Microsoft Windows Vista now available

[NICK ADSL UK]

Get Ready for Windows Vista
Getting ready for Windows Vista, available in early 2007, means choosing the edition that's right for you and ensuring that you have the right PC to enjoy the experiences you want.

Windows Vista Beta 2 Customer Preview Program
Windows Vista Beta 2 is now available for you to install, test, and enjoy. Here's the information you need to try it now.

Evaluate Your Current PC
Run the Windows Vista Upgrade Adviser beta to help get your PC ready for Windows Vista.
System Requirements
We recommend that you consult the Windows Vista Capable and Premium Ready PC specifications for system requirement guidance on running the core experiences and advanced features of Windows Vista.

Get Windows Vista Beta 2
Windows Vista Beta 2 is available as a download or on DVD. It's time for clarity—try it now!
Windows Vista Beta 2 Resource Centre

Once you have installed Windows Vista Beta 2, be sure to visit the Resource Centre to download the Windows Vista Product Guide, find anti-virus software for Beta 2, and discover more information that will help you get up and running quickly.

Windows Vista Capable and Premium Ready PCs
You can confidently buy a Windows XP computer today that's ready when you are for Windows Vista. Find out more about buying a Windows Vista Capable or Premium Ready PC.

Windows Vista Upgrade Adviser Beta
The Windows Vista Upgrade Adviser beta will help you determine if your current PC is ready for an upgrade to Windows Vista. It will also help you to choose the edition of Windows Vista that's right for you. Download the Upgrade Adviser beta and run an analysis of your current PC and use the detailed feedback to ensure that your PC is ready for the edition of Windows Vista that you want.

Windows Vista Editions
From home entertainment to business productivity and everything in between, there's an edition of Windows Vista that's right for you.

To order the DVD Kit for installing or for download then please see here. Please also note that this is a beta and will expire on June 1st 2007
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvist...y/preview.mspx

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvist...y/default.mspx

[Hipster Doofus]

Good stuff. A year to play with it. :D Now if only I could get the download to start. Seems MS are under load & being on dialup it is going to take a while anyways.

[hugh750]

Originally Posted by Hipster Doofus

Good stuff. A year to play with it. :D Now if only I could get the download to start. Seems MS are under load & being on dialup it is going to take a while anyways.

Some Windows vista beta 2 reviews i seen on other web sites and it has plenty of bugs, i would say don't bother with downloading it plus it's a 3 gig iso download!

[DavidGP]

Originally Posted by hugh750

Some Windows vista beta 2 reviews i seen on other web sites and it has plenty of bugs,

Hence the term "BETA", yes it has bugs still which will be updated in the next version of Vista, which is likely to be RC1 ( but not known if that will make its way as a public release, I'd say most likely not and RC1 RC2 etc will be testers only ), as a beta its aimed at IT pros and PC users who understand that using betas you are likely to have many problems and should not be installed on a critical daily used PC.

Driver support is good if you have a 1yr or so old PC but older ones you may not find supported drivers, you may also find that some of your favoured software will NOT work, until the makers have updated their 3rd party software to account for UAP.

[NICK ADSL UK]

Update for Windows Vista Beta 2 and Windows Codename Longhorn Server Beta 2 (KB920143)
Brief Description
Install this update to fix application compatibility issues with Symantec Antivirus version 10.0.1.622. Note that you must save the file to your local machine before running it.
Overview
Install this update to fix application compatibility issues with Symantec Antivirus version 10.0.1.622. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...DisplayLang=en

[DavidGP]

TBH I actually think Vista will be a great seller for MS, especially if the reports of the amount of users downloading the Beta2 are anything to go by.

A min of 512mb of ram in todays modern PCs is small as average is now 1gb+ and HDs are generally in the high 200GB+ range, so 20GBs is not a vast amount in this age of large HD storage, however dont know where you got the min space needed as being 20GB as even the Vista specs page only states you need a

40 GB of hard drive capacity with 15 GB free space.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvist...y/capable.mspx

and the Windows folder on a typical install is generally only 7GB, then add the installed default apps in programs folder and you get no more than 7.5GB as a default install.


Yes I know some people cannot afford to upgrade hardware but they are not forced to as they can still use the OS they are using now.... progress does come at a price sadly and we have come along way since the days that PCs used 48kb ~ 256kb ram.


Vista if not rushed will be good, I find that I have no issues running it on a daily basis, I have the apps I need installed and working to do a days work easily, with some really nice new tools.

[NICK ADSL UK]

Release Notes for This Beta Release of Windows Server Code Name "Longhorn" and Windows Vista

http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...e/relnotes.htm

[microsoft_lover]

Can somebody help me with this ISO download? I downloaded it the other night and couldn't get it to work after I tried to install it. I downloaded some ISO software and then it wouldn't work cause it said I needed a key or something? I also don't have a DVD Burner on my Dell 2400 Series computer. It only has a CD ROM Burner. Is there a way to still do it or not? I really wanted to preview it so I can know if its worth buying when its released or not? Please help me out, thanks!

[AbbySue]

Originally Posted by microsoft_lover

Can somebody help me with this ISO download? I downloaded it the other night and couldn't get it to work after I tried to install it. I downloaded some ISO software and then it wouldn't work cause it said I needed a key or something? I also don't have a DVD Burner on my Dell 2400 Series computer. It only has a CD ROM Burner. Is there a way to still do it or not? I really wanted to preview it so I can know if its worth buying when its released or not? Please help me out, thanks!

You need to have a DVD burner or order the CD from MS. As for wanting to evaluate to see if it is worth buying, keep in mind that Vista has a long way to go yet before it is a final RC so if you do get it now, expect to have issues with driver support, stability, etc.

[microsoft_lover]

Originally Posted by AbbySue

You need to have a DVD burner or order the CD from MS. As for wanting to evaluate to see if it is worth buying, keep in mind that Vista has a long way to go yet before it is a final RC so if you do get it now, expect to have issues with driver support, stability, etc.

So can I order the CD? Will that work with my CD RW Burner? Just wondering. I didn't quite understand what you meant.

[AbbySue]

Originally Posted by microsoft_lover

So can I order the CD?

Read the first post in this thread. The information you need is in bold red font with links below the text.

It will be an install CD just like any other install CD except it will have an expiration date. re: Will stop working on a specific date.

[TheDoug]

Seems to me what microsoft_lover is saying is he has a CD drive and not a DVD drive. Posts in this thread, including the OP, keep referring to getting a CD from Microsoft, when in fact, what you can get is a DVD, and the only thing you can burn the ISO to is a DVD. Maybe that's the confusion.

[AbbySue]

Originally Posted by TheDoug

Seemes to me microsoft_lover is saying he has a CD drive and not a DVD drive. Posts in this thread, including the OP, keep referring to getting a CD from Microsoft, when in fact, what you can get is a DVD. Maybe that's the confusion.

Thanks for pointing that out...you are quite correct. We should have taken more care with the terminology used and I'm one of the biggest offenders where that is concerned...a disk is a disk..is not a disk:o...big difference between a DVD & CD.

My apologies to microsoft_lover for any confusion I may have caused you.

A DVD Drive is required.

[lubetek]

Originally Posted by Halo

TBH I actually think Vista will be a great seller for MS, especially if the reports of the amount of users downloading the Beta2 are anything to go by.

A min of 512mb of ram in todays modern PCs is small as average is now 1gb+ and HDs are generally in the high 200GB+ range, so 20GBs is not a vast amount in this age of large HD storage

I agree with you completely. Vista will be a great seller. Today its the norm to build or buy a pc with at least 1GB of memory. Many people have 2GB. 512mb is nothing and I feel anyone running just 512mb of ram needs to upgrade anyway. Course this is just my opinion. With the cost of hard drives these days (250Gb for $97 USD) it really makes no difference if windows needs a lot of extra space. I'm still doubtful that it would need 20GB though. I would gladly give it if needed though as it's just a small chunk out of my 300GB drive.

as of now all I can say is Vista is quite nice. I have enjoyed playing with it and have it running very stable right now. All my hardware is working and it even plays a few of my games well enough. Though XP is much better for running games at the moment. FEAR, and DOOM3 are stable though.

[abri]

Originally Posted by lubetek

... Vista will be a great seller...

While on the subject, what will be required of a computer to handle Vista?

abri

[Mada_Milty]

Originally Posted by abri

While on the subject, what will be required of a computer to handle Vista?

abri

Well, sir, I have Vista running on a Pentium D 820 (2.8GHz) with 1GB of 533MHz RAM, on a SATA drive with 8MB cache, and 1.5Gbp/s interface, and I don't think I would want it running on a system with any lower specs, unless I turned off the visual effects, which makes it look terrible.

[DavidGP]

I'm running it on a AMD 64 3500+ 1gb Ram 100GB HD ATi IGP x200 graphics on my laptop, works well even with Aero ( visual effects... glass look and flip 3d )

but to some info for you

Current specs list.. but subject to change
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvist...y/capable.mspx


The Vista Upgrade Advisor ( beta )
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvist...r/default.mspx

which will scan your current specs and see which version of Vista you maybe able to run or where you may have issues.

[augiedoggie]

Last day to get Beta 2. I run it on a AMD 64 Venice 3000, 1GB with a cheopo PCI-E ASUS vid card, N6200TC. It works perfectly well.

[abri]

Cool! Thanks everyone!
abri

[BirdBath]

Has anyone (or everyone) else turned off User Account Controls?

They want you to leave them on and report any problems but seriously, I can't stand them.:

Does this make me a bad person?