Windows 7, episode 4

Hit another snag in my Windows 7 adventure:

None of the drivers I've been able to find for my video card seem to be "fully" compatible with Windows 7. Either that, or my card (NVIDIA GeForce 6200 TurboCache) is not supported by Windows 7. Either way, the end result is that I'm not able to use any of the Aero effects, nor can I play back any video in Windows Media player.

Windows Media player error:

Aero troubleshooting results:

(the service is in fact running)

So another recap of issues I've hit so far:

• Vista audio driver compatibility (power management issues, occasional pops & clicks)
• black screen at start of install process
• video card or drivers not supported or compatible (update: my card was not DirectX 10 compatible. I picked up one that is and things are working well now. Check episode 5 for more info)
  

On another note, I've started familiarizing myself with the new features in Windows 7. Some of them are pretty obvious - like task bar pinning and jump lists - others less so. For example, snap (some of you may know it as "docking") is a quick way to view two windows side by side.

I'm still getting used the "combined" task bar. Basically, if you've got something pinned, any instances of that app will show up under its task bar icon. It means more real-estate on the task bar, but it's less obvious what windows you have open since you need to hover or click on the pinned icon to see.