Scotty
05-29-2008, 07:42 PM
I'm starting to get used to the changes in the built-in games in Windows Vista.
I've been exporting and importing my old stats from Minesweeper and Freecell for years, but now can't import my stats, as they're no longer stored in the registry, but are stored in a *.xml file that doesn't look anything like XML to me. It sucks that I can't bring over my years-old best time of 173 seconds for the Advanced board of Minesweeper.
As it turns out, I would have had to start over anyways, as earlier versions of Minesweeper only tracked the fastest three times per skill level, where Vista's Minesweeper also tracks wins, losses, and win percentage. Freecell stats are now somewhat of a casualty of unlimited undo, which makes it very difficult to lose.
Although Solitaire has unlimited undo, losing is still fairly common, but it's now possible to examine multiple possibilities (for example, I have an open slot and two kings, which one is the better move?) which can turn a losing hand into a winning hand. One thing that's annoying is that I could just select "Deal" on a losing hand to deal a new hand in the old Solitaire, but now I have to specify whether I want a new hand or want the old hand re-dealt in Vista.
Now that Spider Solitaire has unlimited undo, It looks like it's difficult/impossible to lose with a single suit. I've not yet tried it with 2 or 4 suits.
Although Minesweeper has always made the first square uncovered mine-free, Vista's Minesweeper clears at least a small patch with the first square uncovered, and oftentimes a big patch. This can sometimes be a liability, as a big clear patch means there will be a higher densitiy of mines in the rest of the board.
I've been exporting and importing my old stats from Minesweeper and Freecell for years, but now can't import my stats, as they're no longer stored in the registry, but are stored in a *.xml file that doesn't look anything like XML to me. It sucks that I can't bring over my years-old best time of 173 seconds for the Advanced board of Minesweeper.
As it turns out, I would have had to start over anyways, as earlier versions of Minesweeper only tracked the fastest three times per skill level, where Vista's Minesweeper also tracks wins, losses, and win percentage. Freecell stats are now somewhat of a casualty of unlimited undo, which makes it very difficult to lose.
Although Solitaire has unlimited undo, losing is still fairly common, but it's now possible to examine multiple possibilities (for example, I have an open slot and two kings, which one is the better move?) which can turn a losing hand into a winning hand. One thing that's annoying is that I could just select "Deal" on a losing hand to deal a new hand in the old Solitaire, but now I have to specify whether I want a new hand or want the old hand re-dealt in Vista.
Now that Spider Solitaire has unlimited undo, It looks like it's difficult/impossible to lose with a single suit. I've not yet tried it with 2 or 4 suits.
Although Minesweeper has always made the first square uncovered mine-free, Vista's Minesweeper clears at least a small patch with the first square uncovered, and oftentimes a big patch. This can sometimes be a liability, as a big clear patch means there will be a higher densitiy of mines in the rest of the board.