Windows 7

Just looking at a write up on Windows 7 and saw something about, heterogeneous graphics.

Don't know what the heck that is and I'm not looking for any technical info. What I do want to know though, is, will it handle Sketchup 7

free?

Ron

On Jul 6, 2009, at 10:03 AM, ronski34@googlemail.com wrote:

> Don't know what the heck that is and I'm not looking for any technical

> info. What I do want to know though, is, will it handle Sketchup 7

> free?

I'm running Windows 7 using VMWare Fusion, which doesn't support OpenGL. That stops me from using programs such as Starry Night, but even without the OpenGL support, and also currently no hardware DirectX support (due an ATI graphics issue), SketchUp Free runs fine.

Colin,

Thanks for that. I thought SU needed Open gl v1.5 to run without having too many probs!.

Ron

On Jul 6, 2009, at 10:53 AM, ronski34@googlemail.com wrote:

> Thanks for that. I thought SU needed Open gl v1.5 to run

> without having too many probs!.

Yes, I was surprised. Maybe it's a case of having an old OpenGL being a problem, but having no OpenGL is ok!

SU uses OpenGL to render. It needs to come from somewhere - namely the GPU driver if the OS doesn't provide it http://sites.google.com/site/sketchupsage/problems/gpu

Don't skimp on the GPU.

All reports about SU on Win7 have been very good so far.

Ron,

I'm using Windows 7 RC (64 bit) and SU 7 without any issues. The only

problem I have run into so far is the incompatability of a plugin api

which was written before Windows 7. Hopefully, the author will update

for Windows 7 someday.

Dave

Dave,

Thanks for that. I'm not using Windows 7, as yet, it's just something I noticed while browsing one day. Good to know though, that goes for Cats' comment also.

Ron

Let me guess, something like Sketchy Physics doesn't work? You are probably missing msvcr71.dll which WIN32api.so needs to work

http://sites.google.com/site/sketchupsage/problems/pc-install#TOC-Windows-7

Hunt down a copy of the DLL.

CatMountain,

Thanks for the tip.

Found the file on my VISTA computer (C:\Windows\System32\msvcr71.dll)

and copied it to my Windows 7 RC computer (C:\Windows\System32\msvcr71.dll. Now, SU opens without an error message caused by Win32API.so which needed the MS Runtime Library (msvcr71.dll) to function properly.

So, now I have no problems with SU and Windows 7 RC.

Dave

Ron,

Found one other problem with Windows 7 and SketchUp 7. Again, it pertains to plugins. I have WIndows 7 RC 64 bit version. With the 64 bit version, 32 bit applications are installed in a directory called C:

\Program Files (x86) instead of C:\Program Files. So, any plugin code that refers to the SketchUp 7 plugin directory does not find it. As a result, the plugin does not run. I am going to try to install SketchUp 7 in the C:\Program Files directory (where 64 bit applications are installed) and see if that fixes the problem.

Just thought I'd let you know.

Dave

I'll add it to the list. Good find.

You should share this in the SketchUcation Ruby forum

http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewforum.php?f=180&sid=1069b292f87366f9585e8129ad43b66a

and the Ruby API group http://groups.google.com/group/sketchupruby/topics

I'll pass info to the SU developers.

catmountain,

I will post in the Ruby forum because it could be a problem, but ....

In the case I sited, it turned out that it was not an issue. The issue was that I forgot that I had to "activate" the plugin in the System Preferences/Extensions options. So, as with most computer issues, it was operator error. However, if someone does hard code a reference to the installation folder, it could be a problem.

NOTE: I tried to install SketchUp 7 in the C:\Program Files folder and it would not. SketchUp 7 was installed in C:Program Files (x86) even though I told it to change the installation directory to C:\Program Files. At this point, I don't know if Windows 7 WILL NOT install a 32 bit application in the C:\Program Files directory or if there is something else at work here. I will check with the Windows 7 info websites and advise.

Dave

Hi Dave, the installation path like you noted is a non-issue. Plugins don't ever hard code the SketchUp installation path. Because really a user can install sketchup into almost any folder they want. So whether its in Program Files(x86) or the regular one, or just in c:

\sketchup\, or z:\google\sketchup7\, etc, etc, it doesn't matter. Plugins don't have to know the installation path of sketchup. They

can get it by asking SketchUp to give it to them, but most plugins don't need to know the installation directory.

As a side note, the Program Files(x86) naming convention was put in place back in XP 64 bit, and Vista 64bit uses and so does Windows 7 64bit.

Keep looking for Win7 issues though. So far I have not heard of very many problems, but you know never know where they might be hiding. It would be good if they all got sorted out before Win 7 was official!

Chris

Do you still need to jump through security hoops to access plugin files? Do you need to be an administrator to add plugins?

What about the shadow directory for added plugins that Vista users encountered?

This stuff hasn't really been addressed as much as it probably should be in online installation instructions. I still use XP so I rely on others for information about this.

Chris,

Thanks for your input.

I understand your info about plugins not hard coding a directory name.

I should have realized that previous versions of Windows had a similar directory structure.

So far, WIndows 7 is VERY good. But, I will keep searching for issues.

Thanks again

Dave

catmountain,

Windows 7 still has User Account Control (UAC) but it has additional options to reduce some of the annoyances experienced under VISTA. So, yes, WIndows 7 by default protects the installation directories and other system directories to an annoying degree. And, yes, you must be an admistrator to write to protected directories.

I'm not aware of a shadow directory issue. Can you elaborate?

Dave

catmountain,

According to 2 experienced plugin developers (Fredo6 and thomthom), the directory name should not be an issue IF the programmer has written a good plugin that determines the installation directory dynamically. And, I'm told that XP and VISTA had a similar directory structure for 64 bit applications.

So, the answer to my question is that it is not a problem -- unless the programmer hardcodes the directory name (which a good programmer would not do).

Dave

The shadow directory Catamountain is referring to is the horrific "Compatibility Files" in Vista. I've heard developer's sing it's praises, but it is a HUGE annoyance to me, and many people who install plugins in Vista. Vista does not like users, to put stuff into the Program Files directories and sub directories. So it often will put them in a hidden directory outside of program files, and the program will think that they are in the correct place. But if you go to the Plugins folder, thre will be plugins that are not shown. So when you want to delete a plugin, it might not be liste4d in the plugins folder. You have to track it down in the hidden compatiblity folder.

Makes it hard to update plugins, causes conflicts between plugin versions, on and on. Its quite the headache.

I would also be interested in knowing if Win7 has improved that at all.

I eventually edited my plugins folder permissions so that anything can read/write to it. Don't let any internet hackers know that though.... :)

Chris

The shadow directory, which Fredo also mentioned, is probably what is called the compatibility directory. Chris Fullmer has a real nice

post about it http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=180&t=18210&p=151043&hilit=plugin+Vista#p151043

Does Win7 also have it?