Anyone running the Vista beta?

Yes and have been for some time, I find it on my PC as stable as test software could be, some issues still, with certain links in menus not working etc but on the whole I could and do use it as a daily working PC. It does use alot of RAM up so 1gb RAM is a must TBH, but alot of this is due to many bug capture routines being run, which many will be removed from the final release version.

Driver and software compatability is still a problem as many 3rd party developers have not updated either there software or drivers for Vista, so you may find that some of your hardware is not fully supported or your favorite software applications dont work.... but do check with the makers sites for Vista updates.


A warning tho Vista Beta software, like most other large betas should not be run on a production machine or the one and only computer in your home, best to have test or spare pc, dual boot is another option for those with multiple hard drives or partition . Should anything goes wrong during installation and once installed you will not be able to roll back to the former set up on your PC, sadly you will have to re-install your previous OS and all software as the mechanisms for reverting back to a previous windows install are not yet implemented.


Do read the information contained in the below link
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/preview.mspx

Use the Upgrade Advisor http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/upgradeadvisor/default.mspx to test your PC out for any potential areas as in drivers that may or will need updating if not included as default in the Vista install.



Compaired to XP, well it will be an improvement on XP but not in this early beta form, if you like the stability of XP, then stick to XP but Vista does bring with it many new small built in applications which I find useful, "Snip Tool" is one, menu system is different and does take a day or so to get used to... but I know I will be updating from XP to Vista fully once its release in Jan/Feb07.

Paul Thurrott has some nice reviews on Vista, that are worth a read.
http://www.winsupersite.com/vista/