Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Inside Vista's Image-Based Install Process

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the how-the-whole-bloody-thing-works dept.

KrispyGlider writes "Vista's installation process is dramatically different from any previous version of Windows: rather than being an 'installer,' the install DVD is actually a preinstalled copy of Windows that simply gets decompressed onto your PC. It is hardware agnostic, so it can adjust to different systems, and you can also install your own apps into it so that your Vista install becomes a full system image install. APCMag.com has published an interview with a Microsoft Australia tech specialist on the inner workings of it as well as a story that looks at some of the pros and cons of image-based installs."

3 of 519 comments (clear)

  1. Re:dual boot? by MikeTheC · · Score: 0, Troll
    Are you kidding? Microsoft would never allow that! Hell, people would "forget" to ALT-TAB back into Windows!

    Of course, the sound you'd hear would be the collective sigh of relief from the general public after years of indentured servitude.

    Well, except for the gamers, of course... ;)

  2. Re:Fewer Choices? by nine-times · · Score: 0, Troll

    The last beta of Windows Vista I tried, after the installation of the OS alone, took up 16 GB of disk space! I wish I had been offered a few options. If you're talking about, why should someone be asked whether they want notepad.exe installed, then I'm with you-- go ahead and install the thing. If you're just saying you wanted to be able to select a bunch of things and hit a button, and the install take care of the rest, I agree completely. But holy crap, 16 GB is a lot of disk space to have taken up by the "bare" OS install.

  3. Re:dual boot? by MojoBox · · Score: 0, Troll

    You have to reinstall windows because you use IE and that automagically fills your computer with spyware? Yeesh, either download Adaware and a good antivirus, or lay off the warez and porn sites.