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Entered CNET Catalog: 02/17/2006
SKU: CNETWINVISTAFEBBUILD
Manufacturer: Microsoft Corp.
CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 02/22/2006
- For more details, see the Windows Vista February CTP slide show.
- For the latest news, see Microsoft opens window for new Vista test.
Today's release of Windows Vista February 2006 CTP build 5308 provides, perhaps, a final private glimpse inside the new Windows operating system before the software goes into public beta later this spring. This release is, however, almost exclusively geared for the enterprise customer, with many new features tucked deep inside the operating system and beyond the reach of most home users. The ability to deploy Windows Vista in large corporate environments is crucial to the software giant's success, so the delivery of new tools necessary to customize and roll out secure copies of Vista to hundreds of workstations is the cornerstone of the February CTP build 5308. There are two new end-user features worth noting in build 5308: Windows Welcome Center and Windows Sidebar/Gadgets.
Welcome Center: At first, this feature seems innocuous: a screen that pops up upon boot and informs you of any pending actions necessary for the continued smooth operation of your operating system. However, there's controversy in that Microsoft also made it possible for OEM manufacturers to advertise in the white space. By default, the Welcome Center is the first thing you see when you turn on Windows Vista, but you can easily disable this feature if you don't want the ads.
Windows Sidebar/Gadgets: Now you can run mini apps like Mac OS users currently do. Windows Vista allows you to add "widgetlike" apps to tell the time in different countries, the weather outside your door, or news and sports feeds--right on the desktop.
New network administration tools: To assist large corporations in rolling out Vista to hundreds of workstations, Microsoft made enhancements to the XImage tool and Windows imaging technologies, allowing IT staff to create Vista images that span multiple CDs, then edit those images (for example, in the case of new Windows Updates or Service Patch rollouts). Along with that is the Windows System Imaging Manager (SIM), which allows IT staff to edit and configure custom XML components offline within a system image, detailing specific configuration instructions to a desktop PC during Windows Vista installation. Working with the next-generation servers, code-named Longhorn, Microsoft also enables IT staff to deploy remotely over a network, giving staff yet another option. The User State Migration Tool 3 includes encryption capabilities for secure migrations, as well as XML-scripts for enterprise-wide installations. Microsoft also made enhancements to the Group Policy Management Console, allowing an IT administrator to create different policies for different users using the same machine, for example, within libraries and schools. Expanded policy settings now include printers, troubleshooting and diagnostics, power management, Internet settings, Internet protocol security (Ipsec), and firewall settings. New policy settings also control removable storage devices across a wide enterprise. This allows IT administrators to control what types of devices can and cannot be installed on a given workstation. Settings also allow for specific read/write access, so that USB flash drives can't be used to import malicious code or to copy proprietary software.
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
User Rating: 
1/10
FRUSTERATING BEYOND BELIEF
Pros: STILL LOOKING
Cons: JUST TOO MANY
I JUST DON'T GET IT, WHY SCREW WITH SOMETHING SO MUCH THAT IT CAUSES SO MANY PROBLEMS. YOU DON'T HAVE TO COMPLETELY CHANGE EVERYTHING TO MAKE SOMETHING BETTER, JUST WORK WITH THE PROBLEMS AND FIX THEM. NOT ONLY THAT NOW IT IS NOT EVEN COMPATIBLE WITH SO MANY PROGRAMS AND WE ALL KNOW WHAT THAT IS ABOUT, ALLOWING US TO HAVE VERY FEW OPTIONS OR HAVE TO UPGRADE OTHER SOFTWARE TO BE COMPATIBLE WITH VISTA....THE TYPICAL SCAM!! I ASKED WHEN I BOUGHT A NEW COMPUTER IF I COULD GET WINDOWS XP BECAUSE I WAS HAPPY WITH IT, BUT NNNOOOOOO WAY.
User Rating: 
4/10
Needs More Work
Pros: Beautiful Interface, mature looking.
Cons: Requires too much power hardware, buggy, delayed.
User Rating: 
5/10
Garbage... be original Microsoft
Pros: Nothing at all
Cons: Everything about it
User Rating: 
10/10
i am one of the vista testers and it is absolutly amazing
Pros: completely new UI everything it new its AMAZING
Cons: very laggy (its only a beta folks)
User Rating: 5/10
All you Mac--PC user warriors,..answer me this.
Pros: More security,...uh, lets see, what else????
Cons: Security should not be a new feature.
User Rating: 5/10
I have Windows Vista February build!!! And......
Pros: Looks nice, Good indexing (search) feature, more options than XP.
Cons: Older users have to upgrade their graphics cards to get the full expierence, 1 button shutoff doesn't really shut it off, hard to navigate.
I have been using the newest Vista build for a week now. I was very excited to install it on my machine. However, it has dissapointed me in many ways. First of all, I can't use the "Aero glass" because my graphics card isn't compatible. Not that big of a drawback because it is an old card anyway. I also felt that I did not have as much control over the operating system as I did in XP. When I would click the "1 click shutdown" I felt like I was being lied to! My monitor would turn off, but my PC light was still blue (indicating the computer had not shut off yet). Most of the time, I had to wait several minutes before it would actually shut down completly. One thing that annoyed me the most was the way you navigate through folders. I felt like it was displaying too much useless information to me when I wanted to get from one place to another. Even downloading something from Internet Explorer was an ambiguous task. I was constantly switching back to "classic view" because the new design is clunky.
It seems like Microsoft took XP and put a pretty shell on it (a shell I can't even run on my card) and changed the way you navigate. A lot of the new features introduced are strait from OS X... the sad part is they don't even do them right!
User Rating: 4/10
Vista? Already using these features today. Snore.
Pros: Finally catching up to other operating systems
Cons: Resource-intensive, inherently insecure single-user architecture
User Rating: 10/10
PLEASE shut up
Pros: it's still in beta
Cons: it's still in beta
Windows Vista will be released and slowly incorporated into the home and business community. There will be bugs, and service packs and hotfixes will be released, and after a year or two Vista will be stable and accepted as the operating system of choice for about 80% of the world's computers. All the time Mac users will come to places like CNET and whine and complain about how ripped off Apple was, and tell us all how great their OS is and how they are gonna "stick with their Mac".
In another 5 years Microsoft will release another operating system and Mac users will stomp their feet and scream about how they were once again ripped off, and tell us again how they are going to "stick with their Mac". Meanwhile the 80% of homes and businesses will once again slowly incorporate the new Windows OS into their computers.
Are we noticing a pattern here? Mac users, we all know Mac has a great OS, and that you don't get viruses (mainly because people write viruses for impact and fame, which they would not get by attacking 10-15% of the world's computers).
But, if it were THAT great, it would have taken a bigger market share by now, despite the genius (albeit monopolistic) business practices of Microsoft.
Maybe Apple could sell more computers if they'd let other companies build them. What do you think would happen if you had the choice of buying a Dell with Windows or MacOS? I GUARANTEE you that you'd see a significant increase in MacOS users.
Greed can come in different forms. While Microsoft holds a monopoly on Operating Systems, Apple holds a monopoly on...well, Apple. I guess Apple's problem is arrogance (nobody can make a computer worthy of our OS except us)
User Rating: 
9/10
WOW!!!!!!! This looks great better then mac os
Pros: More realiable many good tools which mac os doesnt have
Cons: The Wait and time
User Rating: 1/10
Apple had this 4 years ago!!!!!!
Pros: A new, fresh look for Windows, a more Mac OS feel, which is better. Maybe more safety and more compatibility, and also ease of use appears to be the biggest "innovation".
Cons: Apple had this 4 years ago. I bet there's still no solution to sudden crashes and viruses will still be creeping everywhere.
User Rating: 1/10
congratulations to Microsoft
Pros: Not even close the OS X
Cons: microsoft had to steal from apple for new ideas
Absolutely pathetic.
User Rating: 10/10
MS VISTA IS A WINNER!
Pros: Windows Media Player 11 and entirely new look and feel for the desktop.
Cons: We have to pay for it! and we have wait for it late Spring.
Windows Defender,
Improved detection and removal,
A redesigned and simplified user interface,
Protection for all users,
BitLocker Drive Encryption,
Control over installation of device drivers,
International Domain Names support in Internet Explorer 7,
Parental controls,
Enhanced firewall,
Inbound and outbound filtering,
Advanced security,
Enhanced Performance and Power State Transitions,
Single-button on and off control and fast off!,
Expandable storage devices for Windows, SuperFetch,
Windows Media Player 11,
NEW! Windows Media Center.
Billy Amato (NYC) - MS beta tester
User Rating: 10/10
Blows OS X and XP out of the water
Pros: 2 second start up, 1 touch shutdown, spotlight, USB cartridges as ram, IE not built in, way more secure than XP, the awesome new interface, new system which runs programs you use often a lot faster
Cons: It's not here yet, you need a good graphics card to run it
User Rating: 1/10
Offers compulsive shoppers something to buy.
Pros: It looks pretty.
Cons: Microsoft is charging people money for this.
User Rating: 10/10
Seems great to me! However, uprade not really needed..
Pros: Looks great, love the interface & said new features
Cons: Not worth upgrading
The only time I'm going to upgrade to Vista is when I'll need a new computer. When that day comes 3-4 years from now, ofcourse I'll be reluctant to get a Windows Vista-based system.. besides Windows is all there is anyway. Windows is what most of us use and I'd rather not leap into the 'Apple minority' when I already know Windows by heart; and it runs damn fine too!
User Rating: 1/10
CRAP DO NOT BUY
Pros: NONE AT ALL
Cons: Exactly the same as Xp and Tiger... it SUCKS!!!!
User Rating: 1/10
Seems like a Mac OS X Rip off to me
Pros: None it lacks originallity
Cons: Winblows and Viruses
User Rating: 
2/10
No compelling reasons
Pros: some added security
Cons: everything else
I've never liked Windows Media Player. It would have satisfied me more if Microsoft scrapped it altogether. WMP is pretty much the epitome of software bloat.
All these new features to Internet Explorer are irrelevant because I'm never going to use Internet Explorer (just check their Secunia security advisories).
But that's okay, because I already know what the compelling reason to buy Windows Vista is. They're going to cut off support for older operating systems. So if Windows XP has a security hole, they won't fix it. They'll tell you to buy Vista instead. And that, my friends, is Vista's selling point.
User Rating: 
8/10
Media Player is nothing new
Pros: Interesting upgrade to the interface, hopefull we will be able to edit the look of the taskbar without 3rd party apps.
Cons: Looks busy, but will be great for power users
