Windows Vista

Posted by Velvet Nightmare

Is anyone else running Vista? I'm using Beta 5112 right now, and it's fairly useable. I can run all of my applications right from my XP drive without re-installing, and the GUI is more intresting. However, infrequent crashes do tend to be bothersome.

I should be upgrading to Beta 5219 tomorrow, so I'll let everyone know how that is.

Posted by Vampiro V. Empire

Eh, I was thinking about it...

But I decided to wait until the final version comes out.

Unless I see something that's worth it beforehand

Posted by Trigger

I figure that I will wait until Windows Vista is released as a final version. As much as I would run software that is in beta mode, Microsoft aren't particularly known for having stable operating systems even in "final" release stages. I don't dare to think what condition my computer will be in by trusting Microsoft with an operating system in beta stages. My data and having a reliable system are high priority to me.

Posted by Klarth

I'm going to wait until it's officially out and final. Right now I just fool everyone into thinking I'm running Vista what with my vs, welcome screen and dupe bootscreen.

Screenshot please velvet?

Posted by Trigger

[quote=Klarth]Screenshot please velvet?
For your curiosity, here is a thirty-nine minute video clip from Microsoft that explores the [url=http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/5/b/65b05191-a526-44bc-80e5-3f5399aeb162/windows_vista_shell_2005.wmv]Windows Vista[/url] shell from both the end-user viewpoint, and the developer viewpoint. I haven't seen it myself, for the obvious connection speed reason, but I'm fairly certain that you'll get to see Windows Vista in action; there's demonstrations in there showing exactly what Vista is capable of, from what I understand.

Posted by Klarth

I know what it looks like and all from the screenshots, I've just never seen anything outside of the officially released ones.

Thanks and all for the link, though.

Posted by Trigger

[quote=Klarth]I've just never seen anything outside of the officially released ones.
What difference would it make? Official or not, Windows Vista is going to look the same, regardless of its source. The GUI doesn't change merely because some everyday user is using it. I would have thought that a video which shows the operating system in action would be far better than a few screen captures from someone like Velvet Nightmare. (That isn't a stab at you as a person, Velvet, but I'm trying to emphasise that you are an 'everyday user'.)

Posted by Velvet Nightmare

Quoting Trigger: (That isn't a stab at you as a person, Velvet, but I'm trying to emphasise that you are an 'everyday user'.)


I'm not an everyday user, I got Vista to help test compatibiltes for various programs, including a PSP emulator, the likes of which will not be discussed here (Sounds shady, but is true, believe it or not). I'm more of a programmer on the Mac side of things, like with my recent re-write of a few kexts and other logs on X86, but I still state that I am not an average user.

Anyway, here are a few pictures with descriptions:



This, as you can plainly see, is my desktop. Perhaps being one of the cooler features of the new operating system was my ability to run XP programs by simply shortcutting to them. This doesn't work with everything, as some programs feature a dynamic architecture, which works like this: When you install something like World of Warcraft, it re-writes certain parts of your install to a log, which is stored in the program file. When you start WoW from another NTFS file structure system, it knows where to looks for the files, and won't be looking on (in my case) F:/, when it is really stored on C:/. Programs like Photoshop CS2 do not support this, so it was manditory for a re-install.

Good news for everyone that games though, is that I have yet to run into a problem with any of my games. WoW occisonally has fatal memory leaks, but that is due to the fact that some of the files are being partially emulated for XP, and for lack of a better word, Vista somethimes with "freak out" and give a BSOD. However, games like Half Life 2, Counter-Strike Source, and World of Warcraft all run fine (seeing as you have enough RAM to sustain both the system and the game[1GB is the minimum or optimal system preformance])

Also note by the corner watermark that I am using Beta 5112 still, the first Beta. I'll let everyone know how things go when I upgrade to 5219.



This next image is a shot of Gaim, an omni-specific IM client, the Control Panel, and the start menu. Gaim was installed because I was having problems with the normal AIM client install. Seems that Vista thought that it would produce more fatal errors to install it than to leave it alone. I don't know the specifics, so I just decided on Gaim instead, which I like significantly better than the standard AIM.

Other points of intrest are the Glass theme, and the search bar feature. The search bar is extremely limited right now, but it is my hope that it is expanded to search more of the computer, as currently it only searches program files. However, the searching of program files is quite fast, but still is dwarfed by Spotlight's power in OSX and OSX86.

Glass is really nice to look at, and doesn't at all get old. I was happy to see that compatibility between programs is fairly sound (if a program does not support it, your theme will automatically change to Aero until you close the program.) and I only know a few applications that do not support it, those being LimeWire Pro and iTunes. Internet Explorer 7 takes advantage of transparencies a lot more than all other programs, but still does not merrit enough for me to switch back from Firefox.


Finally we have a shot of My Computer, which like the majority of the OS has undergone some form of a re-do. The small slider will change when the hard drive begins to fill, and also lists space remaining. In the corner, you can see the red glow provided by actual use IN THE GUI by 3D accelerators. Effects like the are common thorughout Vista, such as the fade when you close or open a window.

From here you can also see the Glass support of Photoshop CS2, which adds a sense of neutrality when working in the space.


Any request for other screenshots of the system?
Posted by Sirus

I would have got Windows Vista when it was first downloadable in beta stages, but this is a RENTAL computer...I would get in trouble for that. -_-

Anyways, it just looks like a glorfied XP...

Posted by Velvet Nightmare

Put it on a seperate partition and no one will ever know.

Posted by Trigger

[quote=Velvet Nightmare]I'm not an everyday user...
You aren't working for Microsoft, or any other Windows "official" company affiliate either, my friend. In this context, and by comparison, you are an 'everyday user'. I didn't ask for reasons why you are using Windows Vista.

[quote]Good news for everyone that games though, is that I have yet to run into a problem with any of my games. WoW occisonally has fatal memory leaks, but that is due to the fact that some of the files are being partially emulated for XP, and for lack of a better word, Vista somethimes with "freak out" and give a BSOD.
I don't know what your definition of a problem is, but fatal memory leaks and fatal error screens typically are problems, regardless of whether this is due to Windows XP emulation or not. Given that Windows Vista is in beta mode, it would be logical to think that Microsoft would understand most testers would have used Windows XP before this and thus, they should ensure that any emulation that occurs between Windows XP and Windows Vista works without a problem. You know, considering that emulation of software files is a pretty important issue during these beta stages.

Posted by NegativeTrend

Hay guys everyone is wrong except Trigger in case you didn't know!

Posted by Trigger

:cool:

Posted by Velvet Nightmare

Oh goody. Let us all bow down.

/rant

Posted by Trigger

The best part was when you all bowed down. :cool:

Posted by Speedfreak

...care get.

Posted by The Punisher

Its great how you can be such an A**. For that Trigger, I respect you greatly. Anyways those screens look really good, and the opaque on the open windows is a nice touch. All errors should probably be reported.

Posted by Lord of Spam

Wow, 1 gig to function? Thats so retarded. I really dont all that pretty bullshite; it seems like a waste of resources.

Posted by Trigger

[quote=The Punisher]Its great how you can be such an A**. For that Trigger, I respect you greatly.
:cool:

[quote=Lord of Spam]Wow, 1 gig to function? Thats so retarded.
Hopefully Microsoft will spend their time over the next beta release tests to work at lowering how resource intensive Windows Vista will be in final stages. If they don't, a lot of users may find such requirements to be more of an incentive to stay with what they're currently using. I know I won't be able to use Windows Vista if they don't find a way to lower system requirement demands. Of course, I can see why the requirements are so ridiculous at the moment.

Posted by Klarth

[quote=The Punisher]the opaque on the open windows is a nice touch
Do me a favour and look up the word "opaque". I think you'll be surprised at what you see.

Posted by Velvet Nightmare

Quoting Trigger: :cool:


Hopefully Microsoft will spend their time over the next beta release tests to work at lowering how resource intensive Windows Vista will be in final stages. If they don't, a lot of users may find such requirements to be more of an incentive to stay with what they're currently using. I know I won't be able to use Windows Vista if they don't find a way to lower system requirement demands. Of course, I can see why the requirements are so ridiculous at the moment.


I agreed. It's going to take a good a mount of re-working to lower the RAM requirements, but I have faith in Microsoft that they should be able to do it. Everything in the OS is somewhaat unmetered, and the GUI was spared no expense.
Posted by Lord of Spam

If they dont find a way to lower that, I may just be forced to learn Linux after all.

Posted by Klarth

There's not really much to learn. If you want to use windows-based programs, there are plenty of software suites that allow you to do so, and as for gaming, any good game will have the Linux/Unix binaries available for download on its site.