Vista Readyboost
I had not been enjoying my Vista experience. I installed it the day before release, and have used it ever since. Initially it was good, I was really enjoying it, however the drudgery quickly overtook the shinyness - even simple things like saving a new text file in notepad would take 20 seconds to open up the Save As dialog.
Now, don't get me wrong - I am not writing this as a big cryfest. I specifically chose not to write anything about it for the simple fact that I had not really given it that much of a chance;
I am running on a HP NC8230, it is about 2 years old, 1.86Ghz, 1GB RAM. It is probably the bear minimum that would run Vista at all - which is not really a good test.
So, why bother writing now? Readyboost!
This system scored a 2.0 on the Windows Experience Index.
- Processor - 3.8
- Memory - 4.4
- Graphics - 2.0
- Gaming Graphics - 3.7
- Primary Hard Disk - 4.3
Cleary, graphics is the problem (I had already given up on Aero a few months ago, unfortunately). I have tried everything, new drivers, chipset drivers, manufacturer drivers, HP Vista updates. Nothing made a difference.
However, at a Sony conference in Sydney today, I was given a little 2GB MicroVault USB Key. It was a promotional thing and they were throwing them around (probably because it is the older model) so I didn't have much hope in it being readyboost compatible, especially after I tried a brand new (allegedly good) 4GB USB Key the other day, as well as formatting it in every combination, and messing with my (mistakenly purchased) SD Card. But, to my utter joy, I plugged it in, went to properties expecting to see the dreaded "Test Again" button - but instead was greeted with "How much of this drive would you like to use for ReadyBoost".
I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. After about 20 seconds, it seemed to be ready to go, things seemed a little bit quicker - then I decided to get a new Windows Experience Index;
- Processor - 3.8
- Memory - 4.4
- Graphics - 4.1
- Gaming Graphics - 3.7
- Primary Hard Disk - 4.3
My new Windows Experience Index is 3.7 - all from one little $50 USB Key.
So, what difference is that making? Well, I am yet to re-enable Aero, but from what I have seen so far just in moving around and doing day to day things like opening word, outlook, notepad, etc - it is SIGNIFICANTLY better. Recently I was given the opportunity to give some feedback to the Vista Product Group, and I was critical but fair - I realise that my hardware is not great, but it was fine for XP, so I was disappointed at how much it sucked in Vista. Given that survey again now, just days after I did the original - it would be hugely different.
This is the operating system I installed 6 or so months ago - this is Vista. It is exciting, shiny and intuitive - not mind-numbingly painful. I had recently said in a mailing list that I would be due for a reinstall in the next 6 months or so, and would probably roll back to XP (unless Vista SP1 came out) - but now, I think everything is good.
I just hope that I am not posting a retraction in a few weeks time :)
Kieran