn’t have a problem with

our podcast, you should be

able to find it in the Zune

Marketplace podcast listing

by the time you receive this

issue. Happy listening!

Giving Nero the Nod

In your “Roxio vs. Nero”

feature (April 2008), you

note that one of Nero’s

shortcomings is its use

of the MP4 standard (as

opposed to DivX or Xvid),

which you could not get

to work on an Xbox 360.

That is correct. However,

if you use the Nero AVC

format—that is Nero’s name

for H.264—you should

have no problems. I encode

movies using the Cinema

AVC format all the time and

they play perfectly well on

my Xbox 360. One area of

aggravation is that I have

to run the Microsoft Zune

software on one of my sys-

tems to handle the indexing

so the Xbox can see it, but

it works fine. As it is a stan-

dard H.264 file, I am also

able to get it to play on my

Mac computers.

—Jim Barrett

Editor in Chief Will

Smith Responds: I have

to claim full responsibility

for this mistake. Katherine

Stevenson enlisted my help

to test Xbox streaming for the

story and I blithely dumped

the Nero-encoded files into

the directory that Media

Player 11 automatically

shares to my Xbox, without

knowing that Media Player

doesn’t actually know it can

stream the AVC codec. Since

then, I’ve streamed the Nero

test rip using both the Zune

software and TVersity (see

our TVersity how-to at http://www.

maximumpc.com/article/

streaming).



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