Windows Vista - a cautionary tale

October 2007 News

Brian’s Brain blog

Brian Dippet, senior technical editor of EDN recently blogged about Windows Vista's audio stack. The following is an edited version of that blog:

In brief, Windows Vista significantly boosts the priority of audio processes as compared to other kernel- and application-level functions, and versus Microsoft O/S predecessors. As a result, networking performance can in some situations become degraded when you record, play or even pause an audio track. Although the magnitude of the degradation was somewhat shocking to me, that it can occur was not at all a surprise.

Why did Microsoft make this implementation decision? Steve Rowe, a test development lead at Microsoft and responsible for sound in Windows, explained:

Unfortunately, (the audio) scheduler is implemented in such a way that drivers can still pre-empt it. Some networking drivers were doing too much work all at once which caused audio to glitch. To avert this, the networking system was throttled. This did not cause much of an issue for ordinary (100 megabit) networking cards and no issue at all for Internet usage (which is usually

<= 5 mbps) but did cause a noticeable drop in performance for gigabit networking cards.

To find out more about this visit Brian's blog at www.edn.com/blog/400000040.html

Further reading:

Reinstatement opportunity for ECSA registration
News
In 2023 the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) announced a special opportunity for engineers in South Africa to reinstate their registration status if it had been cancelled. This exclusive offer is available until the end of August 2024.

Read more...

---

Fostering a collaborative learning environment for sugar producer
SKF South Africa News
One of South Africa’s leading sugar producers made strategic use of its off-crop season, turning scheduled downtime into an opportunity for both essential maintenance and valuable skills development with the help of SKF

Read more...

---

TechAccess and Schneider Electric partnership goes from strength to strength
Schneider Electric South Africa News
Schneider Electric, together with its longstanding partner TechAccess, is poised to take the Southern African market by storm.

Read more...

---

Steinmüller Africa and Eskom uplift eMalahleni communities
News
Steinmüller Africa, in partnership with Eskom, has reaffirmed its commitment to social upliftment by donating essential goods and creating meaningful connections with two impactful community organisations in eMalahleni.

Read more...

---

The top 10 emerging technologies of 2025
News
The World Economic Forum’s top 10 emerging technologies of 2025 are expected to deliver real-world impact within three to five years and address urgent global challenges.

Read more...

---

Comtest calibration user group seminar
News
Comtest invites metrology and calibration professionals to a focused technical seminar series aimed at demystifying some of the most common hurdles in inter-laboratory comparisons.

Read more...

---

Technology leaders shaping 2025
News
In an era where agility, innovation and execution are paramount, ABI Research’s latest report, ‘26 Technology Companies Leading the Way in 2025’ identifies the top players shaping the future across key digital technology segments.

Read more...

---

Omniflex through the decades
Omniflex Remote Monitoring Specialists News
As Omniflex celebrates 60 years of engineering excellence, we take a look back at the decade that saw us really kick in and deliver major engineering projects – the 1970s.

Read more...

---

Innomotics certified for innovative mine winder braking system
News
Innomotics has achieved SIL 3 certification for the COBRA 02 S braking system for mine winder installations, together with OLKO-Maschinentechnik.

Read more...

---

The true cost of cheap water in South Africa
News
The low cost of water has created a dangerous sense of comfort for South Africans.

Read more...

---