Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1

Most of you have probably seen that Windows released Service Pack 1 for Vista not long ago, along with a release of SP3 for XP users.  I decided that it was time to finally make the leap to Vista, it’s been in the plans for a long time, especially since I used it during the Beta and really loved it!  I still waited for SP1 to come out just because back when I was using it in the Beta some companies such as Logitech still hadn’t gotten around to making any drivers for it… so I figured some maturity time was in order.

One thing that really does bother me a LOT about this purchase is that Microsoft is no longer including the copy of the 64bit Operating System with your purchase!  They dropped the price by $10 and send only the 32bit Windows Vista Operating System with your purchase, then if you want the 64bit version of Windows Vista you’ve got to go online and order it for $10.  To me this is backwards thinking on Windows part, I see the merit in it that the 32bit Vista works on any processor and the 64bit edition needs to be run on a 64bit processor… but honestly who doesn’t have a 64bit CPU now?  And if you don’t why are you trying to install Vista in the first place?!?!

I still really like the operating system none-the-less and have run into very few problems so far… actually a lot of problems I was having (such as with the newer versions of Opera) have gone away… I’m with a lot of enthusiasts who say that if you’re having problems with Vista it’s because your computer is a piece of crap and you need to throw it off a building.  Seriously Microsoft Windows Vista ran smoothly on my comp when I was doing the Beta and back then all I had was a 2.2ghz Dual Core AMD, 2 gigs of RAM, and an ATI x1600 video card… games were pretty darn slow, but really still playable, though some like Company of Heroes needed to be lowered in resolution and settings.  Now with a 2.6ghz (OCed to 2.9) Dual Core AMD, 4 gigs of RAM, and an ATI HD 3850 I’ve had absolutely no major glitches with Vista to date… of course I’ve only been running it for a few days so I’ll get back to you on what I think of ReadyBoost, and whatever else pops up as it comes up.

It seems like not yesterday the number one game on both Credal and I’s Xfire profiles was Stronghold 2.  Now with only 162 hours and in third place it seems like we didn’t play the game at all!  Of course it kind of sucks that Xfire has some sort of glitch with Windows Vista and it shows me as ALWAYS in game for Company of Heroes.  Once I get in the game until I restart the computer it shows me as in game!  Which BTW I absolutely hate!  It doesn’t show a true record of how long I’ve been in game… the past 3 weeks I’ve probably gained 100 hours in CoH alone simply because I can’t get “out of game” without restarting my computer!  (I think it has to do with Vista’s caching system, since the game loads UBER faster if I’ve already had it up once… make use of that 4 gigs of RAM!)

Oh well, I still can’t deny the fact that I’ve got a good 600 or so hours in CoH, and at least 200 in Counter-Strike:Source.

Archmaille’s Xfire Profile

Wow, can we say love at first hear?  I know, being tiny earbud style headphones the Klipsch Custom-1 Headphones wouldn’t be most peoples choice for computer or gaming usage… I have to beg of those people to reconsider!

The Klipsch Custom-1’s have performed amazingly well for daily computer use and gaming.  And by performance I don’t mean just sound, yes the sound is amazing!  The comfort is just as amazing!  Thanks to several ear gels to choose from you can get the perfect fit that doesn’t begin to hurt, or become an annoyance after hours of use.  The eargels aren’t round either, since your ear canal is not round!  What an amazing concept!!  You mean a company actually made something that fits to our body rather thane expecting our body to become acustomed to it?!?!

I was glad that I started using the Klipsch Headphones on my computer at first since it has a tuner that I can change levels and adjust.  The Klipsch Headphone line seems to be very picky to start things off and for the first couple hundred hours of use aren’t completely balanced.  After that you can stop adjusting sound levels and just enjoy all the little details that you’ve been missing all along!

I used to have a pair of Turtle Beach 5.1 Surround Sound headphones, and wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to get used to anything other than complete emulsion of sound… I have to say that I never was used to it wearing those.  Yeah, the 5.1 was awesome, but the sound quality of these Klipsch Custom-1’s is MUCH higher.  I can hear every tiny detail, and still able to tell when someone is sneaking up behind me in Counter-Strike:Source.  I will mention that for computer use I had to buy a six foot extension for the 3.5mm jack as the Custom-1’s only have a cord long enough to reach your pocket because they’re really for Ipod’s and Zune’s.  Maybe one day when I get a Zune I can use this for it… which was half of the appeal of getting these over a pair of Sennheiser’s, can’t say that I was dissapointed.