OK, RC1 is out. Anyone knows if its worth downloading now, or should I wait till its available for public testing? I heard somewhere that it's better to wait because of the activation crap.

Ive now got it, and yes its worth dloading. Its still not perfect, but many improvments have been made. This is worlds better than Beta 2. UAC has been backed off tremendously (only shows up for major config changes) I havent had any program compatibility problems (AIM installs now!) Its now at a level where i can use it as a main OS without any problems. Good job microsoft, you actually did something right for once.

There go the security improvements...

I mean, hey, this is a classic already: Microsoft actually tries to implement a system which seperates every-day-use and administrative space and the masses cry out to have it removed again - either because it was poorly designed to begin with or the average Windows beta tester is too lazy to type in a password before making system-wide changes. I guess Microsoft customers will get their money's worth, sandboxed web browsers and virtualization rootkits instead of a long due, well structured security model.

UAC is a good idea in theory. You cant have it trying to confirm every action you make though. It was only 1 step away from trying to confirm EVERY action you made. (In beta 2 i wouldnt have been suprised to see it come up opening the solitare game) Now, i only see it when installing software, and making changes in critical windows environments (device manager, internet options...etc) Still ahead of the XP out-of-the-box security. Maybe we will see Vista as a good thing in the end after all. Basicly what i was saying in my first post was that compaired to beta 2, im now somewhat impressed.

So I got my hands on a copy of Windows Vista Enterprise Edition, and I'm very thrilled. I read some of the early reviews of the Beta/RC1 and let me tell you that the issues I have with it aren't nearly as annoying as most reviews would lead you to believe.

Everything seems to run very smoothly on it, though I've had trouble with some games. I toss this up to not having the correct video drivers though, as I was still using the old XP ones for my 6800 GT video card. One annoying problem is when I copy over files, it periodically stops copying to tell you that it's copying files. You have to click 'ok' to tell it to keep going. Also, like XP, most programs you run will ask you at least once whether you really should run it or not, but after a quick yes, it doesn't bother you much.

The Aero theme is very sleek and nice. Transparency is wonderful, as well as the new alt+tab and windows+tab features. The GUI itself is of course very nice, and the new explorer is pretty helpful for fast navigation. It displays a list of all the directories and sub directories you are currently in for quick access. When you go to Start > All Programs, it no longer pops up a giant menu of all the programs you have, but instead creates a frame within the start menu with a scrolling list of your programs as well. I'm not sure if I like this feature or not, but it's definitely a change from XP. The Search function is pretty neat, as it displays results are you are typing. You can use this to find pretty much anything, from pictures, to folders, to files, and programs.

So far I haven't found too much to hate, as most of it is just improvements to XP. It seems overly secure in second-guessing every action you take though, but usually only if it's the first time you do something (Like running a program that connects to the internet)

Disable User Account Control. Directions here.

It makes Vista a lot more enjoyable, I hated it double checking everything I did. "You are about to enter a PORNOGRAPHIC SITE. ARE YOU SURE: Y/N" "I typed it in my browser, didn't I?"

All they had to do was make it reasonably protective, a la authentication in OS X or *NIX, but no, they had to make it overbearing and annoying. Now everyone's going to turn it off 'cause it's annoying, and one of Vista's foremost attempts at tightening security goes out the window.

But hey, are we POSIX users in the least surprised?

Of course not, because you predicted it all along!

TAKE THAT, MICRO$OFT

It's a mystery to me why everybody wants to have Windows Vista now. I don't see any reason to switch my MS operating system, and I'm still using Windows 2000. Only difference to XP is the eye candy value and I really don't need that.

Kernel is nearly the same and you can run almost every software for XP on 2K. The only reason why some software doesn't install on 2K is because of a restriction in the installation script. See e.g. Civilization 4 - remove a simple check in the script and you're free to install it. And it works.

Only feature that I miss from W2K (pro) is the NIC bridging feature (to connect two networks when you have >= 2 NICs in your computer).

Looking at Vista I get this:
- even more eye candy (to hell with that!)
- DRM everywhere (kernel-space, user-space)
- only digitally signed drivers are allowed (wtf?!)

That's like paying money to imprison yourself...

this obviously means we should all use linux and free ourselves..................

I won't comment on this. But there are obviously some people who are only interested how bright and colorful the desktop is and don't give a damn about something like privacy and control about the machine they're working with.

At least I don't want to give up this control. It's my machine and if I want to screw it up I should be able to do so (as admin of course).

It rather means that a person who would like to operate a secure and reliable system (read: everyone using a computer) should actually make a damn effort, put those brain cells to use and refrain from following dimwitted suggestions like, "turn off UAC", "pour yogurt into your CPU fan" and "cut off your penis". Regardless whether the end result is a Linux desktop or a Windows box with the available security measures in effect, it will certainly be miles away from the grim reality seen on the average Joe's machine - this includes the legions of wannabe experts.

I get what you're saying, but you do realize that you just seriously responded to a joke statement, right?

Sure, and there is probably some sort of international law against that. ;)

There isn't, but I would be very happy if you would stop posting in this thread, because my eyes hurt from rolling so hard.

Well, if you don't like my rhetoric, maybe this little analysis is more to your liking.

Thanks for that document, I'm actually starting to feel some sympathy for the developers over at Microsoft.

Joke or not, I've seriously considered moving to Fedora Core 6 especially after reading that document Cyrus linked to. A friend and I discussed it after he sent it to me and we were just in awe at the amount of control we DON'T have over our operating system.

Microsoft better wake up and realize that they need to start developing an OS for it's users and not the entertainment industry. Either that, or DirectX 10 needs to see a (hacked) release for Windows XP. :/

Oh god.

Fedora Core.

That's got to be slower than Windows Vista.

If you're going to jump the train to linux, at least use a distro that doesn't suck.

Any hard facts why Fedora core sucks?

Hoover has taken Apple's ideas into consideration. They now believe that common devices ( like a phone or a media player ) should run an operating system; including their vacuum cleaners.

Their newest models will specifically include the latest Fedora Core. When asked about it, the CEO of Hoover said little. However, it is clear that he wants to attempt to surpass the ever-growing Katamari industry. :katamari:

Yesterday I reformatted my Dell notebook and reinstalled XP MCE04 FROM Vista RC1. Vista is pretty and has some nice functionality, but until it works 100% without issue on my notebook (which I bought a couple months before they announced their express upgrade bullshit, fags :(), I won't bother with it.

My Vista RTM is now fully cracked but still not 100% functional and this bothers me.

My tablet drivers don't work as flawlessly as I like: If I do something like use the touchstrip or press one of the buttons the drivers corrupt and I have to restart to get it to work again.

Also, Office 2007 RTM won't install. Setup always crashes when I mount the image. Although I have gotten some well-deserved bonding time with OpenOffice.org, I need my Office to live.

I think a reinstall is in order sometime soon.

Just curious, what mission critical features does OpenOffice.org lack in your case?