Windows Vista – not such a pretty sight

Windows Vista, Microsoft’s new shiny all-singing OS, has, since it’s launch at the end of January, been plagued with complaints about bugs, security, software incompatibility – and here’s another.

New users who sign up with a Broadband ISP will be provided with an installation CD to configure the PC for the particular broadband service – many of the older discs simply do not work with Vista, leaving users frustrated and confused.

Fortunately, it is still possible for users to get on the net without the CD, by setting up manually. “We can get people online without the installation disc,” said a spokesperson from Virgin Media. “It’s not that it does not work, it’s just the disc.” Not a major problem then, but an unwelcome inconvenience.

The software on the CDs have been calibrated to run on Windows XP, and as such Vista does not recognize All of the main providers are now hurrying to get new discs sent out to consumers. ISPs such as Orange, Tiscali and AOL have experienced similar problems with Vista, and are offering online and over the phone assistance to their customers.

Other issues include conflicts between Vista and security programs that come packaged with Broadband bundles, BT in particular, whose Broadband service comes with Norton security software included have suffered some compatibility problem, but insist that these have now been “ironed out”.

Tiscali TV arrives

Today sees the launch of Tiscali TV – IPTV expanded from the HomeChoice service that was previously only available in London. In the following months, the service will become available in, Edinburgh, Newcastle, and Birmingham spreading to Leeds, Sheffield and Liverpool by the middle of the year; Tiscali aim to be supplying digital TV to 10 million homes in the UK by the end of 2007, and have their entire network of subscribers being able to be services by the end of 2008.

Tiscali are providing their TV services for free for those who are Tiscali Broadband customers – the combined service offers Broadband connection, digital channels with free on-demand features, and free evening and weekend calls (including line rental) from £19.99 a month.

Programmes are received through the HomeChoice set-top box and are broadcast over a BT phoneline – as such Tiscali TV is arguably the only ‘true’ IPTV service in the UK so far, as no peripheral device (such as an aerial or satellite dish) is required to receive programmes – everything is handled over a phoneline. An HDTV set-top box complete with a 160GB digital video recorder is set for a July release.

With the Virgin/Sky melee having just ended in an ugly manner, and with BT soon to release their IPTV platform, more competition on the market will invariably mean a price drop as companies vie for living room loyalty.

Branson vs Murdoch – Round Two

The dispute between Virgin Media and Sky over the showing of Sky One and other channels on digital cable TV have completely broken down – Virgin Media customers are no longer able to get the Sky Basics TV package – which includes Sky Travel and Sky Sports News – after Sky raised the fees it charged the cable firm.

Virgin Media says it believes that Sky is trying to strong-arm customers into switching providers by denying access to basic channels. Sky says the dispute has come about purely because Virgin refuses to pay its asking price to continue carrying the channels, denying Virgin’s counter-claim that Sky have been asking for “more than double” the amount that had been previously paid.

This has seriously dented the appeal of Virgin Media, barely a month old – its 3.3 million current subscribers are now unable to watch new episodes of Lost, 24, and The Simpsons, as well as everything else on Sky One, Two and Three, Sky News and Sky Sports News. Only the Premium channels, Sky Sports and Sky Movies remain.

Despite this, it has been announced that all three series’ of Lost will be available to Virgin viewers through a deal that has been made with ABC in the US; this is paving the way for BT, whose IPTV services intend to follow Virgin’s footsteps and purchase big-name shows from overseas directly from their producers, without having to come knocking at Sky’s door.

Sky boss Rupert Murdoch also owns the Fox TV network in America – with new British TV networks on the rise, purchasing content from rivals in the States, this development may not be the knockout blow for the competition Sky has possibly hoped it would have been, although, for the moment at least, Virgin Media’s customers are the real losers of this fight.