Vista beta time
Since Microsoft has been so kind as to open their beta of Windows Vista up to the general public, I figured I'd give it a spin (head over to www.windowsvista.com if you're interested). Figured I'd give a few comments as a first impression..
Installation:
I didn't want to hose my current setup, in case something goes wrong (gasp) with beta software.. so I pulled out an old 30GB 5400 RPM drive I had sitting around. Quick hack job to get it installed (it's not in the case securely by any means - I just unplugged the boot XP drive and plugged the cables into this drive.. ), and I was ready to go. Install took quite a while, but was smooth. Only odd thing was they asked me to select regional settings twice during the install (can't they remember?).
Requirements:
When Microsoft recommends a minimum of 15GB for a Vista install.. they're not kidding. The Windows folder alone weighs in at a whopping 11.1GB - and with all of the other files, we're almost up to 12GB from the get go. Significantly larger than Windows XP!
And 1GB of RAM is really the minimum - with only the web browser open, I'm using 982MB! That doesn't leave much room for open programs before you get into swapping - which I think I experienced earlier, leading to a very sluggish system (remember the 5400 RPM drive?)
GUI:
The new Aero Glass effects are quite nice - I especially like the windows-tab that shuffles through the open windows in a graphical way. And the mouseover previews on the task bar are a nice addition as well. Windows Explorer has been upgraded - and I find it easier to navigate through folders. The start menu gets a makeover, and looks a lot better as a result. No more chasing a menu opening over the entire screen.
In short, the GUI is the most noticable change to Windows. I like the new eye-candy.. but is Vista all flash and no substance? We'll see..
IE7:
Internet Explorer 7 (also available for Windows XP - although it didn't install correctly on my machine, and I didn't bother troubleshooting it) is a definite improvement over IE6 - but after playing with it for a while, I've switched back to Firefox. The reason? The same one that sold me on Firefox initally - image (and hence ad) blocking. Grab the adblock and the filterset.g extensions, and you're in for a nice, clean browsing experience. Microsoft does not supply this with IE7, and that's unfortunate.
However, the much ballyhooed complaint by Google over Microsoft's choice of MSN Search as default is overblown, and completely a non-issue. It takes four clicks, count 'em, four.. to switch to Google (or any other provider) - which is, incidentally, the same number of clicks it takes in Firefox to select MSN Search (not that I'd want to..). No problem from where I stand..
Media center:
Finally! I get a chance to play with Windows Media Center, without having to purchase a specially made PC (Windows: Media Center edition isn't sold seperately..).. right? Right? This is Vista Ultimate, isn't it? Well, unfortunately, it's not that easy. Vista doesn't recognize my All In Wonder card as being a TV tuner.. and ATI doesn't have AIW drivers for Vista yet (and the XP ones don't work at all). Boo. The jury's still out on this one..
XPS:
This is the new format that MS hopes will take over PDF. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work very well (I was *about* to say at all - but lo and behold - the document finally loaded for me!). First off, for some reason, the default "XPS viewer" application goes to Firefox, which doesn't know how to handle it. IE churned for a long time (to be fair, the Windows Vista Product Guide is a rather large document.. but at 299 pages, isn't that big), leading me to think it had hung, before working.
Nothing much to say on this front, it works.. but I don't see any advantage over PDF right now (at least, for viewing files.. )
Sidebar:
The new widgets are a neat addition. Haven't had the chance to play around with them much to see if they're anything more than a novelty (is there a way to show the sidebar without going to the desktop?)
User Account Control:
Microsoft is committed to security with Vista, and that's a good thing. But there's a fine line between warning users of potentially unsafe actions, and crying wolf. Vista crosses that line. There are far too many warning messages, most of which only really contain common sense information. What's worse, some of the prompts seem to interrupt video/audio playback. This area needs some work before the final version.
Problems:
A few other problems I've come across:
- Context menus don't always show up as they're supposed to. Sometimes, the context menu items are blank or grayed out, but they still have the desired effect, if you know where to click..
- Taskbar previews sometimes show blank windows instead of the contents.
- My microphone doesn't work.
and by far the most serious:
Installing Daemon tools screwed up a file on my system, requiring (maybe there was a better way?) me to use System recovery.. which wiped out all of the applications I had installed. Luckily, at that point it was only Office, Acrobat Reader, and Firefox, but still.. I wonder whether this is a Vista problem or a Daemon tools problem..
So that's my first impression. Is Vista going to be worth buying? It depends on how much Microsoft will charge. As it is, the only real improvement I've seen has been to the GUI, and that won't sell me on Vista alone..
Installation:
I didn't want to hose my current setup, in case something goes wrong (gasp) with beta software.. so I pulled out an old 30GB 5400 RPM drive I had sitting around. Quick hack job to get it installed (it's not in the case securely by any means - I just unplugged the boot XP drive and plugged the cables into this drive.. ), and I was ready to go. Install took quite a while, but was smooth. Only odd thing was they asked me to select regional settings twice during the install (can't they remember?).
Requirements:
When Microsoft recommends a minimum of 15GB for a Vista install.. they're not kidding. The Windows folder alone weighs in at a whopping 11.1GB - and with all of the other files, we're almost up to 12GB from the get go. Significantly larger than Windows XP!
And 1GB of RAM is really the minimum - with only the web browser open, I'm using 982MB! That doesn't leave much room for open programs before you get into swapping - which I think I experienced earlier, leading to a very sluggish system (remember the 5400 RPM drive?)
GUI:
The new Aero Glass effects are quite nice - I especially like the windows-tab that shuffles through the open windows in a graphical way. And the mouseover previews on the task bar are a nice addition as well. Windows Explorer has been upgraded - and I find it easier to navigate through folders. The start menu gets a makeover, and looks a lot better as a result. No more chasing a menu opening over the entire screen.
In short, the GUI is the most noticable change to Windows. I like the new eye-candy.. but is Vista all flash and no substance? We'll see..
IE7:
Internet Explorer 7 (also available for Windows XP - although it didn't install correctly on my machine, and I didn't bother troubleshooting it) is a definite improvement over IE6 - but after playing with it for a while, I've switched back to Firefox. The reason? The same one that sold me on Firefox initally - image (and hence ad) blocking. Grab the adblock and the filterset.g extensions, and you're in for a nice, clean browsing experience. Microsoft does not supply this with IE7, and that's unfortunate.
However, the much ballyhooed complaint by Google over Microsoft's choice of MSN Search as default is overblown, and completely a non-issue. It takes four clicks, count 'em, four.. to switch to Google (or any other provider) - which is, incidentally, the same number of clicks it takes in Firefox to select MSN Search (not that I'd want to..). No problem from where I stand..
Media center:
Finally! I get a chance to play with Windows Media Center, without having to purchase a specially made PC (Windows: Media Center edition isn't sold seperately..).. right? Right? This is Vista Ultimate, isn't it? Well, unfortunately, it's not that easy. Vista doesn't recognize my All In Wonder card as being a TV tuner.. and ATI doesn't have AIW drivers for Vista yet (and the XP ones don't work at all). Boo. The jury's still out on this one..
XPS:
This is the new format that MS hopes will take over PDF. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work very well (I was *about* to say at all - but lo and behold - the document finally loaded for me!). First off, for some reason, the default "XPS viewer" application goes to Firefox, which doesn't know how to handle it. IE churned for a long time (to be fair, the Windows Vista Product Guide is a rather large document.. but at 299 pages, isn't that big), leading me to think it had hung, before working.
Nothing much to say on this front, it works.. but I don't see any advantage over PDF right now (at least, for viewing files.. )
Sidebar:
The new widgets are a neat addition. Haven't had the chance to play around with them much to see if they're anything more than a novelty (is there a way to show the sidebar without going to the desktop?)
User Account Control:
Microsoft is committed to security with Vista, and that's a good thing. But there's a fine line between warning users of potentially unsafe actions, and crying wolf. Vista crosses that line. There are far too many warning messages, most of which only really contain common sense information. What's worse, some of the prompts seem to interrupt video/audio playback. This area needs some work before the final version.
Problems:
A few other problems I've come across:
- Context menus don't always show up as they're supposed to. Sometimes, the context menu items are blank or grayed out, but they still have the desired effect, if you know where to click..
- Taskbar previews sometimes show blank windows instead of the contents.
- My microphone doesn't work.
and by far the most serious:
Installing Daemon tools screwed up a file on my system, requiring (maybe there was a better way?) me to use System recovery.. which wiped out all of the applications I had installed. Luckily, at that point it was only Office, Acrobat Reader, and Firefox, but still.. I wonder whether this is a Vista problem or a Daemon tools problem..
So that's my first impression. Is Vista going to be worth buying? It depends on how much Microsoft will charge. As it is, the only real improvement I've seen has been to the GUI, and that won't sell me on Vista alone..
posted by Adam S. at 5:34 PM
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