Built-In Vista Games Feel Sluggish

The night of the Vista retail release I went around a well-known computer
store trying out Vista on several desktop and laptop computers including a
high-end Core 2 Duo machine with 2GB of RAM and 512MB video RAM and even
tried a 64-bit PC.

Among other things I played built-in games like FreeCell and Hearts. To my
surprise the games felt sluggish on all these PC's. Most likely developers
have throttled back display animation so you can see card movements more
clearly on modern super-fast processors. The new timing forces you to wait a
couple seconds (it feels like an eternity) for the computer to deal the next
hand, etc. The effect is highly annoying for those of us who are accustomed
to absent-mindedly blazing through games as fast as we can click.

This will probably annoy the "silent majority" that uses Windows mainly for
things other than games, but frequently open FreeCell or Hearts for quick
entertainment when bored, waiting for something to finish, etc. (Now I
proclaim to be the spokesperson for this silent majority. The tactic works in
politics...might as well try it here right? ;-)

"mikeg" <mikeg@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:AA64DECD-B7A3-4730-907B-23EF27C1F48D@microsoft.com...
> The night of the Vista retail release I went around a well-known computer
> store trying out Vista on several desktop and laptop computers including a
> high-end Core 2 Duo machine with 2GB of RAM and 512MB video RAM and even
> tried a 64-bit PC.
>
> Among other things I played built-in games like FreeCell and Hearts. To my
> surprise the games felt sluggish on all these PC's. Most likely developers
> have throttled back display animation so you can see card movements more
> clearly on modern super-fast processors. The new timing forces you to wait
> a
> couple seconds (it feels like an eternity) for the computer to deal the
> next
> hand, etc. The effect is highly annoying for those of us who are
> accustomed
> to absent-mindedly blazing through games as fast as we can click.
>
> This will probably annoy the "silent majority" that uses Windows mainly
> for
> things other than games, but frequently open FreeCell or Hearts for quick
> entertainment when bored, waiting for something to finish, etc. (Now I
> proclaim to be the spokesperson for this silent majority. The tactic works
> in
> politics...might as well try it here right? ;-)


I worked a launch event at a large electronics retailer and in my opinion
the way the computers were set up was a great disservice to Microsoft, Vista
and HP. There was so much add on software running in the background ( to
promote store diagnostic and repair services) plus new computer software
registration wizards running that even premium machines did not perform
well. What I can tell you from personal experience is that the games in
Vista fly on a home computer.

--
Jim

Mike, I had to laugh when I read your post. I, too, enjoy a blazing game of
FreeCell while waiting on things to print, mail to be delivered, pages to
load, etc... keep speaking for the "silent majority"

Louisiana Lady

"JimR" wrote:

> "mikeg" <mikeg@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:AA64DECD-B7A3-4730-907B-23EF27C1F48D@microsoft.com...
> > The night of the Vista retail release I went around a well-known computer
> > store trying out Vista on several desktop and laptop computers including a
> > high-end Core 2 Duo machine with 2GB of RAM and 512MB video RAM and even
> > tried a 64-bit PC.
> >
> > Among other things I played built-in games like FreeCell and Hearts. To my
> > surprise the games felt sluggish on all these PC's. Most likely developers
> > have throttled back display animation so you can see card movements more
> > clearly on modern super-fast processors. The new timing forces you to wait
> > a
> > couple seconds (it feels like an eternity) for the computer to deal the
> > next
> > hand, etc. The effect is highly annoying for those of us who are
> > accustomed
> > to absent-mindedly blazing through games as fast as we can click.
> >
> > This will probably annoy the "silent majority" that uses Windows mainly
> > for
> > things other than games, but frequently open FreeCell or Hearts for quick
> > entertainment when bored, waiting for something to finish, etc. (Now I
> > proclaim to be the spokesperson for this silent majority. The tactic works
> > in
> > politics...might as well try it here right? ;-)
>
>
> I worked a launch event at a large electronics retailer and in my opinion
> the way the computers were set up was a great disservice to Microsoft, Vista
> and HP. There was so much add on software running in the background ( to
> promote store diagnostic and repair services) plus new computer software
> registration wizards running that even premium machines did not perform
> well. What I can tell you from personal experience is that the games in
> Vista fly on a home computer.
>
> --
> Jim
>

Louisiana Lady, glad you enjoyed that bit of political humor. <g>

JimR, I hope you're correct. The animation was so consistant across 4
different machines it felt like an internal timer delay. Well over a decade
ago CPU and graphics speeds reached a point where card animations on
FreeCell, Hearts and Solitare were virtually instantaneous. Cards seem to
instantly appear in their new location because the animation became too fast
for the human eye.

I can remember back when you could actually see each card fly up to it's
stack after the last blocking card was removed in FreeCell. I was proud when
I finally built a computer fast enough to make the cards fly up instantly no
matter how many were left.

With Vista it seems someone wanted to make the animations visible again. If
so, it's not a bad idea--except for the fact that we (the silent majority
<g>) have grown accustomed to playing at a faster pace! If what I'm
suspecting is true, a speed control or throttle option would be nice.

On Wed, 7 Feb 2007 05:27:00 -0800, mikeg
<mikeg@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>The night of the Vista retail release I went around a well-known computer
>store trying out Vista on several desktop and laptop computers including a
>high-end Core 2 Duo machine with 2GB of RAM and 512MB video RAM and even
>tried a 64-bit PC.
>
>Among other things I played built-in games like FreeCell and Hearts. To my
>surprise the games felt sluggish on all these PC's. Most likely developers
>have throttled back display animation so you can see card movements more
>clearly on modern super-fast processors. The new timing forces you to wait a
>couple seconds (it feels like an eternity) for the computer to deal the next
>hand, etc. The effect is highly annoying for those of us who are accustomed
>to absent-mindedly blazing through games as fast as we can click.
>
>This will probably annoy the "silent majority" that uses Windows mainly for
>things other than games, but frequently open FreeCell or Hearts for quick
>entertainment when bored, waiting for something to finish, etc. (Now I
>proclaim to be the spokesperson for this silent majority. The tactic works in
>politics...might as well try it here right? ;-)


With the XP version of Hearts you have animation speed of
slow, medium or fast.

With Vista's version of Hearts (and Solitaire) everything is set to
SLOW and I mean SLOW.

F T F

surprise, Look at the pix i have attached. it freezes one part of the game
and the rest of the game is still ok
http://byfiles.storage.msn.com/y1pdk...uuWiPEFzUJoGWn