Windows Vista set for 2006

[DJGM]

I have just installed Windows Vista Beta 1 and the following problems arose already...

It can no longer communicate with my Samsung laser printer

The DVD-RW drive now is recognized as a CD-RW

Office 2003 won't install

Nor will Adobe Reader 7

It doesn't like Java neither.

Gonna roll back now to XP!

It is only the first beta, so problems are to be expected. It was probably a very good decision by Microsoft to make this
a non-public beta. It'd be best to at least wait for Windows Vista Beta 2 (the first public beta) before any interested
end users (or guinea pigs if you're a cynic) try it out, and even then, there'll be various bugs lurking within.

Anyone that does download and install such an early beta build of any operating system, should make sure they have
a suitable "testbed" computer to install it on. If you put it on your main (or only) computer, and it causes your HDD
and all the data stored upon it to go into a rapid meltdown, you've really only got yourself to blame!

[steddenm]

I have installed it on a second computer that's connected to my network but have now removed it, on advice from Microsoft. Apparently there is a MAJOR flaw in the installation file that is not installing and drivers or display settings

[James Martin]

Yeah, most people running BETAs usually have a development/trash PC which they don't mind trashing to the wall software-wise.

I'd never install a BETA OS on my main laptop. The only two BETAs I've ever run are a final BETA of Internet Explorer 4 (so I could get the 98-style enchancements) and the MSN 7 BETA which was to be fair, pretty stable.

[Neil Jones]

So one of the new features being tooted for Vista is Ximage, which is basically multi-session CD writing (new to XP) meets Norton Ghost, allowing one to basically stick a security update into an image file without having to redo the entire image from scratch.

One thing it has going for it over Ghost, though:

The WIM image format allows for non-destructive deployment. This means that you can leave data on the volume to which you apply the image because the application of the image does not erase the disk's existing contents.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/window ... image.mspx

Elsewhere:

Windows Vista can self-diagnose a number of common problems, including failing hard disks, memory problems, and networking issues.

Oh and apparently THIS time, say Microsoft, Longhorn will have "Fewer Hangs, Crashes and Reboots". This I'll believe when I see it, though XP isn't too bad in this regard.

[DJGM]

I have installed it on a second computer that's connected to my network but
have now removed it, on advice from Microsoft. Apparently there is a MAJOR
flaw in the installation file that is not installing any drivers or display settings.

Now that is bad, and something I would've expected from the Longhorn alpha builds.

In the rather brief space of time Longhorn alpha build 4074 was on my "testbed" PC (twelve days to be precise) it wouldn't
install any proper drivers for my graphics card. But the default Longhorn VGA drivers gave me a satisfactory 1024 x 768
resolution, which is what I normally have set on all my other operating systems. I'm surprised that bug is still around.

[SteveL]

BE WARNED: I have just downloaded the file and it's packed with spyware. If you
delete the spyware using SpyBot AND MS AntiSpyware it still runs ok.

That's a damn good to steer well clear of it then. IMO, any software developer that bundles spyware or any other type of
unwanted malware with their software, does not deserve to exist, no matter what primary benefit their software offers.

I've just scanned the pack . . . and
it contains no spyware at all . . . !

Or you could just download this http://www.deviantart.com/view/20657639/

Ta for that, I'd searched for a standalone theme but with no luck. It's a shame it hasn't got the 3D glass functionality, though.

Oh and apparently THIS time, say Microsoft, Longhorn will have "Fewer Hangs, Crashes and Reboots". This I'll believe when I see it, though XP isn't too bad in this regard.

I'm sure somebody has already said this on here, but most of the time nowadays crashes are down to dodgy hardware. People spending as little money as possible on cheap generic knock-off components, and then wondering why their systems keep crashing. I'm not saying this is always the case, but nearly all of the computer probems/crashes I've seen have been hardware related.

[James Martin]

2000 and XP are VERY good IMO with crashes.

The only time I've rebooted 2000 in recent times due to software issues is because of issues with radio playout systems.

[Fireboy]

2000 and XP are VERY good IMO with crashes.

The only time I've rebooted 2000 in recent times due to software issues is because of issues with radio playout systems.

I've lost count of how many times I've had to restart XP. And that's not counting the times it's just suddenly rebooted without warning. Recently a hardware fault has developed. Methinks it may be time to get a new PC. I was going to wait until Mac computers switch to intel, and put a copy of Vista on there. But now something is seriously fucked up, in the hardware department. There's little point in buying new components, because the whole computer is hopeless. I may just buy a high end PC now. Though I seem to spend more time fixing the PC than using it, I'm not sure if there's much point.

I do think 2000 is relatively stable though (it's the only Windows OS which will run on the PC at the moment).

[Chris]

2000 and XP are VERY good IMO with crashes.

What, in that they display a pretty blue screen when it falls over.

Windows 2000 is great - I used it for many years previously without many hitches, and it was a breath of fresh air compared to Windows 98 (but it did crash every now and then due to shite TV card drivers). Windows XP is OK, although I personally have a fond disliking of XP because the search function is so buggy and generally crap - like for example, I press stop once I think I might have found the file, look through the list, open a few files which I might think are the one I am trying to find, and find that the search window has hung/explorer.exe's processor usage is stuck at 50% and that a killing of explorer.exe is the only way to fix this "problem".

On the odd occasion that it has not hung, I've found that Windows carries on searching regardless as soon as I open any files in the search result section. FOR FUCK SAKE MICROSOFT, THIS IS A STOP BUTTON, NOT A PAUSE BUTTON WITH AUTOMATIC CONTINUATION AT WILL. DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF STOP?!?!!? (I assume this is the problem that is causing the hanging of Windows Explorer).

As an aside: using the above scenario re. the pause but keep going at will button, can you imagine if Microsoft made video recorders?

Other little "quirks" I hate about XP are that it sometimes tries to be too helpful - like for example when it installs drivers under plug and play (ha ha). I recently installed a crap version of my modem driver and despite the amount of times I keep on removing the device from Device Manager, it just keeps on automatically detecting the modem a few seconds later automatically and re installing the duff drivers. AARGGHH!!!!!!!!

[/rant over]