Tikis Talk about Vista!

Green: (Rubbing eyes) Geez, it would seem that way. I don’t know about you, but this Tiki needs Java, and I’m not talking about the kind that the Pogo games need.

Red: Make mine a double… One quick sip and we’ll get started…

Green: (chugs coffee) Yowza! I’m ready now!

Hey Dudes and Dudettes! Long time no see! We have been working… yes… working… and working hard, but, uh… y’all caught us right in the middle of our uh… mid-winter break.

Red: Well, we’re back now and ready for action! Let’s see what we have today:

Scott M. from Portland, Oregon asks: “I got a laptop with Windows Vista for my birthday. Do you guys support Vista? What are some hints and tips to get things working just right?”

Green: Hey Scott. Lucky you getting a nice new laptop! For those of you who may not yet have heard of Vista, it’s Microsoft’s latest Operating System. You’ve heard of Windows and Windows XP. Vista is the latest.

And honestly, Vista is a supported operating system on Pogo, but like everything else, there are always a few little issues and quirks with a brand new operating system. So, let’s focus on what is different and what tweaks you might need to make to keep your trusty Pogo working like a champ.

Red: That’s right, Green. Vista is quite similar to Windows XP, but one of the first things you might notice is that Vista comes with Internet Explorer 7 (or “IE7”) by default. Oh also, Internet Explorer can be used for Windows XP too — in fact you may already be using it– so, these IE7 tips and tweaks might apply to you XP users too.

Green: One thing you might notice is that your games might pop-up with some extra address info at the top of the game screen. This can cause weird issues with how the games display sometimes. Your chat might even be covered up. Fret not! You can fix this! I took some screenshots and Red is going to explain them for you.

Red: To get rid of that annoying address bar in Internet Explore 7, do the following:

First, Click on “Tools” then click “Internet Options”.

Next, Click the “Security” tab and press the “Custom Level…” button

Now scroll down to the option under Miscellaneous that says “Allow websites to open windows without address or status bar”. Click the radio button next to “Enable”.

Finally, click “OK” and then “Apply” back on the options screen to make these changes stick.

Green: Thanks Red! Don’t ya just love screenshots?

So, anyway, moving on. Some of you out there in Pogoland have asked us what Java you should be using in Vista. Like usual, we are going to stick with the old standby: “Sun Java”.

You can find out all about it in our Sun Java FAQ. We have a beastly amount of information there, so try to digest it a little bit at a time!

And if you really *really* want to you can run the not-much-used Microsoft Java with Vista. Believe it or not, it works! Just search our help site under “MS Java”.

Red: Of course, if you want to use a different browser in Vista, you can go ahead and download the Firefox browser. This also works in Vista. Simply go to www.GetFirefox.com to get your free copy of Firefox today!

Because Green and I love links, you can find more browser compatibility info can be in our Help Section.

Green: Just a few more tips and tricks we want to cover today, then we will let you get back to your Pogo.

Red: Yeah, I’m getting tired… I may need a little nap pretty soon.

Green: Geez, a nap? We’ve been sleeping for months and you need a nap?

Back to Vista. Let’s say you just downloaded one of the Pogo downloadable games. Well, you just might have a little trouble with Vista.

Red: Oh Yeah, this is an easy fix. If you get any errors that say something like: “This game isn’t made to work in Vista,” you’ll generally want to ignore this error message and try playing the game anyway. If you still get an error, do the following:

Find the icon for the game in question on your desktop. When you find the icon, instead of double clicking on it, right click on the icon instead. You will see a little menu Pop up. Look for an item that says “Run as administrator” and click that. If all things go to plan, this will allow the game to run correctly. Check out our last screenshot below:

Green: Amazingly this little tweak can be a “Magic bullet” in many situations. Give it a try.

Red: Whew… hoisting up that last screen shot has left me completely exhausted.

Green: I’m not surprised. Well, we’re done for now. Tell ya what? I’ll hit the sand to catch some waves, you can hit up the sandman to catch some Z’s!

We’ll see you all next time!