My Vista RC1 Outing [updated]

BUILD : Windows Vista RC1 (checked Build) 5600
EDITION : Windows Vista Ultimate
TARGET MACHINE : Acer Aspire 3002NLC with AMD Sempron 2800+, 512MB RAM, 15GB HDD (for the Vista partition)

It took me almost a week to download the Vista RC1. You could blame it a bit on my bandwidth and a lot more on my laziness to resume the download each time. The last few MBs almost got me crying like a child. The reviews I had read on the RC1 had kinda made me plan into making it my primary OS instead of XP temprorily, so that I could truly experience the whole thing.

The installation took about 90mins. Almost everything was plug n'play, including my laptop's XGA monitor (which wasnt a plug n'play for Beta 2). Now, that was a nice start! Yeah, I did say "almost everything" a sentence ago! It didnt take my Realtek soundcard as plug n' play..so I had to force it in. Then came the long list of devices, which I literally force fed into accepting.

1. Huawei datacard - for internet : tried compatibility mode etc. It gave me lots of trouble and didnt install it. Then, I found a cheeky trick. I went to DEVICE MANAGER > Selected the Datacard > Properties > Driver tab > Update Driver and pointed it to the exact location of the driver. It was my last shot and it worked! I then had to quickly activate Windows Vista. I just had 3 days to activate. Now, we'll talk about this bug a little later.

2. USB TV Box - for..umm..TV : Once again, not plug and play..so I shovelled the driver in just like before and I have gotten really used to it! It took my USB box, but, not the TV Player software. It said it had to reboot coz there was a DCOM failure.

3. SE W300i - Phone software - I was able to install it in Windows XP SP2 compatibility mode..and it did work sweetly after that.

Now, for the Activation Bug I spoke in point "1".. During the numerous restarts I had to do trying to get the devices to work, the 14 days decreased to 3 days! Now..thats ODD!

I had enough with Hardware and drivers, so I decided to do some software installation:

Windows Live Messenger 8 - Installed normally and functional

Yahoo Messenger 8 - Got till the download screen and then it reported that it wasnt able to access a particular tmp file from the temp folder, so it exited and I wasnt able to install it after that!

IIS 7 and Web stuff - Present under "Turn on additional components" (or something similar to that!) in the Add/Remove programs, you have a whole range of new things you would come across. I only picked up IIS and all that goes with it. Installation took about 10mins and then it worked well enough. I didnt try to make anything, just did a http localhost to check if it had installed correctly. I just had a glance at the IIS Manager and it felt damn powerful. I dont know much about it, so, I preferred not to play around till I've read the following article and understood what I will be dealing with :

http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2006/09/07/IIS-7.0-RC1.aspx

NOTE: I guess I was kinda done with the experimenting. Mind you, I turned off UAC till I completed installation, so that, I had no trouble along the way.

Other software problems :

IE 7 : Keep crashing each time I shift between tabs really quickly. It automatically restarted. You do get a "..encountered a problem.." box and then a "..restarting.." box.

If you try to work as fast as you do in XP, you would get some of the screen to "Not Responding". They do respond well in about 5 secs time. So you dont have to End Task.

What I liked:

There have been big improvements in performance. It worked much faster than the previous builds. I was even able to feel the transitions and fades much better. Also, lucky they did away with those pesky message boxes from the pre-RC1 days. Plug N'play is also getting there, I must say! Overall it is a big step forward - it is much much more stable, lesser apps crashed, performance is much better.

Footnote:

Eventhough Vista RC1 seemed a lot more powerful and true to some of the good reviews, I felt a bit let down by all that I have mentioned above. I still have it on Dual boot and my idea of making it my primary OS will need to wait a till the weekend..or..even till later today! I plan to do a much cleaner install giving it another 2 GB of HDD space. We'll see.

My whole experience with RC1, also had a "punch line" to it - "Upgrade your Laptop". I have been thinking about it, but, not for Vista's sake. I am guessing that normal users, who cant really afford to upgrade with technology are going to stick to XP, than, moving to Vista when it is finally released.

Ok, after reading all this, you must think I am a open source junkie..well..I am certainly not. I love MS and I dont wink while saying it. :)

I will do a complete review of RC1 once I am done with teh re-install.

The End is the Beginning

Earlier this month, Andre Agassi announced his retirement. I am a big Agassi fan. I felt sad that the time had come. Well, today.. it came.. another big announcement - Michael Schumacher announced his retirement from racing after a splendid victory at Monza, Italy. I kinda knew this was going to happen. This was being debated about so much that the news was actually out! Its once again a sad part of such a wonderful day in my life.

We'll talk about Andre in a seperate post. For now, its all about the man of the moment - Schumi. You could say I grew up with him. I've watched all 7 of his championships, 90 wins, ruthless controversial tussels with the likes of Damon Hill and Mika Hakkinen, teams he changed, good times and bad times. Its almost as if I knew the guy! So, you can imagine what a huge fan I have been of the man! My biggest moment came when he joined Ferrari. Ferrari have always been my favourite. Add the man to the team and it was a mighty combination! Rules and F1 racing has changed to make sure every season isnt a "red wash".

He is certainly at the top of my Heroes List, whatever anyone says. His passion, grit, determination, cheekiness are qualities I admire the most. I knew it was coming when I saw Corinna Schumacher in the pits. She doesnt come to races that often and is usually always there when anything big is coming. Well, this was the day and about 30mins ago! Schumi made the announcement after taking his 90th Victory and getting Ferrari ahead of Renault in the Constructors championship.

2007 will see a new Ferrari line-up - Kimi Raikkonen and Fellipe Massa. I've always wanted to see Kimi at Ferrari. He is another man who has the qualities I admire the most. The "Ice man" will fit into Schumi's boots perfectly..and..maybe even better the champion. Its going to be awesomely exciting! Most truly - "Every cloud has a silver lining!"

For the rest of the season, I wish my hero "All the best" and I am sure he will win the title. It has been a presentation of sorts for my B'day!

I made a Red Ferrari Sony Ericsson W300i theme. You can download it here - http://www.flashofscarlet.com/Downloads/w300ithme.zip

Mall Culture?

Cochin or Ernakulam, as it is called, used to be a sleepy li'l town when it comes to weekend life and night life. The beaches, places of historical importance and traditional ways, attracts a lot of tourists, but, youngsters in the city always said - "There is no place to hangout here. Its boooooorrring!". We notice the "difference" when we visit places like Bangalore or Gurgaon. The way of life in these places are different. Its more community-oriented and very social. Ok, Ernakulam can't be compared to both these cities. But, the "Youngster Revolution" was catching pace. A lot of people I know moved out to these bigger cities to look for "jobs and a Life" (as they put it).

It took a number of years, change had to kick some dust! You want a Mall? Ok, a Mall you get! But..but..wait..we have the Infopark (http://www.infoparkkochi.com) that came up first! So, these companies in Infopark employed a lot of youngsters and..they had no where to hangout. No Central Perk to sit with friends and go yakety yak.

Then, came the light, in the form of Cafe Coffee Day (http://www.cafecoffeeday.com) - the infamous cafe chain. Lets say the youth got a flavour of high-priced premium blend coffee and it became a good place to hangout..but for the people with the pockets! The guys got to see girls in jeans and tshirts and the girls saw guys in..ok..jeans and tshirts. You can make out what you want out of that sentence. ;-)

Shhhhhhh! then it came up - THE MALL! Now, I have been to these before in Gurgaon. Malls are..like..Da Hangout Centrallll. Many people here dont know Ernakulam has a mall. Rightly so, we didnt really know it came up. So, the big brands got their shops and displayed those pricey items on the shelves and big brand food outlets setup the foodcourt. Now you got a centrally air-conditioned Hangout place!! Once again the way people acted..changed. The age of the coffee pub got modified a bit. Girls wore jeans and tshirts and guys wore jeans and tshirts. It grew more hugging and maybe even shorter and revealing. Were they buying these from the malls? some do..people like me..who are crazy about some brands. Most other visit what we call "the AC market" (its open air..cheap stuff!) and other shops. These are places they used to shop from! There are exceptions to this..but..you can easily count 'em up.

So, Hangout changed tradition and culture? Hangout changed things about people. A normal guy who cant dream about getting a girl who can afford a glass of Swiss hot chocolate at the Barista, would try-to-be to impress or even get close.

I am not really a "hangout" type of person. I step into the Barista to enjoy a good tall glass of Swiss Chocolate. One of my friends asked me to "get a life" the other day. I argued with her for a longtime. Life is not about getting a steady lover (as in girlfriend), life is not about going to a mall, life is not about wearing those jeans and tees and wearing that wierd look hair and painting up faces.. Life is what you think it is and what you want it to be..and enjoy. Its not something that happens just here in Ernakulam, it happens everywhere, only, you dont really notice it so much in the so-called "modern" places. Its more noticed in places like these.

You could say "Times are changing, man!", but, where is it going and did time really say you need to do such things to advertise yourself? I am not pointing fingers at just the mall. Malls are good. Its a jazzed up shopping complex where you can buy stuff, eat and have a good shopping day!