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Windows Vista RC1 Complete

alienfluid writes to mention that RC1 of Windows Vista is now complete. This 'nearly complete' version of the operating system is already available to beta testers, and will be available to everyone else soon. From the article: "You'll notice a lot of improvements since Beta 2. We've made some UI adjustments, added more device drivers, and enhanced performance. We're not done yet, however -- quality will continue to improve. We'll keep plugging away on application compatibility, as well as fit and finish, until RTM. If you are an ISV, RC1 is the build you should use for certifying your application."

35 of 292 comments (clear)

  1. Testing phase.... by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 5, Funny

    DOOOoooooo DEEEEeeeee DAAAAaaaa Ting

    Oh Crap, sorry forgot to turn the volume down.

    --
    liqbase :: faster than paper
  2. Touching hundreds of millions of lives... by Tackhead · · Score: 5, Funny
    > Windows Vista is going to touch hundreds of millions of lives all around the world.

    "Bad touch! Bad touch!"

    1. Re:Touching hundreds of millions of lives... by Who235 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Trackhead, point out on the doll where Vista touched you. . .

  3. Release Candidate? by xazeru · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If Microsoft knows that there is more work to do, why call it a release candidate?

    1. Re:Release Candidate? by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Funny

      Right, usually they call something like this "final"

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:Release Candidate? by Kesch · · Score: 5, Funny

      Most of the work left is reclassifying all the bug reports as "features."

      --
      If this signature is witty enough, maybe somebody will like me.
    3. Re:Release Candidate? by dvice_null · · Score: 5, Informative

      > RC's are usually versions that have all the core functionality implemented and are ready for testing.

      No, that is called a beta version. RC = Release Candidate means what it means. If no new problems are found by the testers, it will be the final release, or so it should be. RC version doesn't need to be bug free, but it shouldn't have any bugs that are marked as stoppers of the final release.

    4. Re:Release Candidate? by nine-times · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Well, you could have lots of changes and fixes after RC1, but if you shouldn't have any changes and bug fixes *planned* for after RC1. When you label a build as a "release candidate", you're saying it's a candidate for release. If there's no possibility that you'll release that version as "final", then it's not a release candidate.

      You might expect that you'll find some bugs in the release candidate, and that, if none of them are show-stoppers, you'll patch them after release. However, if there are known bug fixes or changes that must be completed before release, then there is no chance you'll actually release that build. therefore, it isn't a candidate for release, and hence it isn't a "release candidate".

      I don't know why people don't understand what the term means. It seems self-explanatory to me. I guess Microsoft just doesn't want to admit that they're still in the beta stage.

  4. RC? by dustball23 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How can something "nearly complete" be a candidate for release? Unless they are considering releasing THAT BUILD, it's not a true RC.

    1. Re:RC? by Aadain2001 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      It's simply a business descision. They are waaaaaaaaaaaay behind and have OEMs and major developers on their backs for something they can use to develope for/validate against. Vista will never be "done". Five years from now we'll still be "finishing" the OS with bug patches and feature creep. I think the article simple ment that what was left was fine-tuning of small features, insuring as much "correct" behavior as possible, and re-compiling without debug code.

      --
      Space for rent, inquire within
  5. Re:I just don't care anymore... by daeg · · Score: 4, Funny

    One useless "I moved to Linux, HAHA!" post down, 499 to go.

  6. Too late by ccmay · · Score: 5, Funny
    I was talking to a half dozen of my partners yesterday. Four of us already had a MacBook, and the other three were planning to buy one.

    Every one of us was a former Windows user, and had a copy of Windows 2000 or XP which they planned to run under Parallels for connectivity to our company system, but not one of them cared a fig for Vista, and nobody intended to run any kind of Windows natively with BootCamp.

    I predict this will be Microsoft's biggest flop ever. You heard it here first.

    -ccm

    --
    Too much Law; not enough Order.
    1. Re:Too late by mrbcs · · Score: 3, Insightful
      We can always hope! Windows Mistake Edition at least would sort of run on existing computers. Seen the specs for this? In this day and age? I think this one is going to tank big time and they don't have another Win2k to bail them out.

      So what do you think of the subscription model now?

      --
      I'm not anti-social, I'm anti-idiot.
    2. Re:Too late by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Considering that it's mandatory to have Vista to take advantage of DX10, and considering that DX has become a de facto standard in the gaming industry, lots of people are going to eventually be forced to port over to Vista.

      I suspect there will be a lot of developers targeting DirectX 9 for many years to come, since the number of Vista machines will be so much lower than the number of Vista+XP+Me+2K machines. In any case, hopefully some of the developers wise up and move to OpenGL where they don't have to worry about MS refusing to support their graphics API improvements. OpenGL 2.0 will work on all of the above plus the PS2 and PS3 and OS X and Linux.

  7. This one's a keeper. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's been nearly two weeks since a security patch has been released for Vista Beta. I think we have a winner. A few weeks of clear sailing and this sucker's ready for Gold. I predict all will be quiet on the security front until the Holiday season, when all our high-end fancy new computers come online with nice, shiny new Vistas.

    And when I say "our" computers I trust you know exactly what I mean.

  8. Could be worst... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    On several occasions at Atari, a producer would try to slip in an Alpha-Beta-GoldRelease-Omega build candidate to get their performance bonus even though the title was four months behind schedule. Go figure.

  9. more like.. by doti · · Score: 4, Funny

    One soul saved, 4999999999 to go.

    --
    factor 966971: 966971
  10. Oops by PhrostyMcByte · · Score: 4, Informative

    And it still has the ridiculus mandatory driver signing, forcing freeware/open source developers to shell out $500 for a certificate if they want to make drivers that work on x64. All for their precious trusted computing. Wouldn't want those evil x64 criminals installing drivers to rip hd-dvds would they?

  11. Re:Which version is this... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Redundant? If it's the same version that was released earlier this week, it would be redundant. If not the same version, maybe Jim Allchin is looking at a new Mac OS X "Leopard" build and mistaking it for Windows Vista?

  12. Re:Freeware? by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 5, Informative

    Beta 2 is available to everyone...

    From microsoft.com: "Thank you for your interest in Windows Vista. The Customer Preview Program is now closed. We have reached our program capacity and no new orders are being accepted. We apologize for any inconvenience."

    It looks like a limited number of beta testers for the beta and for the RC, not "everyone."

  13. Where Vista Touched Me. by twitter · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Trackhead, point out on the doll where Vista touched you. . .

    In the wallet, of course. M$ is going to waste $6.2 billion promoting what's looking more and more like XP SP3, super digital restriction. While I won't directly pay for that, many will. Schools, government and everyone not bright enough to use free software will pay. They will pass that cost along as taxes and higher prices. As Steve Baller likes to say, the upfront cost of software are just the beginning and all of the tremendous inefficiencies of Windoze will also be passed along in higher prices and poorer service. I don't even want to think of the costs to the economy that comes from Microsoft's inability to design a network safe OS are. All of the above easily adds up to multiples of M$'s annual net revenue.

    --

    Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.

    1. Re:Where Vista Touched Me. by deceased+comrade · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Those features are all only new to Windows. Most of these "New Features" that bill wants money for are so that his OS will actually work with established standards, and it will replicate tried and tested methods of computer use. Vista's features also seem rather similar to the features that have been in OSX for years. Also, given that microsoft tries to keep other people's software from being replaced with a version they've created, most of these features will probably be crippled and almost useless compared to functionality of included apps in OSX, and will certainly never rival the features that are available in the open source community.

    2. Re:Where Vista Touched Me. by A+beautiful+mind · · Score: 3, Interesting
      I would like you to pay close attention to this page. Special attention should be paid to what a long page it is, and the number of notes at the bottom confirming it all.
      On a page titled "Features new to Windows Vista", there are lots of things like: "Windows Vista will also use IFilters that are used today by Windows Desktop Search. The IFilter interface can be implemented by software makers so that files created by their applications can be better integrated with search and indexing programs.".

      Well, technically they would be "new" to Windows Vista, if Vista were new, but since they DID NOT start from scratch, then I sadly have to conclude that the length of that page is nowhere near indicative of the number of features found in Vista. The wiki article is basically fluffed up with explanations, comparisons, explanations of comparisons and old stuff (from WinXP and before). What's more, the article seems to concentrate on Vista from a visual POV, so it lists every little graphical detail of everything ("Other features include check boxes for selecting multiple files. When renaming a file, Explorer only highlights the filename without selecting the extension.", etc.).

      All in all, if you take out the fluff, the amount of "new features" shrink drastically. That's for 6 years of work.
      --
      It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
      Be yourself no matter what they say
  14. Re:Freeware? by eggoeater · · Score: 5, Funny


    I don't think you're looking at the correct web site.

  15. Re:Which version is this... by Kippesoep · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's newer. The build number is higher.

  16. Mr. Montoya, you're on in 5... by Mark_in_Brazil · · Score: 4, Funny
    Exactly.

    alienfluid writes to mention that RC1 of Windows Vista is now complete. This 'nearly complete' version of the operating system is already available to beta testers, and will be available to everyone else soon.
    From the article:
    "You'll notice a lot of improvements since Beta 2. We've made some UI adjustments, added more device drivers, and enhanced performance. We're not done yet, however -- quality will continue to improve. We'll keep plugging away on application compatibility, as well as fit and finish, until RTM. If you are an ISV, RC1 is the build you should use for certifying your application."

    "You keep using those words. I do not think they mean what you think they mean."
    --
    "It is nice to know that the computer understands the problem. But I would like to understand it too." --Eugene Wigner
  17. P.R. Terminology by Detritus · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Where I've worked, what Microsoft is calling a "beta" or "release candidate" would be considered an alpha release. Beta releases are supposed to be feature complete, but in need of testing and debugging.

    --
    Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
  18. Re:I just don't care anymore... by Kangie · · Score: 5, Funny

    500 useless posts on the wall
    500 useless posts,
    Mod one down to the ground
    499 useless posts on the wall.. ;)

  19. Beta III by BSonline · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Actually, if you read the pages while you're going to download the ISO, it's not quite RC yet. They specifically call it pre RC, which is just a way of saying "This is still beta, but we don't want to say that, we need to restore some faith, so this is the almost RC version. Thank you."

    The sadness does not hide the truth.

    --
    PS: That is what part of the alphabet would look like if the letters "Q" and "R" were removed.
  20. Golden Master 2 by lullabud · · Score: 3, Informative

    That reminds me of when I was working at Actiontec and I'd be working on authoring a hybrid "Gold Master" release to go off to the duplicator for 100,000 copies, and then marketing would come down the hall and have some text changes and image changes 5 minutes before the FedEx guy was going to show up, 60 minutes before FedEx closed. I'd then have to manually insert these files (then rework CVS from the changes they had me put into the tree I had checked out), and this was "Golden Master R2". So, somebody would literally be waiting with a car ready to speed off to the nearest FedEx center to hand-deliver the CD to them for shipping. Then Marketing would come back and say "SHIT! We forgot something blatantly obvious that was decided 30 minutes ago between me and another clueless top-dog suits!! I'd have to author hybrid CD Golden Master R3 and upload the ISO to them, and they'd be finished downloading it before they even received Golden Master R2 from over-night FedEx. But an ISO wasn't enough, they also needed 5 copies of Golden Master R3 over-nighted too. Then the project would be put on hold for 2 months because of a hardware issue, which would give everybody time to slip in more fixes for the "New Golden Master", and the cycle would repeat. I tried to explain the principle of the release canidate, but they wouldn't hear it. Snafu, I tell you. I sure don't miss those days.

  21. Vista prophesies from the classics by Freed · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Excerpt from running "dict vista":

    In the groves of their academy, at the end of every
    vista, you see nothing but the gallows. --Burke.
    [1913 Webster]

    The shattered tower which now forms a vista from his
    window. --Sir W. Scott.
    [1913 Webster]

    Rather fitting images for something screwing its users with WGA, DRM, etc.

  22. Re:Windows Vista - So What? by MmmmAqua · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I've been using the "Pre-RC1" build since the invites went out last week. I'm typing this post on a Vaio VGN-SZ220/B which is running Vista. The build is immensely improved since beta 2; performance and compatibility are leaps ahead of B2, the taskbar actually works, bundled drivers and DX10 are usable out of the box for playing WoW and HL2. So... nicer looking than XP, better out of box compatibility, significant UI improvements, even a better (flatter) filesystem layout. Web browser, mail, media, simple word processing, simple games, calendaring, etc. etc. are included. Except for the office applications, Vista (as shipped in sort-of-almost-RC1) does everything that Ubuntu does with the default install, and is coming closer to OS X. Why is it that if Microsoft ships anything but a bare OS, they're ridiculed for shipping bloatware, while Apple and every Linux distro on the planet can get away with bundling out the wazoo?

    I'm far from a MS fanboy, as the mini and Slackware boxes on my desk attest to, but if they make a significant improvement to their OS, I think the last thing they deserve is ridicule and derision. I also think statements like "I for one don't plan on giving Microsoft more money for their software until they release an OS that is totally useful and original." are just a reflection of the blind anti-MS zealotry that's too common here. You've just asked for a software panacea, and one that uses none of the metaphors and conventions that make desktop operating systems accessible to average users. Why not just ask them to prove the existence of God while you're at it? Sorry about the rant, but, Jesus, sometimes this place is like Michael Moore making a film about Bill Gates.

    --
    Arr! The laws of physics be a harsh mistress!
  23. Oh, please Apple execs... Please... by istartedi · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Pull your heads out of your asses and sell OS-X for generic PCs. You could clean up at $300/copy. Virtually no marginal cost. It'll replace the iPod revenues you're losing because everyone who wants one, has one. But nooOOOooo. You're so hell bent on emulating the losing business model followed by Sun. Oh, please... what do we have to do? Fly out there, slap you in the face and put smelling salts under your noses? The gorilla has eaten a bad bannanna. He's down. He won't stay down forever. You'll look back on this, and you'll never forgive yourselves for not having kicked him while he's down, cuz you know he's gonna get back up.

    --
    For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
  24. Ok well as a counter point by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 3, Insightful

    When Vista releases I'll be putting it on my computer at work. Might even stick the RC on there, we'll see. After I've validated all our apps, and had sufficient time I feel it's ready (month or two probably) I'll roll it out to the first of our labs. The rest will follow in a couple months. I expect to have Vista on 200 or so lab machines fairly soon after it's release.

    I realise that you may think you and 6 friends are a statistically significant sample, but you actually aren't.

    My prediction on Vista is let's wait and see. Seems ot me most of those predicting it'll flop are doing so because they WANT it to flop, not because they've any real valid reason to believe it will.

    Despite your perception, it does have many things going for it. One is simply that OEMs are going to switch and start shipping it. However these is legit reasons for people to be excited. Game devs are just going bonkers over DX10. Epic has already declared that while UT2007 will run just fine on DX9, you'll need 10 for all the features to work.

    So ask yourself: Are your predicting failure because you have a real reason, or because you hate MS?

  25. Some companies don't deserve your money. by twitter · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The last time I installed Ubuntsu on my Vaio Type U, suspend to RAM did not work at all. ... Suspend to ram/disk is such a basic functionality, and I just could not believe that nobody figured out how to make it work without problems. Moreover, I had to struggle with configuration files for two days to make my Bluetooth adapter work.

    Those are not Linux problems, they are Sony problems. Sony, obviously, knows how to make their hardware work which is why those things sort of work under Windoze. I say sort of because XP is neither stable nor network safe, so nothing Sony does for it will last long. It would be nice of Sony to put their effort where the market is moving or at least to give out the information needed for others to make drivers. What you really should ask is why it's possible to buy that computer with Windoze but not with any of the much less expensive alternatives. That's right, the anti-trust violations M$ was busted for years ago.

    The best way to move the market and please yourself is to buy stuff that works. It takes research effort up front but you will recoup that many times over the life of the machine. More importantly, you send the only message markets understand: money. I'll research the specific model before I buy. The easiest research is to take a live CD to the store. If it runs and things work, I might buy the machine. Anything else is a gamble.

    I've been happy with used thinkpads. I've gotten them from Certified Used and Local Stores. Power management works well with all of them with nothing more than Debian right out of the box. The machine I'm writing this on has a good 66 days of uptime under Etch and I booted it last only because I wanted to use it's optical drive to install to another hard drive. Sarge just never goes down. Anything from a PII with 256 MB and better is usable for normal everyday use, though I've migrated to 1 GHz class processors. All I miss are software related to video editing and accelerated graphics which are all patented and NDA'd to hell.

    --

    Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.