Windows Vista Release Candidate 1

[Carskick]

I received Windows Vista Release Candidate 1 yesterday in the mail(why they keep sending me 32bit when I tell them 64 I don't know), and tonight am beginning the reinstallation of Vista on my dual boot laptop. The seceret to deleting vista while saving XP is to delete or move the hidden boot folder that is placed on the XP partition. Once this is out of the way, boot.ini takes back over, and the machine goes strait to XP, or at least it's boot menu.

Once I did this, I booted from the new vista disk, formated the Vista partition, and it is now installing. The memo I received with the disk claims improved performance, stability, installation time, etc., so it should be interesting how it turns out. I am currently installing it, and I will keep you all updated.

BTW, who else is installing this release candidate 1?

[pat]

I received my CD in the mail yesterday and if time allows, will install this weekend.

So far though, at least with the Beta copy, I see no compelling reason to move to Vista.

Perhaps if buying or building a new system, but I just don?t see any reason to upgrade my existing systems. At least not yet.

[Carskick]

Well, it is installed and operational. It boots faster, but seems less stable. I have had explorer crash multiple times, and everytime I turn shut down, the computer hangs on a black screen, and I have to force shut down. The control panel and personalize features seem very unstable.

I agree with you, Pat. Other than asthestics, I see no reason to go to Vista permently.

[Buffalo2102]

I was running the Vista beta (x86 and x64) on my old rig and have just installed RC1 onto my new build.  Both versions run fine and stable for me.

I am also running with Office 2007 Beta 2 and that is also very impressive.

As far as changing to Vista permanently goes, I think I will do it fairly soon after release but that is mainly because I game a fair amount and I will be wanting to take advantage of the game support and DX10 that comes with Vista.  Also, I like eye-candy.

If you don't game (and don't have a new PC with 2G of RAM) then there's probably not much point.

Buff;  Game for anything.

[Chandler]

I've just installed x86 RC2.  So far so good - things have certainly progressed in the past few months.

The one thing I find though is that the default desktop is too "busy".  It looks like a cluttered mess.  I turned off the window transparency, not because it slows down my PC, but because it helps to make things look even more cluttered.

Double-height taskbar looks nicer in Vista compared to XP (where the Start button doesn't fit very well).  Under Vista, the little Start menu orb moves so that it's centered vertically.  Good in asthetic terms but also useful in terms of clicking on it - just aim for the bottom-left corner of the screen.  On XP, doubling the taskbar results in a "floating" Start button.  I prefer the double-height, particularly on my office PC, because it shows the time, day and date rather than just the time.

[query]

Microsoft won't win many fans with Vista, with the new policy that says you're only allowed to transfer it to a new machine a single time before you have to buy a  new copy:

http://news.com.com/Microsoft+limits+Vista+transfers/2100-1016_3-6126379.html?tag=nl
Considering the lifespan of XP is now at over 5 years, this may cause a lot of consternation over Vista, which is likely to be around even longer.

[pat]

Here is another take on that subject.
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_licensing.asp

[pat]

There's some good stuff about Vista in the latest issue of Scot's newsletter.
http://www.scotsnewsletter.com/86.htm

Toward the bottom/end there are a couple of links to info on MS supposedly changing its position on reinstalls.
Look for:Power Users Win on Vista Licensing