Windows Vista sounds revealed

Filed under: Audio, OS Updates, Video, News, Windows, Microsoft

Windows Vista sounds revealed

by Jason Clarke Nov 9th 2006

Ed Bott reports that the Windows Vista operating system sounds have been revealed, and this time it's real, unlike the very funny joke that went around a few days ago. All the secrecy surrounding these sounds really doesn't make a lot of sense once you hear them. Composer Robert Fripp put together the package of sounds, which can probably best be described as subtle. In fact, many of them are so subtle, that I had to turn my volume up 70% to even hear them in comparison to their Windows XP counterparts. Of course, some of this could be attributable to the volume balance in the recording, but some also has to do with the nature of the sounds; there's simply very little attack on the sounds that will be used in Windows Vista, in comparison to XP's sounds which jump out at you a bit more.

I'm not yet sure how I feel about this; while never really a fan of XP's sounds, the Vista sounds feel sort of gutless to me. Maybe subtlety in sound is more appropriate these days with all of the visual feedback we get from our rich GUI operating systems and applications. I don't know.

What do you think?

Tags: Microsoft, Robert Fripp, RobertFripp, Vist vs XP, Vista sounds, VistaSounds, VistVsXp, Windows Vista, WindowsVista, XP sounds, XpSounds

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Fullman said 4:30PM on 11-09-2006

I think these sounds, subtle as you explained, actually do fit the look and feel of Vista perfectly.

XP was waaaaay too jarring with the sound scheme -- to the point where I hated every error sound or alert when something went wrong.

This one [Vista] is less, shall we say, stress-inducing. Even when something goes wrong, you don't have the slight feeling that you should probably rip your speakers out or turn them off. It's soft and subtle, kinda like a gentle nudge on your shoulder to let you know something needs your attention.

It's a nice update to a familiar scheme, so there is no new learning curve with the sounds -- you know what you're being presented with because the musical tones are the same -- that's usability. Why change what users have heard for 5+ years?

But as you said, I had to turn my speakers up as well. Perhaps, again, this is just because the sounds were thrown together for presentation purposes only.

Nice to finally hear what Vista sounds like.

Brian Peiris said 4:33PM on 11-09-2006

Love it,
XP is to Fog horn in your face as Vista is to little angels with harps on your shoulders.
I probably should wait for few months after release, but I might not be able to contain myself.

Mr. T said 7:56PM on 11-09-2006

Here you go, suckas! All sounds in a 3.2MB zip.

http://www.retrothinking.com/?page=previews&n=9

Dylan A. Nickels said 8:54PM on 11-09-2006

I downloaded the Vista Transformation Pack that you linked to a few weeks ago, and I like its sounds better than either those of XP or Vista. In all fairness, some of the sounds from XP have been recycled, but the new ones are great.
If/when I upgrade to Vista, perhaps I'll try to come up with a way to keep these current sound effects.

JW said 9:42PM on 11-09-2006

I hope someone figures out a way to release the Vista sounds as a download so I can have them for my XP, since I don't plan on upgrading or buying another Windows operating computer. I have to agree with 1&2 about XP sounds being jarring and aggravating.

enzo said 2:53AM on 11-10-2006

I've never heard like half of those sounds.... Crazy.

Mark D. said 2:53AM on 11-10-2006

In a way I'm a bit sad to see the old sounds go. Some sounds in XP seem to be unchanged since Win 3.1 and I liked the nostalgia, but I have to agree, this is a good change. The new Vista interface has a certain polish that requires polished sounds. The guitar strum-esque sounds and the more 'happy chime' feel fits it well. It fits it better when you put them side-by-side, though.

asurroca said 9:30AM on 11-10-2006

Finally, I won't have to mute my sounds when I'm in public. Nearly every single one of Windows XP's sounds are obnoxious, to the point where disabling them all is one of the first things I do when I buy a new computer.

Running Vista RC2 with the sounds on is fantastic. Anyone running Vista beta, you need to replace the crappy XP sounds with the zip file Mr. T just posted!

Trainor said 7:41PM on 11-23-2006

Robert Fripp ! ? Wow.

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