Genzee Ltd

Are you looking forward to the arrival of Windows Vista? Things will really change, and while Microsoft has been promising that all the changes are for the benefit of the user in terms of usability and security, you may be shocked to hear that Microsoft is planning on making the Startup tune compulsary - and hardcoded, so you can't change it.

In short, the Vista sound will play when your PC / Laptop starts up, and it will play at a preset volume, regardless of your sound card settings. The only way you can control the volume, is when you have an external volume control, like when hooking your sound card up to your Hi-Fi.

This may not be a new thing - Apple has done this and the Xbox 360 does the same to mention only a few. Regardless of whether it is done elsewhere remains errelevant, because you do not always want to make a loud noise when starting up your PC or laptop. Just think of the disruption if you are booting up your laptop to make notes during a seminar, and if there are 10 or 50 people doing the same thing, its going to be quite disruptive! Its also a problem for those of us who get up early in the morning, or work late at night, switching on your PC or laptop may wake the whole house!

Microsoft claims that they will listen to the response from users and hopefully all users will make enough noise for Microsoft to change their stance. Their argument is that its part of the branding - if they go ahead, it will become a brand associated with annoyance!

Schobleizer's Blog about this subject