question about Vista recommendation

[Nico]

Has anybody used Process Lasso with Vista ?

I am just wondering about the 2 choices offered in the 'Vista UAC Rights' :

- 'Show all processes when running Process Lasso as an administrative user'
- 'Show only current user processes'

Is there any recommended setting or shall I leave the default settings ?



Note: there is a small typo error in the 'Show all processes when running Process Lasso as an administrative user' description, as 'PRCOESS LASSO' is misspelled 

[petrossa]

i use vista, install a good anti-everything, be careful on the net and disable uac is my recommendation.

[Jeremy Collake]

I personally recommend using Process Lasso with Vista in its default state. Typically users don't want or need to manage processes not running under their user context. The fewer processes Process Lasso has to deal with, the fewer resources it will consume. So, for this reason, unless you need to manage the processes of other users and/or system processes, I recommend NOT showing all processes.

I actually use Vista for my primary development machine, so Process Lasso is well tested in Vista. I should note that I run with UAC disabled though, out of personal preference.

Thanks for the heads up on that typo, I'll get it fixed.

[Nico]

Hi Jeremy, Petrossa,

Thank you both for your feedback. I personally use windows XP Home edition SP3, however I've heard that PL wouldn't improve process responiveness on Vista but I couldn't see for myself...

Now I don't know if running PL with the UAC would make any change though.

Anyhow, we should never assume what one's say about PL is right (or wrong) without strong evidence.

PL is a nice software. I love it 

[Jeremy Collake]

Thank you both for your feedback. I personally use windows XP Home edition SP3, however I've heard that PL wouldn't improve process responiveness on Vista but I couldn't see for myself...

I'm not sure where you heard that, but I will elaborate on why someone may have stated that, and what I believe the differences between running PL on XP and Vista are.

First, Vista's scheduler has been improved so that it more fairly gives time slices. The primary difference is simply that it counts cpu cycles instead of a simple timer. There are also other minor improvements, and the addition of a new multi-media scheduling subsystem.. but the bottom line is that Vista is still susceptible to the same issue as XP where a single process at normal priority can bring the system to a near unusable stand-still. This kind of 'soft hang' is what Process Lasso was originally designed to combat, and is still its primary function along with default priorities and affinities. In summary, Process Lasso will prevent Vista from coming to a near stand-still if one or more background processes are consuming all available CPU cycles... just like it will in XP.

So, perhaps someone took the improvements in Vista's scheduler and assumed that it was no longer susceptible to many of the annoyances found in XP's scheduler. Unfortunately, Vista's scheduler isn't that big an improvement, and still is far from perfect. In fact, no scheduler will ever be 'just right' for EVERYONE. That's why manual (or automated dynamic) tweaks to the scheduler via adjustment of priorities can improve system responsiveness.

As far as overall responsiveness in non-critical system loads (i.e. the system isn't totally hanging), the way Process Lasso calculates system responsiveness is actually a very neat metric that is pretty accurate. I don't want to reveal exactly how its done, but it measures the ability of thread messaging and windowing subsystem to quickly process events. Based on extended observation and testing, I believe Process Lasso to help overall responsiveness in many situations. For instance, when I'm compiling a large project it makes a huge difference in allowing me to smoothly perform other tasks on the system. I really see a difference, even on this dual-core machine.

I believe both XP and Vista benefit from Process Lasso at near-equal levels. Perhaps it benefits XP a little more, its hard to say for sure.. but in my opinion it certainly has a benefit in Vista very close to that of XP's.

So, those are my thoughts. I personally love to use Process Lasso, that is how it got to where it is today. It greatly increases my computing experience, and my own use of it will always be what drives development.

[Scott]

Speaking of typos, there's another one, in the About box.  Under "Instance Information", it says "Engiine version".  I didn't want to bother you with an email for such a silly thing...

[Jeremy Collake]

Speaking of typos, there's another one, in the About box.  Under "Instance Information", it says "Engiine version".  I didn't want to bother you with an email for such a silly thing...

Lol, it looks like I need a proof-reader. Thanks, I just fixed it internally.

[Hotrod]

Lmao ... You have several already.  Give us time we'll keep you in line.