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Entered CNET Catalog: 05/17/2006
SKU: CNETWINDOWSVISTABETA2
Manufacturer: Microsoft Corp.
CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 05/23/2006
Warning: Your Vista mileage will vary
Microsoft has published the minimum hardware requirements to run Vista, however, the page includes two columns: requirements for systems that are either capable of or optimal for running Vista. Microsoft says: "Windows Vista-Capable PCs will be able to run at least the core experiences of Windows Vista...[while] Windows Vista Premium-Ready PCs can deliver even better Windows Vista experiences." That means different hardware will give users different Vista experiences; for example, many beta testers will not be able to experience the Aero graphics capabilities on their current machines.
Also, beta 2 contains what Microsoft calls its Windows Vista Ultimate edition, meaning that every possible feature is available in this build. When Vista goes to market early in 2007, there will be considerably fewer features available in Windows Vista Home and Windows Vista Home Premium, the editions expected to be available on retail store shelves and to ship OEM on all new PCs. Business and Enterprise customers will have more networking features but fewer entertainment features. For a breakdown of what's expected to ship in each edition, see this News.com article. All users will be able to purchase Windows Vista Ultimate; however, marketing strategies and prices have yet to be announced.
Installation
Since beta 2 is not ready for prime time, you should install it on a new partition or on a nonproduction PC. Microsoft has attempted to make the installation process as fast as possible, copying an image of the operating system onto your hard drive, then expanding that image into individual files. Once complete, Vista asks for a username, a choice of icon, and a password for the primary account holder. You then get to choose your wallpaper design. Finally, you are asked to set the security levels, with the default letting Vista make the right choices for you. Without a reboot, the new operating system starts.
Welcome Center
When you first launch Vista, aside from the impressive graphics, you should also see a Welcome Center dialog box. The box includes details about the PC you are using, plus icons to answer common questions such as how to transfer files from your old OS, add a printer, connect to the Internet, set up Windows Media Player, or view your computer details and Windows settings.
Gadgets
Windows Vista launches with three default gadgets (widgets) on the far right side of the desktop. These include a slide show, an analog clock, and a Real Simple Syndication (RSS) reader. A plus sign near the top opens additional options, including games, a calculator, a currency translator, an onscreen notepad, and an onscreen computer diagnostics gauge.
Start meets Search
New users will appreciate the streamlined Start menu. The right column has been simplified to show tasks, such as Documents, Pictures, Music, and Games. While you can still view All Programs, Microsoft has included the tree structure within the Start menu. But if you want to find what you're looking for fast, try the new integrated search. Type word, and instantly find and execute your copy of Microsoft Office Word, or, if you prefer, Wordpad.
Instant off
In the lower right, Microsoft gives you more options than just "change user" and "off." In Vista you can instantly turn off your PC by quickly capturing your active desktop session in memory so that you can keep working when you restart your PC. You can also lock your computer, set it to sleep, hibernate, or completely shut down.
Automated help
New in Windows Vista beta 2 is a fully fleshed out help and support section. Vista still includes built-in help FAQs and online resources from the Microsoft knowledge base but adds several more options. For example, within the Help window, you can now arrange for remote assistance from a fellow Vista user, join an online forum, or contact Microsoft support. Some FAQs also feature automated help. By clicking "Check the version of a driver," for example, then "Do it automatically," your desktop dims slightly as an illuminated arrow floats across the screen, showing you what you would click if you were doing this yourself. At several points, the animation stops and a dialog box opens to request an answer before proceeding.
New file structure
Forget back slashes and directory trees. Windows Vista allows you to move files around on your hard drive--even virtually--without physically moving the files. You can, for example, save a file to a remote drive within the Save As window; no need to create a new folder, name it, then populate it with a file.
BitLocker
One feature that's gotten a fair amount of press but will be available only in the Ultimate and Enterprise editions is BitLocker, a way to encrypt your entire hard drive. By encrypting the contents of your hard drive, hackers will have a harder time benefiting from the theft of a laptop. Unlike third-party drive encryption, which requires you to log in, then boot into Windows, Microsoft combines these steps for faster access to Windows Vista.
Flash memory
Don't have enough RAM to launch an application? If you have a USB drive greater than 258MB installed, a feature called ReadyBoost can direct Windows Vista to use some of that flash memory for an added assist. If you have a hybrid hard drive with built-in flash, Windows ReadyDrive can use that memory to save your desktop work session for fast access upon reboot.
Network Center
Don't remember how to connect your PC to a LAN or your home wireless network? Windows Vista takes all the related tools and conveniently relocates them in one, easy-to-use center.
Windows Meeting Space
Formerly known as Windows Collaboration, Windows Meeting Space allows up to 10 wireless users to establish an ad hoc network, allowing the members of that ad hoc session to share Microsoft Office PowerPoint presentations, control of another's desktop, and individual files. This is designed for business travelers meeting in a cafe or waiting for an airplane.
And there's more...much more
See also our individual First Takes and slide shows for coverage of what's new in Internet Explorer 7 for Vista, Windows Defender, Windows Media Center, and Windows Media Player 11.
For a look at previous builds of Windows Vista, see our coverage of the July 2005 beta 1, the September 2005 CTP, the October 2005 CTP, the December 2005 CTP, and the February 2006 CTP.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71
User Rating: 
6/10
WOW! Amazing...but this looks familiar
Pros: Cool glass effect
Cons: Copied Apple's OS X Tiger...
User Rating: 
5/10
information discrepancy
Pros: activation key
Cons: need an answer
(the program is not yet for sale) secondly I was forced to choose a program (in my case I choose vista ultimate) to buy, before I could download it eventually browsing the system from control panel I found that I got 13 days to provide an activation key otherways the program would stop working. The message read: 13 days to activate windows, activate window now.
The next line give me a product ID which in my case is 78437-006-803514-70267.
I thought that it was the requested activation key and I start to write it in the activation page. The key was rejected as invalid.
Now my question is what will happen in 14 day? My vista will stop working? I dont know if other costumers encountered my similar problem and I would like to here from other customers and from microsoft.
As per vista ultimate, I fund it litbet slow to respond with a lot of "expeted" bags, but I am sure with time it would became better. Some softeware and ardware did stop working and My cannon scanner despite my contact via internet with Cannon and despite try to download new drivers, still does not work. Similarly realtek has some problems.
It is now the 4th day that I am experiencing vista ultimate beta 2 and there are ther resolts.
1- Theree is no way that I can make my scanner working
2-My logitech web camera is not working as well.
3 I had to give up my programs like nero Symantec, and lot of otherr programs that practically dont work: too numerous to mention.
My pinnacle pctv dont work as well.
So at present I cannot use my weeb camera, cannot see TV cannot use the scannedr and hardly I can print.
I cannot install on vista the freshly bought program "Flight Simulator X" from Microsoft; so what should I do with it?
The program is slower than windows xp professional.
I did not find yet how to uninstall windows vista.
I am providing feedback to Microsoft but I got nothing from Microsoft. Arecent telephone call to Microsoft Australia for help gave no resolt; they admitted thet they do not know to much about vista ultimate beta 2 program nor they can gave me any idea how to uninstall it.
So what should I say? It appear that I have to wipe up all my computer and reinstall everything from the beginnig.
The vista ultimate beta 2 at present cannot be used as an innovative alternative, for instance because it isd a 64 bit program and my up to date chip cannot handle the 64 bit.
so my rate at present goes from 5 to 2
PS thank you for nothing
It is now the 4th day that I am experiencing vista ultimate beta 2 and there are ther resolts.
1- Theree is no way that I can make my scanner working
2-My logitech web camera is not working as well.
3 I had to give up my programs like nero Symantec, and lot of otherr programs that practically dont work: too numerous to mention.
My pinnacle pctv dont work as well.
So at present I cannot use my weeb camera, cannot see TV cannot use the scannedr and hardly I can print.
I cannot install on vista the freshly bought program "Flight Simulator X" from Microsoft; so what should I do with it?
The program is slower than windows xp professional.
I did not find yet how to uninstall windows vista.
I am providing feedback to Microsoft but I got nothing from Microsoft. Arecent telephone call to Microsoft Australia for help gave no resolt; they admitted thet they do not know to much about vista ultimate beta 2 program nor they can gave me any idea how to uninstall it.
So what should I say? It appear that I have to wipe up all my computer and reinstall everything from the beginnig.
The vista ultimate beta 2 at present cannot be used as an innovative alternative, for instance because it isd a 64 bit program and my up to date chip cannot handle the 64 bit.
so my rate at present goes from 5 to 2
PS thank you for nothing
User Rating: 
4/10
This monopoly takes way to long to catch up.
Pros: It's free FOR NOW.
Cons: It is meant to distract from the competition.
Look at SLED 10, I'm not saying that Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop COULD replace Windows or Mac OS. I'm just saying: Pay it the respect it deserves. That is one slick and inexpensive OS... it'll never make it.
If you have the time for this Beta, you have the time for SLED 10. Realize that Microsoft owe's us a whole lot better. We give them a monopoly and they give us mediocrity in return!?
User Rating: 
3/10
Unstable, User Account Control is annoying
Pros: IE 7 is improved with tabs, antiphising control, sidebar on desktop is nice
Cons: User Account Control, few apps compatible, needs work
User Rating: 
2/10
I could not get it to run
Pros: Couldn't find any
Cons: Driver Problems
Fortunately I had a complete backup. It got as far as the startup screen with the moving dots, and stopped. Would not boot into safe mode.
Go ahead and try it on a spare hard disk but don't do it on our main drive and risk your data.
User Rating: 4/10
Not Ready yet
Pros: File arrangment is great
Cons: Missing too many hardware drives even from Microsoft
User Rating: 
1/10
Not Ready yet
Pros: So far there is nothing I like about it.
Cons: Hardware identification. Requires to much resources
User Rating: 4/10
Cool looking OS
Pros: Sleek new look. Better organization
Cons: doesn't run Mac OS.
User Rating: 
9/10
nice job so far
Pros: best looking GUI for a OS
Cons: taking too long to develop
User Rating: 5/10
Would be disappointed if this is how it would be in final
Pros: I like some of teh new features, it's slightly easier to use, and Aero Glass looks nice
Cons: Performance, Stability (slightly), there are not a lot of new features, and so on
Performance: 3
Stability: 5 (it's actually lower, but provided that it's a beta, I let it slide)
Features: 6
Ease of use: 6
GUI/UI: 8
Now I don't see where people say it's the biggest change since Windows 95, as high level, it's still virtually the same design. I was surprised how Vista picked up my Canon i560 the second I plugged it in, unlike XP that needed the Canon drivers. Almost all of my hardware and software worked on Vista. Here's a breakdown on how that went.
System specs:
1.5GB of DDR PC-2700 RAM
Ati Radeon X1600 PRO with 256MB of GDDR2 video RAM AGP 8x
AMD Sempron 64 2800+ @ 1.6GHz
WD 80GB 7200RPM IDE 2MB cache HD (Windows XP)
WD 120GB 7200RPM IDE 8MB cache HD (Vista)
Creative Audigy 5.1 24-bit soundcard
19" Proview monitor (CRT)
What works:
Canon i560 (printer)
Sandisk Cruzer Mini - 512MB (pen drive)
Generic 8-in-1 card reader
Rio S35S MP3 player (use XP drivers)
Visioneer 5800 scanner (USB) (use XP drivers and restart the computer before using)
Rio Music Manager 2.9
Logitech Wingman (controller)
Lavasoft Adaware SE Personal 1.06
Ares 1.91
Mozilla Firefox - tested on 1.5 and also works on 2 beta 1
Microsoft Office XP & 2007 Beta 2
GAIM 1.5.0 (crashes when inserting a picture)
HP Photosmart Photo Printing 1.3.1.19
Print Artist 8.0
DAZ Bryce 5.5
Microsoft Picture It! 10
Quake III Arena (I recommend not using full screen)
Adobe Photoshop 5.5 (Works better with glass disabled but will work with it on)
Avast! antivirus 4.7
What partially works:
Creative Audigy soundcard (used the kx drivers and also used the old Creative drivers for an old build of Vista - got a BSOD from that, but worked after a restart)
Microsoft Plus! for Windows XP (Error during install and Labyrinth game doesn't work, sounds in screensavers also do not appear to work)
What Doesn't Work at All:
Microsoft Picture It! Premium 2001 (program starts but crashes after doing much more than that)
Asus Probe (all versions) (Get a 'NTVDM encountered a hard error when trying to install' message.)
User Rating: 5/10
Has potential but beta does not necessarily translate into better....
Pros: Visual appearance is very nice, IE7 and WMP11 improvements in visuals, .NET apps run immediately, VB6, MFC and many MS apps I tested ran fine.
Cons: Requires a lot of juice to run Not compatible with many existing 3rd party apps. NO WINHELP viewer. MC and WMP will not play DVDs. Security is good but overkill. Too many changes to adapt to.
Very simple and faster than past OS installs. Only took about 45mins to install.
System I installed this on by the way:
150 GB HD
1.5GB RAM
2GHZ P4 CPU
NVIDIA TI4200 128MB RAM video card (yes it?s a few years old but still compatible with DirectX9 and Vista)
So this machine is very much in the leagues for Vista Ultimate.
Graphics
The biggest bonus from this OS is the graphics. Nice Aero glass style transparent touch to windows and buttons. The GUI overall has a feel similar to the new Mac and KDE/GNOME (BSD/LINUX) UIs.
Gadget panel is nice, but the gadgets don?t run very well. The system gauge indicators are several seconds behind the Task Manager indicators. The timer they give you is not terribly accurate. The calculator gadget looks really nice but some of the keys are very sticky. I chalk all this up to the fact that these applets all run within this panel. If you could run them outside of it, they would probably run better. The regular calculator runs fine. This panel is a nice concept but bugs need to be fixed.
Overall Interface Changes
WinExplorer does take a bit of getting used to. My Documents is gone, replaced by ?Documents?, ?Pictures?, etc. The shortcuts that they give you to Documents sometimes are not correct because they seem to take you to places that you don?t have access to. (yes even as an Admin). Looks too much like the KDE/GNOME file explorer, which is similarly less intuitive than the WinExplorer in Win2K and XP.
A lot of changes to the Control Panel. The Network Center takes a lot of getting used to but I was able to work with it. One thing I could not get working correctly was IIS. They made a lot of changes to it. It?s a hell of a lot more complicated to work with than the IIS manager in XP and 2K.
In addition, one plus/minus is the hyper control of Windows Defender and the security apps built into the OS. Every time you run an app, you have to approve it or else it won?t run. This is good in a way in that you can stop worms and freak macros that are in your emails from automatically executing, but it's overkill in that apps you choose to run have to be approved.
Requires a lot of Juice to run
One of my biggest pet peeves is that when new OSs and other software come out, they are all less efficient and require more juice to run than past stuff. I always have to upgrade hardware to run the same stuff I could run before with less. Vista is no different, and is probably worse than the past. This OS needs an awful lot to run it. You should have a least a gig of RAM as well as a ?modern? videocard that can handle DirectX 9 and has at least 64MB of RAM. In Win2K and XP I could run the OS, Visual Studio and one or two virtual PC sessions on the 1.5GB RAM at same time without any trouble. In Vista, I would be lucky to run a couple of apps and no virtual PC simultaneously under what I have. Newer is not necessarily better.
IE7, WMP 11 and WMC
IE7 looks great. So does WMP11, although I could not get it to play DVD?s, even though Microsoft says it can play them. I installed my DVD player software (I have Cyberlink), and the install didn?t like it at first, saying there would be compatibility issues, but I got it installed and it worked, but WMP would still not play DVDs. Neither would Windows Media Center. When you play a DVD you get sound but a gray screen for image.
Installs
I had no problem running apps I created in .NET or VB6. In fact they all ran faster (especially .NET apps). Office XP works fine. I did not have this luck though with other vendor?s apps. PowerQuest Drive Image 7 will not run, there are several services it is looking for which exist in 2K and XP but which are no longer included in Vista. In addition, Microsoft with Vista has now become the WinHelp Nazi (as Jerry Seinfeld might put it). If you install Apps that use the old WinHelp .hlp files (such as Quicken, Cool Edit, and others), the apps will install and run, but no help for you. Microsoft says this is no longer supported, they did say they MIGHT have a download in the future that allows you to download the WinHelp engine for Vista, but might doesn?t work for me. For some people, they will say, well just spend the $ to upgrade your apps to newer versions that use CHM help files, but for some of us this means several hundred $$$ to upgrade these (Cool Edit is now Adobe Audition and that is several hundred $$ now where the version of Cool Edit I got a while back was only $60). It isn?t worth forking over several hundred $$$ for replacements in addition to the several hundred $$$ I would spend for Vista. I did not have any where near the compatibility issues when I went to Win2K 6 years ago than I would have with Vista. Back then I had maybe one or two apps with issues. Now I have four or six I know of that I would need to upgrade.
In conclusion, overall while there are many visual niceties to Vista and it does have a lot of potential, there is way too much in the way of compatibility issues as well as required adaptation to the new way of doing things enough that I think, going back to Jerry Seinfeld lingo, I will be the Vista Nazi for myself and say no Vista for me, at least for now, until they resolve these issues and make it meet the potential it does have to be a worthwhile upgrade. Windows 2000 and XP work fine enough for me so I will stick happily with these until I?m forced to upgrade (i.e. when new apps will only run in Vista).
User Rating: 
8/10
It is STILL a beta... - LOOK AT!
Pros: Aero looks GREAT!!!
Cons: Still a it buggy, the hardware requirements for Aero are high.
With the Love of the Lord,
John Riley
User Rating: 8/10
XP vs. Vista
Pros: More elegant, refined experience: slick looking interface, smoother transitions, added convenience, improved accessability, and added security.
Cons: Demanding on system resources, enhanced security features present minor annoyances.
I've been using Vista for several weeks now and I like it MUCH better than XP. The overall experience is really quite similar, but Vista offers a more polished and user friendly computing experience.
After spending time using Vista, going back to XP feels, well, kinda dorky. The best comparison I can think of is upgrading your car from a Toyota to a Lexus. Even though the Toyota was good, getting back in it after driving a Lexus...it just doesn't satisfy anymore.
Improved features: visual effects
"Aero glass" effects (transparent window borders) are a drastic improvement to XP's "Playskool" borders. They feel sexier and more mature--very slick. Another nice visual improvement is the smooth fading effect during screens and window transitions, which makes for a more pleasing, less abrupt navigation experience.
Improved Alt+tab functionality displays thumbnail images of active windows instead of only an icon, plus the new Windos+tab feature offers a very cool rolladex-style window selector/switcher that flips through screen shots of each open window.
Vista also adds "Gadgets," (aka widgets) which are mini programs that run on your desktop and display information you find useful. I was running a similar program in XP and am glad to see it integrated into Vista. Gadgets I chose to run include a stock ticker that updates periodically, a CPU/memory guage, a "my pictures" mini slide show, an RSS feed, and a mini poker game. The gadgets make your desktop more interesting and eliminate the need to continually navigate the internet for often accesses information.
The downside of these visual "bling" features is, of course, higher demand on your processing power, which may slow down systems not designed for heavy lifting.
Improved features: Start menu
The Start menu in Vista is greatly improved in my opinion. A "Start Search" feature added at the bottom allows you to find programs and files with a few keystrokes and eliminates the need to click through multiple menues or folders to get what you want. This can be a big time saver, but the feature further taxes your processing capability because a search indexer runs constantly in the background to make it possible. I think the extra load is worth the added convenience.
If you're anything like me you find XP's flip-out folders in the Start menu annoying. I was VERY glad to see that MS did away with that and replaced it with tree-style menues that stay within the confines of the menu panel so you don't have to chase them all over your display--thank you MS!
Improved feature: security
Some reviewers find it annoying, but I'm glad to be bothered by the new "permission" screen once in a while. Every time a program attempts to install or wants permission to extract information from your system Vista goes to a black screen that asks you if you want to grant permission to the program. This means you always know what is running on your system and which programs have access to your information--only the ones you want!!! Compare this to beefed up post 9-11 airport security: a worthwile hassle? Arguably so. One change I hope MS makes here is the option to grand "permanent" permision to programs like your anti-virus software so it doesn't have to ask you every time you boot up.
Microsoft has beefed up its security suit in Vista to the point where you only really need to run anti-virus software. This has meant less hassle and increased simplicity for me, as well as $$ savings when it comes to software purchases.
Other changes:
There have been a lot of other subtle changes such as the way you access options in the control panel and the size of icons on your desktop. It takes some getting used to, but things are generally more accessible and easier to use in my opinion. It's a fairly big change from what we've become accustomed to, however, so if you don't like change, this may be a source of frustration for you.
Other improved or new features are auto defragmentation running in the background (keeps your system from slowing down over time as files become spaced out on your hard drive), better assistance with and troubleshooting for failed drivers and programs (Vista will search for solutions for you and often direct you to an updated driver, software, etc.), and a cleaner, less cluttered look and feel.
Overhauled versions of Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer are included in Vista. I like the changes to both of them, but I won't review them here.
Summary:
Vista won't blow you away, but it offers a nice set of improvements over a stale XP operating system. The look and feel are greatly improved and many of the annoying little things about XP have been dealt with. It's not going to convert any Mac or Linux users and that shouldn't be a surprise. It's that age old business story--MS has just gotten too big to be the most innovative company out there. Let's just be glad that there are companies like Apple out there that have a small enough customer base (1.43% of the market) to spend time being innovative. Give MS credit for at least getting up to speed with Vista and even offering a few new and innovative features and improving the overall experience.
As a side note, it's amazing how many Mac and Linux users use reviews to try and convince themselves and everyone else that they are smarter and cooler than the 97% (!!!) of the world's computer users that are using Windows. I'm glad you are cooler, give it a rest!
User Rating: 9/10
Windows Vista is Top Grade
Pros: Faster and easier to learn short cuts
Cons: Folders are sort of funky but Classic folders are available
User Rating: 9/10
Stop Complaining!!! Its still only Beta!!!
Pros: Everyting (except the cons)
Cons: Compatibilty Issues. No updates for IE7
User Rating: 2/10
Not Ready for this
Pros: It's a nice name
Cons: To Many Bugs
User Rating: 5/10
Vista is Real Nice! BUT! ? !
Pros: Nice Eye Candy (not as nice as Xgl Desktop Linux)! Much better Security (but for us or them)! Keeps a Very Familiar Look!
Cons: Microsoft's buggy past, will invade your Future! Be prepared to be a Carrot and Whip Trained Horse! Glitz Rich and Driver Poor!
I also run Mac OS-X Tiger on a G-5 Mac! Along with that of course I have two other computers running many flavors of Linux and Windows 98 and XP SP2 in multi boot!
Each has it's unique problems and benefits! Normally Linux is a b**ch setting up until more recently with distros (flavors) like Ubuntu, Mepis, or my now all time favorite "PCLinux"! Up and running with all drivers and programs in under 20 to 30 minutes!
No Windows install is as fast, simple, and includes everything you need to surf the net, edit pictures and videos of all types, do Office Work, and look as beautiful out of the box with all the features! Granted Vista has lots of new super "Eye Candy", but even that is now being overshadowed by an OpenGL add-on desktop manager, called "Compiz with XGL" (similiar to "Aeroglass" or Java "Looking Glass"! Your Desktop simply comes alive with 3-D effects and ease of use! Impossible to decribe! Incredible! ! !
Security well as of right now it's a tie between Linux and OS-X! Ease of ownership and simplicity, well Mac OS-X takes that one easily over all of them. But ole Steven Jobs is just as interested in minding your information and what you do as Microsoft with Windows it's Corporate Buddies! The new Intel Macs even have a Big Brother Intel Spy Chip right on board and plenty of DRM as well!
In this day and age Corporate Greed and Control are more of a threat than any Government! That's why anything I do on the internet, is on Open Source Linux (BTW OS-X came out as proprietary open source, but it's locked up so tight now, you need dynamite to open it up to just look at it)! ! !
Vista is even worse in this respect and in reality it is just XP re-arranged and infused with Corporate Spyware and the ability to switch features on and off remotely. The Security additions are for them not YOU or I!
As you use Vista or even the new Office Betas you get the distinct impression you're being animal trained with a "Carrot and a Whip"! Do something right, you get rewarded with Pleasurable Glitz! Do something wrong and the Glitz is gone and it returns you to Pre-98 Windows speed! It's flat out presented like drug eye candy to get and keep you addicted!
Futhermore it will have a class system built right into it! You'll have the "Dime Store" "Ford Pinto" version all the way up to the "Rolls Royce Limo" version! So for extra bucks or you padding their palm or Corporate Interest, you'll have less scrutiny and more glitz! So it's sort of like the Caste System in India. Won't be just Home and Pro Edition! For a price you'll be able to buy the Corporate big brother off or have the Glitzy Aeroglass stay on all the time and bypass the horse training! LOL
So longer story shorter! I'll take Open Source Linux! Not only because it'll look better, but because it will flat out be safer all the way around for "We the People"! No DRM Ever! ! ! I'll just leave the Corporate Glass Case Ant Farm OSes for the rest of you morons!
User Rating: 8/10
A Much Needed Upgrade to XP
Pros: New interface and connectivity options
Cons: New system Requirements may to much for some, Security features are annoying
User Rating: 9/10
The Future Of Windows
Pros: Aero glass, Bidriectional firewall, Greatly Impoved Search Function, Lock Down Function, "Instant Off" Function, Wecome Center, Revised Start Menu, Revised Help center With Auto How To's and Much More
Cons: Extreme System Requirements for an os, The Versons with Aero glass are not cheap, no Anti Virus Software, Spiffy Driver/Software Support Peformice Decrese Unless u have Very High End Machine
Ok now down to the pros of Microsoft Windows Visa(beta 2)in more detail
Aero glass: Ok what can I say this looks excellent major improvement over Windows Xp's graphical user interface with 3D glass like effects everywhere nice Alt-Tab improvement that?s the best 3d effect
Bi-directional firewall: Ok this is the firewall Windows needs XP's so called "Internet Connection Firewall" or in SP2 the "Windows Firewall" was no good its was what is called an Mono-directional firewall blocking only "hostile" inbound traffic not "hostile" traffic going from your pc. I am proud to hear Visa is throwing out Xps lame Mono-directional wall and replacing it will a crital feature all 3rd parties firewalls have Bi-directional traffic blocking.
Greatly Improved Search function: Ok if u ever used Xp?s search function you know that B***ard of a dog that help u search for a file on your pc took like 10 min with 3rd parties desktop searcfunctionsns took 10 secs to find that same file on a mid-sized hard disk Visa is intraging that same speed -the lame search buddies like that dog from XP and sticking quick search bars in almost every window and has a discrete power search function in all programs
Lock Down Function: The name says it all by clicking the pad lock icon in the start menu your screens goes blank and it locks any one out from the machine who doesn?t have discrete user account on the machine power, business and the mobile users will like this the most but it?s still has appeal to home users with 2 more young children and/or teens.
"Instant Off" Function: Not a whole lot to say here again the name says it all it combines the pros of stand-by and hibernation modes and you get the "Instant Off" Function it sets your pc in a low power mode and also writes all data in your ram to your hard disk just in case power is cut to your pc very handy just make sure your hardware can take that mode.
Welcome Center:
this center will appeal mostly to first time users of pcs and windows alike. It provides short cuts to the tasks you need to setup and get your OS up and running like setting up your network , printer and ect.
Revised Start Menu:
All Programs is in the form of a tree structure now and app/file search function is included at the bottom of the start menu.
Revised Help center With Auto How To's: with the Vista help center you get the usual how to?s and FAQ?s but new to vista is Auto How To?s with 1 click of your mouse Vista will automatically show you how to do something like find a device driver version
Improved Standard Account:
Back in XP to do the most basic tasks you need to have an admin account with Vista a lot of that admin only task has been moved to the standard account still stuff like installing certain software and any device still needs an admin password or account but tasks like de-fraging the hard disk can now be done with the standard account
Improved Error Reporting System: introduced with Windows 2000 error reporting with XP was very basic with little options on how to prevent and find fixes for the problem the amount of customization with visa has been greatly improved any all error not just system errors will send you to Microsoft?s error reporting site and display any fixes for your problem.
Extra Stability for the graphics system in vista:
with graphics cards there are abound to be serouris errors once in a wile Microsoft has re-designed the graphics system for Vista called the Windows Desktop Driver Model(WDDM) with the (WDDM) Visa is able to distribute GPU cycles much like CPU cycles allowing the user to run multiple 3d apps at the same time lets not forget improved stability in XP if the GPU?s driver crashes it means u have to reboot the pc with vita the OS can restart the driver in the event of a crash which means less time wasted rebooting the pc and more time doing the important stuff
IE 7:
Microsoft?s answer to firefox is the first app to use aero glass and to use it for something useful on vista u can view all your open tabs in IE 7 all in 1 window. Also IE 7 is more secure with its protected mode which blocks all third code from enting IE and therefore blocking it from entering the OS
However nothing is perfect let?s take a look at the cons of vista in more detail
So-So:
There will be 4 different versions of vista in turn will make some consumers confused that will happen to mostly first time users of vista and pc?s alike
Cons:
Extreme System Requirements for an OS: to get the full effects of Aero glass u need what Microsoft is calling a Vista premium pc with at lease these specs:
1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor.
1 GB of system memory.
A graphics processor that runs Windows Aero.
128 MB of graphics memory.
40 GB of hard drive capacity with 15 GB free space.
DVD-ROM Drive.
Audio output capability.
Internet access capability
For an OS that a little too High for one graphics cards in this range are not cheap neither is the CPU in this rage it aren?t cheap either.
The Versions with Aero glass are not cheap:
Versions of Vista that have Aero like Home and Bunsess premium will run you about 200-300 dollars and Vista Ultimate the highest version of vista is rumored to cost 500 dollars 500 dollars 500 DOLLARS that?s outrages I?m not paying that much for an OS no matter how good it is
With all the talk of better Security you may or may not be surprised to find there no Anti Virus Software included with Vista:
Microsoft will sell you Anti Virus software call One Care however for 50 bulks a year but would you leave your pc?s security in the hands of Microsoft.
And now for the Biggest and worse con and may be the tipping point for buying or not buying vista:
Spiffy Driver/Software Support:
ok none of my games will run or run properly under vista for example In EA?s Battlefield 2 its installing right and I can log in to my multiplayer account but however when I try to join a sever after 58-62 % of the map is loaded I crash to desk top every time my fingerprint reader will not work, my cd for my printer driver is "vista dead" so is my joystick and G15 gaming keyboard set up cd?s.
Summary:
Overall Microsoft great job so far just a few cons to fix and it will be an excellent OS it?s already superior to XP in most ways just fix the few cons and its 10 out of 10 and again great job so far
User Rating: 
10/10
STOP SLAMMING VISTA BEFORE YOU EVEN TRY IT!!!!
Pros: see review
Cons: see review
vista rockkks
User Rating: 8/10
damn apple people
Pros: i like it cuz windows is trying to do somehitng to make a better system thats called windows its not a mac look if you want a mac os good for you i dont think windows want to be like mac
Cons: i think windows just wants to be windows so stop basing on it some of us happen to like windows better than macs and then some dont you dont see me going off on mac osx i can if you want
User Rating: 5/10
The cookie Ram monster
Pros: Beatiful User interface
Cons: eats too much ram compared to xp
User Rating: 4/10
Computer Consultant Richard C.Dumas- Lots to be desired.
Pros: Burning DVD's
Cons: four days and nights spent plugging up one after another leak
dv5020us laptop with 1.99GHz and 1022MG of RAM- AMD Turion 64 Mobile ML-37 3DNow 2.0GHz processor and ATI
RADEON Xpress 200 series 128. MB Mem video - I had intended to use this Beta version for evaluation purposes
until it is released to the public with a sched date of just after Jan for home versions however,
After only four days of use I have reverted back to Windows XP Pro for the following reasons- the file which
is 3.5 GB took 2 hrs and 15 min on the first install as an UPGRADE install which means it saved my programs
presently used. I found that there are more bugs in the program than Raid Roach Hotels- I suffered many
crashes w/o reason and most of the software carried over corrupted so it wouldnt work properly or at all-
therefore after fighting it for two solid days and nights I reinstalled it the second time . This time as a
CLEAN install that automatically included a new folder created called WINDOWS OLD in which all my currect
programs and existing files were put into, inc the entire contents of the C Drive- This install took 1 hr and
25 min. However, virtually none of the internal hardware drivers were installed and therefore inoperative
until I found a source for all of them and manually reinstalled them. Then I proceeded to reinstall the very
few basic programs I was using before this second install. This whole proceedure took a total of MORE THAN 8
hours and still had some small items to fine tune- A major problem with this install also was that I had no
use for anything they saved in that new OLD folder having completely backed up my system. The prob being that
there was no way to get it to the trash bin or delete it. I seemed to be able to get rid of most of the files
individually until the folder showed empty. However when I tried to get rid of the folder Windows kept showing
that it was trying to empty out almost 7GB from an EMPTY folder. After waiting several minutes for this
ODOMETER to keep clicking away, I also got an error mesa that I didnt have PERMISSION to do this despite the
fact I am and ADMINISTRATOR. If that isnt confusing enough every single move or change you make goes into a
new folder called Recent Changes . The result is that somehow all those 7000 files I thought I had deleted
were somewhere still in limbo causing my HD to show 40GB of used space with the identicalpreviously installed
stuff under XP showing 16GB. I never did figure out how to get rid of that extra almost 40GB on the HD.
The Vista program uses entirely new and unfamiliar ICONS which takes some time to get used to-- The familiar
"Run" command found in the "Start" part used by so many advanced users was no longer to be found there and w/o
documentation to tell me otherwise took almost two days to find in under TASK MANAGER which also had had some
changes made to its pop up window- Task Mg is still accessed by Ctl-Alt-Del- after which a new wavy blue
screen takes over the desktop and offers the viewer several choices-
MY DOCUMENTS has now been replaced with simply DOCUMENTS which is also a little confusing due too the fact it
contains some new catagories and a new face.
The process of refeshing upon opening each folder to see its contents is extremely slow while U wait for a new
green bar to traverse across the whole top of the file folder similiar to the familiar sliding install bar on
so many install programs, and if you have multiple files in seperate folders within the original folder you
have to wait the whole thing out again each time it opens the more inner folders , something Windows XP did in
almost an instant.
Most disappointing is the number of new software and drivers avail to run on Vista- espectally the new
technology 64 bit version which are almost non existant, so I used the 32 more normal and universally used at
present. After four days of nothing but pure struggle I determined that there are presently only two Internet
Security programs that have been written for, and will work with, Vist, products from Trend Micro and Computer
Assoc. I used the Trend product and got an error mesa after every boot that said it had an internal problem
and had to shut down. I never got around to the Computer Assoc product. Norton NIS and Anti Virus from 2003
to 2006 will not work with Vista. I also found that although Acronis True Image, which is the backup prog I
presently use, loads OK, however when you try to do a complete hard drive backup it crashes halfway through
the pre setup of the task. My present Internet Accelerator DAP or Download Accel Prog was unable to be
loaded, running into an inability to open a certain file in System 32 halfway thru the install. The same
problem occurred when I tried to install NERO 7 upon which one of its components INCD is vital if Acronis is
to be used in any backup of the system w/o which Acronis cant function. Hence a double wammy, my BSPlayer
which is only one of several video players that I use worked , however I would have had to turn my computer
display upside down to watch the picture. Pretty wierd. That however was solved with a newer version. A MS
WINDOWS DEFENDER program that detects mal and spy software but not virus's is included in Vista however I
discovered that it creates a system restore point almost every time your eyelashes blink causing extreme
memory space to be used up on the HD. UGH! PERFECT DISK which is the program I use to defrag my HD could not
be installed. It put out an error mesa and simply said in an honest sentance it was not designed for this
operating system that it was being loaded on. Since NERO couldnt be installed that also wiped out another
video product that I continue to evaluate, Nero ShowTime.
One of the most fustrating experiences came when I tried to do a simple burn/copy to a CW-RW and found that no
matter what type of CD got inserted into the drive it HAD TO BE FORMATTED. A process that took approx 6 min by
default with Vista. However then I started to get several types of error messages that I couldnt comprehend
because they are using a lot of newly developed english words to describe problems and circumstances with this
new program. Suffice it to say that I never did, after two days of trying , learn to burn / copy anything to a
CD by either clicking and dragging or using the Copy and Paste or any other method so encouraged by Vista and
familiar in XP . The task was ultimately accomplished by using another piece of software by SONIC called my
DVD which I use to burn those magnicifient pieces of technology and will also copy to a CD. Burning DVD's
proved no problem.
Microsoft has dozens of tasks which they ask you to preform with the Beta version and send the input of the
resulting experiences back to them. However I feel that it would be almost impossible to accomplish those
tasks being that after four days and nights spent plugging up one after another leak, as fast as one could be
repaired another would pop up, the time all spent just to try to get back to where I could do something normal
with my computer let alone test the dozens and dozens of pieces of software I have, would be fruitless. So
after these four days instead of six months I have thrown in the towel and reverted back to Windows XP Pro
which I have figured out how to install without SP2, making it half the size and twice as fast. I will wait
until at least six months after its official release and maybe then some, until they empty out the Raid and
Black Flag creatures and I would suggest the same be done by anyone else chomping at the bit to dive in to the
new Vista.
Oh! by the way . You will no longer see the "Blue Screen of Death" it has now been upgraded to being "BLACK"
User Rating: 5/10
Beta, Might as well be pre-beta!
Pros: Looks good, A few handy features
Cons: Very power hungry, Tech specs are huge
My desktop faired a little better, but I had to upgrade my RAM to 1.5gb to speed up to machine to "normal".
The first thing I noticed was that Vista include Media centre as standard in the ultimate version so I tried to connect my xbox as an extender for my pc. Big mistake. I got a message on my xbox that "this discs region is incorrect for this console. please go to www.xbox.com/support for more information". Following this my PC, which was supposed to be connecting to my xbox, crashed needing a restart.
I know I'm listing all the problems I found with vista but unfortunately their the biggest thing about the OS. The audio in the system is worse than crap. I installed itunes only to find that Vista would not let the icons be placed on the desktop properly , a security issue, go figure!. Anyway, the audio, when playing audio on either itunes or WMP there is an annoying clicking behind the music that is really noticable on a system with a sub woofer.
Once you get past these and a few more problems with vista its actually a good OS. It runs very well with Office 2007 and also with all the included programmes.
Games are a bit iffy. Battlefield 2 would not run properly for me at all no matter what i did.
Another piece of advice i would give is do not install this version on your laptop! It will eat your battery as the gfx demands are huge, my bat went from 3.9 hrs in XP to 1.2 with Vista, and the machine gets really hot.
I would recommend getting vista purely for interest purposes but only install it on a machine that is good enough to run it and with no important files on it. While the tech specs on microsoft .com list 512 RAM, i personally would not install it on a mchine with less than 1.5 and at least 2.8ghz. It will eat your resources.
callaghan001
User Rating: 
7/10
user account security
Pros: it insures fewer accidents
Cons: i couldn't find any with this feature
User Rating: 7/10
Vista OS in the Making - Beta 2 Looking Good
Pros: aesthetic, great new features and look, readyboost, sidebar
Cons: native driver selection poor, sluggish on fast machines
Installation ? took around 2.5 hours to it. Vista does not have a lot of fancy write-up during the install, it just displays the percent complete. Vista needs a boot menu after the BIOS post, so make sure not to delete any file called BOOTMGR once you are done installing Vista. This happened to me multiple times (accidently, during an uninstall of programs) and you need to boot into the Vista disk and repair the Windows on the C:\ partition.
Activation ? I think the servers are getting bombarded 24/7, because online activation failed repeatedly. I used the phone method which was simple and automated; took about 5 minutes. According to the Vista Beta email, the product key can be activated 10 times.
Driver ? Almost all the drivers on the Acer were native, with the exception of a few very important ones, such as for the Sound. You'll need to fiddle with drivers. I downloaded a Vista Realtek AC97 sound driver, but it gives an error message saying it isn?t for Vista, but you need to get rid of the startup to software to partially alleviate this.
Bluetooth - you need to install your OEM power manager (in my case, ePM) to let Vista know a Bluetooth radio exists. You cannot uninstall this power manager, since Bluetooth radios are by default turned off, it seems.
Wireless (WLAN-Wi-Fi) - ULTRA POOR reception - some suggestions have been removing IPv6 protocol from the device settings, turning off ?Protected Mode? in IE7.0. All these tweaks yield marginal improvements.. IPv6 is a new protocol for packet transfer that probably has use in the future, potentially with 802.11n which will be ratified later this year. Try turning off a lot of extra stacks and protocols, and make sure that you go into windows and set your connection to be "Automatically Connected" and set your connection to "Private" to avoid having to reconnect every time you bootup/wakeup. Even with this done, my signal is dropped every five or ten minutes. So much for Acer Signal-Up technology that was touted with the c310.
Battery Life - ABYSMAL ? as noted by Robert ?eats batteries for lunch.? I get around 1 min / 1 % of battery life. So terrible one might think to downgrade back to XP - luckily I am rarely away from a power source. Another Odd bug in Vista is that the battery on my notebook does not get charged unless it is less than 50% or so charged. I currently have the notebook icon in the taskbar noting that ?87% remaining, plugged in, not charging.? I think it is pretty odd.
Sleep is bad too, but at least the Sleep has some customizations that are a little inconspicuous. In the Power Settings, you can tell Vista if you want the computer to lock on wakeup, and there is a setting for Wi-Fi power. If you are on battery, the Wi-Fi range will be dramatically reduced, so make sure that this is on Maximum Performance.
Feature: The Sidebar - excellent addition to Windows. The feature has a setting to load on windows startup, which doesn?t work. Put a shortcut to Sidebar in the Startup folder. Really neat feature - multiple clocks, egg timer, games, RSS, etc. The number puzzle breaks, and eats its own blocks. Another bug in Vista. I think that the Sidebar has a lot of potential when third party developers start making them.
Stability: Programs and Crashing - Vista loves to crash, probably since its in Beta. Its does so a bit more gracefully - Microsoft has skirted system instability by putting on a good face when Vista crashes. You get options. System will hang in all places. Vista is obsessed with Not Responding even when something is just loading.
Stability: Windows Explorer - has a lot of issues here. I don't know if its related to the WinFS or what, but none of my programs can browse explorer without crashing and exiting. I can access files via Windows Explorer, so for example, if I wanted to open a Word 2007 file, I can't do it through Word. I have to open the file through C:\ whatever... This means that I cannot create a new word file through word, it has to be done with the explorer context menu, as ?New > Windows Word file.? I think problem is the only thing that will force me to not use Vista as my main OS until it goes into RC1 or final.
Stability: Windows Aero ? works like a charm. It breaks up programs such as Intervideo WinDVD 7. Aero provides surprisingly aesthetic characteristics. Try out Win+Tab and Alt+Tab ? if anyone remembers, the Alt-Tab was something called PowerToy Switcher for XP. They just updated it for Vista. Win-Tab is completely new, and realtime as well.
Security: User Account Control (UAC) ? a useless feature in Vista, unless you are using computers networked at an office. Adds more control to administrator?s priveliges.
Security: Security Center ? Enhanced monitoring of security programs. I cannot seem to remove the Security Center icon from the taskbar. Its irritating that UAC (User Accound Control) is monitored by the security center.
Security: Anti-Virus - I was forced to uninstall AVG antivirus, and Vista doesn?t come with one. It does come with anti-spyware and anti-malaware. There seems to be some alternatives now for Vista that are free, but AVG not as yet.
Tablet Mode ? The tablet buttons dedicated on the C310 don?t work, as expected. You will have to manually change screen modes with software. The pen feels more accurate, and the handwriting recognition better yet. BIG IMPROVEMENT over Windows Tablet PC 2005. I highly recommend tablet users to get on the Vista bandwagon. The handwriting recognition has significant improvements for those who write in cursive. The input bar has been improved to have some simple commands, a complete rubbing of a work finally erases it now in the input bar. When you combine Tablet + Word 2007, you really get it easy since Work automatically puts in spaces after periods, and I think some periods are added as well.
The strokes are nice and easy to see - the point is thicker and seems to be more accurate overall. I think a large part of this improvement is the ability for Vista to store and memorise the way you write. There is an area in Vista to program your own handwriting.
Feature: ReadyBoost - This is an awesome feature under vista. It makes a large prefetch file in removable devices. You take a USB key, or any flash device, (with more than 256mb) and hook it up as a nitro booster. Amazingly, my 513 key with 1/4 full really improved performance. Worth a try.
Feature: Media Center - sluggish but performs to expectations. Useful features if you use your notebook for DVD or TV watching. Wait for PVR drivers in the upcoming weeks/months if you have a TV decoder.
Legacy: Vista seems to be largely based in WinXP, which begs the question why it took so long for Microsoft to churn this edition out. Many of the old WinXP run commands still seem to work ? you can still access many of the ?tweaks? via ?msconfig,? ?regedit,? and ?cmd.? I find it entertaining that Vista still has a command prompt ? it has been Microsoft?s long time goal to eliminate any vestige of DOS, but it seems inescapable.
Another point is that the Task Manager (Cntrl+Alt+Del) is hard to get to. You have to wait for 10 seconds after Cntrl+Alt+Del, then you are taken to an administrative page where you can choose Task Manager as one option. There should be some way around all that work?
Features: Windows DVD Maker, Photo Gallery, Calendar, Collaboration ? all are insignificant features that are not really needed. Sounds to me like it just bloats up the Vista OS to be 15 GIGs for no reason. The calendar could be of some use, I suppose?
Features: Games ? there are some new games worth speaking of. Mahjong and Chess, in specific. Chess is really great, especially for people who don?t already have Chessmaster.
Some Programs that seem to work 100% with Vista:
DVD Decrypter (Latest & Last Edition Only)
Mozilla Firefox + Extensions
Office 2007 Professional Beta 2 (I hope so, Microsoft!)
Drivers that DID NOT Work Immediately
Sound (Internal Realtek and PCMCIA SoundBlaster Audigy 2ZS for Notebook)
5-In One Multi Card Reader
PVR (KWorld)
User Rating: 9/10
Best Windows ever!
Pros: All the new features along with Aero Glass
Cons: Hardware demands.
User Rating: 1/10
Very disappointing
Pros: Some scattered improvements
Cons: Even more disimprovements
Another example: They stole Apple's lock logo and put the shutdown menu on a little arrow to the right, and now they need a help item to help people find it. And there's no keyboard shortcut any more. So they took something fairly user friendly -- "Log Off" and "Turn Off Computer" -- and made it really obscure and less functional so it would look more Maclike. Pathetic.
But that's just the start. The much-touted new menu structure is confusing, inconsistent, keyboard-unfriendly, and slow to navigate.
There are security popups when you do any system task, even deleting a folder, and they're so intrustive and annoying -- the whole screen turns monochrome -- that you'll beg for your viruses back. In some cases the warnings are redundant, e.g., when you click on an .exe you're quizzed first by the dialog they added in SP XP2 and then by the new one. They're unnecessary for the power user -- when was the last time you got a virus? -- and useless for Grandma, because she won't have any idea what the cryptic filenames refer to.
Many windows still don't remember their sizes, and, in fact, the problem is even worse. The IE 7 save couldn't even remember my default folder.
Aero Glass has to be the most over-touted feature ever. The window transparency looks OK, but it's not worth the CPU overhead. The default menu animation is so slow it will put a 90 year old to sleep; it has to be turned off to make the system usable.
IE 7 doesn't begin to match the capabilities of free web browsers that have been available for years.
Almost everything you want to get to is harder, a step further away. And it's still not organized. If anything, the interface seems even more than its predecessors to have been designed by a committee of madmen.
And the old Windows flaws and annoyances are, dishearteningly, still unfixed, e.g., if you put the start bar at the top where it belongs, apps will get stuck under it, or
the need to reboot when you install many programs. Too early to assess stablity, but it still lacks features that have long been standard in other OS's, and it seems that the much-touted new code kept many of the architectural flaws, some of them introduced when they downgraded NT 3.51 to NT 4.0.
Then too, Vista is sloooow, and it's a resource hog. And for what? It's less usable, less friendly, and doesn't have any signficant features that you can't already install and download for free, e.g., the widgets or the 3D task switcher or the indexing search utility.
I don't mean to imply that there haven't been any improvements. Disappointed as I am, I've probably given those short shrift. But for every little improvement there are two things that are worse. And while many previous Windows upgrades have offered significant improvements like multitasking, plug and play, stability, system restore -- Win 3.1 to 95, say, or 9x to XP or NT 4.0 to 2000 to XP -- there's nothing really /new/ in Vista, nothing that would convince people to want it.
I can't believe MS spent seven years working on this -- I mean, they could have provided the same "new" functionality by licensing a few shareware apps. If I owned Microsoft stock, I think I'd be selling it . . .
User Rating: 8/10
Nice but still needs work
Pros: Nice interface and security features
Cons: bugs and not all vista drivers work.
User Rating: 6/10
It has OSX written all over it BUT ....
Pros: Improved interface, features we've been aching for are making it finally, looks promising
Cons: Takes some getting used to, requires too much concentration. Overall too much work to operate
First off i'm a mac user who can't be labelled because i use linux and windows as well and on that note i would say im very rational.
Installed this bad boy on an AMD HP laptop having to upgrade only my modem and ethernet drives which was a breeze. PS this was very temporary....i was back to XP pretty soon.
Overall its something i can see myself using "as an alternative" it has all the OSX features i crave when using XP. Flip 3d (Expose), Search (Spotlight), Widgets (Gadgets) and overall seemed snappier and prettier (the whole aqua/aero interface)
However i found out i had to do a lot of concentration to do stuff as some settings have been re-arranged which is strange as i thought MS would just build up from XP.
Its soaks up system resources even though my system qualified for the ultimate edition of Vista, the OS kept crawling and occasionally told me to switch off aero. This could be due to having only 512MB of RAM or indexing by desktop search.
Overall am i excited?...probably not since i can do most of the new features in OSX/Linux.
Will i get it?...Most likely when SP2 is out or when i get a dedicated beta testing machine.
Does it need more work?...er yeah thats why its Beta.
Is it an OSX ripoff? yeah but at the end of the day both OSs have their strenght and weaknesses
At the end of the day this cant be compared to OSX until Leopard is released because both are suppose to be direct competitors. Until then MS and Apple should keep working.
User Rating: 7/10
Soild Beta 2 release
Pros: OSX like interface, intuitive navigation, Linux-like access architecture
Cons: incompatibilities with previous 'workhorse' applications, resource hungry, learning curve, long download and installation time
1. Symantec Antivirus.
2. Nokia PC Suite.
3. Cisco VPN client.
4. Logitech Marble Mouse.
5. Any Java based program will disable the Aero interface of Vista. That can be restored by stopping the program.
That's all the imcompatibilities I've had so far. CA has an antivirus that works very well with Vista and is avaiable as a 1-yr free trial.
I'm running a Pentium D 805, 2GB DDR2, 250GB HDD partition (I strongly support CNET's recoomendation of running Vista on a separate partition and not as your primary OS).
I downloaded the beta 2 from a torrent website (search for them, there are plenty) and d/l took 5 hours over a T1 line. Then the complete installation itself took a good hour and half.
Please post any other incompatibilities for users to know. I am sure the above incompatibilities will be ironed out before RC1.
But when it works, Vista flies!!
User Rating: 4/10
Mixed bag...
Pros: Looks nice, lots of features.
Cons: Bare minimum specs give bare minimum performance!
It looks spectacular, but GOD! This is gonna take some getting used to! It asks permission to do just about anything. That's both good and bad. Good because it prevents bad things from happening, and bad because it's very cumbersome! Granted, there was NO Aero, and NO Aero Glass on what I just used, and it was still pretty slow.
I'm really gonna put this OS through its paces before I ever make it a mainstay on my system. Very pretty, but for now, it's Windows XP for me.
And for those who are wondering, how bare minimum the system I used was:
800 MHz Pentium III
512 MB SDRAM
120 GB Hard Disk
20 GB Windows Vista partition
Radeon 7500 Video (built in drivers)
Like I said, BARE minimum!
User Rating: 4/10
OS X Copy? Who Cares
Pros: Looks Pretty, More Secure
Cons: Way too much user interaction required to do even simple tasks, power hungry
User Rating: 9/10
Leaves OSX in the dust
Pros: Everything I'd hoped for
Cons: Bothersome pop up for admin approval
This release is really good.. lots of fun, easy to use and understand improvements!
User Rating: 8/10
Windows Vista Beta 2 is not the best yet, but by Beta 3 and then final release, it should be great.
Pros: Slick Windows Aero Interface, Windows Media Player 11, Windows Flip 3D, Search Feature
Cons: Lots of Software Incompatible (AIM, Trillian, etc.), Too much Security, Doesn't Always Start Correctly
User Rating: 6/10
Compare it to previous Windows!
Pros: It's new and pretty
Cons: It's hard to get
User Rating: 8/10
Relax it's just a beta
Pros: Much improved user interface
Cons: Backward Compatability, drivers
User Rating: 8/10
Looks good but that might be over their heads
Pros: Sleek, cool features, aero glass virus protection
Cons: hardware problems
User Rating: 9/10
very better than before
Pros: Many things are and faster easier
Cons: hardware requirements are expensive
User Rating: 1/10
An Underperforming rip-off
Pros: Somewhat Nice look
Cons: No feature is unique to Windows
User Rating: 9/10
Fantastic, a great system for beginners and veterans alike.
Pros: where do I start! The aeroglass is great, file system is secure, the feel is better than beta 1, and lots more too!
Cons: User Account Control is a bit annoying, no built in office software, no multiple desktops
User Rating: 3/10
Windows stole apple's ideas yet again
Pros: getting better for multimedia
Cons: Lacks in Security
User Rating: 5/10
Was Expecting More
Pros: Update address a ton of shortcomings from previous versions
Cons: Still misses the mark in terms of user experience and needs
Simplier is better. What Vista should have been is a smaller, simplier program that used LESS memory and hardware resources. It should have been written so that each app launched instantly, ran at warp speed and was so simple and rock solid that it was literally error proof and hacker proof.
Instead what we get is a HUGE resource intensive beast that requires some much code and is so complex that it will (inevitably) launch/close apps slowly, freeze up if you have more than two apps running at the same time, will freeze up just on its own just because the programs are so massive and will become a treasure trove for hackers because the program is so massive and sprawling that there's a million ways in.
99% of all computers users use the computer for only a few things: surf the net, check emails, use a SIMPLE word processor, use a SIMPLE spreadsheet and download music.
That's it. That's all. Ya just don't do much else besides that. Net. Email. Basic Word Doc. Basic Excel doc. Download a couple MP3's per week/month. That's IT!
If Vista had been nothing more than just that, had instant on/off capabilities, was error-free (never froze or needed a rare driver to do something simple like hook up an MP3 player) and was hacker-proof then it would be a perfect 10.
Instad Vista is a massive sprawling beast that has capabilities that 99% of the users will never ever see or use or even care about.
User Rating: 7/10
Not OSX but Probaly Will Be by the time of Lepoard
Pros: Windows workplace, Office 2007, Start Menu,
Cons: ITS A BETA, hard ware requirements
User Rating: 5/10
Several features don't work
Pros: Transparent windows, more multimedia features like video editing
Cons: Default theme is all black, difficult to find common items, slow, buggy
User Rating: 2/10
Microsoft is going ahead of time
Pros: IT has bring a next generation of operating system
Cons: IT limits the category of people wantin to use this product
User Rating: 9/10
Can't come out soon enough
Pros: Everything a brand New OS
Cons: None that I know of yet
User Rating: 4/10
Aero-Glass Woo Hoo (NOT)
Pros: The Added Widgets, Looks Cooler
Cons: Is A Memory HOG, No Real Benefit to Switching, Steal Ideas From Other Companies, Still Has the Dumb Registry, etc.
User Rating: 3/10
Day late and Dollar short....
Pros: They picked the Mac OSX to copy
Cons: They are very very late on the program. Still prone to viruses.
User Rating: 3/10
Wake when M$ gets VISTA SP1 out!!!!
Pros: None it's a beta!
Cons: I'ts a M$ beta!!!
M$ Vista, A rose by any other name would still have thorns!
User Rating: 10/10
The future of your computer!
Pros: Real OS will give ddrive industry UPWARD
Cons: Taking too long to get to final version/
It is rock solid.
It will run everything old as well. (Mac OS/x/shmex can't do that and constantly changing everything including hardware)
64bit version - finally - that is what is needed to move on from the 4gig of RAM which is dismal if you really want to use your computer (not just for word processing).
Can Hardly Wait.
User Rating: 8/10
A lot more rights than wrongs
Pros: The Aero interface, new search, flip 3D, live thumbnails, new windows explorer, xbox connectivity, ease of wireless connectivity, windows calender, windows media player 11, enhanced security features
Cons: frequent pop-ups from security center, no ipod support, excessive horizontal navigation in media center, aero-glass interface available only on high end pcs
User Rating: 8/10
Brilliant security model. Beautiful graphics.
Pros: security, useability, sexy, search
Cons: performance, a few too many UAC prompts
User Rating: 5/10
Following suit once again.
Pros: Nicer interface
Cons: Nothing that innovative
User Rating: 9/10
Why are really complaining?
Pros: its alot better than what they have now, its improving, easier to use, more security
Cons: it might not be done by when they say, copying apple
User Rating: 7/10
This is not a carbon copy of OSX. It is a fairly solid release.
Pros: Slick interface, bitlocker, nice architecture, and rich programming libraries. This is clearly the future of operating systems.
Cons: Search needs some timing improvements, UAC needs, I still prefer UNIX, and too many versions.
It has a number of very interesting features. A number of which are not even found in OSX. One would do themselves a service to download the Windows Vista Product Guide (as a comparison).
User Rating: 3/10
Weak OS X Impersonator
Pros: It has Quartz Extreme and doesn't run at root level
Cons: It doesn't have Exposé
What does this review show us in Vista Beta 2?
Gadgets are OS X's Widgets, which are Desktop Accessories that appeared in System 1 on the Mac in 1984. Desktop Accessories were little applications that would run on top of everything else with tools like a calculator and calendar, etc. This was back in 1984.
Microsoft copied this and also copied the implementation, which comes from OS/2's side bar that had gadgets.
Vista comes with Parental Controls, which has been in OS X.
Vista has a cool GPU-accelerated user interface -- OS X's Quartz Extreme for years.
Vista has a search -- OS X's Spotlight.
Vista's Flip3D is a very poor attempt to copy a patented OS X Exposé. So let me get this straight, flipping through the windows one at a time in 3D space is more productive than cycling through them full screen with ALT TAB? This is garbage. Exposé is a dream because it puts all of your documents scaled down on your screen, side by side. You see all of them at the same time. It's really easy to identify the document you want and then click on it.
Windows Vista finally doesn't run you at root level. This is very good. The implementation may be crap, though, with dialogs coming up all the time for every single thing.
Windows Vista has a photo program -- OS X's iPhoto.
Windows Vista has a DVD authoring program -- OS X's iDVD.
Windows Vista has a calendar program -- OS X's iCal.
Seriously, a company that makes billions in profit every single quarter is outclassed by a much smaller company like Apple? How is Apple able to create all the great ideas and implement them in a fraction of the time as Microsoft? Doesn't Microsoft have any original ideas?
That new help system in Vista was in the Mac OS in 1997!
User Rating: 9/10
was quick, detailed and relatively useful
Pros: exellent new version,well desribed
Cons: why not have it all,without a premium
User Rating: 7/10
I like the way they present
Pros: It's just more even better OS on PC
Cons: Hmm.... Maybe step closer to the Apple's
But I think the Microsoft's OS 's been following the Apple's OS many years so far, and it seems to be like this forever.
User Rating: 8/10
Will be a welcome change
Pros: Incorporates the pros of OSX with the ubiquity of microsoft operating systems
Cons: New interface may be slightly too Mac-ish
User Rating: 6/10
DRM and HDPC Anyone?
Pros: Cleaner look, better navigation
Cons: DRM, HDPC and locking down how we use the computer
User Rating: 2/10
Can thay rip off Apple further?
Pros: Thank god I don't have to use it.
Cons: This is Windows XP SP3. Sure to be a bloated hinderance to productivity.
User Rating: 1/10
New face, same old crap
Pros: Nothing...
Cons: Everything.
User Rating: 9/10
MS is well on there way....has a beta tester i have seen the
Pros: Still in Beta....................
Cons: Still in Beta....................
User Rating: 2/10
underwhelming, too hardware hungry
Pros: people will buy it and my stock may go up
Cons: no new ideas or features
User Rating: 4/10
Microsoft must be waiting...
Pros: More OS X features.....you can't go wrong here
Cons: Can't come up with an original thought on their own.
I'm sure glad I don't have to look up driver info in OSX. It just works. Try it, you'll like it.
User Rating: 8/10
Looks Familiar
Pros: Love the new interface, Gadgets(widgets), Search(spotlight), love the 3d windows view, safer and easier to use than XP, portable ram, great setup for gaming
Cons: OS 10.5 in August, Hefty hardware requirements
User Rating: 1/10
Hmmmmmmmmm i already bought tiger.....
Pros: Very nice, incredible interface, a lot like the best operating system in the world
Cons: Very similar to os x tiger, except not as good
User Rating: 6/10
I think it looks ok
Pros: It looks like they just want change
Cons: you know it's just a really cheap bloated version of mac's latest
User Rating: 3/10
Seems like I have seen these features now for a couple of years...on my Mac
Pros: Almost looks and feels like OSX
Cons: It's not OSX
User Rating: 3/10
Microsoft now dealing swines
Pros: cool features
Cons: resourse hog
