Com-Central.net

- Shadow_Bshwackr

Whistles and is still using XP/Linux as a dual boot...

PCs from Hewlett-Packard, Gateway, Lenovo, and other major computer makers that contain a widely used Intel chipset can't be upgraded to Windows Vista Service Pack 1 if they're running certain drivers.
Microsoft has said that Vista SP1 won't work with "a small number of device drivers." The list, however, includes drivers for an Intel chipset that's found in thousands of PCs and laptops.

The affected chipset is Intel's 945G Express series, which is used in computers from virtually all major system vendors. It's also found on standalone motherboards sold by Asus. The 945G Express chipset driver versions between numbers 7.14.10.1322 and 7.14.10.1403 won't work with Vista SP1, according to Microsoft.

Chipsets provide a connection point for all key subsystems within a PC. The 945G Express chipset includes Intel's GMA 950 graphics core, which also won't work with Vista SP1 if those drivers are used.

Microsoft is urging Vista users to update all of their hardware to the latest drivers before even attempting to install SP1.

The service pack also won't work with computers that use certain, widely-deployed audio drivers from Realtek and certain drivers for security devices manufactured by Symantec. Microsoft has published a full list of drivers that are incompatible with the service pack.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is continuing to receive reports from computer users who say Vista SP1 is wreaking havoc on their systems. A user going by the name "Apolauf" said the upgrade caused the mouse cursor on his tablet PC to disappear. The "right-click circle and the special pen mouse cursor ... are no longer functional" as well, said Apolauf, in a post on the Vista team blog. Bob Rife, a user from Canada, said in an e-mail to InformationWeek that SP1 caused one of his computer's two hard drives to become invisible to Windows Explorer and Acronis Disk Director. Rife said he complained to Microsoft, but has yet to receive a response.

Others reported having no problems. A user named "Zandor" said on the Vista team blog that his company successfully upgraded 614 computers to Vista SP1. "Great job, Windows team," wrote Zandor.

Microsoft made Vista SP1 widely available for the first time on Tuesday. The update includes more than 300 hot fixes designed to improve the operating system's speed, security, and stability.

Source: Guru3d et al

Now, I did NOT post this to bash Vista, I posted this because I want to avoid our users having problems

Crysis, the poster child for modern PC gaming and DirectX 10, will arrive shortly. Crytek has tortured us for years with screenshots and short hands-on experiences showing off the game's wide-open world, with picturesque tropical battlegrounds, perfect for sipping Mai Tais or peppering random bad guys with automatic rifle fire. Crytek released the single-player demo late last week, and we set up a few test systems to see just how the game looks under Windows Vista compared to Windows XP. We also took some in-game benchmarks to see how the frame rates compare in DirectX 9 and DirectX 10.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to claim that the environments in Crysis come mighty close to photo-realistic. The beaches, sky, and rocks all have a gritty, real-earth feel to them. Crytek took plant matter to a new realm--a botanist would have a field day in Crysis. The palm trees, shrubbery, and grass create the feeling of tropical jungle more so than any other game we've come across.

The game officially limits in-game settings to "high quality" in Windows XP, while Windows Vista gets an additional "very high quality" graphics setting. Crysis still looks good at high quality, but it's a noticeable step down from the very high quality settings. Some ingenious users managed to enable very high quality on the Crysis demo in Windows XP through a clever bit of configuration-file editing. The second image in each set of comparison shots demonstrate what the hacked very high quality settings look like in Windows XP.

As far as we can tell, the difference between very high quality in Windows XP and Windows Vista is quite subtle. We noticed some extra shadowing on the rocks in the Vista version, and while there are differences between the hacked XP shots and the Vista shots, we can't really say that one looks better. Developers have gotten very good at working around hardware limitations to fake great graphics, so we wouldn't be surprised if the DX9 effects were good enough to simulate the results of a more "accurate" DX10 shader.

This is pretty interesting .. on the Crysis Forums they offers a tip on improving the visuals in the Crysis demo under DirectX 9, saying the game can be coaxed into looking more like the game running under DirectX 10 without using Vista!

Examples here.

If you tweak the configuration files in CVarGroups by copying and pasting the "very high" settings (1st paragraph) IN PLACE of the "high" settings (last paragraph) the game will load the highest possible settings even though the drop-down menus display "high." The difference between "high" settings and the tweaked settings is immense: shadows are deeper, more realistic; the leaves have better reflective properties, better textures; the colours are better; and the level of detail is simply stunning.

With these settings I'm running the game between 15-25 FPS at 1440x900 and (wait for it) 8x AA, and it looks PERFECT. Best of all, this is in XP. So I'm happy. I have XP and I'm playing the game at settings higher than DX9 allows (strictly speaking). Give this a try if your rig can handle it.