Windows Vista

llol_slim

sorry, maybe this is a stupid question ... but where can I download the vista beta? I got a pc sitting upstair unused, id love to try out visa on it.

danmanchester

You can get the beta from here

asot

The MS site is very busy at the moment so I would suggest downloading it from elsewhere.

http://vistatorrent.com/ is offering a torrent of vista (perfectly legal, just a mirror of the microsoft download in essence).

It's not very impressive really though, I would suggest your time would be better spent taking Mac OS X for a spin :-P

chuckles1066

leesmithg wrote:

Are you all using vista beta on test machines?

yes, XP Professional on my desktop upstairs, Vista on my laptop downstairs, wireless internet connection shared between the two

Anyone using Vista on their main machine is asking for trouble :rotfl:

sco0ter

chuckles1066 wrote:

Anyone using Vista on their main machine is asking for trouble :rotfl:

Why..????
I have it on my main machine with Office 2007 Beta 2 and no problems.... I can play all the same games and do All the same things with it and not once had a problem.

Lord_Chris

sco0ter wrote:

Why..????
I have it on my main machine with Office 2007 Beta 2 and no problems.... I can play all the same games and do All the same things with it and not once had a problem.

you are asking for trouble because it is a BETA RELEASE it means there will be lots of bugs which you will not be able to fix, and you wont be able to find help on the net because nobody will know how to fix it. quote from the Beta release site:

Beta 2 is intended for developers, IT professionals and technology experts

beta releases are an incredibly bad idea unless you really know what your doing with a computer, and clearly from your comment, you dont.

sco0ter

Lord_Chris wrote:

beta releases are an incredibly bad idea unless you really know what your doing with a computer, and clearly from your comment, you dont.

Been beta testing for years mate.... Already sorted out a few problems on this forum and Netgear support forum so you should get your facts right before souting your mouth off. Vista is not an unstable release. It will do everything XP can and more. Only downside is compatible drivers but if you know what you are doing you can get Server 2003 or XP drivers to work. Some manufacturers already have drivers (creative, Nvidia, ATI to name but a few) so dont think just because you cant work out things and are too scared to load it onto a main computer that no one should.

And I have found 4 bugs.. 1 known 3 unknown and microsoft have sent feedback and settings for me to try that fixed the problem so the whole no support thing you talk about it rubbish.... If you participate Microsoft give you a tool to download, microsoft Beta Client and File transfer program that lets you upload error reports and Microsoft then can send you fixes to try...

If you didnt know this then it looks like YOU dont know what you are talking about

You also said "Vista will not be stable yet, and if it goes wrong, you will probably end up losing work and not having access to your computer for a while... at best."

Ever heard of backups??
Vista is Beta 2 That means it is stable enough for public release.. It isnt going to go down the pan all of a sudden. You take the risk of losing data every day of the week not just with Beta software

Aiadi

No one has mentioned yet what the advantages are over XP. I mean apart from the cosmetic changes. Could one of you guys kindly summarise them to see if we should take the plunge?

Quincy_3

All the answers here http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/features/default.mspx

sco0ter

There are no great advantages yet... It is BETA... all big advantages will be in final product... this is just to get a taster to see how the public will recieve it... Something that they have not done to this extent before.

It does have better Network management tools... Better security... Better in built tools (photo DVD maker) makes use of your graphics card so you get your moneys worth and not just for playing games, Better organisation with sidebar, Better computer navigation than windows, better Update interface than windows (now its built in no need to go to web page) Looks better overall at the standard resolution of 1280X1024 than XP ever did with larger icons so you can still see them fine. Better disc burning tools as well. Also has Windows Mail instead of outlook express that is a cleaner version.