Tom's Hardware Looks at Microsoft Vista Beta 338
RockClimbingFool writes "Tom's Hardware has a pretty good overview of what the current beta version of Microsoft Windows Vista has to offer. The article is written from an average user's perspective, specifically highlighting exactly which differences the average computer user can expect to see from Windows XP to Windows Vista. It covers everything from IE7, to the new Windows Aero interface, to brand new games." But if you'd like your eye candy open source and downloadable now, check out Lunapark6's review of the current version of Ubuntu Dapper, with "emphasis placed on helping someone set up the system for everyday desktop usage."
40 pages (Score:2, Informative)
1 page version (Score:5, Informative)
XP released in 2002? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Can we leave the politics out of it? (Score:5, Informative)
Not Necessary but Useful (Score:3, Informative)
Necessary I don't know, but it is useful because so many people out there are totally unaware of the great features offered by alternative OSes. Regarding Ubuntu, in no particular order: Aero-like features already available via Xgl (while Vista is not yet released), centralized package management system, 1-click full system update and security patches installation (under Windows, MS-only software is upgraded), generally easier to use than Windows (according to one of my family member who is an average desktop computer user), easy to install, no drivers to download from the hardware vendors (the kernel recognize everything by default), etc.
Re:If this is the best... keep trying. (Score:5, Informative)
Well, yes, most likely.
Re:So... (Score:4, Informative)
A rather extensive list can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Features_new_to_Wind
-New network stack
-New audio stack
-New driver framework
-New printing architecture
-New windowing system (DWM)
There are a substantial number of 'behind the scenes' changes in Vista. But for some reason the Slashdot crowd seems to think that the UI is the only thing that's changed. Oh well.
Re:Is it THAT hard for Tom's (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Not Necessary but Useful (Score:5, Informative)
Funny, I re-installed XP only 6 months ago and had to spend hours just getting the OS up and running with updates and drivers and such. Then another several hours putting on applications such as Visual Studio, OpenOffice, Firefox, etc, and I'm not including games. Just over the weekend I installed Fedora Core 5 and after an install that took less time than Windows I spent about 1 hour running the updates and had myself a usable workstation, with Anjuta, OpenOffice, Firefox (with plugins), etc. And no, this isn't new hardware. All my hardware was purchased before Windows XP was released, so the age of the OSs shouldn't be a problem when it comes to drivers.
But maybe you were counting customizing the look and feel. Because most distros don't come with Nerzhul as the destop wallpaper I had to do that, whereas for windows it's just the blank blue for me. So yeah, you have to spend a little time customizing Linux, but at least you can do it, whereas for Windows you get what they decide looks nice to the eyes.
In case anyone is wondering, Nerzhul goes on Linux [fedoraforum.org] because I can make everything blend in better with a dark wallpaper, whereas the simple blue on Windows blends in better with the blue-ish theme in XP.
Re:Is this really enough? (Score:2, Informative)
> Will the Bluetooth protocol stack be less problematic than XP's? I hope so.
Yes, they've expanded profile support substantially.
> Will they support WPA2 natively, without 170MB of updates?
You bet.
> Will IPV6 be native?
Yes -- IPv6 is a first class citizen in Vista, the entire OS has been scrubbed for v6 blockers, and they actively want people running v6 only during the betas (since it's expected to be a major use case in certain environments).
> How about IPSEC support? Will it actually work this time?
It should. Remove the firewall block, and it should Just Work anywhere you like. You _do_ have to Opt-In though.
> How bad is the new Windows shell?
MONAD is hardcore. I was dismissing it until I got the low-voice, "no dude, you _need_ to spend a day with it" thing from someone I respected. It's an utter tragedy that it's not inbox, especially considering how much else still is. *sighs*
> Is it close enough to Bash or even csh to be useful?
It's different. Very arguably better, in a non-textual world.
> What's Task Manager like? Do I still have to wait seconds for it to appear when a process runs amok?
No, it's just as annoying. What's the use of a high priority screen to spawn task manager if you're still stuck fighting with your broken process? Grrr.
> Does the UI remain responsive during heavy calculations (I do a lot of 3D)?
Perf is a big question right now. Everyone's running debug builds so crashes can actually be traced back.
> Can I install games without worrying about which version of DirectX is installed?
DX10, with a big ol' DX9 compat layer.
> Will the new version of Office install things I'll have to disable, like toolbars, fast find, and Word integration into Outlook express?
Unknown.
> Do I still need to press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to do things?
I hit it all the time to pull up Task Manager and Switch User.
Re:Can we leave the politics out of it? (Score:4, Informative)
Kind of. More like Linux pretender wanna-be geeks. Or Linux geeks who have to use Windows at work.
My blog [blogspot.com] has gotten most of its hits [extremetracking.com] from my Slashdot sig. Click here to check out the most popular software:
http://extremetracking.com/open;sum?login=wrperso
For the record, in case things change:
Browser: Firefox 1.5 - 45.33%
Operating System: Windows XP - 60.97%
Most of us here have huge interest in how Vista turns out, if only because our employers will put it on our machines.
Re:Not Necessary but Useful (Score:1, Informative)
You have obviously never installed Ubuntu yourself. How can you criticize something you have never EVER tried ?
Let me tell you that when doing a regular install you DON'T have to type any shell commands whatsoever. The install procedure is even simpler than a Windows install because fewer questions are asked and the partitioning is automatic. The article linked in the Slashdot story only shows a way to do optional modifications in order to heavily tweak a default install.
Regarding ndiswrapper, it's the fault of some hardware vendors who don't release Linux drivers or even basic h/w specs (even when asked, see one of the numerous stories about OpenBSD asking for them) for their wireless cards. A question for you: would you have the same opinion of Linux if you were using supported hardware that would be automatically detected (e.g. an Intel Centrino wifi chipset) ? You seem so narrow minded that if you were using a supported wireless interface, I'd bet you wouldn't complain you wouldn't even realize that all of this is just a question of driver availability.
Ars Technica has one up too (Score:2, Informative)
Ars Technica "tour" [arstechnica.com]. While it doesn't take up 30+ pages, it also doesn't spend an inordinate amount of time covering what's changed in Windows Solitaire..
Re:Can we leave the politics out of it? (Score:3, Informative)