Beer.Tech.Code

Installing drivers in Vista is certainly a real pain. A prime example is older hardware. I attempted to build an HTPC using older parts on Vista Ultimate. Sure sounds like a relatively easy task, wrong!

Here are the parts I used for the HTPC.

1) Asus A8VE Deluxe motherboard.
2) Microsoft MCE Remote featured on http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=29147&vpn=GP-IR01BK&manufacture=Mediasonic

Problem #1

The Asus A8VE-Deluxe driver did not work with WPA TKIP encryption with my Linksys router. I had to refer to a 3rd party forum (http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=20061113005728562&board_id=1&model=P5AD2-E+Premium&SLanguage=en-us&page=2) to find out that the driver only worked with WEP encryption. The drivers worked fine, however the card would not find an IP from the DHCP server on the router. Who woulda thought!

The funny thing is that my motherboard was only manufactured a year before Vista began development. If you look at the copyright logo for Vista from "My Computer" > "Properties" it says "Copyright 2006". One would expect that drivers from the same era would work. Heck it might even be Asus's fault, who knows?!

Problem #2

A Microsoft Vista Certified MCE remote that I purchased would not resolve the drivers in Vista. The USB receiver kept identifying the remote as the eHome Infrared device. Vista could not find the drivers for this device even if it meant curing Bill Gates from cancer. Regardless, I tried another USB receiver (Antec iMon) with the transmitter remote and things worked ok. Mind you not all the buttons are mapped correctly.

Both problems did not occur in Ubuntu 8.10. The Wireless worked perfectly both in WPA and WEP mode. The MCE remote worked flawlessly (of course with the help of LIRC).

Conclusion,

I have been using Windows since 3.11, and it has always been a real pain to find drivers. Most recently switching to Linux in the past few years I have had zero problems getting hardware to work. You would think Microsoft, who spends $8B annually on R&D, could develop a comparable system for discovering hardware drivers for their operating system family.

*Crossing fingers for the day Linux takes control of the PC market*

I am not sure how Microsoft competes with Ubuntu