Windows Vista beta 2: A user review

vista is not even finished yet, it's in beta, don't speculate anything right now, cos in the end we all know, it's Vista/XP which will have the largest market share, Mac & Linux etc has a long way to go, Windows just works, Mac doesn't (as it only runs on costly apple hardware), & Linux also doesn't (unavailable drivers)

Well....i m back in lucknow, & will be checking vista on some other graphics cards

anyway, vista beta 2 is out, now anyone can try it

direct download

[kalpik]

Yeah, but the huge download is a pain in the @ss! Anyone got Ofiicial beta 2 here in delhi? Maybe i can get from someone here

[gary4gar]

it size 3.14gb.wonder what they have filled in 3Gb.
@kalpik
pls choose works with caution.anyways what u said is correct what u avoid the one word from it.u know which

well....the full installation is just above 8 GB, it was 10, but i removed the hybernation file & few others files which i knew were safe to remove (help, other drivers)

the current Vista beta 2, has all the debug code in it, so that in case of a crash, & when u send report to MS, which u should cos it's beta, the debug code is also included, because of which the whole OS size is incresed, even XP was 2 GB in whistler (XP Beta 2) stage but in the end it installed within 1 GB

& then there is swap file, other users file, & not to forget that my Vista was Vista Ultimate edition, including everything such as Media centre, IIS etc, which i don't need, but did not had enough time to uninstall them

I reinstalled Vista today, with a Geforce 6600 GT AGP, & rest of the configuration being same, & my conclusion, i can't find even 1% speed difference compared to my Geforce FX card. Right now, i m working on Vista

Geforce FX cards, have much more shader instruction capabiltiy, about 1024 if i remember correct, even more then ATI Radeon 9800 series, so running 40 shaders is not anything hard

For those who are going to try the Vista beta 2, there are a few tips i would like to say

Download the latest graphics card drivers for sure

Disable hibernation in Windows Vista and remove hiberfil.sys?
Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, right click on “Command Prompt”, and then click “Run as Administrator”. If User Account Control (UAC) asks you for permission, permit the Command Prompt to run.
Next, type “powercfg -h off” (without the quotes), followed by pressing Enter.
Close the Command Prompt window and restart.


Disable DEP in Vista:

1. Click Start
2. Click All Programs
3. Click Accessories
4. Right Click on Command Prompt
5. Left click on Run as Administrator
6. Click the Allow button if it asks you for permission
7. Type or copy and paste this into the command prompt window:
bcdedit.exe /set {current} nx AlwaysOff

8. Hit enter and you should see the confirmation: Operation Completed Successfully
9. Reboot and DEP should be off.


To uninstall Windows vista, from a dual boot configuration


If u have Windows vista installed on another partition, dual booting with Windows XP, then formatting the Vista partition, will remove Windows XP boot loader also, to prevent this, first boot in Windows XP, Insert the Vista beta DVD, then go to Start-> run & type


E:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt52 ALL /force
After this, your system will auto start & u will be automatically boot in Windows XP, now simply format the vista partition to remove it

[bharat_r]

I'm currently downloading the Vista Beta 2.
Will it work my Geforece2 32MB?

what is your rest of the system configuration. geforce2 MX 32 MB is a very old card, i think u will be able to run Vista in Classic mode (Windows 2000 UI) only, although the design will be new, because to run Aero Express, u need a graphics card with 64 MB RAM, which is the minimum requirment for Vista

that reminds me, gonna run vista on intel extreme graphics 2 & GMA 900

[bharat_r]

Rest of my config:
P4 2.0 Ghz
512 MB DDR 400 Hz Ram
80 GB HDD

[tarey_g]

Originally Posted by gxsaurav

because to run Aero Express, u need a graphics card with 64 MB RAM, which is the minimum requirment for Vista

that reminds me, gonna run vista on intel extreme graphics 2 & GMA 900

GMA 900 will not support aero glass , just for info.

[QwertyManiac]

Ok, the GMA 950 then?

[gary4gar]

i have on board s3 unicrome IGP Pro 64 mb will it work???

i tried running Vista on my onboard intel Extreme Graphics 2 (865GBF). For this i removed my FX 5900XT graphics card, & rebooted, then, Vista crashed with a BSOD, as i forgot to uninstall the graphics card driver.

I booted in safe more, uninstall the nvidia drivers & then on the next boot, Vista booted properly in Windows classic UI, the performance was slow, so...i guess intel extreme graphics 2 & GMA 900 are out of league to run Vista properly. Vista was using the inbuilt graphics driver of this case

Those who wants to check weather their PC can run Windows Vista should check the Windows Vista upgrade advisor

[gary4gar]

will updrade advisor works on linux??

[kalpik]

Hmm.. Anyone finished downloading it yet? If someone in delhi is willing to burn me a copy, ill be very gratefull!

[Rollercoaster]

Yo! i am happy to day...
this is my first post from vista...

My god the first impression on this OS is pure EYE CANDY!!! SUPER Usability.

Everrything is a breeze to setup and configure..

It automatically detected and installed all hardware except onboard audio and my stone age Piselview play tv pro tv-tuner card.

The only too obvious problems i see are that IE7 flickers way too much while rendering webpages.. i dont know why.. and sometimes when some shortcuts are opened it kinda forgets that i clicked it and the window pops up a couple of minutes later..

And media player is smooth.. Hey Did u know that there are two HINDI songs bundeled with vista.. he he. check out the media player liberary after u install vista.

Mac & Linux users have always said that the simple Windows UI is bad, now since it has just got better.....& quite usable....i don't see a reason, why it should again be the most dominent OS out there

[anispace]

I think Intel GMA 900 onboard graphics are enough to run the Aero interface in Vista cause the Intel website says that it is Vista certified .

also Extreme graphics 2 has 64MB max video memory shared and GMA has 128MB with DirectX 9 compatibity.

what?Hindi songs bundled with vista!!why?? may be a bug

[Rollercoaster]

well vista does behave really irratically.

also i and really annoyed by it asking for my permission to do anything..
cant save downloads form IE to other hdds, just on my user folder
whenever i access anything inside conrol panel i have to explicitely press contineue at the "please provide security clearence"
and the foldes like sent to, start menu, locan settings are inaccessable..

i am a administrator.

anyone knows how to turndown this paranoia vista has....

EDIT:
one thing i find really uncomfertable with the new UI is the location of the back/forward buttons.
they have been located at the top right windows panes and it seems too much of a drag to pull the mouse there and press them.
they should be lower and more in the center and nearer to the work area. afterall these are the most used buttons in IE or explorer...