I have to admit: I'm curious about Windows 8. This probably doesn't come as that big of a surprise, since Windows has been my primary OS since my family first got a computer about two decades ago, but I still consider it significant, seeing as Win 8 is looking to be such a departure from previous incarnations of the software.
I'm not particularly excited about the metro interface, since I've been using it on my phone for a long time now. I'm actually more interested to see what kind of tablet devices manufacturers will come up with for it, and how they will factor into the flow of all the other devices we already use.
I'm still of mind that a tablet is a pretty pointless addition to a lineup which already includes a desktop computer, a laptop, and a smart phone. But I think that if it becomes possible to use a tablet as tablets are used today, but also dock it to a workstation to use a laptop/desktop type machine, it makes much more sense than a tablet-only device, like an iPad. Especially for someone looking to replace an aging laptop, but who hasn't yet bought into the whole tablet thing.
That's not necessarily my situation; I'm still pretty happy with the continued performance of my years-old laptop. But I have to admit that a Win 8 tablet might be enticing, if it turns out to be as versatile as it seems it could.
Well, that last post was a doozy. A bit of a hard act to follow, eh?
Jokes aside, that last post really was partially to blame for my recent hiatus from posting here. After the fallout over the old-new Game Maker logo settled, the dust cleared, and (some of) the anger subsided, YoYo Games stated that they'd be open to suggestions for altering the new logo. So, I helped produce a topic on the Game Maker Community to get everyone's suggestions in one place, and we eventually ended up putting logos to vote and submitting them to YYG as the community's official suggestions.
As many of you might already know, it worked out well, Sandy Duncan/YYG liked our ideas, and they ended up changing the logo. It was a great accomplishment for the GMC, and I am glad that we were all able to come together and set things right - but keeping it all organized left me quite exhausted. That, and I have had a lot of other work to do lately, helping a friend get a website off the ground, working on my own games/projects, doing the last Reflect Games game development competition of the year, fixing my laptop, shopping for the holidays, etc.
So the blog got left behind a bit. I did manage to sneak in and fix up some of the graphics on the theme. It's that time where I've started wanting to change it (again, I know), but a quick refresh of the sloppy parts has satisfied my urge to change it for now.
Most of the things I mentioned above are over or winding down now though, so I'm hoping that after the holidays I'll have more time to play with Game Maker, website development (yes, the ongoing Reflect Games website is still in the works!), and other related stuff. It's just been a busy time.
Anyway, I'm not sure if I'll be updating the blog again before the bulk of the holidays hit, so I just wanted to wish everyone out there a happy holiday and a good new year! I hope the end of 2009 turns out to be well for everyone!
Thanks for reading, and I will see you all in 2010!
Though I would normally shun someone who would buy an operating system on launch day, a week ago I bought, downloaded, and installed the newest version of Microsoft's OS, Windows 7. It's nice to have a modern OS on my recently assembled machine, and though the transition from XP was a bit jarring in some respects, any unexpected problems have been minimal so far. Overall, I'm glad I made the switch.
Of course, I went into this only after reading a lot about the upcoming OS and playing around with the beta version for a while. Despite its many criticisms, Vista represented a big leap forward in terms of the underlying systems of Windows, and a lot of growing pains for the platform were felt upon its release. Most of the issues that plagued Vista in its early days have been resolved however, and this makes for a far more comfortable Windows 7 experience.
Here's a quick run-down of how the (mostly painless) upgrade process went for me, from my old rig turning into a massive paper weight to the re-birth of Windows on my new machine.
If you completed the homework assignment, you've already read about my old computer breaking down, and my quest for parts to rebuild a new one. Gold star for you. If not, you can read about it here - there's no use in going into that much detail about it again.
Once the new computer was built, I put a minimal number of games on it, but held off on installing a massive amount of other software. My reasoning for this was twofold - first, I would save myself a great deal of time backing up data for the Windows 7 install, which was only a month away, as well, I would be avoiding any licensing problems that would arise from too many installations of protected software. This happened anyway, but I'll get into that later.
After a month of having only two major games on my computer, World of Warcraft, Windows 7 launch day finally came. I failed to find a copy of Win 7 Professional in stores (Best Buy only had upgrade copies, and Office Max/Office Depot had nothing but Vista), so when I got home from work I jumped onto Microsoft's online store and bought a digital copy directly. Since Win 7 Pro comes with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, I was given the option to download either. I chose the 64-bit version and started the 2.3Gb download. It took about two and a half hours to finish.
I burned the ISO file to a DVD and dropped the stuff I wanted to save onto one of the other hard drives in the machine, and then I restarted the computer and began the install.
Having so recently done an XP install, I am happy to report that Windows 7's install process is much more streamlined, and possibly even faster (I didn't time it, but it seemed to take about 20-25 minutes). Win 7's disk partitioning and pre-install setup is now done in a much more modern environment, with mouse support and a slick GUI. It asks only a minimal number of questions, and lets you set up the details later on once the install is finished. I was impressed by the speed and simplicity of the whole thing, especially compared to the old XP installer. Ars Technica actually has a great 15-page review of Windows 7 up, including a good portion on the new installer.
Once 7 installed, the system restarted one last time, and before long I was staring at a shiny new OS, all ready for my antics and exploits. Not too much had to be tweaked for the system to be the way I like it, either. UAC is relaxed in Win 7, so the interruptions aren't as annoying. The OS also seemed to find drivers for just about everything in the system, save for the GPU. That was really the only piece of system software I've had to install so far.
The only trouble I've really had with Windows 7 so far rests on the software side of things. On the first install of my Adobe software, something happened (I think I left the system waiting for the next disc for too long at some point) and the installation failed. All the programs seemed to install fine, but their licensing software was broken, so I had to re-install them. Then I had to call up the Adobe licensing support line because I'd already used my allotted two installs and wasn't able to de-activate my old computer's software before it died.
Aside from that, and a couple of times where a program crashed or froze, I've had no problems. Some of these issues may stem from the fact that I am running mostly 32-bit applications/games on a 64-bit OS, so I've expected a few hiccups.
Overall, however, things have been great. I'm finally able to use more than 4gb of RAM (I've got 6gb of RAM in triple channel mode now), and most everything seems to run solid. The improvements to the taskbar have taken me a lot less time to adjust to than I thought they would, and I actually feel like the new features, like Aero Peek, have helped me be more productive with my machine.
I'll probably have more to report as my collection of games and software trickles onto the new computer, and I start using it for other multimedia purposes - but for now you can consider me impressed.
And of course, glad that I don't feel like a sap for being a day one adopter.
I got my new computer parts earlier this week, and after an hour or two of assembly, it gracefully sprang to life. And on the first try, no less. I'm proud of myself, because it's been a while since I've built a computer entirely from scratch.
Here's how the final build turned out:
Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz Quad-Core CPU
Corsair XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Diamond Radeon HD 4890 1GB (PCE-E 2.0 16x) GPU
Asus P6T Deluxe V2 Motherboard
Western Digital Caviar Green 500Gb SATA HDD
HP 24X Multiformat DVD Writer SATA
Cooler Master Silent Pro 600W Modular Power Supply
Antec Solo Black/Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
The only parts I didn't buy were two existing HDD's that I threw in at the end, for good measure (another 500Gb and my old 74Gb Raptor, both SATA). I was planning on adding the sound card from my old computer, but it won't fit well without blocking off the fan from the GPU, so I'm just going to roll with the onboard sound for now. Lastly, I'm currently only using two of the RAM sticks, because I'm running 32-bit XP, and I'm waiting for Windows 7 to release for the move to 64-bit.
The build went quite well and was fairly easy this time around. The power supply fit the case nicely and was easy to install. This was my first modular power supply, so the lack of cords (at least, initially) was a welcome addition to my computer-building experience.
The most difficult part of the whole build was easing the board into the box, as it was a snug fit. Antec makes great cases though, and there was plenty of holes for mounting the board properly.
The only other real problem I had with this build was just making sure I was grounded at all times - my current apartment has carpeting everywhere except for the kitchen and the bathroom, and neither of those places is a good place to build a computer. So, my hands were in contact with the case at all times, and no electronics were harmed in the production of this computer.
Anyway, back to the build... Antec also makes great sliding mounts for hard drives, so installing the drives was easy. Those had to go behind a separate door behind the front panel, so while they took a little more trouble to get in and out of the case than I would normally like, I don't do a lot of drive swapping, so it doesn't bother me much. Getting the DVD drive to install flush with the front of the case took some fiddling but wasn't difficult either.
To my relief, the GPU fit the space very nicely. The new Radeon HD 4890 is actually a tiny bit smaller than my old GeForce 8800 GTS. The only other large difference I noticed between the make of the two cards is that the circuit board of the Radeon seemed a tiny bit thinner, and more susceptible to bending, than the old GeForce.
Installing the CPU is always a harrowing experience for me. I'm always afraid I'm going to bend the connectors by placing the CPU in the slot the wrong way. Or that I'm going to accidentally rub off the thermal paste on the bottom of the fan (almost happened this time). Or that I'm not going to press hard enough on the fan mounts, and the fan will fall off later. Or that I'm going to press too hard on the fan mounts and crack the motherboard. Or... alright, I'll stop. It went smoothly. That's probably all I should have said about that to begin with.
RAM was similarly easy. Just pop it in the correct slots and snap it into place.
Once I got done putting all the parts in the box, I plugged in all the necessary cords and pressed the power button - which to my delight, worked. I hadn't closed the case yet though- I've built enough computers to know not to bother doing that until I know everything is working. I installed Windows XP. Installed some games. No problems. So far, I haven't even been hit by the notorious lockups I've heard about so many people getting from running 32-bit Win XP with more than 3Gb RAM.
Overall, this was a pretty straightforward computer build. I didn't have to consult manuals too often, and all the parts fit together well. Nothing got broken, nothing got fried. And now I've got a new computer that eats games for breakfast. Yayuh!
