For those with a life outside of computers, the word codec comes from the term compressien decompression algorithm. It's simply software that provides your computer with the capability to read media files compressed using a particular formet, and it's the heart of multimedia on PCs. This compression usually reduces the transfer time of large files through the relatively slow connections of the Internet, so they consume less hard disk space.
In the past, codec issues were the bane of even an advanced Windows user's existence. To play a compressed movie on a laptop or an Xbox 360 connected to your television, you had to make sure that the video was in the right format for the device's playback capabilities. Frequently this meant installing codec packs that could affect playback of other media on the computer. Codec installations in Windows, frankly, are a mess. Try explaining a "codec not supported" error to a living-room audience waiting for the show to start.
Vista includes codecs for playback of MP3s, Windows Media files, and even DVDs, a vast improvement over Windows XP Media Center Edition, which required a third-party driver just to watch DVDs and HDTV. Windows 7 will go further, including built-in support for many more popular codecs. While Microsoft has not yet officially announced which will be included with the new operating system when it ships, this unknown is in good company with an unknown ship date along with an unknown price.
Test Configuration
To test the media playback capabilities in Windows 7, I used three machines. I took two old computers formerly running Windows XP and installed the publicly available 32-bit beta, "build 7000." The test hardware was a Compaq Presario V2000 laptop with a 1.5-GHz Pentium M and an Intel 915GM video chipset, and a Shuttle SN45G/V2 desktop with an AMD 3000+ CPU and an Nvidia GeForce 7600 GS.
To test the 64-bit version of Windows 7, I used a new 2.4-GHz Apple MacBook Pro (Aluminum) with the Nvidia 9400M video chipset and 2GB of RAM. Bootcamp lets you install Windows (even the 64-bit version) on the MacBook, but it won't allow you to run the installer correctly by default for full driver support. The trick is to run the Leopard 10.5.5 DVD by ignoring the system-type watchdog on the 64-bit installer.
1. Go to DOS by clicking the Windows "start logo" and type CMD. Then press Enter.
2. Change to the drive containing the Leopard DVD, in my case D: Press enter again.
3. Type cd "Boot Camp\Drivers\Apple"
4. Type msiexec /i BootCamp64.msi
This hardware ranges from a five-year-old Windows XP box to a three-year-old basic laptop (both with 1GB of RAM) to the latest Intel and Nvidia mobile technology in the MacBook. Because Windows 7 is optimized for netbooks as well as high-power machines, running this older hardware should not pose the same problems that inadequate configurations caused in Windows Vista. In fact, the minimum specifications for the beta are as follows:
See Also
windows technical support
In the past, codec issues were the bane of even an advanced Windows user's existence. To play a compressed movie on a laptop or an Xbox 360 connected to your television, you had to make sure that the video was in the right format for the device's playback capabilities. Frequently this meant installing codec packs that could affect playback of other media on the computer. Codec installations in Windows, frankly, are a mess. Try explaining a "codec not supported" error to a living-room audience waiting for the show to start.
Vista includes codecs for playback of MP3s, Windows Media files, and even DVDs, a vast improvement over Windows XP Media Center Edition, which required a third-party driver just to watch DVDs and HDTV. Windows 7 will go further, including built-in support for many more popular codecs. While Microsoft has not yet officially announced which will be included with the new operating system when it ships, this unknown is in good company with an unknown ship date along with an unknown price.
Test Configuration
To test the media playback capabilities in Windows 7, I used three machines. I took two old computers formerly running Windows XP and installed the publicly available 32-bit beta, "build 7000." The test hardware was a Compaq Presario V2000 laptop with a 1.5-GHz Pentium M and an Intel 915GM video chipset, and a Shuttle SN45G/V2 desktop with an AMD 3000+ CPU and an Nvidia GeForce 7600 GS.
To test the 64-bit version of Windows 7, I used a new 2.4-GHz Apple MacBook Pro (Aluminum) with the Nvidia 9400M video chipset and 2GB of RAM. Bootcamp lets you install Windows (even the 64-bit version) on the MacBook, but it won't allow you to run the installer correctly by default for full driver support. The trick is to run the Leopard 10.5.5 DVD by ignoring the system-type watchdog on the 64-bit installer.
1. Go to DOS by clicking the Windows "start logo" and type CMD. Then press Enter.
2. Change to the drive containing the Leopard DVD, in my case D: Press enter again.
3. Type cd "Boot Camp\Drivers\Apple"
4. Type msiexec /i BootCamp64.msi
This hardware ranges from a five-year-old Windows XP box to a three-year-old basic laptop (both with 1GB of RAM) to the latest Intel and Nvidia mobile technology in the MacBook. Because Windows 7 is optimized for netbooks as well as high-power machines, running this older hardware should not pose the same problems that inadequate configurations caused in Windows Vista. In fact, the minimum specifications for the beta are as follows:
See Also
windows technical support
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