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Windows Vista Beta2: Tell Us What You Think !

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To help you explore Windows Vista, we have created a list of tasks for you to try. To access the list and provide feedback on your experience, visit the Windows Vista Scenario Voting site.

And if there's something that you like or dislike in this pre-release edition of Windows, we want to hear from you. You can use the feedback form to share your opinions and let us know.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2006
    I installed Vista on my Compaq Presario 2100.  It has a AMD Processor 1.80GHZ and 448MB of Ram.  The graphics device is a Radeon IGP 320M.  Vista comes up 640 X 480 with 4 bit color.  It does not allow any changes.  I have looked for an update to the driver but apparently there is not one that supports Vista.  Does anyone know of this?

  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2006
    I have setup and installed Windows Vista Ultimate (prior to beta 2 public release) on my custom built PC.  After sometime of attempting to install, (I had to write a driver for my SATA card in order to install), I got it up and running, everything ran smoothly.  Aero overtaxed my processor a couple of time, (grrr!), so I had to shut that down, but the general feel and navigation is definitely an improvement!

    By the way, is there any Service Packs yet? There are a LOT of bugs that need patching!!
  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2006
    Service Packs for a Beta? No. Remember, this is BETA 2...this means there are going to be bugs thats why Microsoft wants you to test it so they can fix those bugs before RTM.

    Performance is a bit better in Beta 2 :-)
  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2006
    Excellent beta. It is much better than 5308.

    Good work!!
  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2006
    We (including sidebar) should feel lucky even being able to download it the first day it came out. I thought the server was going to be jammed the first day it came out.  But, somehow I got lucky and got the x32 edition in under 2 hrs.
  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2006
    And boys, let me tell you something, Microsoft is going to get down to real big bugs when it is released and after 6 months, it will probably be perfect. So, I recommend not upgrading until 2008 because if you upgrade the day it comes out, it will still have alot of bugs and errors. Lets take XP for an example, when XP came out, it wasn't perfect until SP2. So, ya, when Vista comes out, don't expect a big wealth with it because it will still have a lot of bugs, and microsoft is going to fix it when it is in Market for like 4-6 months. Then they will get real reviews and complaints about speed and things.  So, anyone of you Vista fans, (including myself) I would strongly recommend waiting till all of the problems are solved to upgrade to vista.
  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2006
    I noticed on the x64 link, my download size was only 13.7 meg. A real problem. I hope it gets fixed. I was able to download the x86 no problem and burn it to DVD this morning. This weekend I'll take a look at installing it and office 2007 beta.
  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2006
    I noticed on the x64 link, my download size was only 13.7 meg. A real problem. I hope it gets fixed. I was able to download the x86 no problem and burn it to DVD this morning. This weekend I'll take a look at installing it and office 2007 beta.
  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2006
    For all those who are unable to download (just see on the link that says servers are busy and sorry for incovenience). Here's a remedy, it may sound wieerd but it worked for me.
      I had the IE 7 beta 2 installed on my system. I read somehwere that if u rollback to ie6 and try again, it wud work.
       Well, out of sheer frustation i did that, and woila in 3-4 attemepts in ie 6 i got the link and now i m downloading.
    Again a warnind dont use microsoft download manager as it is showin the same server busy error, so use ur own download manager.
         
  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2006
    Hey, can anyone tell me whts the download size of the english 32 beta version download.
      my download manager is showin 3200.85 mb, but as far as i know microsoft mentioned that it is 3500 mb. Can anyone plzz ceheck out their download size and post it here or email me at coolashish_123@yahoo.com.
     I am worried that after 3200 mb it wont work. so please

    Thanks in advance.
  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2006
    From most of the above comments it would appear that almost NONE of you are experienced enough to even be running a BETA OS because you're not going to provide experience, quality feedback.
  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2006
    Ashish, The download size is 3.12 GB.
  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2006
    Ashwin you just proved their point. Please try and be a little more mature here ok? We wouldn't want Microsoft to have to disable comments on their blog would we?
  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2006
    I want you to act mature.

    If the attitudes don't change with the way people are speaking to other people here in comments, I can tell you Microsoft will just shut off the comments.

    If you were offended by previous comments, then kindly explain how you might, being as young as you are, still be able to offer good feedback for Microsoft instead of naming calling.
  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2006
    what ever! SRY! I'll try to calm down!
  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2006
    I mean come on! That guy just bumped in out of no where and started insulting everyone. I know! :( I act dumb sometimes, and I'm sry, I'm calming down :)
  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2006
    Can anyone help me.

    I looked everywhere because while im trying to install vista. It brings me to the boot manager screen and tells me a driver is corrupt or missing. The driver is imagedrv.sys and i have no idea how to fix this problem. Everytime i boot up windows it brings up the boot manager and shows me this problem.

    Please Help me.
  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2006
    We cool sidebar?
  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2006
    Installed Vista Beta on a Mac Book Pro using BootCamp.

    Not the easiest exercise.  Had to delete the 200MB partition that allows bootcamp to work, and then fix errors at full boot.  But it is installed now and mostly works.  Audio drivers don't work though, nor can Windows find any that will.  
  • Anonymous
    June 10, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    June 10, 2006
    Installed flawlessly. Runs faster then xp. Only one program (aim, no biggie) failed to run. A surprise for a work in progress. Very nice.

    Jim
  • Anonymous
    June 10, 2006
    For folks trying to download the Windows Vista Beta 2 through the CPP I suggest reading this post:
    http://blogs.technet.com/windowsvista/archive/2006/06/09/434667.aspx

    Servers are maxed and doesn't look like its letting up anytime soon.

    I suggest saving yourself the hassle by ordering the DVD.

    And for technical issues regarding installation of Windows Vista I must continue to direct you to the public newsgroups Microsoft has set up for Windows Vista Beta 2:http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.mspx
  • Anonymous
    June 10, 2006
    Try cut and paste the download page address on firefox download with your dowload manager (firefox) and your good to go
  • Anonymous
    June 10, 2006
    So vista cannot sycncronize with windows mobile 5? Bummer.
  • Anonymous
    June 10, 2006
    I try for 6 times to install Vista with 3 different download but during "expanding files" every times an error occured (21, 37, 67%).. Error while laying out image or the image is corrupted or damaged..
    Can somebody help me?
  • Anonymous
    June 10, 2006
    Nicola, Microsoft has created several Windows Vista Newsgroups that are full of people that can help you solve your issue with your install:

    http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.mspx
  • Anonymous
    June 10, 2006
    I see that "Enefiok Usoro" reports that vista won't syncronize with Windows mobile 5. Was there a problem with activesync or the phonepda? If it was activesync; what version are you running?

    Anybody had problems with windows mobile 2003 SEactivesync v3.8.0?

    P.S: Would like to see more reports on mayor programs, drivers and hardware that works....or not working.
  • Anonymous
    June 10, 2006
    I have been unable to install the latest version of ActiveSync.

    You can read about my Windows Mobile experience in Vista from a post I made several weeks ago:
    http://hive.net/Member/blogs/the_insider/archive/2006/05/26/15447.aspx
  • Anonymous
    June 11, 2006
    For starters, the boot up menu (boot.ini) call up needs to be placed after the pc detects USB ports to keep from having to switch to PS2 keyboard and mouse to select another operating system. Then Vista beta could not find the network I have used for years now (network works fine with XP, Windows 2000, and Linux). Seems even in a dual boot situation, Vista should be able to get settings from "older" (!!??!?!?) operating system, including desktop and installed programs!!!
  • Anonymous
    June 11, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    June 11, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    June 11, 2006
    Sorry about the double post - frustration was getting the better of me.......
  • Anonymous
    June 11, 2006
    Most of the stuff on the "Tell us what you think" seems geared towards IT and Developers.  I know the public beta was just opened up but it would be great to see more questions for general users.
  • Anonymous
    June 11, 2006
    I have installed Vista on an Athlon XP 3000+ with 1 gig of memory and an ATI x700 256 and it runs nicely had a bit of trouble with some drivers but the automatic updates cleared that right up.

    My other system is an Opteron 144 with 2 gigs of memory and an ATI x1900XT had it installed as the 64 bit version and for some reason it was not able to install the sound card drivers. The card is a sound blaster audigy SE creative has no drivers posted for Vista so I am at a loss there otherwise it ran well. I also installed the 32 bit version and it did not load te sound card driver as well
  • Anonymous
    June 12, 2006
    No drivers for my keyboard and mouse (Microsoft Office Keyboard 1.0A and  Microsoft Wireless Intellimouse Explorer 2.0) most butons are not usable :-/

    Some problemes with dual-screen in aero (glass transparency was somtimes disabled  without reason)

    Windows Vista is very heavy for pentium D805 (1Gb of ram) my processor heat much and so, become noisy

    Internet Explorer 7 crash when we install Sun JAVA VM
  • Anonymous
    June 12, 2006
    I am totally Unimpressed.... 99% of the new features are things that I do not see myself using.

    I will stick with Windows XP


    If something is not broken..... Why fix it?
  • Anonymous
    June 12, 2006
    Vista is running rather well on my laptop, I just have a couple issues.

    I had ie7 beta 2 installed on xp before upgrading but now ie7 will not run and i can't seem to find a place to download the vista version to reinstall it

    I need a WDDM for my chipset and i don't know where i can find it, without it i can't run Aero, though my laptop is more than capable of it.  The chipset is in the intel 915gm family.

    Thanks to anyone who can help.
  • Anonymous
    June 12, 2006
    Installed the Beta on a Home Built Athlon 2400XP system with 2gigs of RAM, Chaintech 71LN board,SoundBlaster Live 24bit soundcard, nVidia FX5200 vid card.

    The only driver issue was with the SoundBlaster card. Quickly fixed by a visit to Creative's site where I downloaded a Vista Beta driver. Sound now works.

    Network setup is much more convaluted than with XP. XP went on and found all the network connects and was good to go.

    Hopefully this will be much easier in final version.

    On the whole I am likeing Vista and it is running very well on the system I have it on.
  • Anonymous
    June 12, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    June 12, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    June 12, 2006
    Jodie, you may have damaged your XP Partition's boot properties when renaming the drive a different driver letter.

    I suggest heading over to the public newsgroups Microsoft has set up for Vista Beta 2 and post your question there - more than likely someone can help you figure out what to do:

    http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.mspx

    Again, I'd like to remind everyone testing Vista that its a beta and should not be installed on production PC's or PC's you depend on for your day to day operations. Being a beta means not everything works and you should back up your data before taking the "beta dive".
  • Anonymous
    June 12, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    June 12, 2006
    I didn't rename it-- Windows Vista did! Also need to correct that I am running a Gigabyte  G1-Turbo Motherborad, the ECS was my other computer I built.  Like I said- I hap XP pro running --all programs in and working... Downloaded and burned the Vista Install.. On install I choice the G: partition that I had named Vista while running XP Pro. But when all was said and done Windows Vista renamed my partitions.. Like it said-- G: is now C: for Vista while XP Pro 's C: partition had now been renamed E: Actually now that I look it renamed all my partitions.. My M:Movies is now J:Movies.. It gives me no choice but to boot to Vista..
  • Anonymous
    June 12, 2006
    Don't get me wrong . I am LOVIN' Vista. Just thought that Vista would have stayed separate from my other OS like normal!
  • Anonymous
    June 12, 2006
    I have also DL and Tried to install updates for SB Audigy--the Vista Driver, and my Scanner driver, and both dl, and are located but, then an error occurs that won't let the drivers finish installing..
  • Anonymous
    June 12, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    June 12, 2006
    The Upgrade option was grayed out and it said it had to do a Clean install, so I think that would be highly unlikely. But anything is possible. Shouldn't it say on System Info or something if it was an upgrade?
  • Anonymous
    June 12, 2006
    Thats ok I didn't mean for this to be a Tech blog- an informational one for others on what worked and didn't work and my experience with Vista. That is what I wrote about. I have done hundreds of installs and I know how to install multiple OS's and have NEVER had this problem, till Vista changed the Boot.ini file to a BCD... I figure this is causing part of my problem. Thanks anyway for the referance..
  • Anonymous
    June 12, 2006
    Also the fact that XP Pro was on C: and I installed Vista on G: there should have been no upgrade, just clean install. The problem is with Vista changing the Drive letters and changing the BCD from Boot.ini.
  • Anonymous
    June 12, 2006
    Like I said, post your question and issue in the newsgroups and I'm sure someone can help you try to resolve it. I apologize for the issues this has caused you.

    I have to say this again: you take large risks installing beta software and the loss of data is always something that could happen. Its recommended you install this Beta on a PC that doesn't host any crucial data and if you decide to use a PC with important data on it - PLEASE BACK IT UP.
  • Anonymous
    June 12, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    June 12, 2006
    John,

    The permission pop-ups you see is due to Vista's new security feature called User Access Control (UAC). The amount of permission pop-ups will be quite a bit less by Release Candidate 1.

    As for the search indexing, yeah it takes up alot of processing and they are working to make the indexer use less processing power. If you've tried Vista's search though, its quite impressive. I love it myself. Its about time Vista ships with better desktop search technology.
  • Anonymous
    June 13, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    June 13, 2006
    Brill. love the new logon screen.
    Installation abit long but well worth it.
    Nightmare to install new software, having to put everything in compatablity mode.
    love the layout.

    WELL DONE MICROSOFT.   keep up the good work
  • Anonymous
    June 13, 2006
    I've had a mixed experience with Vista (64-bit).  I did the same thing Jodie did and got the same message, but on the boot screen I found I was still able to boot to XP, where the drives kept their original letters.  (For the record, my boot screen options come up with "Microsoft Windows" and "Earlier versions of Windows").  At first it was working pretty well, finding all my drivers automatically through Windows Update.  But afterwards, during normal use, it started giving me "file corruption" errors.  It checked for disk errors and found lots, and seemed to repair the files, but then it stopped running 32-bit applications.  After I reinstalled Vista it worked fine, but I didn't want to have to do that.  My only issue (of normal use) is I wish it was a little easier to switch back to the old views for everything.  (Start Menu's easy, I mean everything else).  The only major thing I feel needs to be worked on is application compatability.  Because it's such a hassle to set up everything on Vista the same way it's set up on XP (all my settings, etc), I'm not using Vista as my primary OS right now.
  • Anonymous
    June 13, 2006
    What about 3com Network Drivers?
  • Anonymous
    June 13, 2006
    The total lack of SATA support was rather annoying.
  • Anonymous
    June 13, 2006
    I totally agree - I've been having issues with SATA since Beta 1. While its improved somewhat in my experience, its something that needs to be improved quite a bit more. I expect we'll see some great support in RC1.

    Beta 2 lets Microsoft get a much bigger picture of hardware and will be a big help in getting SATA support better.
  • Anonymous
    June 13, 2006
    What issues have you been having with SATA?  I'm curious, since mine seems to be working fine...
  • Anonymous
    June 13, 2006
    I have a question, will all my old programs on my computer run on windows vista? And also if i do install windows vista, can I reinstall Xp without loseing any files?
  • Anonymous
    June 13, 2006
    Hey,
    Does anyone know if the BFG 3DFuzion GeForce FX 5500 256MB DDR PCI Graphic Card ( GeForce FX 5500 ) will work with windows vista. Like to make the aero thing work? send me a email at  jerry3105@aim.com  or post your answer here. Thanks!
  • Anonymous
    June 14, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    June 14, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    June 14, 2006
    I'll admit, my machine isn't that fast, but it runs Vista beautifully. Install was not a problem, and any hardware that wasn't recognized was found by running the new tool that shows up in the system tray. I did hit one major wall though. My router is a Linksys RT41-BU, wired router. I used to work at Best Buy and my wireless router started to fail, so I picked this up on my way out one night. It works great with XP, but I thought - man, there sure isn't much you can do in the control panel. Apparently it was a "Best Buy Exclusive". It worked fine though until I got Vista on. I think the problem lies within the new network framework because this happens to all web browsers. Browsing the internet will be ok for a while but then pages just won't load. It gives strange 404 errors. When I reboot my computer, everything is fine. I believe this has something to do with the router's firewall having Stateful Packet Inspection. Has anyone else had similar experiences?
  • Anonymous
    June 14, 2006
    Hey guys...

    Vista seems to be nice work.

    The most I have to say was just said.

    But there's one thing I always missed in every version of Windows:

    The option to rename files within their extensions if extension option is off.

    Why don't you give Vista a holding-key-option (such a shift oder alt) to rename the entire file.

    I don't want to enable extensions but everytime I want to rename the extension (for example .txt to .bak) I have to switch on extensions.

    Please integrate this feature :-)

    Many users would be thankful for that, I'm sure.
  • Anonymous
    June 14, 2006
    Does anyone know how to linstall Nero 7 or install Download ACC Plus ( DAP) both of which I get error mesa upon installing- I need Nero INCD to use Acronis True Image-HELP
  • Anonymous
    June 14, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    June 14, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    June 14, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    June 14, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    June 14, 2006
    Great product, Got it working on a Gateway M680, 1.7G, 1g ram, 128MB ATI Video.  Evreything semd to work great.  Wondering about an Antivirus software, It keepss asking for one, got any ideas?
  • Anonymous
    June 14, 2006
    I am using an ASUS P5LD2-VM Motherboard and the Vista Compatibilty Tests Passes. Upon Installation it is asking for an updated ITE IT8211 ATA/ATAPI Controller Driver Update and forces me to stop the install. I am having difficulty finding this, can anyone guide me to the driver possibly or a WorkAround even?

    Thanks in Advance
  • Anonymous
    June 14, 2006
    I am having troubles with an external USB Hard drive, it completely locks up Vista as soon as I flip the power switch, and if I turn it off evertything goes back to normal. Any ideas there?
  • Anonymous
    June 14, 2006
    Great, very nice interface. But lack some nice features found in competitors, like: why is necessary to "click" for the mouse whell to work?. If the mouse is over volume control, and I roll the whell, the vol shoul inc/decrease.

    My big surprise is that My HP 6122 is working with the XP64 beta drivers (?)
  • Anonymous
    June 15, 2006
    This is a heck of a beta. I'm quite impressed. Love the look, the feel, and it found drivers online better than I've ever seen Windows do. Heck of a job, people. I feel many of the complaints forget that it's a beta, some joker towards the top was "never" going to use it based on his beta, but we're running fine over here. Nice.

    Any word on the backwards compatibility of the 64-bit environment for software?
  • Anonymous
    June 15, 2006
    It works fine!!

    But i can't get the Flip 3D function to work..

    Help!?!
  • Anonymous
    June 15, 2006
    Great beta but I'm ready to install it over and over (which you can expect from a beta)
    Something I tried yesterday : restore system and then undo restore ... my computer crashed and my going through a new install now.
  • Anonymous
    June 15, 2006
    well im likeng the vista beta 2 so far and there are some things that take longer to do then with xp. and one of the first things i set out to do was getting that stupid User Access Control (UAC) to go away ,well i found out how to do it and now im alot happier.now i just need to find away to unlock all the folder that are locked. Other than that my install went good it actually only took about 65 minutes and i set up my printer and a few photo editing tools and its orking good all with a dual boot with xp
  • Anonymous
    June 16, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    June 18, 2006
    Could Vist be made to use 64 & 32 bit drivers that we have?
  • Anonymous
    June 19, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    June 20, 2006
    how can i save my bookmarks and passwords now in xp in firefox and IE and install or remember them again when i install vista?
  • Anonymous
    June 21, 2006
    Well I have not tried it, but thought I would supply the links for the drivers for the 3com 3C940 for Vista 64

    This is for the x64-64Bit driver not x86-32Bit

    This link should get you the search page for these drivers.
    http://www.3com.com/products/en_US/searchbyfile.jsp?fileid=all&fname=3c2000&sort=fdate&order=desc&prodcat=19

    3C2000-T 3Com® Gigabit NIC 3C2000_XP_2K3_16May06.exe Drivers 30May2006
    http://www.3com.com/other/downloads/products/en_US/3C2000_XP_2K3_16May06.exe


    The text file within the RAR archive starts like this:

    (C)Copyright 2002-2005 Marvell(R).
    All rights reserved.
    ================================================== =========================

    yk51x64.txt created 11-Aug-2005

    Readme File for YK51X64.sys v8.32.4.3
    Marvell Yukon Ethernet Controller

    NDIS5.1 Miniport Driver for Windows XP and Server 2003 (X64)


    If/When I try it I'll report back on how or if it worked.
  • Anonymous
    June 21, 2006
    Well I tried the VistaUpgradeAdvisor from the Website and it reported this for my NIC


    3Com Gigabit LOM (3C940) 3Com
    Get driver from Microsoft Update  

    Well that is something that should be changed.  If the NIC isn't going to work, then you're NOT going to be able to get an update from the Windows Update Site.   Other hardware I can understand, but any NIC card drivers should just say NOT SUPPORTED or Check MFG or give a link to something that "might" work.

  • Anonymous
    June 21, 2006
    Love the feel of Vista. Great that MSN Live mail now opens in existing IE7 on a new tab instead of opening a new browser page.  Sidebar & transparant windows are really cool.  

    Hope some day my hard drive will stop churning.  I'm thinking because I only just installed it's catching up, indexing etc and will settle down...  restarts have been slow or seemed to hang.

    Only been a few hours so far but my 2 biggest problems are...

    Can't get my sound settings for Nvidia NVMixer to change to 5.1 tried upgrading drivers but it keeps saying drivers not found in the folder I downloaded from the website.  I tried manually moveing them to system32 & system32/drivers files to replace existing, didn't improve.
    Also on my online MMORPG "Oz World" there is now no sound atall.  Not sure if this is an issue with Nvidia or my speaker system (Trust 4500P 5.1).  Will keep hacking at it and post to general discussions

    2nd, AOL Client says it is installing files needed to run & then restart... it just does it over and over and never completely starts up.  Have fed back to AOL but I guess they will say tough cause they dont support the beta.  Good job I dont like using the AOL client anyway and only use IE7 to browse (Connectivity is fine) but it will be no good for users who use AOL.  I presume they will catch up in time.

    Well wish me look I'm going to explore some more

    Paul.
  • Anonymous
    June 21, 2006
    me again, just about to go to bed but final thoughts on networking.  Had to go in and re-allow my shared (now called public) folder which wasn't too bad once I read the help instructions.  Finding out why I could not view the other 2 computers was more of a dig in the forums.  Apparantly I needed to run home office setup on each and name them WORKGROUP then restart all.  This worked fine and hopefully just a temproary thing that end users will not have to do ?  Gonna try and find that link in the forum and reply my thanks before I go to sleep.... aaah so much to take in, lol
  • Anonymous
    June 21, 2006
    So far, I am loving Vista.  The new paradigm and locations of some familiar things are taking some time to acclimate to, but overall, I like the new feel.

    One big problem I have is with DVD playback.  I was trying to watch "The Fifth Element" on a flight from Houston to Atlanta last night and had an issue with the DVD rendering clipping on the right.  I had the sane experience trying to play the movie using Vista Media Center or WMP11.

    FWIW, the DVD is a "superwidescreen" 2.35:1 AR movie.  I haven't tried a regular 16:9 widescreen AR title or a 4:3 AR title.  Another thing I noticed was that when I attempted to play the movie in fullscreen mode in WMP11, it would go blank.

    For the record, I have an HP dv1659 (widescreen display) with the Intel 945GM chipset, using the "Lakeport" drivers.

    -MrB
  • Anonymous
    June 21, 2006
    MrB:  Windows Vista Beta 2 is the milestone of the product in which we are feature complete -- between now and RTM we are only focused on quality and performance.  Because DVD playback is a scenario at the top of our list in terms of customer importance, you will see a dramatic improvement in playback overall when we release the final product.
  • Anonymous
    June 22, 2006
    Got the CD -32 version.  Loaded up for tri-boot with Win XP and Win 98 fine.

    Boot time real good on slightly dated AMD Athlon XP with 768MB Ram & 38MB partition.  Actually quicker than XP Home.

    My video card is older 3dlabs . . . tried all their drivers to no avail.  Stuck with low res.  Hard to tell what Vista really looks like.  

    System also has a Macronix-based NIC, so there is no Vista internet connection.

    Ordering new video card and new NIC today.

    Microsoft Vista developers should pay a little more attention to "What's really important" up front.  Some Beta testers who load the "upgrade" are going to find themselves with almost unreadable video and no internet connection.  Without those too very important things, it is going to be tough to correct or recover from a poor installation of vista.  They are not going to be happy.

    New features look interesting, but can't try them very well with poor video.  Check back later.



  • Anonymous
    June 22, 2006
    It was about time windows lived up to it's name. Not only did it do that but also gave unix and linux users a run for their claims that it is better than windows. The GUI and  the speed of operation are the major winners on this OS. The availability of drivers is excelent too. The only glitch am finding is installing some of the basic programs like Windvd 7, Nero Premium and Alcohol 120%, TV Tuner cards and drivers and configuring the TV card (Artec DVB) to work with Media Centre amongst a list of others. Sony Vegas works especially well and Motorola Phone tools. Please look into these and other programmes?
    Will get back with a list of programmes and hardwares that have difficulties coping with Vista.
  • Anonymous
    June 23, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    June 24, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    June 24, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    June 24, 2006
    Oh, yeah.  What do I think?

    While the display is usable, I'm hesitant to do much web browsing, until I have some A/V in place.

    I never did get the hang of the XP-style Start Menu, so I've always hit Classic Mode.  I see I can still do that in Vista.  Thanks!

    I like the idea of the gadgets.  Most of the initial gadgets are not very useful, but a couple/few are.  I use the clock, stock ticker, and calculator.  I'd like to see the clock become resizable, and perhaps include a digital display mode (classic LED?).  I hope it's relatively easy to develop and install new gadgets.  Also, I'd like to see a mini Task Manager gadget.  I see the CPU/Memory meter, but that only gives instantaneous status.  A little graph showing the last 30 or 60 seconds would be much more helpful.  And if you could hit it to open the full Task Manager...

    At a glance, it looks cool.

    JeffS

  • Anonymous
    June 25, 2006
    For those needing an A/V app., Avast Home or Pro install without issue. Make sure you register the Home version (FREE) and it'll be good for a year. This UAC thing is a PITA. Lets get on that issue quick. Please?
  • Anonymous
    June 29, 2006
    vista has taken over my startup (boot.ini).  in order for me to see the boot loader i have to press any key and before it flashes into vista i have the option to choose other windows (i.e., previous xp installation).

    i've been lucky that although my hardware is not the newest i can run this beta without many problems.

    in fact i am still able to use my acard scsi controller and the scsi canon fb1200 scanner, which i've had since 1999.

    the most impressive feature i've encountered is vista's ability to repair damaged system installations

    i attempted to use ubuntu's grub and none of my systems worked, neither xp or vista.  i deleted the ubuntu partition and thus the grub.  now that the vista loader was not active xp nor my original xp disc booted to my xp partition.  vista has a feature which not only recognized my previous vista and xp installations, but also fixed the installations.

    the vista boot manager now lists 2 windows and 1 other windows and it flies by the menu.  as i said earlier you need to touch any key on the computer to pause the boot loader from automatically starting vista.

    i am looking for a way to slow the boot loader so that the people at home who want to still use their xp accounts can have a choice.
  • Anonymous
    July 01, 2006
    Just tried Microsoft mail and got a number of dupliocates ... ones I have already received and reviewed and it prompted me for all of my passwaords to log on to eacher email account I have.
  • Anonymous
    July 01, 2006
    And it won't play a DVD ... something about "I receive a message about digital copy protection".  The DVD starts but then hangs at that message. Apparently there's Windows Media Center buried somewhere in Vista but no search I use comes up with it?  Where is is? PowereDVD, MyDVD, and Nero 6 (all in compatibility mode fail. Not a novice here since I have been dealing with Windows products since before there were any applications to run on it (both workstations and servers). Am I just obtuse or can original DVD's play?
  • Anonymous
    July 03, 2006
    Why I couldn't use AERO GLASS !

    I have a Lenovo 3000 N 100 laptop
    with intel 945 GM express chipset

    I tried using the Lakeport drivers but the system got crashed so i had to come back to the Last best installation...

    my email id is majnoo@msn.com
    can somebody please reply me at email....

  • Anonymous
    July 07, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    July 10, 2006
    Vista was setup just now!

    First I think the setup speed is very fast,at least,for 3.2GB size ,that is  an wonder!

    But something is so pity,because the system can't enable the Areo Glass style.When I want to turn on the style,the system said:the virtual style could not be applied!No matter how hard I try,I can't fix it.Who knows how to do it,send me a E-mail.my E-mail address:tanyz2008dream@hotmail.com

    Anyways,Vista is a powerful System