It’s All Good

It’s a good thing I have this week off from work. I’ve had some quality time to spend exploring the Velocity Micro Windows Vista Ultimate computer home entertainment system. Windows Media Center rocks. If you want a quick overview of Media Center, see my column Windows Media Center or webcast.

64 Bit Vista Operating System: Out of the box, the computer was loaded with the 64 bit edition of Windows Vista Ultimate Edition. Microsoft custom loaded this box and I would think that Microsoft/AMD want to demonstrate that 64 bit computing is the future (but here today). I’ve been a fan of 64 bit client computing since Windows XP Pro x64 and wrote about Upgrading a Laptop to Dual Boot with Windows XP x64 Edition.  So I am hoping that companies like Velocity Micro load x64 on these machines when they become available for sale in January 2007.

Peripherals: The only downside with x64 is that other peripherals you already own may not have 64 bit signed drivers. But there are work arounds if you don’t want to replace most existing functioning equipment. Older printers, for example. See my work around in the section Older operating systems and older hardware in my column Windows Vista Home Networking. My Nikons are recognized when I plug in the USB cable. See Digital Imaging in Windows Vista Photo Gallery for info on how this works.  Some people are reporting in various newsgroups that they can’t find drivers for their camera (camera that don’t look like external USB hard drives to Windows fall into this category). Luckily, the Velocity Micro (like most computers and laptops you buy today) has one of those X in 1 media readers which work beautifully with Vista on x64.

Networking: There are two onboard NICs (remember, ASUS mobo..) and an internal (but apparently USB bus based) wireless NIC.  This NIC is a standard ASUS 802.11g and not one of the newer draft N or a/g types. I’m hoping that this piece gets an upgrade before production shipping starts. I’ve connected one of the onboard Ethernet NICs to a D-Link DGL-3420  gaming adapter (you can see this in some of the images in other blog entries here) running to a dedicated 802.11a AP on my network, so I’ve got the Need For Speed licked. Some folks in the public Vista newsgroups are reporting some connectivity issues with older wireless routers. So check for a firmware upgrade or replace it if you are bitten by this one. I’ve been fine, but I have fairly new routers and access points.