Video: MacBook running Windows Vista with Aero Glass

In previous articles, I said that Vista should run fine on the MacBook, even with its poor GMA 950 graphics. The Vista Beta 2 download was made public last week, and I finally got around to installing it on my MacBook. The full Aero Glass indeed does work fine on my 2.0 GHz Core Duo MacBook. Below is an H.264 Quicktime video (in two sizes) demonstating what Aero Glass looks like:

Small (640x360p, 25 MB)
Large (960x540p, 32 MB)

Note: The video was taken a low frame rate, so it appears jerky. However, in real life the animation is very smooth on the MacBook.

Although Windows Vista does run, I wouldn't necessarily recommend installing it just yet on Macs. It still has a very beta feel to it, and the install process is difficult, much harder than with Windows XP. Vista will not boot properly on Macs using the Boot Camp application as is. After installation, one must delete a hidden 200 MB partition to get Vista to boot properly.

There are also various driver issues. For example, Aero Glass does not work with the usual Intel 945GM drivers, so one must use the Intel Lakeport WDDM drivers instead. Furthermore, sound does not seem to work properly with the Sigmatel drivers. Wired and wireless LAN works great however.

P.S. As you can see from the video, Flip 3D is basically useless.

[Update 2006-06-16]

Here is another Quicktime H.264 clip, this time at 30 fps. I had to use a camcorder to capture this however.

30 fps Vista video (640x480p, 7.3 MB)

Hon Hai exec spills beans about new "none-touch" iPod

An article in the China Post quotes Terry Gou, Chairman of Hon Hai (one of Apple's major manufacturing partners), as saying that Apple is about to release a new iPod line which will make use of a "none-touch" concept. This was not clarified but sounds like it could possibly be referring to a new iPod without the traditional clickwheel. Perhaps this is confirmation of the long rumoured touchscreen widescreen video iPod.