Vista Beta 2 has Major Problems

WebHostingGuy writes "In a review by Gary Krackow from MSNBC who reviewed Vista Beta 2 over the last week he had very disappointing problems. "for me [it] was one of the worst operating system experiences that I've ever encountered." Built-in audio and wireless didn't work on his Levono laptop. It took four days to get the first installation."

"But aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln..."

[dpbsmith]

"... how did you like the play?"

Audio problems on thinkpad?

[Whiney Mac Fanboy]

Built-in audio and wireless didn't work on his Levono laptop.

That's because the audio is reserved for spying on the US military (and wireless to transmit the data back to China!)

Levono

[kevin_conaway]

Maybe if he had bought a Lenovo instead of a Levono from that guy on the street in the trenchcoat with shifty eyes, he wouldn't be having problems?

Grr

[Anonymous Coward]

You know, if there's one thing I loathe more than intrusive

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

I love the smugness

[Trigun]

"I did not try to install the Vista Beta on the computer I'm using to write this. I'll bet you can figure out why."

Because you bombed three installations previously?

Beta != Beta

[Se7enLC]

So basically when Microsoft says "beta" they mean:

it sorta works. ok, there might be a few bugs. ok, so maybe it can't even install itself or use hardware.

When google says "beta" they mean:

it's more done than most web services that have been around since the early 90s will ever be, but the moniker "Beta" has a nice ring to it. Plus we like how elitist it is to have to be invited to a webmail service.

Re:"But aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln..."

[i_should_be_working]

Not offtopic. After these phrases about the installation from TFA:

..one of the worst operating system experiences that I've ever encountered

It took me days to install a working version...

...after four hours of churning away the laptop shut down and wouldn't reboot

Asking how the rest went is like asking Mrs. Lincoln how she liked the play.

Re:Levono

[Fhqwhgadss]

I don't know about you, but I'm anxiosly awaiting the review of his shiny new Goochy watch.

Beta version of software has problems...

[techstar25]

In other news, the sky is blue, and water is wet.

YAY!

[Spy der Mann]

"for me [it] was one of the worst operating system experiences that I've ever encountered."

Yay! For the first time Linux is more friendly than Windows! *ducks*

Re:Maybe Not So Fair?

[Anonymous Coward]

Your comment was far too reasonable for Slashdot. In the future please limit your comments to "Linux rules, Windows sucks" and "Duped article".

Re:Article Summary

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree, the article suggests that Vista is crap because his two older laptops had hardware problems and that Lenovo hasn't released Vista-ready drivers yet. Sounds pretty weak to me.

But get a load of the feature list for Beta 2!!!
-New version of Solitare
-Better looking Start menu (wow)
-Better startup sound and alert chime
-Search box on every Explorer window hogging screen realestate

Hardware issue

[drafalski]

Built-in audio and wireless didn't work on his Levono laptop

There was probably a conflict with the Chinese spying hardware built into the laptop.

Lenovo - Where have I heard that name recently?

[slushbat]

This is hardly M$'s fault. There is a known problem with the drivers for the latest Chinese spy chips. For some reason they causes a conflict with the NSA ones.

Re:Levono

[porkThreeWays]

Pfft. I know a genuine Panaphonics when I see it. And look, there's Magnetbox and Sorny.

Awww, look at the youngster

[Spackler]

"for me [it] was one of the worst operating system experiences that I've ever encountered."

Which means you are a young pup. Coherrent on a 286? How about OS/2 on a Tandy 1000? DSM on an 11/44? Windows 1 (with the coolest font management that only took a week to get stuff working)? You do remember when the line printer would get stuck on the feeder and it would wear a line of text right through the paper, don't you?

Man, back in my day

Re:Levono

[Yewbert]

I was thinking maybe he should try the install on an Anus laptop, as a worst-case scenario:

http://www.anuslaptops.com/ [anuslaptops.com]

Though I hear actually ordering one can be rather difficult:

http://www.thescambaiter.com/forum/showthread.php? t=109&page=39&pp=25 [thescambaiter.com]

Microsoft Lingo

[Hootenanny]

"Alpha" - we made changes to XP codebase, now doggone Vista won't compile "Beta" - we finally got it to compile, let's ship 'er out and test the waters "Final" - it's mostly feature-complete, ready for quality testing by paying customers "Service Pack 1" - final release candidate (boy did we fool them!), now let's think about security "Service Pack 2" - done thinking, done testing, the final project woohoo! (Ballmer pats chair on back)

Re:~Six Months until go time...

[chord.wav]

Have you never setup any version of Windows??
Every new version is more user friendly, more reliable and you have more fun using it. It's a pleasure just to watch it boot, in half the time on a 3-times more powerfull machine.

That should be enough reason for anyone...

Re:Article Summary

[ozmanjusri]

the article suggests that Vista is crap because his two older laptops had hardware problems and that Lenovo hasn't released Vista-ready drivers yet. Sounds pretty weak to me.

No, the nastiest (and funniest criticism) was this;

Beta 2 is a good looking operating system with a number of new features, which will be familiar to you if you've played with recent versions of Apple's OS X.

Bitchslap...

Re:Maybe Not So Fair?

[bitkari]

Beta depends on who you talk to and the "concept" no longer means what it used to mean.

That's because Gamma [flickr.com] is the new Beta.

Me? I'm hanging on for Vista Omega.

Re:Audio problems on thinkpad?

[Anonymous Coward]

Built-in audio and wireless didn't work on his Levono laptop.

Wow, Windows is catching up with Linux!

Re:Article Summary

[Asphalt]

I guess finding and installing drivers is beyond you people.

Please don't rub it in.

I've been using this computer without a video card or monitor for a solid year now and I'm a little sensitive about it.

Re:Article Summary

[iminplaya]

-New version of Solitare

SOLD!

The problem is "beta"

[thatguywhoiam]

Microsoft should have copied Flickr and just gone straight to Gamma, then we wouldn't have these issues.

Re:Worst OS experience ever?

[borgboy]

You obviously never tried to install it from 23 floppies.

Re:Article Summary

[ozric99]

'Course, that's pointless if the target machine didn't ship with a floppy drive. Err....

No problem. Simply map a network drive to the.....

Windows just not "there" yet

[HangingChad]

I need an operating system that just works out of the box, so until Windows is more reliable I'm stuck with Linux.

BWAHAHAHAHA! I've been waiting for a chance to use that line for years. ;)

Re:~Six Months until go time...

[jb.hl.com]

Heh, I love those little install messages. "The new My Music folder makes organising your music collection more fun"...um, how? "I'm rearranging folders, wheeeeee!"

Thank god it's only half an hour of those and you don't have to see them again...

Re:Article Summary

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh... you poor thing, you have to download a driver. Beats downloading the entire operating system.

thus forcing all non-certified hardware ...

[SpaceLifeForm]

to become GNU/Linux machines.

See, Microsoft isn't really evil after all!

What the hell is wrong is everybody?

[Anonymous Coward]

Vista is still in BETA you retards! Of course it's going to have problems!

Oh no!

[Anonymous Coward]

SHOCK! Beta software can have bugs in it!