You have likely heard the expression “kill two birds with one stone.” Well today, I killed a flock of them with a tiny stone. Yes, today produced a valuable lesson for me – not all wireless vendors are going to bow to the existing prefab demands of the hardware industry. In short, I just got off the phone with a fairly well known Wi-Fi card manufacturer and I must say, it is amazing what you can get done with a proper mindset and a belly full of coffee. I am not at liberty to discuss too much, but needless to say I just made HUGE (enormous, even) headway in the world of Linux Wi-Fi challenges.
I will confess that part of my motivation here has to do with the fact that I am going to be promoting a new piece of cross-platform software based on Java that I hope to see making waves once released. Once these winds of change come about, I want to make sure people have a means to keep the app updated on their notebooks; this is where the deal that I am hammering out will ensure that users on all platforms will have the latest information provided by this product. That and I am tasked with generating some buzz to ensure a successful launch.
But I digress. Today’s report is about the receptive nature of some of the smaller hardware vendors when approached with a kind word and genuine interest in their world. I learned so much today that it would frankly blow your mind. The absurdity of it all and the how one guy with a dream can do almost anything. Yes, I realize how vague all of this must sound. And while I can not disclose too much, I can tell you this – hardware vendors are not only disappointed with Vista’s compatibility issues, they are seeking out people to help them investigate alternative OS options. Man, I think I just fell in with love with Mondays!
On a side note, if you are struggling with Vista and your NIC, try this fix – it worked well for me: Download and install the XP/2000 driver for the problematic card. You will receive the “it’s not certified” notice, but I found that this has been work for a number of problematic Realtek cards amongst other brands. No promises, but you may have some success with it as I did.
[tags]change, linux, vista, software[/tags]