remote desktop

Vista Business SP1 = No pretty Alt+Tab?

Jeromey Balderrama

I just upgraded my desktop here at work (which runs Vista Business) over to SP1, only to find that I no longer have the pretty Alt+Tab interface.  I loved that interface, where I pressed Alt+Tab to switch between programs, then while holding it down, was able to click on the program that I really wanted (I am notorious for having tons of windows open).

What the heck?  Was my Vista Business not supposed to have that in the first place?  Did it think my graphics card was good enough Pre-Sp1 and now it’s not?  I still have Aero Glass, so I don’t know what is going on with this.

Argh, that’s what I get for adopting things early – and in this case when it’s released to the public.

Update: A reboot seems to have refreshed my graphics driver.  It reset my resolution to very low, but after adjusting it I once again have my pretty Alt+Tabs.  Note that this reboot took place after it said the Installation as complete (and already rebooted my system).

Update2: This seems to be rooted within how windows switches back and forth between Remote Desktop and how Windows switches between Windows Basic and Areo.  It seems when I just do a disconnect from Remote Desktop, Vista stays in the Basic form until the next reboot (I haven’t tried the logout yet).  This is better than RD on my home computer, which simply goes to a blank screen that I need to lock my computer and then unlock to fix.  The Remote Desktop experience has been quirky to say the least.

Vista Experience: 16 days later

Jeromey Balderrama

Sixteen days ago, I upgraded my desktop machine to Windows Vista, and so far, so good.  Let me put it this way: I haven’t been driven to uninstall the machine yet.  I’m not necessarily happy with Vista, rather just content with the OS upgrade.

My original motive to install Vista was based on my purchase of an Xbox 360.  I would like to use the Media Center capabilities to stream video over to the Xbox, and my version of XP Home wasn’t cutting it.  While I do have XP Media Center available to me, I decided to bite the bullet and do the install.  My desktop is a decently powerful machine, purchased about 18 months ago.  It’s a duel-core AMD box with 3GB of RAM.  After the initial install performance has been pretty decent.  It wasn’t as fast as a brand new install of XP, but it’s speed hasn’t diminished after loading all of my software (note to self: post list of computer-setup software), as it has on my laptop.  I also have a mid-range nVidia graphics card, so the Aero Glass features weren’t a problem as well.

For the most part I’m satisfied with my machine, but there are definitely a few quirks.  Originally when I installed the beta, I was frustrated with the changing of the keyboard commands, especially with the start menu.  I think this still may be an issue, but it’s been mitigated with my use of Launchy.  I used to use VNC for remote administration, but it runs horrible on Vista, basically being unable to filter out the Aero effects (despite my “low-resolution” settings, etc).  I still have VNC running, but am primarily using MS Remote Desktop to remotely administer the machine.  That runs really well, but has no web client the way VNC does.

Speaking of Remote Desktop, the other gripe I would have is that after logging in remotely and logging out, the next time I log in locally it resolves a blank screen.  My only workaround has been to press WindowsKey + L to lock the machine, Ctl+Alt+Delete to start the unlock, enter my password and be done.  I’m not sure if this is a glitch with my graphics card (although I have a mouse cursor on the blank screen), but it could be a Vista bug.  It’s definitely an annoyance and if I wasn’t so keyboard savvy I’d probably be screwed.

The local desktop experience is beautiful, and I do notice that I’m enjoying working on things in that environment.  I haven’t had any software issues the same way I had when the beta was out.  As for hardware, I had a little trouble with my printers, and I haven’t plugged in the scanner – I need to do that soon.

So far over two weeks in, I’m sticking with Vista.  We’ll see how it is at the end of the month, but it’s definitely not as bad of an experience as I was fearing.