MS OS NEWS: Windows Vista
Microsoft Windows Vista Beta 1
Microsoft has announced the availabilty of Windows Vista Beta 1 at 9:05 a.m. PDT today.
Windows Vista Beta 1 (Build 5112) Released
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Windows Vista beta 1 (build 5112) is an important milestone on Microsoft Corp.’s path to releasing the final version of Windows Vista. Beta 1 will provide developers, IT professionals and Windows enthusiasts with an opportunity to test the operating system’s infrastructure and provide Microsoft with valuable feedback. Beta 1 is being delivered to more than 10,000 beta testers via the Windows Vista Technical Beta Program, and thousands more people will receive beta 1 through the MSDN developer program and Microsoft TechNet.
View: Windows Vista Beta 1 Fact Sheet | Microsoft Windows Vista Beta 1 Announcement
Microsoft Windows Vista Beta 1 Released
Microsoft has announced the availabilty of Windows Vista Beta 1 at 9:05 a.m. PDT today. Beta 1 is not what I would call deeply interesting, unless you are a real bithead," Windows chief Jim Allchin said in an interview. "This beta isn't really for even tech enthusiasts. This beta is to test out some of the capabilities that we've got, if you will, in the plumbing." (screenshots)
What Are the Hardware Requirements for Vista?
Vista PCs should be "a modern, Intel Pentium- or AMD Athlon-based" one with a dedicated graphics card featuring DirectX 9.0 support, and 512 MB or more of RAM, company officials reiterated on Wednesday.
FAQ: Getting a handle on Windows Vista
Longhorn--now Windows Vista--may be arriving more slowly than expected and it might not have everything that was once planned, but Windows chief Jim Allchin maintains "It's a big deal."
Windows Vista release slips to Q4 2006
Windows Vista won't be available for shipment until the last quarter of 2006, a Microsoft executive let slip in a presentation on Microsoft's campus Thursday. Microsoft had previously slated the release of the next client version of its Windows operating system for the second half of 2006. But at the Microsoft Financial Analyst Conference here on Thursday, Will Poole, senior vice president of the client division of Microsoft, said the OS would not be available until the 2006 "holiday" time frame in the U.S.
This presumably would mean that the OS will not be available until sometime around the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, which is the last Thursday in November, or Christmas, which is Dec. 25. Poole quickly corrected his faux pas, and reiterated Microsoft's party line that Windows Vista will be ready sometime in the second half of 2006 during the remainder of his presentation to analysts.
News source: InfoWorld
-They can take more time if they want ;) , just as long as they release it with a good enough amount of testing done.
Version of Windows Vista will include Virtual PC
According to a TechNet article about deploying Windows Vista in enterprise environments, there will be a version of Windows Vista released that is bundled with Microsoft's Virtual PC application that can be used for application compatibility.
Vista wants a new monitor, too.
From the Inquirer:
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Quote:
According to a US tech consultant Stephen Speicher, Vista will make protected digital content all fuzzy unless it is viewed on high bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) compatible monitor.
He said that the number of people whose display is equipped with HDCP are so rare that it would take a special distributed screen saver to find them.
The missing technology is Protected Video Path - Output Protection Management and while it is a de facto standard for display copy-protection in televisions, so far it has not made much of an impact in the computer display market.
Microsoft unveils Freeze Dry for Windows Vista
- Windows Vista will include a new technology known as Freeze Dry designed to maintain application states and unsaved documents even when patches are automatically applied and PCs are rebooted. Many IT managers plan to automatically install patches and updates on machines during periods when they are inactive, such as overnight or on weekends. However, as some patches require machines to reboot, users who leave documents open and unsaved run the risk of losing that data if the machine is automatically updated. Freeze Dry eliminates that problem by automatically saving application state and documents and then restoring them once the system restarts, Stephan said.
Windows Vista Product Editions
- There will be two general categories of Windows Vista editions, which map closely to the two that exist today for XP ("Home," which comprises Starter, Home, and Media Center Editions, Pro, which includes Professional, Professional x64, and Tablet PC Editions).
In Windows Vista, the two categories are Home and Business.
In the Home category, Microsoft will create four product editions: Windows Vista Starter Edition, Windows Vista Home Basic Edition, Windows Vista Home Premium Edition, and Windows Vista Ultimate Edition (previously known as "Uber" Edition).
In the Business category, there will are three editions: Windows Vista Small Business Edition, Windows Vista Professional Edition, and Windows Vista Enterprise Edition.
In all, there are 7 product editions planned for Windows Vista.
Windows Vista Games Screenshots
Kotaku has posted some screenshots showing the games that will come with Windows Vista. You got your Solitare, Minesweeper and FreeCell. And it looks like they are adding a few new games to the stable: Mah Jong (Microsoft's version apparently will be called Shanghai Dragons), Purple Place and Windows Vista Chess. What's interesting about the screenshots is the 3D effects, shading and animation. Even if you don't plan on playing Quake 4 on your PC, it looks like you'll have to splurge on a new machine to get the full effects for even the basic stuff.
Windows Vista to support Symbolic Links
Ward Ralston, the developer who wrote the code explains on the TechNet blog about this new feature and how it differs from a shortcut: In Vista/Longhorn server, the file system (NTFS) will start supporting a new filesystem object (examples of existing filesystem objects are files, folders etc.). This new object is a symbolic link. Think of a symbolic link as a pointer to another file system object (it can be a file, folder, shortcut or another symbolic link). So then you ask how is that different from a short-cut (the .lnk file)? Well, a shortcut will only work when used from within the Windows shell, it is a construct of the shell, and other apps don't understand short-cuts. To other apps, short-cuts look just like a file. With symbolic links, this concept is taken and is implemented within the file system. Apps when they open a symbolic link will now open the target by default (i.e. what the link points to), unless they explicitly ask for the symbolic link itself to be opened. Note symbolic links are an NTFS feature.
Vista could ship earlier than expected
With speculation of a ship date for Windows Vista ranging in the second part of 2006, word has surprisingly surfaced that it can be expected much earlier. BusinessWeek has received a copy of the internal blog of Chris Jones, who is a top Windows executive. The blog states that the code for Windows Vista will be completed by August 31, giving Microsoft the opportunity to place Vista on PCs for the 2006 Christmas season.
If Microsoft is able to release Vista around October 2006, the company could benefit from a major spike in sales for December '06. Five years ago when Windows XP was released, Microsoft was rewarded with record revenues of US$7.74 billion, which was an 18 percent increase over the previous year. Will Microsoft set records again in 2006 with the release of Windows Vista?
Full story: ArsTechnica