John C.

It almost seems like it would be in hardware makers' best interest NOT
to release Vista drivers for legacy hardware. This will force users
to buy shiny new "Vista Compatible" hardware. Of course they risk
alienating loyal users at the same time.

Betas of Vista have been available for a year or more, you would think
the hardware makers would have their drivers ready to go at RTM time.
They probably wait until RTM to start development. Even nVidia seems
to be in a sorry state, their Vista video drivers are terrible
performance wise and they don't even have a driver for their flagship
8800 product.

Total lack of x64 drivers killed XP x64. Hopefully we'll see this
change since just about all new PCs are x64 capable.

On Wed, 22 Nov 2006 20:31:53 -0800, "JW" <nospam@no.spam> wrote:

>Well we will just have to see which manufacturres really care about their
>business customer users that are using their hardware on November 30th.
>"Gene" <gene_fitz(nospam)@comcast.net> wrote in message
>news:3FE1281E-625F-4A8C-8A18-844FBB1A6687@microsoft.com...
>> I'm sorry, I don't really know what to tell you other than to keep
>> checking with the manufacturers.
>>
>> Sadly, with each new release of an operating system, you will have some
>> hardware and software manufacturers that will go above and beyond.
>> Companies like nVidia who really push the make-ready process, and you have
>> companies like HP, who will drag their feet to the very last minutes, and
>> sometimes too long.
>> Sadly, it is the perrogative of the manufacturer. Microsoft, I am sure is
>> doing all they can to try to help folks, but they are helpless when it
>> comes to the companies who create the drivers.
>>
>> I'm in the same boat you are, I still have some equipment begging for
>> drivers, and most of my favorite software is useless right now. I just
>> keep on checking and hoping.
>>
>> Wish I could be more help.
>>
>> "mlai" <mlai@community.nospam> wrote in message
>> news:%23AUmAJgDHHA.1196@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>>> That's what we've been doing to all the vendors for the past few months.
>>> However, a lot of the vendors are holding the lame view that "Vista is
>>> not out yet and we will support it when it is out or SHORTLY THERE
>>> AFTER". Their way of saying "yeah, we will TRY to support it when it is
>>> out or 6 months after......."
>>>
>>>
>>> "Gene" <gene_fitz(nospam)@comcast.net> wrote in message
>>> news:47814DC2-DD0B-4EF8-AD10-D2084334A758@microsoft.com...
>>>> The best way to remedy this issue is to constantly check your hardware
>>>> providers and bug them for Vista drivers. Microsoft can throw in a host
>>>> of generic drivers, but there simply is just not enough disk space to
>>>> put all hardware drivers, not to mention, it is nearly impossible to
>>>> create advanced generic drivers that will work with all equipment.
>>>> On the brighter side though, the fuse is a burning. Time is running out,
>>>> and the hardware manufacturers have the pressure on. 2 months till
>>>> release date, I have a feeling in the next 30 to 45 days, you will see a
>>>> lot of completed drivers showing up all over the place.
>>>>
>>>> I know that doesn't help much, but it may offer a little hope. :-)
>>>>
>>>> "mlai" <mlai@community.nospam> wrote in message
>>>> news:O1kRmBeDHHA.4508@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>>>>> Granted Vista has more hardware support than XP at launch...... The
>>>>> hardware being supported are mostly legacy stuff and the newer stuffs
>>>>> are not supported as well. I figure that I may start a list of
>>>>> problems:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Creative XFi cards:
>>>>> Creative claims that (which is quite true) Directsound hardware
>>>>> acceleration will not work with Vista, and trying to move all the
>>>>> people to OpenAL. Also, DTS decoding will not be supported via the
>>>>> soundcard software. Beta drivers are available but I seriously doubt
>>>>> if they will put out reliable drivers until months after release. I am
>>>>> only saying drivers, none of the applications that came on the
>>>>> installation CDs will work with Vista and they haven't done anything
>>>>> about that yet.
>>>>>
>>>>> ATI:
>>>>> AVIVO still missing for Vista. But there is hope as ATI puts out
>>>>> monthly releases pretty routinely.
>>>>>
>>>>> Logitech:
>>>>> Vista support is claimed to be somewhat available in December. But no
>>>>> one has even remotely seen or talked about any alpha drivers. So not
>>>>> hopeful at all. In fact, I am getting rid of as much logitech stuff as
>>>>> I possibily can at home....... That includes: webcams, keyboards,
>>>>> mouse, and remotes......
>>>>>
>>>>> Microsoft Hardware:
>>>>> There is hope. Their website puts out beta for desktop sets
>>>>> (Intellitype and Intellipoint) now. For their new Lifecams, MS claims
>>>>> to have beta available in January, which is a month later then
>>>>> previously expected according to a post on the VistaTeamBlog by nWhite.
>>>>> But rumour has it that a beta is available to Vista technical beta
>>>>> testers.........
>>>>>
>>>>> Pantone Huey:
>>>>> I use it to calibrate my screen colors. Sent an email to techsup over
>>>>> there and they sent a response back within 24hrs. Here is the
>>>>> response:
>>>>> Response (JDINGLE) - 11/20/2006 09:26 AM We have tested PANTONE Huey on
>>>>> the latest build of Windows Vista, and have found the product to be
>>>>> fully functional with the exception of the Huey preferences, which do
>>>>> not seem to be accessible.
>>>>>
>>>>> We are continuing to test PANTONE Huey, and we are confident that we
>>>>> will have support for this operating system either at the time of its
>>>>> release, or shortly thereafter.
>>>>>
>>>>> So there is hope.
>>>>>
>>>>> HP AIO Printers:
>>>>> Drivers (only basic drivers) are incorporated for products out before
>>>>> 2nd qtrs 2006. But the new products (like the new Photosmart
>>>>> C6180/5180..... etc), no drivers..... And given their prior track
>>>>> records (like promising drivers and software for XP x64 by Dec 05 and
>>>>> delivering in Aug 06). Not having too much faith there.
>>>>>
>>>>> Asus:
>>>>> I build my own machines and pretty much all uses Asus motherboards.
>>>>> However, none of their custom software (BIOS update, system
>>>>> overclocking and monitoring "AiSuite" or "AiBooster" comes to mine)
>>>>> have even beta out for vista. The only thing that has beta out is the
>>>>> Wifi-AP software and even that is just putting XP drivers in Vista
>>>>> directories, hardly a beta.......
>>>>>
>>>>> Intel:
>>>>> Probably the best in Vista support. Chipset Utils and IMSM is
>>>>> available for Vista as I type.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> So what does these all mean to me? I have Vista RTM installed on my
>>>>> Raptor but half of my hardware does not even have beta drivers. So I
>>>>> guess next year will be the REAL BETA period for system builders like
>>>>> me........
>>>>>
>>>>> The above only contains hardware vendors that pertains to my setups.
>>>>> YMMV depending on what kind of hardware and how new your platforms
>>>>> are...... BTW, Vista runs very nicely in VMWare 5.5.3.......
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>