Microsoft Vista Beta 2 Review!

[jwsk]

Originally Posted by belikethat

I no expert but i think this is seriously overated
XP is already great .. well for me..Why do we need to change the environment?Why do we need Vista?

Well, I agree with you that Microsoft's OS tend to be a little overated all the time. It's all about hype. This is what Microsoft is trying to achieve so that sales would go up. If you were Bill Gates, you'd have probably done the same - or worse!

Actually, I think Vista is a pretty significant update (at least for me). It finally contains features that, we, users are looking forward to. Not only must an Operating System be useful, it must also look good and stylish and most importantly be secure. Aero Glass looks pretty good and although the lack of customizable options may make it boring pretty fast, it is nevertheless a leap from Windows XP.

It's also well known Windows XP is subjected to too many security holes. I am not too sure if Vista would hold up well in security (as promised) but the Operating System now has more preventive tools that may help secure the system long enough till a patch is available.

I think the issue here is whether the new features in Vista justifies an upgrade or not. For most people, upgrading from Windows XP to Vista means a lot more than just software upgrades. It also means, memory, hard disk and a graphics card upgrade which may not be very appealing. If you are one of those people who already feel comfortable with Windows XP, then you should stick by it. It is by far one of Microsoft's most stable operating system. If your PC can already take advantage of Vista's capabilities, you might want to try it out. At least your equipments are put to better use...

[fyire]

Originally Posted by jwsk

Wow... 55 minutes is fast! Too bad you can't try Aero Glass out but apart from that, everything else should be the same. Perhaps you could share some of your experience using Vista with us here?

I guess the main difference in the test machines is that the notebook I tested on had 1gb ram, and a 5400 rpm disk.

Havent had the chance to play much with it, had to boot back into FreeBSD to get some work done, but from what I had noticed, it does lag a bit more than Windows XP does. Still, I got to say that its pretty good for a 2 year old machine considering the horror stories about the hardware requirements (actually older, as I got it as an ex-demo unit, and it actually came with a Windows 2000 OEM license, not XP). But then again, need to keep in mind that the Evo n800w is a monster too, a mobile workstation designed for CAD work (hence the Mobility FireGL 9000 card on it)

My 2 cents work in regards to the Aero Interface is kinda like this lar.. I had played around with a number of fancy interfaces available for KDE and Gnome on XWindow, including an Enlightenment plugin a few years back that renders 3D icons, and Aero shares some of the drawbacks in terms of the design aspect:
- Eats up processing power like mad
- Nice and fancy to look at, but not much in terms of actual functionality
- Tend to be a bit overdone at times

Basically, the only people I can imagine who will want to make use of Aero at the moment will be home users who decorate their desktops like mad. Can't imagine business users using it, unless hardware had progressed to the point that the average machine will come equiped with enough resources to run those fancy interfaces without lagging at all. Even when the Evo was my primary machine, I tend to switch back to the Windows 2000 skin (Windows XP) or just plain TWM (XWindow on Linux) when I need to get some heavy work done.

Oh yeah, no double buffering on the windowing system. Not too sure if its the same for the Aero Glass interface or not though. This has been one of my biggest grumbles about windowing systems on both Windows and XWindow, as it makes the whole thing look less 'solid' and in a way and sloppy when u get ghost images of frames lagging behind on the windows at the back. So far that I know of, only OS X has got double buffered windowing.

[Chai]

Originally Posted by fyire

I guess the main difference in the test machines is that the notebook I tested on had 1gb ram, and a 5400 rpm disk.

Havent had the chance to play much with it, had to boot back into FreeBSD to get some work done, but from what I had noticed, it does lag a bit more than Windows XP does. Still, I got to say that its pretty good for a 2 year old machine considering the horror stories about the hardware requirements (actually older, as I got it as an ex-demo unit, and it actually came with a Windows 2000 OEM license, not XP). But then again, need to keep in mind that the Evo n800w is a monster too, a mobile workstation designed for CAD work (hence the Mobility FireGL 9000 card on it)

My 2 cents work in regards to the Aero Interface is kinda like this lar.. I had played around with a number of fancy interfaces available for KDE and Gnome on XWindow, including an Enlightenment plugin a few years back that renders 3D icons, and Aero shares some of the drawbacks in terms of the design aspect:
- Eats up processing power like mad
- Nice and fancy to look at, but not much in terms of actual functionality
- Tend to be a bit overdone at times

Basically, the only people I can imagine who will want to make use of Aero at the moment will be home users who decorate their desktops like mad. Can't imagine business users using it, unless hardware had progressed to the point that the average machine will come equiped with enough resources to run those fancy interfaces without lagging at all. Even when the Evo was my primary machine, I tend to switch back to the Windows 2000 skin (Windows XP) or just plain TWM (XWindow on Linux) when I need to get some heavy work done.

Oh yeah, no double buffering on the windowing system. Not too sure if its the same for the Aero Glass interface or not though. This has been one of my biggest grumbles about windowing systems on both Windows and XWindow, as it makes the whole thing look less 'solid' and in a way and sloppy when u get ghost images of frames lagging behind on the windows at the back. So far that I know of, only OS X has got double buffered windowing.

This is the reason why there will be so many versions of Vista...

[aussie FX]

Lol,
How many versions are there?

Can someone tell us the pricing structure? As far as I can work out this beta is the full on version, is it?

My pc runs aero properly, but geez I've spent some cash on it.
It's no Dell special thats for sure.

[K B Ng]

Originally Posted by aussie FX

Lol,
How many versions are there?

According to http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvist...s/default.mspx, there will be five versions

Originally Posted by aussie FX

Can someone tell us the pricing structure?

No word on the price yet.

Originally Posted by aussie FX

As far as I can work out this beta is the full on version, is it?

Yup.. it's the "everything including the kitchen sink" version.

Originally Posted by aussie FX

My pc runs aero properly, but geez I've spent some cash on it. It's no Dell special thats for sure.

That must look really good

[Dashken]

The Ultimate version will cost a bomb I think.

Btw, the article has just been upgraded to a review. Here's the Part 2.

Wanna see what the upcoming Microsoft Windows Vista operating system is all about? Then join jwsk as he takes the latest Microsoft Windows Vista Beta 2 operating system for a ride and more!

Link : Microsoft Windows Vista Beta 2 Review Part 2!

[Kougar]

Originally Posted by fyire

On a Compaq Evo n800w with the following specs:
- 2.2 Ghz P4 Mobile
- 1Ghz ram
- 80Gb 5400 RPM disk

From the time I popped in the DVD to the harddisk stopped spinning after the first login takes about 55 minutes.

No Aero though, mine's a FireGL card.

Hmm.. pity too the windowing hasnt been double buffered yet.

Ouch guys... 55 minutes is decent, but 1.5 hours? I timed my x86 install off the DVD onto a clean Deathstar drive and it was just a little under 45 minutes. Specs:

3.42ghz Northwood w/ HT off
1gb Crucial Value Mem
128mb 9600XT
Installed onto a 40gb Deathstar

Responsiveness is on par with my XP Pro w/ sp2 OS, and infact I have not noticed a difference as of yet. (When everything is working right, mind you Managed to crash it already enough times!)

I actually forgot to check my system's Vista rating... it gave my rig a 3, although all the numbers were 3.7 at the lowest and 5.1 at the highest... I thought 5 was the max for this scale? And this utility used the stock clock value for my processor though, which is 2.8ghz.

As for boot times... It actually loaded faster than XP (!), and I do tend to think I run more towards the minimalistic side of the fence as far as programs I allow to start at boot... Come to think of it I have not installed the latest ATI Vista drivers either, so that might affect things hmm... When viewing the performance rating area Vista kindly pointed out that my AC97 sound drivers, tcp/ip drivers, and one other thing I've forgotten were causing Vista to boot slower! The first two drivers were fresh off MS's patch presses, so I thought that was a nice touch of irony...

As a random note... UAP security is nuts. I can create, rename, then delete a folder in the my documents area like on XP, yet when I attempt to create a folder under the Windows DIR I have to click yes to four different prompts for confirmation. (And this is after reading the default account in Vista Beta 2 is a full administrative account. The standard account in the shipping version will be a much lower privilege user account.) Renaming or deleting are both another two confirm prompts...

I use Windowblinds for XP, so the flashy GUI doesn't really draw my attention (Killed that Vista sidebar after the second boot), outside of pausing to spot the new locations for buttons, drop-up boxes, and other scattered about menus on it. "Cluttered" was on the edge of my mind, but it wasn't quite fully there yet. Speaking of the crazy menus though... I'm extremely happy about the new DIR address bar navigation! The drop-down menubox option at every folder in the hierarchy (listed inside the address bar) will make flipping through DIR trees much quicker for me.

MS has already released a revamped build "5456" (Beta2 is "5384.4") but it's not public... In the article on it At DailyTech, they mention MS is already fixing the UAP (User Access Protection) annoyances that plague Vista to be a little more toned down. Which also mentions winFS is gone for good... at least for Vista and it's SPs.

Hope that wasn't to long-winded, eh...

[Dashken]

Here's the Part 3 of the review!

Wanna see what the upcoming Microsoft Windows Vista operating system is all about? Then join jwsk as he takes the latest Microsoft Windows Vista Beta 2 operating system for a ride and more!

Link : Microsoft Windows Vista Beta 2 Review Part 3!

[Max_87]

WTF?!?! I don't even know what OS I'm using already

[zy]

you can check ur OS by right clicking my computer - properties