Vista RC1

[jef 0]

So far I've seen posts lamenting the claim that Vista is XP with window dressing. And plenty of comments about the glass effects and cool dialog boxes. But what about some serious stuff... can anyone out there give me some concrete examples of fundamental changes/enhancements to the OS that will make it even more stable and reliable.

[Vale46 0]

One move towards more safety is the use of User Account Control. When enabled, permission is needed for every system action, even if ur already logged in as admin. I found that this can get pretty annoying, as permission is asked multiple times, sometimes for the same action. Another new option is Windows Service Hardening. This blocks system-services that behave suspiciously over the network or in the registry. On the reliability side, Backup&Restore is something similar to Apple's Time Machine, which makes a complete backup or system-image, including settings, software, and directories. Also another feature is Windows Device Driver Model. I haven't tested it completely, but they say that this reduces blue screens due to driver problems, because wddm compatible drivers don't operate in the kernel, or at least not as often. But like I said, I haven't tested it..

Edit: I forgot Network Acces Protection. This is more of a feature for network-admin's. With this feature a computer can be blocked from accessing a network (hence NAP) if it doesn't have the latest security updates, patches or virus definitions installed. I think that about roughly sums it up...

[Croat 0]

One move towards more safety is the use of User Account Control. When enabled, permission is needed for every system action, even if ur already logged in as admin. I found that this can get pretty annoying..

I instantly disabled the stupid UAC in CP, I cant work with that dialogs poping up all the time.

[albarovero 0]

I instantly disabled the stupid UAC in CP, I cant work with that dialogs poping up all the time.

Me too, not practical... Installed iTunes 7 today, works great also, and the ipod sync is fine too.

Anybody tried an antivirus in vista? still trying to decide what to use.

[stinkey diver 0]

It would be so great if they make vista so secure anti virus software wont be needed. Like OS x or Linux. Hah.

[shmengie 0]

anti-virus software is for pussies. keep your xp patched, use firefox, and stay behind a router. oh, and don't click on annkornikova.exe!!

[liquidplasmaflow 0]

No kidding

[Croat 0]

It would be so great if they make vista so secure anti virus software wont be needed. Like OS x or Linux. Hah.

OS X or Linux are not as popular or wide spread as Windows, making them less interesting targets.

It would also be great if people stoped useing there knowledge for wrong purposes. (writing viruses insted of helpfull programs)

[stinkey diver 0]

I concur. But most of the guys who write virus's do it mainly because they hate microsoft. Because allot of ms products have so many holes. So if ms made vista actually really secure, i'm sure allot of crackers would let down on creating virus's.

[Vale46 0]

..So if ms made vista actually really secure, i'm sure allot of crackers would let down on creating virus's.

I disagree..You my friend are forgetting an important ingredient of being human..determination. Higher obstacles only make people more resourceful..

[kawaiiguy 0]

One move towards more safety is the use of User Account Control. When enabled, permission is needed for every system action, even if ur already logged in as admin. I found that this can get pretty annoying, as permission is asked multiple times, sometimes for the same action. Another new option is Windows Service Hardening. This blocks system-services that behave suspiciously over the network or in the registry. On the reliability side, Backup&Restore is something similar to Apple's Time Machine, which makes a complete backup or system-image, including settings, software, and directories. Also another feature is Windows Device Driver Model. I haven't tested it completely, but they say that this reduces blue screens due to driver problems, because wddm compatible drivers don't operate in the kernel, or at least not as often. But like I said, I haven't tested it..

Edit: I forgot Network Acces Protection. This is more of a feature for network-admin's. With this feature a computer can be blocked from accessing a network (hence NAP) if it doesn't have the latest security updates, patches or virus definitions installed. I think that about roughly sums it up...

There are other little (lesser known?) features in Vista. BitLocker, for example, introduces file system encryption to the Windows platform. At least, one that works well. I've seen some demos of it and it looks pretty interesting. Personally, my favorite new toys in Vista revolve around the supportability of the OS.

The new reliability monitor makes sense of the application and error logs and puts them in a position where users can track their system's reliability. It also gives a place for a tech support person to look when a user responds "I didn't do anything to the computer" when prompted for any software/hardware changes they may have made.

Remote Assistance has been given a slight facelift; a tech support agent can now send a request to take control of another person's system. This is a change from a one-way system to a two-way request. If a system blue screens on startup, the recovery console automatically launches on the next startup to attempt to repair whatever issue may have surfaced.

Within the OS itself, compatibility mode is now more automated. If a program/installer fails to launch due to a compatibility problem, all the user has to do is re-run the installer and the system will figure out the best compatability settings to get the installer to run. No more manually selecting which past OS to emulate.

Overall, I like RC1. I was running a later build of Beta2, which required a lot of getting used to. Everything is so damned intuitive now, I can't find a freaking thing. Sure, there were a few bumps along the way, but then I remember that it isn't a finished product. There are bound to be bugs.

Other little things about Vista that I like (over XP):

* A duplicated file has the name "filename - copy" insead of "copy of filename"

* Frequently used locations bar on left of explorer window is easily modifiable

* Explorer location bar is much improved and makes navigation much more fluid

* Guided help is just plain nifty

* Media Center interface is much cleaner

* Icon resizing is smooth, especially with pictures

[Slewed 0]

what kawaiiguy said, but also that video previews are slightly more relevant then a black screen, and you can actually see the pictures because the previews can be larger now.

[Tagmaster 0]

I got Vista RC1

Pros:

-Runs as smooth as XP even with Aero turned on

-The new IE7+ is even more secure than Firefox

-WMP11 its a great music player

-The new Windows ReadyBoost its a killer feature

-Explorer is more usefull now

-The new Media Center UI is sleek

-Software & Hardware Compatibility is great i tried: Windows Live Messenger, iTunes7, Adobe Photoshop CS2; and all my hardware was installed wright after the installation, the oly thing missing was my D-Link Wireless Receptor, but just installed the driver and configured it.

Cons:

-UAP can get annoying, even tought you can disable it in the CP

-Windows Sidebar its just a shameless, slow, unusefull rip of Dashboard (ripped from Konfabulator)

-Somethimes you get ramdom slowdowns, but that maybe thats just my system

-Windows Basic UI is ugly

In conclussion i think MS is in a good road with Vista, even tought 5 years for developing Vista is kind of stupid (with all the promised mising features)

If corious this are my specs:

Pentium D 2.6 Dual-Core

512 DDR

Nvidia GeForce FX 5950 256Mb

[Croat 0]

It's funny.. no one mentioned Windows Defender.

More things that I like:

-windows defender included with the system

- that top left icon in explorer, which you could only remove with windowblind in XP

-live previews, so you can for example hover over the WMP in taskbar and whatch the movie play while reading a web page

-extra large icons, lets me really see whats on that video or picture file

-slide show, that is one of the biggest eyecandys for me in vista (check out the themes)

-calendar that they added when you click on clock

-selection box when you hover over the desktop icons

-Start menu, I dont care that it doesent expand to the right because I just press the WIN key and start typing in "ca" and calculator appears, enter and it's opened. (this takes like 1 sec)

-alt key to see the file, edit, view.. menus in explorer and IE

-sorting filters availabe, like the file type filter

-sound mixer, it shows a seperate volume adjustment for WMP,Winamp when they are started

-network and sharing center, all in one place and gives good diagnostic and troubleshooting advises

-breadcrumbs bar, I can really jump to any dir fast with this thing

-system properties, desktop properties, windows update... integrated in explorer

-one click background change

-games explorer, one place to find info, manage all the games and do related tasks

-details pane and search pane

-that you can use the search field as a run dialog

-IE, because it starts fast, takes less screen space then firefox and has a nice RSS viewer but..

I dont like:

-quick tabs in IE, why arent they animated like windows?

-favourites center in IE (history in a fav. center??)

-windows sidebar

-windows mail

-still poor support for programs/drivers (RC 1)

-integrated handleing of .ZIP files, didnt work well for me

-lost of transparency when you maximize windows

-probably more stuff that I cant remember right now

[thefox 0]

I wish they would hurry up and put a new fan in my MBP, so I can get it back, and play with vista more. I only had Sunday night to play with it, so I didn't do much. But, the only Tech Guy in the store I took it to decided to get bronchitis this week, lol

[Sid855 0]

Hey guys and gals I had a post in another thread that asked about installing the vista irc build from a virtual dvd drive would work. Well I had to use daemon tools version 3.41 to get it to work the other daemon tools versions were not compatiable with vista.

Well I got it up and running I like the thumbnails of items on the desktop but it just seems to be a more GUI dressing than anything new alot of graphical enhancements like 128x128 icons might be png (correct if wrong)

but to me seems like the developers here on aqua-soft.org have created programs and enhancements for windows xp that I see in vista.

Sorry dont shoot dont get me wrong I love my windows xp system but I was just looking for something more with vista.

[FusionXP 0]

Vista build 5728 is out...

http://download.windowsvista.com/preview/r...wnload-5728.htm

[Nostarion 0]

The things I appreciate most in Vista are the nicer interface with big icons, fast search, sidebar and media center. A couple of glitches left for MS to fix but other than that Vista seems really nice but it shouldn't have taken them 5 years!

[gnomexp 0]

RC1 working really nice on my MacBook (5600). I know I'm late to this party. Should I upgrade to 5744?

[Astyanax 0]

Yeah i'd give it a try .

Not much of a difference between the two really, except for bug fixes and some performance tweaks.

[duyvan82 0]

I've just installed Vista on my MacBook, and I've just trashed it too although I didn't have any problem with it, I had glass working, everything was nice and clean but I dont think I would ever try it again. It's still trying to be a smarta$$ by displaying brazillion of messages and warning telling me what to do to protect my damn fuking computer and that really drives me crazy. I've had enough of being annoyed by those notification mesages for the last 15 years...until I switched.

[Astyanax 0]

You can disable that stuff mate, lol

[duyvan82 0]

too late, I trashed it

[iGo 0]

A wise choice my dear friend... a very wise choice !!

[Slewed 0]

yup ive still got it but its just lying there, i only use it when i need large thumbs

just wait till a thread called "vista sp1"