Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 64: Power hungry powerhouse pleases and perturbs
Written: Feb 01 '08 (Updated Feb 02 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Very powerful software
Cons: Requires very powerful system
The Bottom Line: Most people will never use their computer to this capacity, but if you do Vista 64 is a great start.
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| Gr8ful's Full Review: Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit for PC (4C... |
Since the release of Windows Vista, Microsoft has taken a beating over compatibility issues. While most of the problems have been worked out it is important to understand that most of the reported issues with Vista were because of unsupported drivers. This is not Microsoft’s fault in any way, shape or form. Microsoft had beta versions of Windows Vista available to hardware manufacturers for several years to help them develop drivers for their products. Many of these manufacturers sat on their haunches until the last minute and then freaked out when their drivers had problems (if they even had drivers for their products for Vista).
Microsoft include more drivers with Windows Vista than with any previously released version of Windows making it, in reality, more compatible with hardware already on the market than any Windows before it. With that said, it is still very understandable that people were frustrated and upset, even angry, that their new computers wouldn’t work with their old scanner, printer, web cam, video card or what have you. It is also understandable why many people chose to revert to Windows XP because of these issues. All I am saying is, let’s put the blame where it belongs and most of it belongs to the hardware manufacturers and software developers who sat on their butts while Vista was getting closer and closer to release.
Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit Edition
The Ultimate 64-bit edition of Windows Vista is a very powerful operating system that can handle multitasking like no other Windows before it. It does require some hefty system specifications in order to make the most out of it but for those with the beef to handle it, there are a lot of benefits to having the 64-bit edition.
First of all, the 64-bit environment enables your computer to recognize more memory than any previous Windows and be able to use all of it. In Windows XP pro or Vista 32 if you install 4GB of RAM you will only see 3.5GB available because the 32-bit operating system can not address the memory past that point. This 64-bit edition of Vista can and does so you will see the entire 4GB as available for use. Windows XP 64-bit Edition also recognizes 4 or more gigabytes of RAM but I have seen issues with 32-bit programs running smoothly on XP 64 while those same programs run much more efficiently and proficiently on Vista 64.
Case-in-point, Sonar Producer Edition 6 (a professional grade multi-track audio recording program) runs effortlessly with Windows Vista Ultimate 64 making use of the dual cores of my Pentium processor as well as taking advantage of the 64-bit environment. Windows XP 64 ran fairly well also; however, it is when third party software add-ons for the program were installed that issues arise from the 32-bit compatibility mode operation. Windows XP can not run the add-ons in 32-bit mode while running the main program in 64-bit but Windows Vista Ultimate 64 does and very smoothly. The benefits of Vista are limited with the 32-bit version, but for power hungry applications the 64-bit version delivers with exceptional performance.
Personal experience
I installed Windows Vista Ultimate 64 on a computer designed primarily for recording multi-track audio and video editing. The installation was just as easy as Windows XP and took about the same amount of time. I installed the operating system fresh on a brand new hard drive in a new computer that had previously never been booted up before. The installation went without a hitch and within 30 minutes I was booting Vista for the first time.
I was able to install all of my peripherals and software without any problem. My printer (LaserJet 2550L) had Vista 64-bit drivers available online and so did my Radeon X1950 video card. All of my other drivers including my SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS sound card were included with the operating system. From day one, I had no problem with drivers or compatibility. Unfortunately that did not last very long.
Once I was sure that my recording and editing software was installed and working properly, I tried installing a few games. That was when I realized that there was a problem with the ATI Radeon driver. It would constantly get stuck in an infinite loop at random times. One specific game (Black and White 2) would get stuck in the exact same place every time, and upon checking the error log I would find that the ATI driver was at fault every time. I downloaded the latest versions of the drivers as soon as they became available but each successive version held the same problem. I resolved the issue by installing an NVidia 7900 GS graphics card and the problem vanished as if it never happened.
Using the machine as intended, I am able to record up to 48 simultaneous tracks of 32-bit audio at 48 kHz at a time for as long as need be. The only limitation to my recording ability is the amount of storage space I use. With Sonar 6 Producer Edition, I can utilize the 64-bit engine provided by the software as well as take advantage of the full 4GB of RAM and the dual cores in my processor. Windows Vista Ultimate 64 gives me much more power for recording with Sonar 6 than any 32-bit operating system.
Ready Boost
With regards to “Ready Boost”, yeah, it works…but; I am not overly excited about it though because the practical use is minimal. Ready Boost allows you to use flash memory as extra RAM. So if you have an 8GB flash card and 2GB of installed RAM, you can essentially set it to be used as RAM increasing your computers memory to 10GB.
Flash card readers are attached to the computer through the USB bus in most cases and therefore they transfer data at a maximum speed of 480mbps. Even with that given speed, most flash memory is incapable of even coming close to that speed. My Sandisk Cruzer Micro 2GB has an average read speed of 14.6 Mb/s.
Memory, on the other hand, is much faster and is connected as close to the processor as possible on the shortest bus possible to get the best performance. My computer’s RAM is PC2-6400 which runs at 800MHz but if you actually run a bench test to check the data rate it shows the maximum memory bus bandwidth transfers at 12800MB/s (that’s over 100 times faster). So you can see how adding slower memory may have it’s downside.
Internet Explorer 7
Internet Explorer 7 works rather well and has much better security than previous versions. Microsoft finally got with the times and added tabbed browsing which makes switching between multiple web pages a breeze. I don’t really know much about web browsers other than how to use them, so I will leave this area to the specialists. I will say that I like IE7 and haven’t had any issues with it so far.
Networking
Once Vista was up and running, it found my network and I was already online. I changed the IP address because I have all of my IP addresses locked down on my network and only use DHCP for guests and wireless systems. Most people will not even need to run the network wizard, but if you do the process takes less than two minutes and is very easy to follow.
Bells and whistles
The desktop in Vista Ultimate 64 is quite impressive. You can have moving scenes as the desktop or the standard still image. The Aero desktop is very attractive and I have even heard people who do not like Vista say that they liked the Aero desktop. Personally, I could care less about the pretty desktop, but it is a nice plus.
I do like the ALT-TAB window switching in 3D. It makes it easier to determine which window you are switching to when you have several open at once. The Aero desktop allows you to see all the windows you have open like a hand of cards when you hit ALT and TAB at the same time. You just keep hitting ALT and TAB until the window you want is on top. With Windows XP you only get icons to choose from and if you have several of the same type of windows open you may have to try a few times to get the one you want.
On the right side of the desktop there is a small panel of gadgets like a clock, local temperature and such. You can download more of these for free from several places online if you like these. Personally I killed the gadgets the first day. They use resources that I can put to better use elsewhere.
Media player is almost the same as the last version I downloaded for Windows XP. That was version 11 and the Vista Media player is also version 11. I do not use the media player in Vista as much but I really didn’t notice much of a difference from my XP machine.
Conclusion
Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit Edition is an operating system that most people do not need. It is for people who intend to use their computer to its capable limits. There are driver issues with Windows Vista and even more with the 64-bit version so if you plan to use Vista 64 make sure your components and peripherals are compatible before hand. Altogether I like Windows Vista Ultimate 64 but it does not replace my Windows XP machine for gaming and Web related uses. I mainly use it for the power to record professional quality audio. Most people will never use their computer to this capacity, but if you do Vista 64 is a great start.
Recommended:
Yes
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