MS OS NEWS: Windows Vista
Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 46

Thread: MS OS NEWS: Windows Vista

  1. #1
    Registered User TechZ's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Bahrain, Middle East
    Posts
    7,525

    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

    excerpt:
    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."
    Last edited by TechZ; July 28th, 2005 at 03:22 AM.

  2. #2
    Registered User TechZ's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Bahrain, Middle East
    Posts
    7,525

    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.
    Last edited by TechZ; July 30th, 2005 at 02:28 AM.

  3. #3
    Registered User TechZ's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Bahrain, Middle East
    Posts
    7,525

    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.

  4. #4
    Registered User TechZ's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Bahrain, Middle East
    Posts
    7,525

  5. #5
    Registered User 10of40's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Location
    Unimatrix W-2
    Posts
    78

    Vista wants a new monitor, too.

    From the Inquirer:

    Excerpt:
    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.
    "I aspire sir, to be better than I am." -- Data, Star Trek: Nemesis

  6. #6
    Registered User TechZ's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Bahrain, Middle East
    Posts
    7,525

    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.

  7. #7
    Registered User TechZ's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Bahrain, Middle East
    Posts
    7,525

    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.

  8. #8
    Registered User TechZ's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Bahrain, Middle East
    Posts
    7,525
    USB key speeds up Windows Vista

    Microsoft's upcoming Windows Vista will allow users to add memory to the operating system through the use of USB memory keys, the company revealed at its Professional Developer Conference in Los Angeles. The option is part of a technology called Superfetch designed to make the next version of Windows faster to use over time.

    Superfetch will monitor the data and applications accessed by the user in recent months and preload those into its memory. This allows for faster access to data and applications. In current Windows versions the software loads applications and data only as the user asks for it. This takes time because Windows has to load not only the application itself after a system reboot but the drivers and other auxiliary applications.

    "Superfetch works great if you have a reasonable amount of memory, and it works fantastic if you have boatloads of memory," Jim Alchin, group vice president for Windows platforms at Microsoft, told delegates in Los Angeles.

    Full story: vnunet.com

    Inside Windows Vista Build 5219

    Windows Vista is starting to look more appealing. During our hands-on testing of Vista build 5219, which Microsoft is handing out this week at its Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles, we were able to try out a number of new features and observe some slick-looking interface enhancements. Build 5219 takes advantage of WPF (Windows Presentation Framework, formerly known as Avalon) to provide visual cues that make it easier to navigate between multiple open applications—and, frankly, more fun. It expands the search box embedded in the Start menu to let you kick off a search of the entire PC or of the Internet. And it enhances a number of security and administrative features and turns on User Account Protection by default.

    Microsoft has also confirmed that a beta of a new version of Windows Media Player will ship within Vista beta 2, perhaps even as early as the next CTP release. WMP 11 will include a new user interface but will retain the existing WMP codec.

    Screenshots: Windows Vista Build 5219
    News source: PC Mag

    WinFS Examples in Action at PDC

    Although WinFS won't ship until after Windows Vista hits store shelves, the new file system is garnering the attention of PDC 2005 attendees who want to see the capabilities that a relational file system will bring. Microsoft on Wednesday showed off a few examples of WinFS in action.

    WinFS isn't a new concept at Microsoft; the company has long made what it calls "integrated storage" a top priority. The new file system was first unveiled at PDC 2003, but many assumed the effort was dead once Microsoft announced WinFS would not be included in Vista.

    Not so, says Shishir Mehrotra, head of the WinFS product planning team. "I promise WinFS didn't get cut; I still have a job. If it does get cut, I hope somebody will tell me," he joked.

    Full story: BetaNews

    Evidence mounts for premium Vista

    With Windows Vista, Microsoft is considering a product line-up that would include several new high-end editions of the operating system. Microsoft has discussed plans for an edition for corporations and is also evaluating both a small-business version and an "ultimate" edition of the operating system that would combine the best of Microsoft's corporate and consumer features.

    The company has not yet said how it will sell Vista, and an announcement is not expected for some months. However, buried within the test code handed out to developers at Microsoft's Professional developers' conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday is a reference to six separate versions of Vista. In at least one place, the software makes reference to Home Basic Edition, Home Premium Edition, Ultimate Edition and three versions of Vista Professional: Standard Edition, Small Business Edition and Enterprise Edition.


    Full story: ZDNet News

    Microsoft taps Canon to bring Vista into color

    As part of its effort to boost the graphics abilities in Windows Vista, Microsoft is expected to announce Tuesday that it has partnered with Canon to include an all-new color matching system as part of the new operating system. The Windows Color System is designed, among other things, to help make digital photo prints that better match the images that appear on the screen.

    "There have been advancements made in the past to try and solve the fundamental problem that what I see on my screen doesn't match what I see from my printer," said Josh Weisberg, Microsoft group product manager. "Those advancements have helped for professionals and advanced users but didn't really do much for the rest of the world."


    Full story: C|Net News

    Microsoft takes peer to peer mainstream

    Microsoft will ship a technology as part of Windows Vista that is meant to broaden the applications and appeal of peer to peer networking technology. "Peer to peer is a game changer for application development," Microsoft product unit manager Sandeep Singhal said in a session at the Microsoft Profession Developer Conference (PDC) in Los Angeles. The technology has been available for a while, but hasn't taken off because it is too difficult to develop the applications and it faces security issues, Singhal argued.

    The technology could especially benefit applications for mobile devices, where limited bandwidth is more of a concern, Singhal said. Peer to peer technology today is best known for its use in file sharing applications, but is also applied in content delivery applications including streaming radio and video services.


    Full story: vnunet.com

  9. #9
    Registered User TechZ's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Bahrain, Middle East
    Posts
    7,525

    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.

  10. #10
    Registered User TechZ's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Bahrain, Middle East
    Posts
    7,525
    Several sites report that they found 20 different version of the coming Microsoft Windows Vista inside an .xml file. The list with so called SKUs contains one unofficial version: from the .xml file it seems that Microsoft will release an Itanium version of Vista.

    The already known version are: Vista Home (Starter, Basic, and Premium), Professional, Professional Small Business, Enterprise editions and the Ultimate edition. For the Home users there will come OEM versions called Digital Boost. The European Union will get a Vista without Media Player called Basic N. Vista Ultimate will also get the regular OEM version.


    Source: WinSuperSite | Extended64

    Windows Vista Starter
    Windows Vista Home Basic
    Windows Vista Home Premium
    Windows Vista Ultimate
    Windows Vista Pro Standard/SB
    Longhorn Enterprise Server (ADS)
    Longhorn Enterprise Server - IA64
    Longhorn Standard Server
    Longhorn Datacenter Server
    Windows Vista Pro Std/SB/Ent - VL Binding Service
    Windows Vista Pro Std/SB/Ent - VLGeneric
    Windows Vista Pro Std/SB/Ent - DMAK
    Windows Vista Starter Digital Boost - OEM
    Windows Vista Home Basic - OEM
    Windows Vista Home Premium - OEM
    Windows Vista Ultimate - OEM
    Windows Vista Pro Standard/SB - OEM
    Longhorn Enterprise Server - OEM
    Windows Vista Home Basic N
    Windows Vista Pro Standard N

  11. #11
    Registered User TechZ's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Bahrain, Middle East
    Posts
    7,525
    Vista To Include Antispyware Software

    Following the release on Monday of the latest beta of Windows Vista, Microsoft has confirmed that it plans to integrate its antispyware software into the operating system. The move could set Microsoft in a pitched battle against Internet security vendors and potentially government antitrust regulators as the company prepares for the 2006 release of Windows Vista.

    Even More Windows Vista Client/Server Product Key SKUs

    Link

    Windows Vista Starter
    Windows Vista Home Basic
    Windows Vista Home Premium
    Windows Vista Ultimate
    Windows Vista Pro Standard/SB
    Longhorn Enterprise Server (ADS)
    Longhorn Enterprise Server - IA64
    Longhorn Standard Server
    Longhorn Datacenter Server
    Windows Vista Home Basic N
    Windows Vista Pro Standard N
    Windows Vista Ultimate - OCUR
    Windows Vista Pro Std/SB/Ent - VL Binding Service
    Windows Vista Pro Std/SB/Ent - VLGeneric
    Windows Vista Pro Std/SB/Ent - DMAK
    Windows Vista Starter Digital Boost - OEM
    Windows Vista Starter - OEM SLP Bypass
    Windows Vista Home Basic - OEM SLP Bypass
    Windows Vista Home Premium - OEM SLP Bypass
    Windows Vista Ultimate - OEM SLP Bypass
    Windows Vista Pro Standard/SB - OEM SLP Bypass
    Windows Vista Starter - OEM SLP COA
    Windows Vista Home Basic - OEM SLP COA
    Windows Vista Home Premium - OEM SLP COA
    Windows Vista Ultimate - OEM SLP COA
    Windows Vista Pro Standard/SB - OEM SLP COA
    Windows Vista Starter - OEM nonSLP/SBC COA
    Windows Vista Home Basic - OEM nonSLP/SBC COA
    Windows Vista Home Premium - OEM nonSLP/SBC COA
    Windows Vista Ultimate - OEM nonSLP/SBC COA
    Windows Vista Pro Standard/SB - OEM nonSLP/SBC COA
    Longhorn Storage Server - Express OEM SLP Bypass
    Longhorn Storage Server - Workgroup OEM SLP Bypass
    Longhorn Storage Server - Standard OEM SLP Bypass
    Longhorn Storage Server - Enterprise OEM SLP Bypass
    Longhorn Storage Server - Express OEM SLP COA
    Longhorn Storage Server - Workgroup OEM SLP COA
    Longhorn Storage Server - Standard OEM SLP COA
    Longhorn Storage Server - Enterprise OEM SLP COA
    Longhorn Quattro
    Longhorn SBS Standard
    Longhorn SBS Premium
    Longhorn SBS Prime
    Longhorn Centro Standard
    Longhorn Centro Premium
    Longhorn Centro Edge
    Longhorn Server WinSB

  12. #12
    Registered User TechZ's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Bahrain, Middle East
    Posts
    7,525

    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.

  13. #13
    Registered User TechZ's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Bahrain, Middle East
    Posts
    7,525

    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

  14. #14
    Geezer confus-ed's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 1999
    Location
    In front of my PC....
    Posts
    13,087
    This time Jones states that consumers will not be faced with any more delays:

    "If you want my personal accountability, I will not take a bonus if we don't ship Vista with high quality and the soul intact by August 32st 2006"
    So would this be the soul it started with ?, or the cut down soul we got with beta 1 or the even more cut down soul, that the beta 2 specs are offering ? they pulled WinFS ages ago from the specs despite promises to the contrary & confusingly they keep adding bits into xp to test 'em, what they like to call 'back-ported' - this just sounds like previous releases of operating systems, they promise all sorts of stuff, realise that they haven't got sufficient engineering resources to test everything out & get the code tight, & release something that's not really that much better - but it seems much 'flasher', than the last thing they released a bit too early & only just finnished fixing..

  15. #15
    Registered User slgrieb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Posts
    4,103
    Gee, -ed! Sounds like you have some reservations about Microsoft's Next Great Thing. I think we can all relax a little, because in general Redmond's new operating systems never live up to the hype, but are never as bad as we fear.

    Forget all the improvements that have been pared off Vista; my big concern is that in their rush to climb into bed with the RIAA, et al on digital rights management and the push to run only digitally signed (like that makes it "Trustworthy") software and content, Microsoft may deliver an operating system that unfairly restricts the programs and content we can use.

Similar Threads

  1. windows98 error HELP PLEASE !!!
    By Talonboy in forum Windows 95/98/98SE/ME
    Replies: 11
    Last Post: August 19th, 2008, 06:04 PM
  2. OS NEWS: MS Vista's Website
    By TechZ in forum Tech News
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: July 23rd, 2005, 06:33 AM
  3. Ahem, where did my mouse go?
    By opiate in forum Comments and Suggestions
    Replies: 28
    Last Post: June 27th, 2001, 08:08 PM
  4. www.promise.com
    By Radical Dreamer in forum Tech-To-Tech
    Replies: 8
    Last Post: May 27th, 2001, 08:17 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •