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Various Windows Vistas Previews...

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golem

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http://frogboy.wincustomize.com/articles.aspx?aid=82119&SID=5&UID=0

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1840816,00.asp

Virtual%20Folders.jpg

Pictures%20and%20Videos.jpg
 
I won't hate on Microsoft, some of the functionality they are showing does look useful - but I'm not sure most people are going to be hyped up on this one.

But some of the OS stuff is so very very ugly....
 
I got confirmation that what we are seeing in Beta 1 is no where near representative of what Beta 2 is shaping up to look like. The only thing Beta 1 shows is the blurry transparency effect and animations. Supposedly, the windows and buttons will look much better. I won't hold my breath.

But so far, I love the new features.
 
Could someone clarify what these new features actually are, or point to a place that does? Aside from the rather useless graphical changes, of course.
 
Dan said:
Could someone clarify what these new features actually are, or point to a place that does? Aside from the rather useless graphical changes, of course.
check zdnet's preview.. its quite thorough. though alot of the cooler features have been dropped (winfs, msh).
 
do the truly insane specs still hold?

ie if u want everything to run u need a complete beast just to run the os in full mode
EDIT from here
this from Mary Jo Foleys site http://www.microsoft-watch.com/article2/0,2180,1790569,00.asp

"Microsoft officials at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) here this week in Seattle attempted to provide some answers, vague as though they were.ADVERTISEMENT

In the past, Microsoft used WinHEC to deliver a very detailed set of hardware reference specs to the OEMs who attend the event so that they can build new PCs that would be able to run whichever version of Windows was on tap.

At last year's WinHEC, developer sources said that Microsoft was going to recommend the "average" Longhorn PC feature a dual-core CPU running at 4 to 6GHz; a minimum of 2 gigs of RAM; up to a terabyte of storage; a 1 Gbit built-in, Ethernet-wired port and an 802.11g wireless link; and a graphics processor that runs three times faster than those on the market.

Microsoft declined to comment on the rumored specs and never went public with any recommended Longhorn specs at last year's show.

At this year's WinHEC, Microsoft offered up only the most basic of guidelines as to what PC makers should do to make their PCs "Longhorn-ready." During a session at this week's show, Mark Croft, a group product manager in the Windows product management group, told PC makers that most existing mainstream 32- and 64-bit CPUs from mainstream manufacturers should run Longhorn.

While dual-core CPUs will run Longhorn better, "Longhorn does run on mainstream processors," Croft said.

The only other Longhorn PC requirements that are set in stone are 512 MB or better of RAM and, support for the new Longhorn Display Driver Model (LDDM) in order to handle the operating system's new graphical features.

(Comparatively, Microsoft suggests that users have a 300-MHz CPU and 128 MB of RAM to run Windows XP.)"
 
At last year's WinHEC, developer sources said that Microsoft was going to recommend the "average" Longhorn PC feature a dual-core CPU running at 4 to 6GHz; a minimum of 2 gigs of RAM; up to a terabyte of storage; a 1 Gbit built-in, Ethernet-wired port and an 802.11g wireless link; and a graphics processor that runs three times faster than those on the market.

Uh, bullshit.

If MS released an OS that required a system that only .0000003 % of consumers owned everyone will switch to Mac and Apple wins.

In short, they aren't that stupid.
 
At last year's WinHEC, developer sources said that Microsoft was going to recommend the "average" Longhorn PC feature a dual-core CPU running at 4 to 6GHz; a minimum of 2 gigs of RAM; up to a terabyte of storage; a 1 Gbit built-in, Ethernet-wired port and an 802.11g wireless link; and a graphics processor that runs three times faster than those on the market.

wtf?! Those kind of specs don't even exist in Europe :lol
 
Barnimal said:
i thought that longhorns display was gonna be all snazzy 3d shit?
not really. The desktop will be accelerated by 3D cards. Right now your desktop is ran by old 2D stuff which hasn't changed since Win95. Vista will actually have hardware acceleration on the desktop.
 
The only other Longhorn PC requirements that are set in stone are 512 MB or better of RAM and, support for the new Longhorn Display Driver Model (LDDM) in order to handle the operating system's new graphical features.

(Comparatively, Microsoft suggests that users have a 300-MHz CPU and 128 MB of RAM to run Windows XP.)"

I am a bit worried about this tho, u ever tried XP on a PII-300 with 128MB of RAM. the word slow actually gives the impression of some speed when in fact we need a word that desribes something much slower(need a better word) than slow.
 
At last year's WinHEC, developer sources said that Microsoft was going to recommend the "average" Longhorn PC feature a dual-core CPU running at 4 to 6GHz; a minimum of 2 gigs of RAM; up to a terabyte of storage; a 1 Gbit built-in, Ethernet-wired port and an 802.11g wireless link; and a graphics processor that runs three times faster than those on the market.
Uh.. what.

...


You know what, I hope they do this. I wouldn't mind switching to Apple, and once everyone else does, the only thing keeping Windows viable to me (games) will make the switch, too. :)
 
I won't be using Longhorn at all. I'm happy with XP (shock!!) and if/when I choose to upgrade I'm going to buy a Mac - probably a Mac Mini

I only use my PC for internet use now anyway so I have no need for cutting-edge, or the latest hardware. A Mac Mini will be fine for me
 
element said:
not really. The desktop will be accelerated by 3D cards. Right now your desktop is ran by old 2D stuff which hasn't changed since Win95. Vista will actually have hardware acceleration on the desktop.

for WHAT though. those pics look like windows witha different interface. i was expecting some actual depth to the screen. not the same toolbar and 2d backdrops.
 
Barnimal said:
for WHAT though. those pics look like windows witha different interface. i was expecting some actual depth to the screen. not the same toolbar and 2d backdrops.

Most of the effects that they are going to do most likely. Many of the things that they want to do will require hardware in order to run quickly without bogging down your CPU.
 
Talking to my friend that works at MS it seems at the beginning there's not going to be very many reasons for the average user to switch from XP. However, the underlying architecture is so much better and developer friendly that after a while there's gonna be a large amount of very useful software that will prompt users to switch. Also at the time when the average computer will be able to run Vista well.
 
Holy crap.

TMI, Microsoft...too much information. I can barely look at those screens without hurting from not knowing wtf is going on. They've got too much textual information all over the place. It's giving me a headache just looking at them.
 
Barnimal said:
for WHAT though. those pics look like windows witha different interface. i was expecting some actual depth to the screen. not the same toolbar and 2d backdrops.
there is actually some really cool ideas going around how to use the WGF desktop.
One HUGE change will be render initialization. PC games have to initialize the 3D renderer and your screen flickers like crazy, or when you alt-tab out of game it has to switch back. That is gone, in a DX/WGF game. Since the desktop uses the same API structure the game would simply just 'fade' to the background and become transparent.

A true 3D desktop wouldn't be nearly as cool as it sounds.
 
Ugh, do we have to have that Start menu thing for another 5 years ?

Please microsoft, it's broken. It's slow, and horrible. I'll have an apple by then if you don't MAKE SOMTHING THE FUCK BETTER.
 
element said:
there is actually some really cool ideas going around how to use the WGF desktop.
One HUGE change will be render initialization. PC games have to initialize the 3D renderer and your screen flickers like crazy, or when you alt-tab out of game it has to switch back. That is gone, in a DX/WGF game. Since the desktop uses the same API structure the game would simply just 'fade' to the background and become transparent.

A true 3D desktop wouldn't be nearly as cool as it sounds.


This is quite bad for your 3D videocard since it has to hardware accelerate ALL the time now instead of just doing it between 3D applications(games and CAD). Even running at low settings would wear down the life of your videocard. I don't even want to discuss the problem laptops/notebook will have because of increased generated heat.
 
Burger said:
Ugh, do we have to have that Start menu thing for another 5 years ?

Please microsoft, it's broken. It's slow, and horrible. I'll have an apple by then if you don't MAKE SOMTHING THE FUCK BETTER.

:lol "you won't be missed. don't let the shutdown screen hit you on the ass on the way out."
 
tenchir said:
This is quite bad for your 3D videocard since it has to hardware accelerate ALL the time now instead of just doing it between 3D applications(games and CAD). Even running at low settings would wear down the life of your videcard.

actually, I don't think so. your videocard is always running at low levels. one or two extra processes being active won't do a thing. it's like having a 3D screensaver. if anything, it will be EASIER on your card, because the 2D windows implementation is generally a bigger pain in the ass(er, so says a former boss of mine, who does CME development with microsoft tools)
 
the start menu is good

classic style

i never touch the new ones

anyways for vista they are also implementing parental controls for games ;) either control by ESRB standards or by content.

so animated blood and oops! game won't work.

*cue people whining about GTA:SA hot coffee mod*
 
I never really got into the Start Menu. I find it to be a tacky way to go about things, but at least they're addressing the All Programs thing by incorporating it into there rather than having it take eons to show up if you have a lot of programs (although this happens on OS X too really, at least if you right-click the Applications folder in the Dock).

I read through most of PC Mag's preview and I'll sort through them both tonight, as I'm recovering from my PowerBook's hard drive failure and a lack of Internet for 3 days, but Vista doesn't sound too bad. Right now it sounds mostly like a bunch of features that are standard in Tiger, but that's a good thing as I find a lot of the features that Vista is throwing in to be handy and very practical. The user interface stuff still seems like it could use more work as it still feels overly cluttered to me, but that's usually polished up way more near the end of things.

While I'm still disappointed altogether with Vista and weary of any Microsoft promises, I actually found the previews more encouraging so far than before.
 
Doesn't everyone puke when every preview screen is the same generic white family looking at, organising, printing, emailing their digital photos ?

I have a folder of photos, but it's all fucking porno, and it's a disapointing mess of a folder.
 
element said:
there is actually some really cool ideas going around how to use the WGF desktop.
One HUGE change will be render initialization. PC games have to initialize the 3D renderer and your screen flickers like crazy, or when you alt-tab out of game it has to switch back. That is gone, in a DX/WGF game. Since the desktop uses the same API structure the game would simply just 'fade' to the background and become transparent.

A true 3D desktop wouldn't be nearly as cool as it sounds.
That sounds pretty neat, but what games which run at a different resolution, different monitor sync, or even worse, what about OpenGL games?
 
If you play a game in windows XP with the same resolution and refresh rate as the desktop, the screen doesn't flicker at all...:P
 
If you play a game in windows XP with the same resolution and refresh rate as the desktop, the screen doesn't flicker at all...:P
True. And if you use LCD monitor, that's the likely scenario anyways.
 
seanoff said:
At last year's WinHEC, developer sources said that Microsoft was going to recommend the "average" Longhorn PC feature a dual-core CPU running at 4 to 6GHz; a minimum of 2 gigs of RAM; up to a terabyte of storage; a 1 Gbit built-in, Ethernet-wired port and an 802.11g wireless link; and a graphics processor that runs three times faster than those on the market.
from Thurrot's site -
Surprisingly, Windows Vista Beta 1 is a speedy performer. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see statistics showing that it's already faster than XP on the same hardware. This is somewhat confusing to me, since early betas are generally not tuned for performance. Plus, Vista has an incredibly dense UI compared to UI. I'll be interested to see whether this changes over time.
shocking!
 
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