Windows Vista RC1 Now Available (1 Viewer)

[Sami Kallio]

With RC2 x64 performance seems to be up; 3DMark went from previous 3700ish to 4400ish. Still about 400 points short of XP x64. I am updating HL2 files to see if the graphic corruption is still present, that's the dealbreaker really as the performance hit isn't that big of a deal.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Interesting that you bring up this question.

I have a dual-core pentium, so I could technically run the 64-bit
version of Vista. I choose not to, because I have read that it is
harder to get driver support for that format. I'm not even sure
how much actual speed I would pick up with the 64-bit OS.

But on to your question....

I did download the 32-bit version of Audigy 2 Soundblaster drivers
and noticed that the rear channels did not play during my audio test.

The drivers did state that they were for the BETA release and
would expire in November.

I have added additional programs that work/do not work to
post #59 of this thread.

Look, we are only weeks away from Vista being released to
manufacturers so I expect that a whole bunch of drivers will be
available for us by the end of December. I can live two months
with a small handful of program not working.

 

[Bryan X]

Ron,

I'm in the same position you are. I've got a 3.2Ghz Dual Core Pentium but chose not to install the 64-bit version because of the driver support issue. I'm also concerned about all of the software I currently have, if it will run or not. I don't know enought about 64/32 to know, so I'm playing it safe.

Edit:

By the way, looks like MS has yanked the link to RC2. They said it would only be available for a limited time. They sure weren't kidding. I'm glad I didn't wait to download it.

 

[Sami Kallio]

I'm sorry I did download it. My XP is lost for now (need to restore MBR) and HL2 doesn't work at all with RC2. I haven't tried other games but it looks like RC2 is not a keeper.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I've got it on a DVD+R myself, but haven't installed yet.

Sami, what's the problem with XP rollback?

 

[Sami Kallio]

Vista displayed XP as one of the boot option initially, then on next boot it was gone. fixmbr didn't fix XP boot either so now I either need to install grub or use BCEdit to add the XP on the selection.

If I can't make either to work, format the drives and reinstall everything. No big deal as I have all the data saved but I just installed all my games on BOTH OS'ses. Next time when I try Vista in the future I will disconnect my XP drive like I did the first time.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

So you've installed Vista in dual boot with XP, not OVER XP, correct?

 

[Sami Kallio]

Correct.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Just installed RC2 over XP. Took about an hour and a half. Performance of the operating itself can be a little sluggish, but the programs themselves run fine. HD video in QuickTime plays better than it has on XP, even. iTunes won't authorize the computer, but plays my mp3s just fine. I wish there was a way to turn off ClearType in IE7 Vista seperate from Vista itself, as I like seeing the actual pixels while surfing but hate the way Vista looks with ClearType off.
Even though I meet all of the recommended specs, Aero isn't working. I'll probably play with it a few days then roll back to XP.

 

[Sami Kallio]

I fixed my problem. Here is how:

1) Insert XP disc
2) Re-partition hard drives
3) Format
4) Install XP

No more headaches with Vista for me, the pretty GUI isn't worth it.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I came to the same conclusion. Unfortunately, having galanced over several bloggers talking about "rolling back" to XP, I assumed it installed like previous versions of Windows and could be be taken off it necessary. Turns out the "roll back" feature only works until Vista successfully runs for the first time. A quick skip over to Microsoft's website confirms it. The XP CD had the install option greyed out, so a reinstall over Vista was out of the question. I had fucked myself.

The only silver lining in this is that I had done a clean XP install back on September 11th, and thus only have less than a month's worth of new data that has to be backed up. I was stupid enough to do it on my primary machine, too, so I have a long night ahead of me.

Adam

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Here's my sad story...

After some careful thought, I too decided to remove Vista from my
computer. The few things that would not work were the ones
that bothered me the most.

I made a BIG mistake that has now committed me to the OS....

My second Western Digital hard driuve failed (D drive). The company
I bought my computer from sent me a replacement. I formatted the
drive using Vista.

BIG MISTAKE!

When I tried to go back to XP, that OS would not recognize the
drive. Seems that Vista makes their formatted drives into PROTECTED
drives. I tried reformatting it using Partition Magic and even Western
Digital Diagnostic Tools -- but the drive would not format.

So, I am back to Windows Vista because I have no other options.

My overall feeling about Vista is similar to what has been reported
here already. It's a beautiful GUI, but after years of waiting for
something revolutionary, all we get is a glorified Windows XP.

I can live with being forced to using Vista for now. The final
product is only 3 months away. Vendors are slowly making drivers
available so I suspect that very shortly I can start using more
and more applications that I currently cannot.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

download the ultimatebootcd, killdisk will wipe the drive totally clean. lots of hdd utilities that will remove any silly "protected" mode that vista wants to use.

CJ

 

[Sami Kallio]

That's funny, my rollback to XP went smoothly, XP was able to partition the drives and do a clean install. Putting in a Linux distro and setting up the hard drives from there has always helped me out of similar situations but I didn't have to do it this time. Another option to try if that ultimatebootcd doesn't work (it definately should though).

 

[Ronald Epstein]

The UltimateBootCD did not have Killdisk on it.

I went to killdisk.com and downloaded their FREE version
of the boot CD.

I am running it now. Approx. 30 hours to format a 200G drive :frowning:

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I'd be more than satisfied if it were merely Windows XP with a prettier GUI. The problem I had with it is that it placed security of usability. I tired of my screen going dark until I approved whatever simple task I was trying to accomplish, like going into Control Panel. Some riskier options it wouldn't let me do all together. In addition, I resented having my "My Documents" folder and the associated multimedia folders within sequestered off into their own seperate place. I use the address bar to navigate by long file name excessively, so this was simply not acceptable for me. Likewise, by having the programs listing scrollable within the start task bar, it saves screen place but adds mouse clicks. In XP, I navigate entirely by keyboard, in Vista this didn't seem to be intuitively feasible. Much like IE7, the overall impression I got was LESS flexibility, not more.

My last post was at 10-10-2006 11:17 PM. Right now it's 10-12-2006 12:36 AM. That's roughly how long it took me to get my computer back to a state where I felt comfortable returning to the HTF. After a failed Nero 7 installation kept Nero off my Vista install for good, it took another hour to find a burning program that WAS compatible. Then I discovered that Vista had redated all of my files to October 10, making a simple search for files created after September 11th impossible. I manually backed up the files important enough to actively look for, but am already discovering things I missed.

Overall impression: a fun little experiment that wasn't worth the time and effort. I'll probably stick with XP even after Vista comes out for as long as I can.

 

[BrianB]

I don't understand the desire to install a beta OS myself...

 

[Bryan X]

It's just something to play around with and also an opportunity to do a little 'try before you buy' as far as the GUI goes. You don't install it on your main PC, just an extra PC. So any incompatibilities shouldn't be a headache. If you don't like to 'tinker' betas probably are not for you.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

it surely does. it's listed as active@killdisk, which is why you may not have found it. and it does take forever.

CJ

 

[BrianB]

Oh I understand that, and I know people who need to look at OS betas for their jobs. I just don't understand the desire to jump to it on one's main machine as some people in this thread seem to have done.