19
Aug 2010
17 Comments
Live Messenger switches to “basic” mode for crappy GPUs

While swimming around the registry, looking for hidden settings to disable the now permanently enabled sequential message grouping, I stumbled upon a hardware “blocklist” at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Live\UX\HwBlockList. After punching a few of the PCI-SIG registered DeviceId and VendorId pairs into a PCI database, it was clear this list was purely for blocking video cards.

But why?

A cursory analysis came up empty, so I took a different approach; I placed my ATI Radeon HD 5900’s hardware ID pair (vendor 1002, device 689C) into the registry location and restarted Windows Live Messenger. After firing it back up, it was immediately obvious what the list’s purpose was. All the UI elements were purely static and made no effort to wow me; all whizz-bang animation effects were disabled.

But why?

Resolving all the IDs in the list paints a damning picture. Dominating the list are NVIDIA’s GeForce FX-based cards, known for their god-awful DirectX 9 performance. (Remember the whole Valve and NVIDIA fight?) Intel also made the list with its equally horrible and buggy GMA 500 chipset but ATI was strangely missing from the list, due to lack of data no doubt.

Conclusion: Windows Live Messenger uses a list of known under-performing (read: crap) DirectX 9 video cards, to ensure a consistent and stable user experience. Case closed. If you have one of these cards, it’s really time to upgrade.

The list, as of August 19, 2010 (WLM Wave 4 Beta Build 15.4.3002.810), follows.

Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 500
NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4400
NVIDIA GeForce PCX 5750
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600 Ultra
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600XT
NVIDIA GeForce FX Go 5600
NVIDIA GeForce FX Go 5650
NVIDIA Quadro FX Go 700
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200LE
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5800 Ultra
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5800
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5950 Ultra
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900ZT
NVIDIA Quadro FX 3000
NVIDIA Quadro FX 700
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 Ultra
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700		 NVIDIA GeForce FX Go 5200
NVIDIA GeForce FX Go 5250/5500
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100
NVIDIA GeForce FX Go 5200 32/64M
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 55/280 PCI
NVIDIA Quadro FX 500/FX 600
NVIDIA Quadro FX 2000
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1000
NVIDIA GeForce FX Go 53×0
NVIDIA GeForce FX Go 5100
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 Ultra
NVIDIA GeForce PCX 5300
NVIDIA Quadro FX Go 1000
NVIDIA NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900XT
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700LE
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700VE
NVIDIA Quadro PCI-E Series
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1100
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1300
NVIDIA GeForce FX Go 5700

 

  • Ripdog

    I’m sorry, I hate to say it, but who on earth uses windows live messenger these days? It’s ugly, ad-ridden, has those vomit-inducing emoticons, only connects to one network, allows people to “nudge” you, etc, etc. And now it has annoying flashy interface elements that require a recent graphics card to run?

    Please, somebody give me a reason, I’m just not seeing it.

    • FireOcelot

      @ripdog

      #1.- About adds? easy, add rads…. to hosts and you get ride of them instantly … (As you are a super geek, i guess i dont need to explain some ultra basic stuff for some one who thinks he has a phd on sh…t)

      @licantrop0
      #2.- a COMPUTER, its mean… computer, its.. a calculator, whit steroids, so, as a matter of fact, the CPU must focus on calculations, not in playing video games (If you want that, then buy a Ps3 dude…) and the OS, has NOTHING to do, whit video… unless you count your screen, as a part of an OS… which.. is in fact… NO.)

      @ripdog (again)

      #3 a new gpu? so, you are so geek, that you think, having a 10000GHZ cpu will finally make your slow computer run faster? Hehehe.. ironic, because, you say shit against the ‘$monopoly$’ but you still being a consuer, rather than a thinker… poor dude… I can go to any mall… and try to use those ultra new pieces of crap… just to prove again, that is THE USER who makes the cpu run faster dude… i like, run fast, but, i know, if i buy the shoes that m. jordan uses, it will have the same effect than if i dont use them at all..

      But well…

      Sorry for being rude, dudes.. you remind me my self, not in the smartness… but in the assholeness… Be good whit the people dudes, dont say shit just because you feel lonely and want attention, i mean… your points would be very good, but, you have not put a fact.. i can say, windows 7 is the best os in eart, and maybe some one will agree, but, can i prove it, just by saying it? no…

      Just remember dudes, is a pride being smart, but is a shame, try to look like one, by making others look like fools…

      Have a nice life

  • Licantrop0

    @Ripdog. Because it’s not ugly (I think you haven’t tried the new beta2…), ads does not disturb very much, and it currently connect to THREE networks: Windows Live, Yahoo and Facebook. It is higly customizable (yes, you can disable nudges), and the privacy options are granular as well as Facebook: http://profile.live.com/privacy
    Now has an awesome flashy interface, and require a recent GPU? (you call a 3-years-ago a recent GPU?). It’s time for the GPUs to be intensively used also for normal apps, other than OS and Games.

  • Murdats

    @Ripdog

    Who? Everyone outside america is who.
    the only other IM client that anyone would ever think of is skype, and maybe if you dont actually talk to anyone, google talk.

    also the ads are easily removable with msn+, apatch or any of the other numerous tools if they bother you (though a cheap paid ad free version may be something for MS to consider)

    nudges and stuff are useful for when windows get burried and its something urgent-ish but can also be disabled and as for requiring a recent gfx card to run I thought the point of this article was to point out it doesnt because it runs in a basic mode for known deficient cards, and is your argument here against any attempt at asthetics in general? because I think most would disagree with you there.

    also as Licantrop0 GPUs are being used more for their intended purpose, rather then idling 90% of the time, considering a good card costs $40-$60 and will still play most games on mid and be more then powerful enough for non-game purposes I don’t see what the problem is unless you are trying to run programs like this on an 800mhz machine with an equiv level gfx card.

  • Andrea

    @Ripdog A company provides an incredible suit of 100% FREE services and software, used by MILLIONS of people around the world, and you still feel the need to complain about a small ad banner that apparantly doesn’t bother anyone? Do you have any idea what kind of resources it takes to develop and maintain a network like Windows Live? If an emoticon, whatever it looks like, has a vomiting effect on your system you should go see a shrink in a hurry.

  • sirus

    This means the GeForce FX 5600 Ultra I have on my desktop is not enabled to show the DX9 effects of WLM 2011 while my crappy Graphics Media Accelerator 950 I have on my MacBook would be, even though its performances are far worse than those of my NVIDIA graphic card?

  • GoodThings2Life

    @Ripdog, only about 325 million users worldwide and counting, that’s who. WLM may have its issues but it’s a far cry better than nearly every alternative out there (only Digsby and Trillian rank as high, in my opinion). As pointed out by others, nearly everything you mention can be accommodated by actually taking 30 seconds to go into the Options dialog and setting your own preferences.

  • Alex van Herwijnen

    Yay, thanks Rafael! Should I ever upgrade to WLM Wave 4 then I’ll be sure to put my own graphics card into the list. :D

  • http://www.pretentiousname.com Leo Davidson

    I wish the OS provided better metrics on graphics performance so apps didn’t have to have private, incomplete lists of explicit hardware models like this (or, as is more often the case, users weren’t forced to manually disable eye-candy).

  • Alex van Herwijnen

    Leo: as you may or may not know, Windows Vista and higher provide the Windows Experience Index (WEI) which gives ratings for the graphics adapter. These numbers could be used to decide whether or not the graphics adapter is ‘capable’. This is just a score, it doesn’t give any details tho… I guess that’s why the WL Messenger team had to build in a blacklist like this.

    But I don’t mind it… at all. Would love to find out more of these little hidden gems as they surely improve WLM Wave 4, in my opinion that is.

  • http://geeksmack.net Patrick

    Works pretty well on my GTX 285. But it does lag quite a bit on my laptop ( Intel 4500M HD)

  • Robert

    @sirus
    Yep. It would seem like it. Something tells me you can alter the list but don’t quote me on that. On that note the list only contains cards that are known to under perform for DirectX 9 which all the fancy animations rely on.

  • someone

    Facebook IM is where most people are these days and which is why Live Messenger too has added it. It’s becoming irrelevant by the day.

    • Quikboy

      Lol. Facebook is convenient, but it’s a horrible buggy IM solution. I think it has a lot to do with QuickTime on the front end, with peope you click on quickly going offline, or lag, etc. Never experience this with WLM. Plus you play games, share activities, do remote desktop, and manage it much better.

  • MWD

    GeForce 4 cards(including the lone Ti4400 entry) doesn’t even support DX9, so it wouldn’t even be able to run on Vista/7 with DWM and Aero Glass on, very strange to even be on the list.

    The only reason the GeForce FX cards are on the list is because Nvidia stopped driver support back in 2007 after Vista was released on Jan 2007. There’s no Win7 drivers even for GeForce FX, you simply can’t use the last Vista drivers either since they are very old, you can try and force to use it but probably end up in tears with driver model changes in Win7.

    Stop posting sensationalist post, no one uses GeForce FX even on Vista or Win7, drivers support ended 3 years ago.

  • blunden

    So, did you ever manage to disable that message grouping?

  • saivert

    I think the point here wasn’t to be sensationalist about MS blacklisting cards.
    But this is nice for use who don’t like the animations and now there is a way to disable them by blacklisting whatever card we got in our computers.

    withinwindows has always been about bringing information to the people not to be editorial or tabloid.