Amongst all of this hullabaloo, I have to wonder - what the hell is happening with Poser Pro?

If this is going to be a 64-bit app, that means a substantial re-write of the base code, which implies significant development. This gives rise to 2 possibilities with regards to its release:

1. The value of the Smith Micro aquisition includes the projected profit from the sale of Poser Pro, meaning that Smith Micro will release it at some point.

2. Poser Pro had sunk? Dead in the water? Publicity has been noticably reduced from Poser 6 and 7. E-Frontier dropped development of Poser Pro, got out of the market, and we will never see  Poser Pro?

I think e-frontier have recognised that there are deep-set limits with what poser can do. Poser Pro is possibly an attempt to start fresh.

This Desolate Earth character from DAZ might help you out - http://www.daz3d.com/i.x/shop/itemdetails/-/?item=3570

excuse me?

warning: puppet master is not compatible with Poser 7

I'd really like to see more hair for apollo, and more skin textures and morphs. The lack of clothing can be solved with Clothing Converter or CrossDresser.

Wardrobe Wizard is pretty good for converting most clothing and the figure support is pretty good. However, I would say that CrossDresser produces higher quality results.

The base folder structure for a runtime folder is as follows: Runtime ---------libraries ------------------Character ------------------Face ------------------Hair ------------------Hand ------------------Material ------------------Pose ------------------Props ---------textures Poser 6 and 7 support sub-folders. So, for example, you could further break the Character folder down with several sub folders, e.g. Runtime ---------libraries ------------------Character ----------------------------Figures ----------------------------Base Clothing ----------------------------Historical Clothing ----------------------------Sci-Fi Clothing ------------------Face ------------------Hair ------------------Hand ------------------Material ------------------Pose ----------------------------Clothing MATs ----------------------------Eye MATs ----------------------------Hair MATs ----------------------------Poses - Animated ----------------------------Poses - Static ------------------Props ----------------------------Armour ----------------------------Firearms ----------------------------Headgear ----------------------------Melee Weapons ---------textures That should help you organise your runtime. Also, I suggest multiple runtimes.

A graphics card would be unimportant for 3d work. I think all you need is support for OpenGL (which all cards released in the last 8 years have anyway). A graphics card really is just for gaming.

I've heard that Vista automatically defrags your hard-drive in the background, but I don't know how to disable that yet.

Well, if you don't want to use Aero, go into the Display page of the Control Panel - go to themes and select to use Windows Classic. Not using dreamscenes (video desktops) is easy - just don't use them! It only comes with Vista Ultimate, which defaults to a static wallpaper anyway. User Account Control is a pain in the arse, gets in the way when you're trying to do...well...pretty much anything. The option for it is under Control Panel > User Accounts, although the easiest way of getting to it is to type UAC into the search box in the main Control Panel window. I do actually like Windows Search Indexing, but it is a system hog, so here's how to disable it. Note that you'll still be able to search, but it will be slower. Type in 'services' into the start menu search box (this is a seperate search system from file indexing) and click on the Services[.msc] that comes up as a result. Scroll down to Windows Search and you will see that it says that it has 'started' - that means it's running right now. Right click on Windows Search and select 'Stop'. Then right-click on it again and select Properties. In the General tab, set the Startup Properties to Disabled. And that's Windows Search Indexing disabled!

well, I think you should always install a new operating system onto a blank hard drive, i.e. reformat and then install vista. That's what I did. Some Vista speed tips: Turn off Aero Turn off UAC Turn off Search Indexing Turn off System Restore Don't use video desktops

Firefox

product description still not showing for me

that's a negative, see screenshot

img162.imageshack.us/img162/690/nurbia01ah6.png

on broadband, using Firefox