Aero Glass fixed

I think I should mention that the main problem with Aero Glass crashing on the one computer that I mentioned seems to have been fixed. It appears to have been caused by the need to install the Via "hyperion" drivers.
For those not familiar with that, hyperion is the new name for the Via 4 in 1 drivers, which in turn are drivers for motherboards that use VIA chipsets.
The one thing that I know for sure that the drivers work with is the AGP interface, which is used by video cards. Annnnnnd to attempt to come to the point, the Aero Glass interface is seriously hardware (video card) dependent. So anyway the drivers seem to have fixed up that little issue.

But in researching that kind of problem one runs into all sorts of disturbing concepts. Apparently some people have run into crashing issues like that if they install video card drivers manually (IE: clicking on a driver install file). The solution for them has been to let Vista install the drivers itself.

Yes folks, Vista is ALREADY forcing people to relinquish control of their computers. This may be inadvertent, but considering that the real point of Vista is to take control of peoples' computers and simply leave them able to use it as a limited appliance, that is only able to do as much as Microsoft and the media companies they're working so hard to support want it to be able to, this is an ominous sign.
It may seem like a small issue, but for power users, especially gamers, video card driver installation has become almost a ritual. There is a specific method that involves uninstalling the previous driver and then using a method to try to wipe out all traces of the previous driver before installing a new one. You can find websites devoted to people discussing each new version of a driver, and often they'll be trading "leaked" drivers, which means drivers not intended for public distribution for one reason or another. Also you can find hacked drivers, modified by end users, typically in an attempt to squeeze more performance out of the video cards.

If you're an average user then this may all seem rather irrelevant to you, but the point is that the PC platform has always been about being OPEN. It was a practically unlimited tool. A commercial grade flight simulator? Sure, with enough money you can add on panoramic simulator style displays, fully simulated cockpit control environments, and even a motion platform if you really wanted to shell out the dough. Recording studio? Of course, with the right interface hardware and recording software you could do anything that a major studio could (mind you I suspect that abilities like that are why the record companies are so eager to see the PC locked down into appliance status, they must understand that the greatest threat to them isn't internet piracy but the ease at which independent artists can produce their own music).
Home built DVR using custom compiled OS designed specifically for recording tv shows and then serving them up later? Why not?

If Microsoft gets their way with Vista all that will come to an end. Hardware will have to be made specifically for Vista, a process that will impose certain restrictions on its functionality as well as make it more expensive overall.

Everything that made the PC great will be gone. It will have come full circle and finally turned into what the Apple fans have been saying all along, a Mac clone.
Except it'll be a clone designed to let the media companies control how you use it.