vista beta anyone got it installed yet?

[russdev]

will subject says it all any msdn subscribers got it installed yet anygood?

 

Russ

[StuartC]

i'm really looking forward to this, the last few betas were good, really want to see it in full indigo/avalon glory.

 

btw, is it me, or is window navigation getting very mac-y, especially the search box and the <-backforward-> buttons in the top left?

[RobC]

I'm guessing that the license for the Beta software prevents you from letting other people install it... (yes, yes, I know. It's microsoft!)

 

I would love to check out the Beta, but there is no way in hell I can afford an MSDN subscription.

[russdev]

yep same here

 

oh.. well...

[tarquel]

ditto...

 

 

Cheers,

Nath

[ICTNUT]

We should be getting ours on or around Aug 4th

 

Will then install and provide some screen shots for all to see.

[tarquel]

You got a msdn/technet subscription?

 

Wowser

 

I gotta get a new job lol

 

Nath.

[Diello]

Expecting mine middle of September ;P

[ICTNUT]

Have got it ;-)

 

Have not yet been able to install it under virtual PC as the virtual drives are not recognised so I will need to get a machine from somewhere to install it on.

 

Once I got it up and running i'll get a couple of screen shots up.

 

BEWARE: for those of you that have MSDN you can download it now from the MSDN website but it is over 2.5Gb in size.

 

So far what I have seen from the installer is that is windows looks the way the installer does (WOW) some of us are gonna have a hard time when it comes to roll out, it's a completely different UI and we all know how people like change - NOT !

[Ric_]

The installation mechanism does sound rather interesting - using an imaging system rather than the traditional method of installation.

[ICTNUT]

@Ric_: Looking at the file structure on the DVD it's unlike any previous version of Windows.

 

I think we are gonna have to re-write the book on unattended / remote installation of Vista ;-)

[Ric_]

If you check out the info on the MS website it explains how it works.

 

It's basically some form of imaging setup - i'm guessing along the lines of RIS and. I imagine that this will then be included in a service pack (or the net version) of server to allow even easier deployment within an enterprise.

[tarquel]

indeed - it could be alot easier to installer to deploy (at least, this is what I'm hoping - not that I'll get to do it for ..oooo... about 4 years when we have enough licenses of it to make deployment setup worthwhile hehe)

 

Nath.

[StuartC]

i thought it was very promising, a few quirks to get used to (like microsoft "getting rid" of the documents and settings folder, all they have actually done is renamed it to "users", like mac osx) but i think by the time it gets round to being released it will be a very slick and fast operating system.

 

The search indexing is one service i think will automatically be switched off on all installs of it though.

[ICTNUT]

The thing is will any of us have any machines capable of running it?

 

From M$ Website:

 

Windows Vista Ready PC Requirements

 

Windows Vista Ready PCs need to pass the current certification requirements for Designed for Windows XP logo. In addition, these PCs would need the following combination of essential PC hardware for good overall Windows Vista performance:

 

• CPU — PC systems should have a modern CPU.

• RAM — PC systems should have 512MB of memory or more.

• GPU — PC systems should have a graphics processor that will support Windows Vista Display Driver Model.

 

Windows Vista offers significant improvements to the graphics user experience. To take advantage of these advances in the graphics user experience, graphics processor will need to support the Windows Vista Display Driver Model.

 

Graphics processors capable of supporting Windows Vista Display Driver Model:

 

• Are designed to ensure that graphics user experience scales up with hardware capabilities.

• Offer improved graphic stability and performance.

• May be able to support additional desktop productivity features.

[StuartC]

The thing is will any of us have any machines capable of running it?

 

From M$ Website:

 

Windows Vista Ready PC Requirements

 

Windows Vista Ready PCs need to pass the current certification requirements for Designed for Windows XP logo. In addition, these PCs would need the following combination of essential PC hardware for good overall Windows Vista performance:

 

• CPU — PC systems should have a modern CPU.

• RAM — PC systems should have 512MB of memory or more.

• GPU — PC systems should have a graphics processor that will support Windows Vista Display Driver Model.

 

Windows Vista offers significant improvements to the graphics user experience. To take advantage of these advances in the graphics user experience, graphics processor will need to support the Windows Vista Display Driver Model.

 

Graphics processors capable of supporting Windows Vista Display Driver Model:

 

• Are designed to ensure that graphics user experience scales up with hardware capabilities.

• Offer improved graphic stability and performance.

• May be able to support additional desktop productivity features.

 

i have run it on a p3 800 with 256mb ram, not very well tho, i would say that any processor over 1.4ghz is good, 512mb is the minimum i would recommend for any pc these days that does a wide variety of tasks. building one for this standard isnt too pricey and dell do great deals on machines that are fast enough.

 

i havent run it on a machine with a modern gpu yet, as far as i can see that is just for transparency and animations, it runs fine on machines that dont have this. graphics chipsets i've run on are onboard intel and gf4 mx.

 

i'll translate this bit for you:

 

• Are designed to ensure that graphics user experience scales up with hardware capabilities.

means: "windows is only pretty if you have a really nice graphics card"

• Offer improved graphic stability and performance.

means: "we cant make windows run well on old PCs, we're not taking responsibility"

• May be able to support additional desktop productivity features.

means: "you can have dual display and higher resolution if you have a good graphics card"

 

basically ignore it unless you do multimedia stuff.

[StewartKnight]

I haven't got the Vista beta, but I did have the Longhorn one, I found out that it needed a Rad 9800pro to work properly (which I have), so I hacked it, to enable the funky graphics, and it looked great, I just hope they keep it in!