Vista - Microsoft's Swan Song?

[ursatz]

This page - http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut00...vista_cost.txt - is written by a well-known and respected security expert. I don't have the background to evaluate the things he's saying. It may strike more of an alarmist tone than it needs to; I don't know. There are people whose opinion I value who take this very seriously. It's enough to make me look to other platforms than Windows for my music-making in the future.

I'd be grateful to know what folks here think about this.

Thanks,
Bill

[Richard Berg]

It's a very good article. Some things are exaggerated: many examples lead you to believe "my computer stops working" when the reality is closer to "premium content stops working." Still, it's the most comprehensive analysis I've seen yet, and its conclusion is undeniable. The costs of DRM are enormous.

The idea DRM will be Microsoft's downfall, OTOH, is farfetched to say the least. Luckily the bulk of the article is devoted to more concrete (though still exaggerated) scenarios. Since the author sounds like an intelligent guy, I assume he included that sentence to grab headlines, not because he really believes it.

[Scott McCallister]

"insainly paranoid" seems accurate.

Microsoft has been moving toward this with updates to XP even. More and more messages of the computer telling me what is allowed and what is not. The box works for me not the other way around.

If it's true that vista will disable ASIO then I won't be using vista. I need ASIO. Period.

[Pat Azzarello]

"insainly paranoid" seems accurate.

Microsoft has been moving toward this with updates to XP even. More and more messages of the computer telling me what is allowed and what is not. The box works for me not the other way around.

If it's true that vista will disable ASIO then I won't be using vista. I need ASIO. Period.

As a Microsoft employee, I want to confirm that we deliberately did nothing in Vista to disable ASIO. If you have a problem, it is a bug and we should know about it.

As for protected content, the official response to that article from Microsoft is here:
http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/wi...d-answers.aspx

For those that want a summary with an additional opinion, ZDNet posted this:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=232

What you can do with protected content is entirely up to the author of the content, not Microsoft. Microsoft DRM features (and the infrastructure to support it) are simply a set of parameters that content authors can utilize to protect their content, in whatever way they see fit. It's our (Microsoft's) job to make certain that non-protected data isn't messed up by the protection mechanisms in Vista.

[dermod]

It is odd,isn't it, that a new operating system is put on the market, needing greater storage space and CPU usage on your machine than ever before, the function of which is to intervene and downgrade what you can see and hear. CPU is already at a premium for most techno musicians. The idea that less of it will be available after Vista gobbles it up for the above purpose, is not a normal person's view of a product selling point.

[fizbin]

It is odd,isn't it, that a new operating system is put on the market, needing greater storage space and CPU usage on your machine than ever before, the function of which is to intervene and downgrade what you can see and hear. CPU is already at a premium for most techno musicians. The idea that less of it will be available after Vista gobbles it up for the above purpose, is not a normal person's view of a product selling point.

But only while you're playing certain DRM'ed content that the content owner has chosen to so hobble - so so what? Don't buy that content.

As for use as a DAW, it will take a noticeably larger footprint to install on your hard drive, especially the 64 bit version. All of the RAM-hungry stuff can be trimmed back to XP levels and CPU usage should be roughly the same. Try to see through the FUD. I know its hard sometimes.

[Daryl]

In my experience the newer the OS, the greater the required resources. I don't think that Vista (or Leopard, when it exists) will be any different in that respect. However, with increased CPU speeds and huge amounts of RAM available, I doubt that within a year anyone will notice the difference.

D

[Robert Kooijman]

Pat,

thank you for the clarification and links.

It's good to see Microsoft chooses to communicate over these issues.

Regarding footprint: I'm running XP pro 64, taking less then 200 MB after having tuned things a bit. Very stable, hasn't crashed a single time! Look forward to explore Vista once Steinberg & co finally get their native 64 apps out.

[Leaf]

It is odd,isn't it, that a new operating system is put on the market, needing greater storage space and CPU usage on your machine than ever before, the function of which is to intervene and downgrade what you can see and hear. CPU is already at a premium for most techno musicians. The idea that less of it will be available after Vista gobbles it up for the above purpose, is not a normal person's view of a product selling point.

I agree!



I don't see why Microsoft can't make it come DAW ready, with all the extra stuff turned off as a default, and then if you want you could go spend a lot of time researching and learning to be a very knowlegeable computer geek, learning how to find all those hidden controls and what they are to turn them on. Or better yet, a single control, on/off button to make it lean would be nice.

[Journeyman]

I don't see why Microsoft can't make it come DAW ready, with all the extra stuff turned off as a default

Then why get Vista at all? Why is everyone SO compelled to upgrade, particularly if Vista mkes things more difficult?