Vista Beta 2 Adventures

First off, my main reason for trying out Vista is simply to get Media Center for free, run it in the bedroom and to modded Xbox's (XBMC). When I move I'll be w/o cable TV and will loose my Comcast DVR. So, as a temperory band-aid until I get buy my $40 copy of Vista when it launches from my M$ employed cousin, I thought "why not take this oppertunity to total my computer with a test install of Vista!"

Installation:
As a beta: SUCKS! Couldn't even do an install from the DVD. Vista's installer would hang just as the GUI portion of the install would start.
So, I had to do an Upgrade installation through WinXP, which, of course, made a mess. My plan was to repartition my 40GB drive XP was installed on into a full 40GB partition (it was in 2 20GB partitions...why I didn't that in the first place, who knows!
After the install....3hrs later.....Vista Beta 2 boots up. It's pretty! :-) It's fun! And the new Media Center looks Amazing!! And the HD video it demos for you actully ran with little hick-ups! Something I never got outta my machine using XP.
But there was a problem. No audio! Apperantly my Creative SoundBlaster Audigy 2 5.1 card needed drivers. So I got them, installed them, restarted, and...still....no sound. SO off the net I go in search of answers. Got nothing really. So, I decided to start fresh. I'm currently in the middle of re-installing XP on just 1 40gb partition, then will attempt to install Vista again.

Most who read my blog probabaly don't care too much about computer stuff, but I'm bored waiting for XP to finish installing and have only my Linux Server to Surf around on....so here I am ;-)

UPDATE:
Well, got audio working! Sorta. No multi-channel. Just stereo. But it'll downmix. It'll do for now. Can't get my capture card to work. It is old, but it was the first card to do real-time MPEG-4 decoding. It's like, 5 years old...or more. No support for it for about 3 years..then all of the sudden, Media Center dropped and drivers for the chipset popped up everywhere...It was weird.

Anyway...Doubt anyone really know, or cares for that matter, about this post. But I'm boared, and it's hot, really hot. 80 here, 90 upstairs, crazy!

Though...the new Media Center is AWESOME! Wow..it's cool. XBMC still kicks it's ass, but still, the new MC is rather impressive!