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Windows Vista RC2 Available
GarstMan writes to mention that Microsoft has released what it hopes will be the last version of Windows Vista to go through the testing process. From the article: "This new build of Windows Vista offers users a higher level of performance and stability - improving what was established in Windows Vista RC1. We were able to also fix many of your bugs reported from RC1 and implement them for RC2. Thank you to our beta testers for the bugs and feedback you submitted for RC1. The improvement shows as we raised our quality bar even higher! Platforms and Services Co-President Jim Allchin has just posted a special announcement letter of RC2 to Microsoft Connect for the Windows Vista Technical Beta Testers."
If they don't fix bugs between RC's then what, pray tell, are they supposed to be doing? Just printing the same discs over again with RC2 instead of RC1? BTW smart guy, they don't add features after RC1.
Here's the direct link to the 2552.6GBGB ISO image: Vista RC2 build 5744.
http://download.windowsvista.com/preview/rc2/en/do wnload.htm
enjoy
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RC = Frozen API
RTM = Release
Release candidate means "You can build your release software against this version as the API is frozen and we are just working out the kinks"
Sorry.
I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
Mod parent up, s/he's got a great point! I haven't tried Vista yet, but initial takes on the RC1/RC2 releases have been positive. From a software compatibility perspective, you might as well be running RC2 now if you know for sure you're going to just be buying Vista anyway when it hits the shelves: Whereas the old betas were fairly crash-prone and didn't run much besides Office, the RC releases are apparently much more polished and well-suited to everyday use. Windows beta testing superstar Paul Thurrott has been throwing everything he can at the 32-bit RC releases and has yet to find an application that doesn't work (we shall see if the same thing holds true for games).
That's pretty impressive for Microsoft, especially considering how poorly major Windows updates have been handled in the past. Does anybody still recall the Windows 98 --> Windows 2000 transition? It was pretty ugly stuff. Even a year after the Win2k release, drivers were still breaking, plenty of older software had weird compatibility issues, etc. It seems that Microsoft is really trying to avoid a repeat performance.
Let's hear it for Akamai! Microsoft has been using Akamai for every public Vista release. More amusing is that Akamai is running on Linux.
"Sufferin' succotash."
There's really not a lot to say about it. A few things become abundantly clear when you use it:
1.) It feels very much like a redressed XP. It behaves the same as previous versions of Windows have. There are even dialogs dating back to Windows 3.1, like the Install Font dialog.
2.) UAC is incredibly annoying. You'll see. You will hate it.
3.) Something feels weird about it. I often find myself wanting to go back to XP. It might be the inconsistent interface that I'm not used to, or the overuse of gaudy visual effects (the animated ribbon swoosh used everywhere looks straight out of a 1980s public access channel logo). Maybe it's the nasty colors used everywhere in the the aquamarine/sea-green theme that is Aero.
It's a weird feeling to use Vista, like it should have been out three years ago. It feels very dated in places.
"Sufferin' succotash."
About 1 week ago, I installed RC1++ (RC1 refresh, 5728 or something like that). It installed smoothly on my computer at home (previous builds of Vista have given me tons of driver problems).
I can dual boot between XP and Vista. I was originally planning to just use Vista for testing (the program I work on is not yet 100% Vista compatible, so I need a Vista machine to use for testing my fixes). However, it has worked well enough for me that I haven't booted back to XP all week. That says a lot.
One thing I've learned about Vista is that there are a few places where a driver problem will drag your performance down. For example, the system does more disk flushes than XP. One driver was not handling the flushes well, and the result was that previous versions of Vista felt terribly slow. I was blaming it on the Video card, but it turned out to be the RAID driver. Once that driver got updated, the performance (along with my opinion of Vista) went up about 3 notches.
There are definitely pros and cons.
Pro: Vista looks nifty, runs smoothly and has a nice feel to it. It just looks and feels polished to me, if you care about that kind of thing. The machine I've been using gets a performance rating of 4 or 5 on everything except the graphics card, which rates a 2, but the Aero interface is still fast enough that I can leave it on. (Occasionally, dragging a Window is a bit sluggish, but most of the time it is fine.)
Con: Lots of things are in new places. I know my way around XP like... Well, pretty darn well. I don't know my way around Vista. On the other hand, there are search boxes in convenient places in Vista, and you can search for things like where to find setting X or how to fix problem Y.
Pro: Console window is improved. The console behaves the same, but I can put a TrueType font on my console window and it still scrolls faster than it did in XP with a bitmap font. Scrolling the console window at max speed no longer takes 100% CPU.
Con: I still don't like the UAC prompt that pops up whenever I do anything that requires administrator privileges. I've gotten used to it, though. (Basically, I think of it as automatic SU without a password requirement.) It actually makes sense to have something like that, and it allows me to run at reduced privilege and still have easy access to Admin tasks. On the other hand, it could still use some work. For example, I wish the "control panels that require administrative privileges" were all grouped together so I could just click on one UAC prompt and be done with it. As it is, I have to accept one UAC prompt here to change setting A, another UAC prompt for setting B, another over there... And if I want to copy a file to a restricted location, then rename it, then edit it, I have to approve 3 different UAC prompts. However, once I got the system set up the way I like it, the prompts come up more rarely, and the occasional UAC prompt for something significant become natural.
The only issues I have are with a few programs that don't behave well without Admin privileges. Upgrades are coming soon for them, and I have figured out workarounds for now. This is probably a good thing, as it will give software vendors a good kick in the pants to get their programs fixed to not require admin.
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
Using goofy, loaded words like "pirated" is just as bad. It's called "copyright infringement" or "illegal copying".