VIOS IS THE FIRST 3D INTERNET LANDSCAPE!! (vios.com)

Member Name: pwk_1

Product:	vios.com
Date:	23/03/01 (2144 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very easy to use, and enjoyable.

Disadvantages: Its a memory muncher program

ViOS is a piece of software that is developing the first 3D Internet Landscape, that lets you move round the entire Internet within a navigable, 3D world.

Users download the 75.7mb program and install and run the free ViOS application to explore the landscape. My first thought was confusion, as I didn’t know what it would really look like to start with. You can download the program or ask for a free CD-ROM to be sent to you. After I downloaded and installed the software I was presented with a world filled with 3D representations of Web sites. When you click on the 3D images of interest in the landscape the ViOS software takes you to that point in the map and then a Web page viewer window opens to display the site’s Web page. The ViOS world remains in the background and one click takes the user back into the ViOS Internet landscape.

ViOS is not a VRML or server-based 3D application. And it does not require a broadband connection. Updates to the ViOS landscape, such as new leased properties, and revisions to the client software happen silently in the background during idle time. The load time on a web page appears shorter on the VIOS web browser. The software has all existing search engines/directories (Yahoo, Lycos, Excite, etc.) conveniently located within the ViOS landscape. The ViOS software also has text messaging, instant messaging, chat areas, video mail services, friends and family contact and notification services, including private text chat and streaming audio chat, along with a full range of personalization tools. Registered users can link their client software to the client software of other users so they can travel the ViOS landscape together for joint discovery, shopping and learning. You can also develop a personal ViOS landscape that friends can only see.

ViOS System Requirements:-

Internet access required
Computer: Pentium II 300 MHzh
Memory: 64 Mb RAM
OS: Windows 98, ME or 2000
Direct
X: DirectX 7 or higher (included on CD)
Video: Newer AGP graphics card with 8 Mb on-board video RAM (16 Mb+ preferred)
Hard Drive: 150 Mb required for typical install
Modem: 56 Kbps or faster
Monitor: 800x600 resolution or better, 16-bit colour depth

The only disadvantage I came across was the system requirements. I think it is a bit of a resource-gulping piece of software, I am running windows 2000 with system requirements more than required and after running the program for about 1 hour, windows 2000 said my paging file has run out of space and that it was resizing it. The program is nice looking and very impressive and it really does make the Internet more enjoyable. BUT unless you have a good speedy computer it is not worth the time as I think it may be a little unusable, but I am sure later on when everyone has a fast machine this software could really go a long way.

Summary: