Digital Workshop

On the limited number of Vista (Compaq, HP) computers that I have access to, Opus pubs normally shut off Aero effects (transparency, etc) while the pub is running.
As a workaround I can turn off DirectX in the pub to have Aero enabled, but this is only practical for some pubs.
I'd appreciate knowing if other Vista users share the same experience as me, or does anyone know how to run Opus pubs on Vista with DirectX enabled and still have Aero working.

Paul

Is this fixed in Opus 6.3v?

Not yet.

Paul

We do not consider this a bug per se and we are not currently planning to fix it. Opus provides you with the same kinds of effects and controls over transparency etc which are now hijacked by Aero. They're effectively mutually exclusive unless, perhaps, you want to publish for highest spec games machines or have your lovely work run like a slug in quick dry cement.

Obviously we will continue to test and evaluate the position but as Microsoft has announced it is moving on from Vista we will probably focus on Windows v7 by which time hardware may have also caught up - perhaps - if anyone can afford to upgrade in the current economic climate!

Paul Harris

Thanks for the info.

cheers
Paul

I don't have this issue with other applications; I am still hopeful it will be resolved when v7 is released.

Paul

Yeah me too, hope to see this fixed with v7. And look forward to Windows 7 at that time too.

OK, convince me of its immediate importance

From my point of view...

1: This only affects Vista and less than 1% of our customers are really using Vista.
2: This only affects Windowed programs in Vista. Based on the material we get into support very, very few customers use windowed publications.
3: It is only a cosmetic issue.
4: Microsoft has not finished tweaking Vista (now thinly disguised as v7).
5: We use direct X for some core functionality and any work we undertake in this area could break everyone's existing publications and/or will certainly taken significant development resources from areas we see as more important (because more customers badger us about it - improvement of Flash and SCORM support for example. For the sake of a cosmetic improvement that's simply not worth it.

That's not to say it won't be changed - we will continue to update the program. But I don't understand the critical importance you seem to have placed on it but if I'm missing something let me know - I like to think our development is always driven by feedback from customers and real-world projects.

Thanks.

Paul Harris

Excellent point, from my point of view it is just cosmetic and if it's something that would take considerable time to implement I would prefer time spent on more important features. Although I would like to see Opus be at the fore front of DirectX technology to get the best performance on each publication.

I would disagree on Vista, in 2008 the majority of my end users were using Vista, with XP slowly disappearing month by month. With the release of Windows 7 due later this year and the extremely positive feedback the beta has received I expect the remaining XP users to jump to Windows 7 once released in the fall.

My main concern at the moment is performance and stability of publications on Windows Vista and Windows 7 (beta and final release). The Opus Pro editor too needs to work flawlessly under Vista and Windows 7 as I too will need to upgrade my system soon and there isn't much choice or point going back to XP, my laptop is currently Windows Vista but main dev system is Windows XP SP3.

I've thought about this a bit more.
My main concern about the loss of transparency is the Vista Aero user experiencing a black flash as Vista switches to Vista Basic mode when the Opus pub starts, then flashes again as the mode restores itself when the pub finishes.
The message helpfully supplied by the OS when this happens looks unprofessional. See attached.

From my experience, the number of users with Vista is around 40%, with the rest of them using XP.

Paul

I have to agree with Paul (NZ) on this one - the whole your colour scheme has been disabled does seem unprofessional but if you take the time to Google that message - it appears that Opus is not alone in doing this - many other well known companies especially games and media based ones have this issue.

Oddly, and some what annoyingly, if you force Aero back on after the switch the publication will run in Aero mode - but I'm guessing that there will be some features / effects that might cause problems if you do this.

Unlike others, Interaktiv's main market is UK schools who have been advised not to use Vista so we are still very much XP based but I think, if it's feasible, that the option through Opus script to turn Aero on / off and perhaps even Direct X might add a little flexibility...

Mack

Incorrect -- the effect is the same when exiting the pub whether or not it is running in a window. The screen still flashes as Aero switches back on.
After being contacted by several clients re this issue, I had to rebuild the pubs in a different application.

Paul

UPDATE:

I've been experimenting with the known workaround -- turning directX off in my pubs.
After a lot of trials with the pubs in question, it makes little difference to performance if directX is enabled or not, so I can get MOST of the pubs to behave with Aero.
I would rather leave directX on, however.



Paul