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Windows Vista RC2 and the New Gaming Platform

10.03.06 - 11:23am

A month ago Microsoft announced that there would be no RC2 (Release Candidate) of Windows Vista but lo and behold this Friday RC2 is set to launch as the last beta stage before the product hits the production line. In essence this version, build 5743, will provide the most clear picture as to how the final version of Vista will perform. This newest build of Vista will hopefully correct the majority of the performance bugs that have littered Vista while cutting down on the compatibility issues.

According to WindowsITPro this will be the last public build before the OS is sent to the production lines. The production build is estimated to be finished on or around October 25th meaning there is a fair chance that Vista will release on schedule however there are rumors that languages besides English may be cut from the launch build. When building an operating system a single language is used to develop it, English in this case, and then once operating system hits the final build language support is added in. While this simplifies the development process it makes language support one of the last things to be developed which in turn means there may not be enough time to include every language that was originally planned.

The Bugs

When you are building something as large as an operating system there are guaranteed to be bugs and compatibility issues all over the place. These bugs can range from simple things like buttons not working down to serious platform instability issues and Microsoft has an entire database of all the reported bugs. Their coders have been working through the bug reports and fixing what they deem most important and the numbers show their work. On September 22nd there were 2479 open bug reports and this number has dropped down to just over 1400 in recent days. Microsoft has said they will require there to be fewer than 500 bugs for Vista to launch. This may sound like a large amount of bugs but it is simply a product of mass production. All mass produced objects are launched with a small number of bugs and defects. Microprocessors are a great example, companies actually have numbers of hardware bugs that they deem safe or irrelevant such as errors within CPUs that in normal operations won’t affect the stability of the hardware. When Vista launches to the public there will be bugs but these bugs will hopefully continue to be fixed over the course of the year before the planned Service Pack 1 for Vista planned next Fall.

Direct X 10

With the launch of Vista Microsoft is also launching DirectX 10, the newest standard in graphics technology. A lot of uproar has come about this due to the fact that by launching Direct X 10 and Vista users will not only need to buy an expensive operating system but they will also need to upgrade their video card or cards. This uproar is rather unfounded as Direct X 9 will still be around and most if not all DirectX 10 games will be playable on DirectX 9 hardware albeit with a few of the highend features turned off. This shouldn’t be too much of an issue as all of the next generation game screenshots and videos have been taken on DirectX 9 hardware and isn’t it just jaw dropping? I’ve posted a few Crysis pictures before but if you have forgotten here is another.

Windows Gaming Platform

One issue that has plagued the PC Gaming industry is the lack of standards. With consoles you can pop the disk into the system and within a minute you are out and about shooting stuff and stealing cars. With a PC you must undertake a lengthy installation process and configuration and then when the game is finally installed you must configure the game’s graphic and physic settings to match your computers performance abilities. Microsoft is trying to develop a game performance rating system based around the Vista performance rating. Windows Vista can perform a hardware check on your computer and a score will pop up based around the performance that your computer is capable of. Microsoft is hoping to use this performance rating to help alleviate the issue of matching hardware to video game requirements. Rather than having to compared your hardware to the requirements on the side of the box, Vista ready games would simply have a number that corresponds to the hardware requirements. For example lets say my desktop scored a 3.5 on the Vista performance test. I could then go out to my local gaming store and any game with a rating of 3.5 or lower would be guaranteed to run on my hardware with suitable settings. This system could scale for the lifetime of DirectX 10 as computers and games become more hardware intensive. Two years from now games may require a performance score of 15 meaning that my current computer with only a 3.5 wouldn’t be capable of running those games.

This system strives to clear up the vast majority of confusion in regards to purchasing PC games and if supported by a vast number of companies it could help create a sort of PC console gaming experience. Besides the hardware requirements with the Vista scoring, the Vista branded games would also require XBox 360 controller support and an “easy install” feature. Microsoft is essentially simplifying the gaming process and providing a venue for XBox 360 game ports while providing adequate support. This unification of the PC gaming industry could really give a boost in gaming design and open up the field for all sorts of new products. I await the day when I will be able to simply match a number from my system to the number on a box to determine if I can play the game with adequate settings.

DirectX 10 Hardware

Both Ati and Nvidia have been holding their secrets rather close lately however some rumors have leaked onto the scene. Both ATI’s R600 and Nvidia’s G80 cores both look like they will be beasts with rumors of over 500 million transistors a piece. While these are only rumors we are talking some serious power increases with power requirements nearly doubling over the 7900GTX and X1900XTX. Since I am afraid to quote false information all I can say is that the rumors are hinting at a monumental increase in performance however when there is actual hardware available I will promptly let you guys know. No matter what these new cores will be wicked fast and probably carry very high prices.

Conclusion

It looks like Vista will make it out of the gate within the next 4 months and bring with it a huge whirlwind of change. DirectX 10 will be something beautiful and the hardware to support it will be big, fast, and hot. When I get a copy of RC2 I plan on creating the ideal Vista software suite and performing a full review of Vista so look for that coming down the pipeline. If Microsoft can pull together this universal game rating system they might have a winner and we could see a potential boost in gaming development. RC2 should be exciting especially when matched up with the Lean Machine. Gaming performance figures within RC2 will also be taken care of once the Lean Machine is finished. More information and screenshots will follow.

Relevant Links
DailyTech- Windows Vista RC2 Coming This Friday
DailyTech- Gaming in Windows Vista
The Inquirer- R600 Rumors
WindowsITPro- Exclusive: Here Comes Windows Vista RC2

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