Video Drivers where are we now

[Stance]

Does anyone at microsoft know the current state of vista
video drivers in ref to how optimized for desktop performance
Nvidia and Ati/Amd really are. and what features in the
future we can look foward too, like shaders for window
effects, True windows glass effect or when desktop
will be true Direct X 10, no tricks for backwards
Compatibility.

Anyone on windows Team care to comment? or truely explain
where we are and where we will be in the future. Thanks Stance

 

[Mike Brannigan]

Does anyone at microsoft know the current state of vista
video drivers in ref to how optimized for desktop performance
Nvidia and Ati/Amd really are. and what features in the
future we can look foward too, like shaders for window
effects, True windows glass effect or when desktop
will be true Direct X 10, no tricks for backwards
Compatibility.

Anyone on windows Team care to comment? or truely explain
where we are and where we will be in the future. Thanks Stance

Video drivers are the responsibility of the hardware vendors, so actually
you should address your questions to them.
Driver optimization, performance and features are all again the
responsibility of the hardware vendor so you would be best to do your
research with Nvidia and ATI/AMD.
Note they are unlikely to be too forthcoming on future features to a member
of the general public.

 

[Backspace]

Video drivers are the responsibility of the hardware vendors, so
actually you should address your questions to them.
Driver optimization, performance and features are all again the
responsibility of the hardware vendor so you would be best to do your
research with Nvidia and ATI/AMD.
Note they are unlikely to be too forthcoming on future features to a
member of the general public.

Here's my recent experience with Nvidia drivers on Vista and XP. Both
PC's use 8800GT 512mb video cards. Game I downloaded the other day would
crash every time I tried to switch to full screen mode on Vista, on XP
there was no such issue. That about says it all for me. Vista is still
not ready for prime time if you are a gamer.

 

[Mike Brannigan]

Here's my recent experience with Nvidia drivers on Vista and XP. Both PC's
use 8800GT 512mb video cards. Game I downloaded the other day would crash
every time I tried to switch to full screen mode on Vista, on XP there was
no such issue. That about says it all for me. Vista is still not ready for
prime time if you are a gamer.

Alternatively your game of choice is not certified/compatible with Windows
Vista.
An applications lack of compatibility is not a failing in Vista but one of
the application vendor not readying their apps for new mainstream operating
systems.
If you choose to use an none compatible application on one platform and
compare it to another (that is compatible) then the comparison is inherently
flawed and any conclusion drawn lack validity.

 

[Stance]

Dear Mike, I thought a Microsoft employee might have a idea
and know about future Desktop Features that that
use the gpu that we can look foward to, When vista
was first being talked about the GPU was front and center
There are a lot of users out thier that have spent time
and a lot of money in systems that would like to here
from someone that could give some bright idea's
or direction based on development time, Will Vista
have more WOW features. To me the best programs
yet have been Office 2007 and OneNote 2007 That i use
with Vista Ultimate. The User interface must continue
to improve for Vista, and i am not talking about bug
fixs. I like Vista and i hope with another six months
that different teams can release some very nice effects.
There is someone knocking at the gate and its apple

 

[Mike Brannigan]

Dear Mike, I thought a Microsoft employee might have a idea
and know about future Desktop Features that that
use the gpu that we can look foward to, When vista
was first being talked about the GPU was front and center
There are a lot of users out thier that have spent time
and a lot of money in systems that would like to here
from someone that could give some bright idea's
or direction based on development time, Will Vista
have more WOW features. To me the best programs
yet have been Office 2007 and OneNote 2007 That i use
with Vista Ultimate. The User interface must continue
to improve for Vista, and i am not talking about bug
fixs. I like Vista and i hope with another six months
that different teams can release some very nice effects.
There is someone knocking at the gate and its apple

User Interface changes do not happen through the lifetime of a product.
So future UI features are likely to ship in future version of Windows beyond
Vista - what you have today is what you get with Vista, you have your WoW
Yes better GPUs and more memory enable smoother, larger displays and greater
color depth but none of this is a change in real terms to the UI effects
available.
The major Windows (client) dev team are now focused on the next major
release of Windows and the current Vista product is now under servicing for
hot fixes and service packs.
Do not expect any additional releases for Vista that radically change the
UI - things like Dreamscene would not count a major UI changes as they are
just wallpaper.