The Customer Preview Program for Windows Vista has reopened. Release Candidate 1 can be ordered on DVD from Microsoft or can be downloaded directly. The site is issuing new evaluation serial numbers as well, so that new testers, who do not have previously handed-out keys, can also download this release candidate. You can obviously post your experiences in the comments.
I just visted the website posted above, clicked on download then I supplied my name, country, email address.
You need a Passport.net account to sign in. After you sign in you will receive the product key by email.
I’m re-partitioning my macbookpro using bootcamp. I will be installing Vista soon.
I’m re-partitioning my macbookpro using bootcamp. I will be installing Vista soon.
I wish i could do the opposite (install OSX)
That vista was a step down from XP. I normally take everything negative said about microsoft and windows with a grain of salt sense so many people will find problems even if they don’t exist just to flame MS. However, after using vista I made it a goal to finally make a full transition to Linux.
Outside of bugs such as IE7 not working with a few sites that I visit, and Firefox not working with Media Player 11. I found many usability problems that drove me nuts. Such as the file edit menus in explorer being hidden by default with no clear way of turning them on, and when turned on placed them below the adressbar which looked very odd and unnatural to me. Another example is smb login to other systems, I spent a good 3 hours trying to figure out why I kept getting a password error when I tried to access the shared drives on my mac, turns out that vista changed the way smb logs in and had to change the method back to the old way (yay for google on how to do that). The areo glass UI had lots of what I hope are bugs that will be fixed, such as it turning off the transparency for all programs when starting a program incompatible with it instead of just that one window, and the seizure inducing flicker when the screen makes the transition to the darkened out screen when you start an unsigned installer or a password is needed.
The only thing I found that I did like was they changed ware user accounts are, to the much more simpler c:users
ame. Maybe I just didn’t look hard enough but I dint find anything in vista worth upgrading too. The whole vista experience thing felt like I was using a broken xp with a broken windows blinds installed. After 4+ years of xp I’m just bored with it
“The whole vista experience thing felt like I was using a broken xp with a broken windows blinds installed”
That’s because the Windows architecture is so broken by design. After adding layer over layer of changes and patches, what you get is some monstruous frankenstein that leaks its green brain liquid. People will have to wait for SP2 until they “fix” the forever broken things about Windows.
If only people would be a little smarter about technology, and not just plain consumers, they would ditch the Windows and look for something else.
Well not necessarily broken. Look at Unix, an ancient system which was also is broken/obsolete by original design in many ways, however it wasn’t FUBAR so GNU/Linux enthusiasts and others managed to patch it up (while still retaining good compatibility with the *old way* of doing things). Similar example is X-Windows and Xorg. They are constantly rewriting parts of it, updating current insufficient extensions and designing new but it remains compatible with old programs. You can’t just say goodbye to 20 years of app design as not all are open source.
Vista will have much of its core redesigned, but the compatibility layer on it will handle most old windows programs,(even XP drivers!). If it can be done with Wine, it surely can be done for XP/9x with Vista. I’d say that DOS is exception here, but it is a very different beast.
You have to live with it. It is much easier to just change and break everything and redesign your system architecture almost from scratch. But it’s almost guaranteed that it will not be sufficient for the future so you’ll have to care about backward compatibility sooner or later.
>However, after using vista I made it a goal to finally make a full transition to Linux.
You think you wouldn’t experience usability problems, troubles with SMB, and so on under Linux? If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you…
You think you wouldn’t experience usability problems, troubles with SMB, and so on under Linux? If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you…
I know theres problems under linux.. Ive been useing it off and on sence around 1996. My point was that if im going to deal with useablity problems such as that I may as well use linux insted of paying 200+$ for vista. Also keep in mind im bored with XP and vista isn’t any real improvement over xp from what I’ve seen. At this point I have more faith in linux becoming more.. I don’t want to say useable over vista so much as more enjoyable over vista.
Also keep in mind im bored with XP and vista isn’t any real improvement over xp from what I’ve seen. At this point I have more faith in linux becoming more.. I don’t want to say useable over vista so much as more enjoyable over vista.
Question if Vista is worth the 200$ upgrade is open, I agree. But really, the fact that you won’t upgrade because Vista has no “real” improvements over XP is frankly groundless. Who made any REAL improvement in their desktop OS in last 10 years? No-one unless you think that cosmetic updates are real improvements. We still use the same metaphor and concepts of late 70s and that’s all. Then, someone puts a button here or there but really that’s not so blatant.
Still, if you look behind the hoods, you will find many improvements in Vista which makes a better XP. The bare audio improvements will make Linux developers busy for years in the attempt to emulate.
Until we have some technological shift, desktop OSes will be the same with a few improvements dued to hardware evolution (for ex, you have lots of horsepower in your CPUs today and you can have a service running in background and indexing your HD contents. Nothing revolutionary, though).
Still, the fact that MS is not lowering Windows prices means that they do not feel any threat in that space. And I think they’re right.
How so? I’ve yet to experience any problems – I’m running SLED, my review is: http://kaiwai.blogspot.com/2006/09/novell-suse-linux-enterprise-des… provided it to osnews.com, but I guess thom is too busy searching for material to justify a fatwa’s and Jihads being thrown about by both sides of the technology divide.
@&Y@#WY
!@%$!@!$
my post for no specific reason, that’s pretty immature.
I don’t understand why Windows users would class Vista RC1 as a step down from previous buggy Vista releases or even Windows XP. I’ve used Windows since it was first released and so far have found Windows Vista RC1 a definite improvement not only in the overal end user functionality but also increased security. Even though I migrated to Linux (currently use Novell SLED/SLES) over two years ago I still will not bash another OS with out first testing it thoroughly. So far I’m impressed with what Microsoft has taken so long to get accomplished with this release. It’s sort of a mix between the security found in Linux distributions and the eye candy of what is seen in OSX and even Novell’s “3D Desktop” as seen in SLED 10 and OpenSUSE. Even the installer has been dramatically improved over previous releases by correctly recognizing Linux partitions in the LAN. The only issue experienced so far was finding more of a selection of supported Anti-Virus programs for Vista RC1. Thankfully ALWIL has released a beta version of their Avast! Anti-Virus in 32-bit and 64-bit which is still free for home users. See here http://www.avast.com/eng/avast-antivirus-and-windows-vista.html for more information on Avast! for Windows Vista.
I’ve been using Vista RC1 since it was released, and so far it was a pleasant experience overall. Sure there are minor bugs, but all my software are working without a hitch, system is rock solid and performance-wise it seems even faster compared to my W2K SP4 and W2K3 SP1 installations. The only issue is my good old Aureal Vortex 2 card isn’t supported…
My Compaq Presario SP1620NX has an AMD Sempron 3400+ (x86_64?). When I installed FreeBSD 6.1 I used the amd64 ISO which leads me to believe I need the 64-bit version, but I seem to recall reading that the 64-bit version of Vista needs a “true” 64-bit CPU, not a 32-bit one with 64-bit extensions.
Your Sempron is only 32-bit.
Personally I liked using RC1 – I’ve been using it on my notebook as primary OS for a week now… there are some gripes, but the major one is – man, this beast is hungry (eats around 1G of RAM, currently I have firefox and thunderbird opened), and those thick windows borders I just can’t get used to them. But generally, it looks just fine although from the user point of view things didn’t change dramatically… For the $$ MS wants us to pay for it, I do not see much sense upgrading either.
Edited 2006-09-17 21:31
After reading many good and bad reviews. i get the idea at what stage RC1 is in. I don’t what to wipe out OpenBSD from my laptop to try it out.
Edited 2006-09-18 00:43
Of course you don’t want to switch, it doesn’t get much better than OpenBSD. I’m a Unix admin and typically use FreeBSD, but OpenBSD is killer stuff.
BSD? Now we’re talking about stability AND security!
Probably a wise solution. I have RC1 on system and although I don’t mind it, some usability issues like menu behaviour on the start button and constant nagging, the drivers just aren’t there to allow for decent testing.
Nvidia’s driver is very basic
Echo Audio doesn’t have a driver yet in beta stage so no audio for me
ULI SATAII controller doesn’t have a RC1 driver either
Still, I have found some stuff works but at the moment functionality is the same as Edgy Eft on my system.
Do keep in mind that I’m running the 64bit OS versions.
XP is a stayer for now but I wish Nvidia would get their video drivers to stick with my composite TV out as I get tired of having to reconfigure every time I boot.
if you install Vista with boot camp, make sure to take note : 8GB is just for windows, so make your partition more than 15 GB so you can install something.
Also if you try to remove the windows partition, make sure you unplug any removable drives. Boot Camp will think your removable drive is the windows drive and not erase it. (personal xp)
another note: games run good, I bought Company of heros and it runs pretty good. would run better w/XP. Vista is very slow and unoptimized.
on a dell optiplex desktop with integrated graphics. Found every driver, and when i replaced the video card with an ati card pulled from a media center gateway pc, it installed the drivers without issues.
People who used it liked it a lot, no complaints. And people used it without asking for directions or help, so i guess useability (i hate that term) wasn’t an issue.
Caveat: it was only used for a short amount of time, about half an hour at each go.
Then, i installed it on my sony vaio vgn-fs series laptop and it went haywire. After installation it started warning me that my battery wasn’t designed for this particular laptop, even though it’s the stock sony battery. Didn’t feel like troubleshooting the issue so i went back to XP.
Waiting for the next release or two b4 passing judgement prematurely.
IT is a RC release, so I figure it will have bugs. But to charge to have it sent to you is insane. MS can get lost!
Is the post office free where you live, buddy?
I think the majority of people who got Windows XP, obtained it when they purchased a new PC.
I don’t think there will be a mad rush (a la Windows 95) for this release. Sure there will be people who purchase a new license, an upgrade and indeed even pirate a copy, however the majority will still be obtained through a new machine. This was really how Windows XP became so widespread.
So really the question will be, if Windows Vista will offer more to companies such as Dell when they bundle windows. OEM practices aside, products like Windows Media Center Edition helped companies like dell sell more pc’s.
They were able to repackage and offer a new product, and from what i have seen of sales/floor space MCE has proven very popular with the public/consumer. So going back to my question i am in two minds if Vista will have a big impact on consumers, the photo application/manager which comes bundled with Vista in RC1 was very good, however the DVD maker / Movie maker is rubbish, WMP11 i thought was a good app (although i prefer itunes) it has a great library, sync and UI.
Microsoft i hope will polish these three section up, music/video / photography / home movie making. I hope they work on the UI for some of their products and make them more consistant. These three are the now becoming the main use of a computer (apple / microsoft), it was internet and email now it’s lifestyle, MCE made inroads i hope microsoft can carry on, down this path.
As for RC1, as said before it’s very stable, pretty quick now, memory is still a huge problem, i don’t think it should use as much as it does, however it’s a RC so a lot of debug code is still there so fingers crossed. The only major gripe i have is the same as Paul Thurrot, the UI is very inconsistant, with back/next buttons all over the place. Microsoft really do need a team to go through the UI and clean it up.
And I very much liked it. It’s a step forward from XP IMHO and as always when changes occur it requires a bit of time to get used to new ways. If not for crap drivers from ATI (no OpenGL yet) and Creative (no Dolby Digital or DTS decode) I’d use it a my primary os.