Matrox: Release the damn Win2k VT's

[AVATAR-X]

Hmm, that came off a little harsh, didn't it? Matrox - release the f@#$ing Win2k VT's, NOW! How long does it take you to make a set of drivers, huh? Assign at least one programmer to it, would you. Damn, 8 months and counting...

P.S. Sorry for the rant

[harry]

MVT 2.0 another 2-weeks delay!!!

[wkulecz]

I have mixed emotions about this. Its a bummer to have a good board that is basically useless for lack of drivers, but as disapointed as I am about this, its nothing compared to how PO'd I'll be if they rush out some half-baked drivers that break my system!

All I can say is after 8 months they better be worth waiting for!

--wally.

[Dr Mordrid]

I did some research on this and found only 2 cards that have release versions of Win2000 drivers. Both of them are by Pinnacle and the delayed reaction in the forums was that they should have waited

I think this almost universal delay among editing card makers in getting out release Win2000 drivers says more about Win2000 than about their cards or programmers. In fact I think their SQA departments are the ones holding the leashes....

IMHO Win2000 is basically still betaware when it comes to its multimedia support and everyone is still waiting for Service Pack2, or as I would call it: Release 1. This is to make sure their drivers aren't shooting at a moving target.

Dr. Mordrid


[This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 04 October 2000).]

[harry]

Canopus does released some Win2k drivers..

[Michel Carleer]

Just as is Hauppauge
Michka

[wkulecz]

Sorry doc, you're wrong big time on this one.

Windows 2000 out of the box on Feb 17th is the best and most stable thing Microsoft has ever done! SP1 is a non-issue for me, I installed it on one system and ignored it on another two no detectable differences. If you have a system that experieces the problems SP1 addresses you need it, otherwise don't bother.

ATI and Matrox drivers are the only problems I've seen.

Hauppauge has had stable capture drivers from the beginning.

If they'd quit trying to work around w9x problems and move to w2k without looking back we'd all be much better off!

--wally.

[Dr Mordrid]

SP1 should be an issue with you. It was a virtual re-write of Win2K at over 85 megs. I feel it'll take SP2 and DirectX8 to resolve many of the many remaining Win2K multimedia issues.

A quote from Pinnacle tech support:

"This DV500 software version has been tested with Windows 2000. However, Windows 2000 is a brand-new operating system with major changes and this can result in compatibility issues with any component of your PC. We recommend that you move to Windows 2000 at this point in time only if you have a compelling reason to do so."

I agree.

And this from the TechZone:

"Also weak in Win2K is the support for 3D graphics cards, sound cards and other multimedia devices. DirectX, while better supported than it was in Windows NT (which never got beyond support for DirectX 3, when Windows 98 was running DirectX 7.0) is still apparently problematic for graphics driver programmers...."

Recent tests on Anandtech and Toms Hardware bears this out. Win2K was often 20% or more slower than Win98SE or ME on the same platform. And since DirectX is now involved directly in video capture....

Then there is the problem with Win2K's MediaPlayer 7 overwriting the code in some software, notably EasyCD Creator;

http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-2360462.html

Now for Analog Win2K support:

Broadway;
Broadway Pro: NO

Canopus;
DVRaptor: YES (IRQ assignment problem)
DVRex RT: BETA

Dazzle;
DVC: NO
DVC-II: YES (USB device)

FAST;
AV Master 2000: NO (huh?? With that name??)
AV Master: NO
DV Master: NO

Hauppage;
WinTV: YES

Pinnacle;
DC-1000/2000: YES (recent: Sept 22. Was BETA)
DV500: YES (recent. Was BETA)
DC50: NO
DC30: Pro NO
Targa 3000: NO

5 Win2K release drivers (two recent, one USB) and one beta out of 13 devices. Less than 50%.

Dr. Mordrid


[This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 04 October 2000).]

[coolfish]

"virtual re-write " ?

yep my 1.1gb winnt install is just about re-written in 85mb or so...

Matrox IS dillydallying on this. I sincerely doubt they even have ONE programmer actively, or passively for that matter, working on the VT's. Even if they release the tools tomorrow, I'm never going to buy another Matrox card, ever. Customer support? Pah, last thing on their minds.

[Pertti]

Originally posted by wkulecz:
the best and most stable thing Microsoft has ever done

I am currently using W95a, W95b, W98SE and W2K, and stability is not an issue with any of them.

Best... Best OS to me, is the one that allows me to take control, and there's no competition there, the best MicroS**t OS in that regard is still W95B.

[Dr Mordrid]

Win98SE for me. With Win95 & OSR2 I had more crashes in a week than I've had with '98SE in the last 6 months.

The exceptions are on the beta partitions, and we all know how that goes

Dr. Mordrid

[harry]

I am currently using Broadway Pro on
Win2k and it works great even in mpeg2,
and just released a patch for 800 series
cpu's......

harry

[Dr Mordrid]

Ahhh...good. Then this is a case where they have support even though it's not documented.

Still under 50%

Dr. Mordrid

[AVATAR-X]

"We recommend that you move to Windows 2000 at this point in time only if you have a compelling reason to do so."

I had a compelling reason to do so, its called Win9x!!! Yes, Win2k is a relatively new OS, and yes its had problems. But, I've been using it since Beta 2, I will never go back to Win9x. In fact, these past 4-6 months I've only had Win98 on my system because I had one piece of hardware that was not supported by Win2k (any guesses as to which). Everyone else has either released new drivers, or had drivers that worked straight out off the Win2k cd.

Sure, it may not yet be up to par in Direct3D, but I'm trying to capture video not play Quake 3.

I remain, as I have been for the last 6 months, plauged only by Matrox lack of caring.

(And I will continue to think as much until they release drivers and prove to me that they haven't completely dumped their Marvel line).

P.S. Once again, sorry for the rant.

[LvR]

Well said man - I can only agree. Not that I had many hassles with W98SE. I just happen to find W2K a lot more efficient and reliable at doing a normal PC's work - and that includes all of those bugs that I have yet to see or experience on my system.

------------------
Lawrence

[This message has been edited by LvR (edited 05 October 2000).]