While I'll still be using XP on my Avid machine for a fair while, I've got Vista running on my laptop and you know what? It's a really good OS. Going back to using XP always feels like a backward step. It's not just prettiness - Vista really does have some big improvements. Most of them are all the subtle things that bugged me in XP, but there's also some bigger stuff that has changed the way I use Windows - like Start Search (kinda like Launchy only heaps better).

I'm really keen to see what comes along over the next year or two to really take advantage of Vista's under the hood improvements. WPF and XAML should make for some fantastic leaps forward in the UI realm (and yeah, you can get WPF going on XP, but it won't run as well as on Vista cos XP doesn't have the new display driver model that allows apps to use WPF so well under Vista).

In other news, I gave Xpress Pro 5.7 a crack on Vista - didn't work. That new CoreServices thing that seems to have started with 5.7 doesn't play well with Vista. Mite try 5.6.4 later.

Please, what is your graphic card and what drivers are you using?

Thanks...

You are a genius!!!

I am running Vista 32 and followed your info and now I can run Avid express pro in Vista!

thanks
Jim

I went to the http://www.safenet-inc.com/support/tech/sentinel.asp and downloaded the 7.3.2 driver for the dongle and installed it. After rebooting I then opened the device manager and right clicked the usb ultrapro device that showed that it wasn't working and selected update driver, then I clicked Search automatically for updated driver software. Vista installed the proper driver and recognized it. I rebooted the computer again.

I right clicked the Launch file for the Xpress Pro editing software and opened up the properties, went to the Compatibility tab then I checked the "Run this program in compatibility mode for:" and have the window set to Windows XP (Service Pack 2). I also checked "Run this program as an administrator."

The install ran fine from there. If you have a problem with one of the modules like Digiaudioinstaller, Do the same thing with it install file by checking the same Compatibility options.

I did have problems with it recognizing the AC97 audio on the motherboard so I went out and bought a $30 Sound Blaster Audigy SE and installed it. I reinstalled the Avid software and everything works great.

OwenPiccirillo:

if you read on these forums long enough you will see the amount of problems people have with the program...

I come to the forum for answers to problems, and usually I find an answer that works. But I use the forum for a lot more than problems. This place is full of tips you can't find anyplace else.

 Any update?

Thanks

Xpro will never be qualified for use with Vista because no further development will happen with Xpro.  It's officially now end of life.  However, as leaked earlier this week, Vista support is coming with MC and higher.

Thought I'd throw in a few cents worth on the topic.

After reading through this thread today I tried loading MC one more time on Vista 64 Ultimate just for fun. It works great! Setting the Media Composer installer to run under XP SP2 support is a stroke of genius! Follow the directions above in this thread and MC will run under Vista 64-bit Ultimate like a champ. Well, at least on this machine anyway.

We've been running a home-brew Vista 64 Ultimate home theatre/gaming machine for nearly a year now. Daily use, hundreds of teenager gaming hours and family move nights. Vista 64 Ultimate is extrodinarily stable and forgiving. Zero driver problems. Very fast.

Yes, it's a frankenstein PC: AMD 64 X2 6000+ CPU, 8 Gb DDR2 PC6400/800 RAM in 128-bit dual channel mode, 64-bit Gigabyte MB with Nvidia nForce 790 chipset, Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS 256 Mb graphics card, Seagate 400 GB SATA 3 C: drive, XFX RAID 3 hardware controller with 5X Seagate HDD's drives for 1.6 TB onboard D: drive space, etc. Runs 64-bit DX10 games like Bioshock and Half Life 2 with all graphics settings on full-tilt-boogie without straining even a pinky. Love those HDRI reflective surfaces!

The key to getting some real speed out of Vista is simply turning off everything, and I do mean everything, related to the Aero/Sidecar GUI. The Aero/Sidecar stuff is cute marketing, and it does look very cool, but it eats the GPU's capacity like crazy! TURN IT ALL OFF!!

As far as MC goes, system performance monitors show both CPU cores working in tandem at around 21% capacity while playing HDV clips in the timeline. Jumped to no more than 57% while rendering effects, color correction, etc. Memory shows just over 2 Gb out of the 8 in use running MC. Rendering times are about a third less than my full time XP SP2 MC machine with the same exact system components except for a pair of Nvidia Quadro video cards. Sorry, but I like to build 'em as much as use 'em whether they're Avid certified or not.

I'm very, very impressed with these initial results considering Vista is running MC in 32-bit XP support mode. My wish since I built this box has been that Avid would re-write MC from the ground up as a full-tilt 64-bit program without being ham-strung by any 32-bit code whatsoever.

Remember when Microsoft finally had to dump  DOS compatibility to move into the 32-bit world? Oh yes, everyone grumbled when their old word processors and 16-bit games wouldn't work anymore. Well, 64-bit is here and it has been for quite a while. The programs that implement it fully are blindingly fast and capable. Let the low moaning and gnashing of teeth begin again!!

If Avid could really, truly, seriously implement 'new thinking' beyond a simple marketing gimmick by releasing the first true, no-holds-barred 64-bit NLE, well, we might just be able to kiss Final Cut Pro fairwell and get back to business. That market share is worth the development costs alone.

I also suspect that with that much raw data processing horsepower under the hood, editing full 1920p HD, and possibly even 2K/4K, might very well be responsive enough and practical within the realm of standalone software.

Rant over, and out.

Great rant. In general I would like to see more of the software I use (e.g. Adobe, Avid) start the process of going into 64bit land.

But considering the current situation with so many HD formats and the demand for changes to features, I am not going to expect them to jump onto 64bit this year.

What an amusing thread. I've had a few editors ask when we are going to put vista on our systems and I politely reply ' in 2025 ' as many of you have stated we don't need to run it so why create more problems.

Blue Crow:

What an amusing thread. I've had a few editors ask when we are going to put vista on our systems and I politely reply ' in 2025 ' as many of you have stated we don't need to run it so why create more problems.

I consider 64bit would provide a big improvement on performance in general, whether it was XP 64bit or Vista 64bit. When it will happen is not going to be answered soon as I imagine it would involve a lot of work but once done hopefully the benefits will show.

Since MC 3 is going to support Vista then I think that I will install Vista for it. I do not think support for Vista creates more problems? Does it not?

The system specs page for MC3.0 on a laptop is a bit confusing - when the notes say 'No Vista Support', does that mean this laptop won't RUN with Vista, or that Avid don't qualify MC3.0 to run on it if it's using Vista, or something else?

Feels a bit daft to get a new machine now without Vista.

But it's almost enough to send you over to the dark side... so few choices with Mac! (?!)

 Hey Susi,

seems to me Avid won't be saying something on vista running on a computer don't you think? Guess it says it MC 3.0 won't run on this.

Susi:

The system specs page for MC3.0 on a laptop is a bit confusing - when the notes say 'No Vista Support', does that mean this laptop won't RUN with Vista, or that Avid don't qualify MC3.0 to run on it if it's using Vista, or something else?

My assumption would be that since there have been driver issues with Vista, either the laptop was tested and didn't perform well, or that there hasn't yet been time to test that model with Vista.

But really, only Avid can answer that.