Longhorn Beta Begins

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Posted by CowboyNeal on Saturday July 9, 2005 @02:41AM from the bang-a-gong dept.

gcnaddict writes "Microsoft has officially sent invitations to their best beta testers and to WinHEC participants for their Windows Code Name Longhorn beta program. They also unveiled a new Beta Client which promises to be better than the current beta management systems, and will replace other means of beta distribution, including WindowsBeta and BetaPlace all in one fell swoop. While the new, highly anticipated operating system is not up for download, Beta 1 is expected to be up for grabs later this month. Unfortunately, it seems that the preliminary invitation codes are unique per user. Microsoft is expected to allow the public to apply for the beta program later this summer, and as usual, Longhorn will be a part of the Community Technology Preview program."

48 of 400 comments (clear)

Beta begins? by Anonymous Coward · 2005-07-09 02:43 · Score: 5, Funny

I didn't realize Microsoft was releasing it to consumers this early.
1. Re:Beta begins? by Anonymous Coward · 2005-07-09 03:17 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  You should dream about something more realistic, that could actually happen. Like you getting a date, Slashdot without dupe-stories or me spending a day without a computer.
highly anticipated? by Anonymous Coward · 2005-07-09 02:44 · Score: 4, Funny

Euhm, highly anticipated?

What is CowboyNeil smoking?
1. Re:highly anticipated? by FLAGGR · 2005-07-09 03:10 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Highly anticipated by virus writers. Gotta get a head start.
Everything Enabled? by opello · 2005-07-09 02:44 · Score: 4, Interesting

Have they disabled a lot of stuff like they have in the 'rc' releases of longhorn? Or is all the 'glits' tossed in (visual effects and the like)?
1. Re:Everything Enabled? by MrZeebo · 2005-07-09 03:58 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Offtopic, but how exactly can it be possible for a question to be moderated informative?
2. Re:Everything Enabled? by Anonymous Coward · 2005-07-09 05:52 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Yet how ironic is it to see your own question get modded insightful as well! It doesn't make any more sense this time now, does it?
  
  Now let's see if this gets modded informative too ;)
3. Re:Everything Enabled? by dmayle · 2005-07-09 07:31 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Re:Everything Enabled? (Score:5, Informative)
  
  Offtopic, but how exactly can it be possible for a question to be moderated informative?
  
  Could it be the same way a question can be moderated funny?
  
  Note to mods: this joke doesn't work if you don't mod this up funny ;-)
4. Re:Everything Enabled? by toddestan · 2005-07-09 11:11 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Note to mods: this joke doesn't work if you don't mod this up funny ;-)
  
  I love these games! I'll take a +5 Interesting please.
Obligatory.. by G-Licious! · 2005-07-09 02:45 · Score: 3, Funny

Will it run on Linux?
I know I speak for Sladhotters when I say... by Krankheit · 2005-07-09 02:47 · Score: 3, Funny

Huh? Where is the torrent? gcnaddict forgot to add the torrent link. I plan to install this on my 233 MHz Dell Latitude 64 MB of RAM. I got Windows 2000 Professional to install on my 133 MHz Dell Dimension with 32 MB of RAM (albeit Windows complained about running too low on virtual memory), so I know this laptop will run Longhorn.

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Powered by caffeine and sugar; BSD
1. Re:I know I speak for Sladhotters when I say... by Anonymous Coward · 2005-07-09 02:53 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  It'll run, but it'll run like Christopher Reeves.
2. Re:I know I speak for Sladhotters when I say... by Anonymous Coward · 2005-07-09 04:34 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Christopher Reeve is dead you insensitive clod! ...which I must admit only strengthens your position.
Why will I want to upgrade? by ip_freely_2000 · 2005-07-09 02:48 · Score: 3, Funny

I'm happy with XP.

It never crashes
I don't get viruses or spyware or hacks
All the software I need works fine
I have all the connectivity I need

So why is expecting people to upgrade?
1. Re:Why will I want to upgrade? by Donny+Smith · 2005-07-09 02:58 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  >Why upgrade to XP when everything I need runs on 2000?
  
  I don't think you can "upgrade" from Win2K to XP anyway.
2. Re:Why will I want to upgrade? by tehsoul · 2005-07-09 03:06 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  why do people buy new cars when their old one isnt broken? why did you buy a dvd player when your vcr still worked fine? people want ease-of-use and gimmicks. the middle aged computer noobs and cartuning teens will be able to eat their hearts out! even MORE useless blingbling! YAY! (win2k forever 3)
  
  --
  me and my thinkpad, sittin' in a tree, c-o-d-i-n-g...
3. Re:Why will I want to upgrade? by Tezkah · 2005-07-09 03:16 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  So why is expecting people to upgrade?
  
  Because the new IE included in Longhorn includes Clippy saying "Hey, something about your grammer isn't right!" when posting to slashdot!
  
  Please upgrade, for the children...
4. Re:Why will I want to upgrade? by Ismilar · 2005-07-09 03:40 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  So: Non developers are fine with what they have and don't need Longhorn. ..but developers need Longhorn, so that they can develop programs so that the non-developers who don't need Longhorn can use Longhorn? That makes sense (unfortunately, from Microsoft's perspective, it actually does make sense).
5. Re:Why will I want to upgrade? by StormUP · 2005-07-09 03:54 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  You CAN upgrade from Windows 2000 to Windows XP professional. You cannot upgrade from Windows 2000 to Windows XP Home. See the following chart for complete upgrade options: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/upgrading/m atrix.mspx
6. Re:Why will I want to upgrade? by FireFury03 · 2005-07-09 04:02 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Because the new IE included in Longhorn includes Clippy saying "Hey, something about your grammer isn't right!" when posting to slashdot!
  
  Clippy: "You look like you're downloading a virus, do you need help with that?"
  
  --
  http://blog.nexusuk.org
7. Re:Why will I want to upgrade? by bsharitt · 2005-07-09 04:19 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  *<---------------Parent Comment *<---------------Your head
8. Re:Why will I want to upgrade? by Koyaanisqatsi · 2005-07-09 04:58 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Parent is marked as funny, goes to show the level of maturity of the mods here.
  
  I use XP at work, my box is up for about 20 days now, I even installed MSDE (the lite version of SQL Server) withouth having to reboot.
  
  Viruses or spyware? Never had any, but I know when to delete that "cute screensaver", instead of cliking thorough.
  
  People bash MS a bit too much around here, IMHO.
  
  Oh well, karma be dammed.
9. Re:Why will I want to upgrade? by UnrefinedLayman · 2005-07-09 05:02 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  No, the only difference is not one registry key. This is an old myth that only sloppy computer people propagate.
  
  http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=887565 should explain it more clearly for you.
10. Re:Why will I want to upgrade? by StormUP · 2005-07-09 05:56 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  For one, if you use SCSI, Windows 2000 has a bug where it ignores the write_through flag. Windows XP correctly honors this flag. Some people complain that XP has "poor SCSI performance" because of this, but it is just doing what it is supposed to have done all along -- Namely write the data directly to disk rather than cache(usually to prevent possible data loss or corruption) when the applications ask it not to use the cache. This obviously results in a performance hit, but it is DOING THE RIGHT THING. Sure, in most cases for most users this doesn't matter and most users don't even have SCSI, but this is an important feature for some applications that is BROKEN in Windows 2000.
11. Re:Why will I want to upgrade? by bankman · 2005-07-09 09:42 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Parent is marked as funny, goes to show the level of maturity of the mods here.
  You posting this statement here says something about you as well, doesn't it?
  
  I use XP at work, my box is up for about 20 days now, I even installed MSDE (the lite version of SQL Server) withouth having to reboot.
  
  Wow, impressive, a desktop box running without a reboot for 20 days and you didn't even have to reboot it to install some "lite" database system.
  
  A couple of pointers:
  1. Real Men don't brag about uptime until it can be measured in years.
  2. A Real System is never rebooted.
  
  Viruses or spyware? Never had any, but I know when to delete that "cute screensaver", instead of cliking thorough.
  
  What are viruses and spyware, and what is this screensaver stuff anyway? BTW, the fact that you have to worry about stuff like "cute screensaver" tells a lot about MS's security approach, don't you think?
  
  People bash MS a bit too much around here, IMHO.
  
  Actually MS is not bashed enough for the amount of crap they produce and the headaches they induce, IMHO.
  
  ;-)
  
  --
  I feel so sig.
Sweet! by ShyGuy91284 · 2005-07-09 02:49 · Score: 5, Funny

Where's the torrent?

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In undeveloped countries, the consumer controls the market. In capitalist America, the market controls you.
Sounds like a PR firm made the info page here... by powerline22 · 2005-07-09 02:49 · Score: 5, Insightful

Reading this makes me want to punch myself in the face with all of the marketing-speak.

Avalon: new opportunities for developing exciting applications while reducing complexity

Indigo: radically simplifies how the next generation of connected systems will be built.

AERO: a new design philosophy that delivers a compelling user experience from the moment users start interacting with the computer to the moment they leave.

Compelling? I don't want my UI to be a driving force or something like that. I want it to be easy and simple. Exciting applications? When was the last time that Microsoft Excel got your blood pumping and you wanted to scream HELL YEA! THIS IS AWESOME!!
glits? by DoorFrame · 2005-07-09 02:49 · Score: 4, Funny

I assume that where you wrote 'glits' you meant to write 'bling'.

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RumorsDaily
At least they added a new feature by noidentity · 2005-07-09 02:51 · Score: 5, Funny

Let's just hope Microsoft doesn't remove this beta management system by the time Longhorn is released, as has happened to so many other features.
let me explain something about longhorn... by C0vardeAn0nim0 · 2005-07-09 02:53 · Score: 4, Interesting

here in brasil (and maybe other latin countries like italy too) is said that a man cheated by his wife or girlfriend has "horns". so what makes microsoft think that i'll want "long horns" ???

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What ? Me, worry ?
1. Re:let me explain something about longhorn... by 25albert · 2005-07-09 03:23 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  I can confirm that it is the same in French. To "have horns" means to be cheated on by his/her partner. But since the French don't speak barbaric languages and expect the barbarians to learn a civilized language instead, they will not understand "longhorn", so it won't matter.
2. Re:let me explain something about longhorn... by Glonoinha · 2005-07-09 04:07 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Now why I want an OS named after a breed of cattle... I can't answer.
  
  Maybe the guys writing it worship cows or something?
  
  --
  Glonoinha the MebiByte Slayer
3. Re:let me explain something about longhorn... by Jester99 · 2005-07-09 04:22 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  It's named after a bar.
  
  XP was code-named "Whistler," a large ski mountain north of Redmond. The next version of Windows was therefore suposed to be codenamed "Blackcomb" -- the other mountain in the ski area. Except that Blackcomb's feature list got so long, they realized it'd take them five or more years to pull it all off, so they decided to split the more neccessary features into a release that'd come out sooner than Blackcomb. The obvious choice of name for this release is called Longhorn -- the bar that sits between the Whistler and Blackcomb mountains. :)
  
  So when you think Windows, think beer!
4. Re:let me explain something about longhorn... by yuriismaster · 2005-07-09 04:35 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Kimarhi not have long horn.
  
  Biran with long horn BREAK Kimarhi's horn.
  
  Kimarhi will have beta OS, defeat Biran's long horn.
Already got this... by intmainvoid · 2005-07-09 02:53 · Score: 5, Funny

With all the features dropped recently, can't I just participate in the beta with my copy of XP?

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Drag n' Drop DVD Recommendations
Re:Send them back. by DoorFrame · 2005-07-09 02:56 · Score: 3, Funny

Yes, because running an operating system makes you a slave. A SLAVE!

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RumorsDaily
Wrong name by iamdrscience · 2005-07-09 02:56 · Score: 4, Funny

Longhorn? More like shoehorn, the way they're trying to cram all these new "features" into it.

With all the visual frosting MS is laying on Longhorn is turning into an episode of "Pimp my OS"
Disclaimer and marketing hype history.. by 3seas · 2005-07-09 02:58 · Score: 3, Insightful

"This Web site describes current aspirations, scenarios, and advancements being considered for the family of future Microsoft Windows client operating system offerings, code-named Longhorn. There is no guarantee, implied or otherwise, concerning final Longhorn release features or attributes. This statement of the Longhorn aspirations was last updated April 25, 2005."

and what do we know of MS marketing hype history?
Screenshots of build 5203 by queezle · 2005-07-09 03:06 · Score: 4, Informative

http://www.jackpearce.com/stuff/longhorn/ http://anyweb.kicks-ass.net/computers/os/windows/l onghorn/lh5203/post/index.html http://anyweb.kicks-ass.net/computers/os/windows/l onghorn/lh5203/install/index.html It's starting to look very nice!
Bah! This is Microsoft, remember? by Anonymous Coward · 2005-07-09 03:07 · Score: 5, Insightful

They're starting the alpha now-- the beta test doesn't begin until it's on store shelves, and lasts until SP1 (what they SHOULD have shipped as the final product) is released.
Wow, great! by ratta · 2005-07-09 03:12 · Score: 4, Funny

How much will i have to pay to try the beta?

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Wondering why i am doing so strange posts? I am trying to get a "+5,Flamebait" or "-1,Insightful" rating.
You have not seen excited? by DebianDog · 2005-07-09 03:20 · Score: 3, Funny

Not excited?!?! You need to go to an M$ developers conference! - (MPEG 1.6 meg)
I can't wait by WormholeFiend · 2005-07-09 03:28 · Score: 5, Funny

to see which color they picked for the Screen of Death.
Wow. by Kingpin · 2005-07-09 04:33 · Score: 4, Funny

Quite impressive as XP obviously isn't even out of beta yet.

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Unable to read configuration file '/bigassraid/htdig//conf/14229.conf'
Geocrawler error message.
Copy Of Invite And Link To Screenshots by monkeyman_67156 · 2005-07-09 04:41 · Score: 5, Informative

Dear Microsoft Beta Tester,

We are pleased to offer you an early preview of Windows, Code-Name "Longhorn," by extending this invitation to join the Longhorn beta program. Your participation is completely voluntary. Longhorn Beta Program participants will preview software for the next generation of Windows as well as Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. If you choose to participate you will have the opportunity to provide Microsoft with feedback as we continue work on these exciting new releases.

What is Windows Code-Name "Longhorn"?

The next version of Windows, Code-Name "Longhorn," promises to be the most secure and intuitive Windows release to date. It delivers on the promise of allowing people to use their computers more effectively and confidently to achieve their goals and pursue their passions. It offers new tools to help protect the integrity of your system and your information, easier ways to find, visualize and organize your information, and provides better integration across applications, devices and systems.

Longhorn will provide advancements in the following key areas:
- A strong focus on the fundamentals of the operating system, including advancements in reliability, performance, deployment, and ease of use.
- Major improvements to help PC users to work smarter and provide exciting new experiences for home users.
- The next-generation developer platform to make it easier for developers to create breakthrough applications.

What you can expect if you choose to participate:

You will be notified by email this summer when the software becomes available to test. The beta software will be available via download. If you elect to receive mailed releases, only major milestone releases (Beta1, Beta 2, etc) will be sent to you.

Participants can expect access to Windows, Windows Server, the Windows Driver Kit the Platform Software Development Kit as well as Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. We may make other software available as well, and it's important to note that some of the above software may not be available immediately after the program gets underway.

http://anyweb.kicks-ass.net/computers/os/windows/l onghorn/lh5203/install/index.html

http://anyweb.kicks-ass.net/computers/os/windows/l onghorn/lh5203/post/index.html

http://xerocool.innereyes.com/general/longhorn_520 3_screenshots.php

ed2k://|file|lh5203screens.rar|12596567|016AAB080E 47E029C881677C8CE15B56|h=5UIG4BNLHRXSATG6CZWF5WZV5 QR2Y3M2|/
trade invitation by elmartinos · 2005-07-09 04:46 · Score: 5, Funny

Will trade 50 gmail invitations for one longhorn invitation

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Open Source Alternatives
Re:A very incomplete list off the top of my head by Wade+Tregaskis · 2005-07-09 04:48 · Score: 3, Interesting

"One video showed two Notepads rotating around while still completely usable at the same time a video played in Media Player. Old apps will be compatible."

MacOS X 10.2, August 23, 2002.

http://www.atzenbeck.de/research/wildWindows/
http://homepage.cs.latrobe.edu.au/wjtregaskis/Rota ted%20Windows.sitx
Re:Sounds like a PR firm made the info page here.. by ThyPiGuy · 2005-07-09 05:56 · Score: 4, Funny

With comments like that you can't be taken seriously. If you actually ever sat down and used excel to its full potential you would find that it has some incredible features. I use it everyday, and no, it has never once crashed. And yes, some times I do want to scream, hell yea this is awesome. The Microsoft bashing is getting to be a little excessive. Everyone else doing it doesn't make it cool or right. Get a grip.