36 MAXIMUMPC FEBRUARY 2007
8
POOR DRIVER SUPPORT
The big vendors like ATI and Nvidia
should have drivers ready for Vista’s
launch (although there weren’t any
GeForce 8800 drivers at the corporate
launch on November 30), but expect
really big problems to arise with all
that other hardware attached to your
system. It’s going to be tough to find
drivers for older hardware, and we’ve
even encountered problems gettingdrivers for brand-new gear. Sure, your
mouse and keyboard will work, but
will you have access to the cool sen-
sitivity-changing and macro software
that works with it? Even if your hard-
ware is supported, are the drivers
fully baked?
If the Vista launch follows the
timeline of past Windows launches,
drivers will be scarce for the fi rst few
months while vendors slowly certify
their products to run on the new OS.YOU CAN WAIT
You should be asking yourself if you need Vista today. The
only people who should answer yes are the folks who already
have a DirectX 10 videocard and are anxiously awaiting theirCrysis preorders. For everyone else, it certainly won’t hurt to
wait for the bugs to be worked out, the drivers to be released,
and your machine to be in optimum condition to handle the
new OS. Indeed, it can only help.9
VISTA IS KIND OF
ANNOYING
User Account Control is part
of Microsoft’s fi x to prevent
malware applications from tak-
ing advantage of Administrator
privileges on infected PCs to
install more malware. Every time
an installer runs on your Vista
PC, a prompt will ask for your
permission to install the software
in question. That’s a great idea,
but we think the implementation
is pretty poor.
The problem is the frequency
of prompts. They come up sooften that people will quickly
learn to auto-click them, thus
risking malware infections. Even
worse, instead of forcing you to
take any action that would require
thought, the prompts don’t even
ask you to reenter your password
(by default); all you have to do
is click a button and the app will
install itself. UAC is the PC equiv-
alent of taking your shoes off in
the airport security line. It makes
you feel as though something’s
being done to protect you, but
ultimately it doesn’t do much to
improve security. This isn’t likely
to change, but it should.10
drivers for brand-new gear. Sure, yourwill you have access to the cool sen-
sitivity-changing and macro software
that works with it? Even if your hard-7
VISTA INCLUDES CONSUMER-
UNFRIENDLY DRM
On the DRM front, we’re pretty much
convinced that Microsoft hasn’t actually
integrated anything more insidious than
Windows Media Player 11 into Vista, at
least not for current standard-defi nition
content. (Blu-ray and HD-DVD content
are protected in a similar manner as on
XP and will require a full HDCP path for
high-def playback.) But the fundamental
underpinnings to completely lock down
the video-rendering pipeline to prevent
ripping of next-gen content are presentin the OS.
That’s not the
least of it. Because
of content-protection
concerns, Vista won’t
support CableCard for
the vast majority of users.
CableCard, in theory, allows
users to access high-def content from
their cable or satellite providers, with-
out being tied to the device supplied by
the TV provider. The thought was that
CableCard would let you view HDTV on
your PC without resorting to an over-the-
air signal. Unfortunately, for CableCard’sprotected video path to work,
your machine must be certi-
fi ed, and only large OEM
manufacturers like Dell and
HP will be eligible for certifi ca-
tion. Pretty awesome, right?
The fundamental problem is
that for certain key low-level opera-
tions, such as video rendering, Vista has
been designed to give third parties—the
content providers—veto rights over cru-
cial aspects of your system. Do you trust
a company like Sony, which infected mil-
lions of PCs with a malicious rootkit, with
low-level access to your rig?10 REASONS
YOU DON’T NEED VISTA101010
YOU DON’T NEED VISTAYOU DON’T NEED VISTAYOU DON’T NEED VISTA