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I get your point but its hilarious that you said that because no one except 12 people at microsoft and those 12 are the microsoft UX team have ever seen aero glass. what they likely saw is a demo of the glass theme which is nothing compaired to what aero glass and diamond user experiences will be when longhorn is rtm or anything similar to what those 12 guys are working on right now.  :laugh:

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More than 12 people have seen it ;)

Jim Allchin has personally shown a small handful of people. Not me, to be clear, but some that I know, have talked to, or read blogs of :)

THIS THREAD IS PATHETIC!!! not because you guys are smart enough to figure out how to do this but...WHY THE "F" SHOULD WE HAVE TO TRY TO ENABLE THIS, IT SHOULD BE ENABLED ALREADY!!!!! THIS IS A PREVIEW OF THE "FUTURE WINDOWS". MICROSOFT IS TOY. why does paint and calculator look the same as it did in windows95. im downloading it right now from new binaries. doesnt look exciting, if these effects were default i would truly be jumping up and down in excitement. all microsoft does is piggy back off there old os's. i use to complain about how macs sucked because they made an os that wasnt backwards compatible. damn, at this point i would be willing to lose all compatibility for a fresh new look and experience.

i do realize longhorn is in early stages but we still should see better at this point. not an xp with different graphical elements, toolbars and menus. i know there are also lots of new stuff in the backend, but im not that much of a techy to care about stuff like that. i want visuals microsoft, something that doenst look like windows95 and xp.

Edited by medafor
THIS THREAD IS PATHETIC!!! not because you guys are smart enough to figure out how to do this but...WHY THE "F" SHOULD WE HAVE TO TRY TO ENABLE THIS, IT SHOULD BE ENABLED ALREADY!!!!! THIS IS A PREVIEW OF THE "FUTURE WINDOWS". MICROSOFT IS TOY. why does paint and calculator look the same as it did in windows95. im downloading it right now from new binaries. doesnt look exciting, if these effects were default i would truly be jumping up and down in excitement. all microsoft does is piggy back off there old os's. i use to complain about how macs sucked because they made an os that wasnt backwards compatible. damn, at this point i would be willing to lose all compatibility for a fresh new look and experience.

i do realize longhorn is in early stages but we still should see better at this point. not an xp with different graphical elements, toolbars and menus. i know there are also lots of new stuff in the backend, but im not that much of a techy to care about stuff like that. i want visuals microsoft, something that doenst look like windows95 and xp.

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This build was not meant to impress you. What part of that don't you understand?

THIS THREAD IS PATHETIC!!! not because you guys are smart enough to figure out how to do this but...WHY THE "F" SHOULD WE HAVE TO TRY TO ENABLE THIS, IT SHOULD BE ENABLED ALREADY!!!!! THIS IS A PREVIEW OF THE "FUTURE WINDOWS". MICROSOFT IS TOY. why does paint and calculator look the same as it did in windows95. im downloading it right now from new binaries. doesnt look exciting, if these effects were default i would truly be jumping up and down in excitement. all microsoft does is piggy back off there old os's. i use to complain about how macs sucked because they made an os that wasnt backwards compatible. damn, at this point i would be willing to lose all compatibility for a fresh new look and experience.

i do realize longhorn is in early stages but we still should see better at this point. not an xp with different graphical elements, toolbars and menus. i know there are also lots of new stuff in the backend, but im not that much of a techy to care about stuff like that. i want visuals microsoft, something that doenst look like windows95 and xp.

585832105[/snapback]

uhm okay. Step Away from the computer (Y)

WHY THE "F" SHOULD WE HAVE TO TRY TO ENABLE THIS, IT SHOULD BE ENABLED ALREADY!!!!! THIS IS A PREVIEW OF THE "FUTURE WINDOWS". MICROSOFT IS TOY.

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Um, no it doesnt.

this build is not meant to have flashy effects, or full functionality, or anything for that matter, all it is for is testing hardware drivers, that's all.

I'm getting sick of all the people calling it bad, or ugly, it isn't supposed to look nice (which is why they didnt include a good theme), or run great, all it is for is testing drivers, nothing else at all.

i know there are also lots of new stuff in the backend, but im not that much of a techy to care about stuff like that. i want visuals microsoft, something that doenst look like windows95 and xp.

585832105[/snapback]

Step 1: Stop downloading Longhorn

Step 2: Punch yourself in the face a few times

Step 3: Try thinking through before you type out comments

This build is specifically not meant to be visually amazing...this is just something to take up time before beta 1. If you don't care about the backend improvements then you should not even touch Longhorn until at least RC1 ... way to provide us insight with your comments though :pinch: :rolleyes:

this version is not meant to be visually impressive.

yeah right, and you guys will believe that all the way till you go and purchase it and it looks the same as it does right now. whatever, thats not an excuse. the fact is its XP with a new name and added features. it should have been visually impressive from the get go. it would have if it didnt piggy back off xp. its like trying to teach an old dog new tricks. fido is still the same but now he can fetch your morning paper, whoopie do. im sure you guys are sick of me, but it will probaly give you more to type about then the actual improvements from the last build. i will be gone like a troll.

Edited by medafor

do you have the slightest knowledge of programming?

it is very easy for microsoft to compile a build without all the graphical features built in, then compile another build with it.

Anyway, you know what this conference was for, hardware developers, not annoying n00bs who dont understand anything about os's. :angry:

this version is not meant to be visually impressive.

yeah right, and you guys will believe that all the way till you go and purchase it and it looks the same as it does right now. whatever, thats not an excuse. the fact is its XP with a new name and added features. it should have been visually impressive from the get go. it would have if it didnt piggy back off xp. its like trying to teach an old dog new tricks. fido is still the same but now he can fetch your morning paper, whoopie do. im sure you guys are sick of me, but it will probaly give you more to type about then the actual improvements from the last build. i will be gone like a troll.

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XP looked the same as 2000 right upto beta2 release and then it had most of the new UI changes which is prob going to happen this time arround. I wouldnt expect a decent build of longhorn till beta2 at least.

This build is for Hardware Vendors to use and abuse to get there hardware support underway with drivers for the exsisting products.

this version is not meant to be visually impressive.

yeah right, and you guys will believe that all the way till you go and purchase it and it looks the same as it does right now. whatever, thats not an excuse. the fact is its XP with a new name and added features. it should have been visually impressive from the get go. it would have if it didnt piggy back off xp. its like trying to teach an old dog new tricks. fido is still the same but now he can fetch your morning paper, whoopie do. im sure you guys are sick of me, but it will probaly give you more to type about then the actual improvements from the last build. i will be gone like a troll.

585832342[/snapback]

I agree with you in some sense but not in every way. With the amount of time it's taken to develope Longhorn one wonders if they wouldn't be better off if they'd just rewritten the OS from scratch. By the end of 2006 the Longhorn project will have been in developement for 5 years give or take. That's a LONG time. With the resources MS has I don't see why they wouldn't be able to do it. There should also be benefits of leaving all the old crap behind and starting totally from scrath. The Win2003 core (which Longhorn is based on) was written like back in 93-94 (I believe) with the release of WinNT 3.5. Wouldn't it be smart to start off fresh with a totally new core, a totally new UI and totally new technologies? Apple did it with MacOSX in less time so why shouldn't MS be able to? Sure, there are ALOT more Windows based computers and alot more different configurations out there but I don't see why it couldn't be done; if there's a will there's a way.
There should also be benefits of leaving all the old crap behind and starting totally from scrath. The Win2003 core (which Longhorn is based on) was written like back in 93-94 (I believe) with the release of WinNT 3.5. Wouldn't it be smart to start off fresh with a totally new core, a totally new UI and totally new technologies? Apple did it with MacOSX in less time so why shouldn't MS be able to?

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Windows NT was leaving all the old crap behind and starting from scratch.

The most recent major revision to the NT kernel and OS came in Windows 2000.

Apple did not start from scratch when building OS X. Mach 3.0 (what powers OS X) was finished in 1994.

One of the original Mach developers, Richard Rashid went to work for Microsoft in 1991 and contributed a great deal to NT's development.

Apple also didn't write most of the userspace code. For that, they looked to FreeBSD. Certainly, they've made significant contributions back to those projects... but to say they started from scratch and developed a new OS in "less time" is ignorant.

A lot of work is being done to the foundational systems of NT in Longhorn. LDDM alone is a huge step, and that's just the beginning.

I personally hope we'll see deep integration of .NET and WinFX, and a move to eliminate some of .NET's lingering dependencies on Win32.

I think what everyone wants to see is something to make everyones JAW DROP!!!

like wow! thats a OS I want to run. I dont know about everyone else but thats what I want to see. I see OSX and I see a great OS. Dont get me wrong XP is nice but doesn't make it GREAT!

I think the GUI has alot to do with the OS. Everyone is saying its not even beta relax bla bla bla. But when xp just came out it looked the same and everyone was saying wait till its in beta you will see the changes. Did anything change nope!! I dont think anything will change in the new OS.

Another thing is alot of people saying...

"Microsoft doesn't care about the GUI the OS is more for work"

but most of the people that use XP are homes.

But hey thats just my 2cents =) :whistle:

then this at beta 2

I think what everyone wants to see is something to make everyones JAW DROP!!!

like wow! thats a OS I want to run. I dont know about everyone else but thats what I want to see. I see OSX and I see a great OS. Dont get me wrong XP is nice but doesn't make it GREAT!

I think the GUI has alot to do with the OS. Everyone is saying its not even beta relax bla bla bla. But when xp just came out it looked the same and everyone was saying wait till its in beta you will see the changes. Did anything change nope!! I dont think anything will change in the new OS.

Another thing is alot of people saying...

"Microsoft doesn't care about the GUI the OS is more for work"

but most of the people that use XP are homes.

But hey thats just my 2cents =) :whistle:

585833038[/snapback]

You've got to be kidding about XP not changing through the dev cycle.

This

to this

to this

then this at beta 2

and then finally, the version of Luna in Windows XP today.

then this at beta 2

You've got to be kidding about XP not changing through the dev cycle.

This

to this

to this

then this at beta 2

and then finally, the version of Luna in Windows XP today.

585833088[/snapback]

Ah those were the days, watercolour.... :p

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I made a second Storage Pool using TRAID on two 4TB MP44Q SSDs (which, in this instance, is similar to RAID 5), and finally, I added the 250GB 970 Evo Plus drive as Hyper Cache on Storage Pool 1 in Balanced mode. Registering If you decide not to lock down the F4-425 Pro in Security Isolation Mode (blocking all external connections), then you could set up a TNAS device ID through the Remote Access setting in the Control Panel (which must be unique). This works in combination with an online TerraMaster account. TOS 7 TNAS Online Creating a TerraMaster account and linking the device online activates the warranty when you provide proof of purchase and the serial number, but it also gives you access through the TNAS mobile app, which allows you to complete certain operationsб including powering off and restarting the NAS remotely. A TNAS mobile update is required to gain access through TOS 7, and this is provided on the TerraMaster website, as it is not yet on Google Play. The app is evolving all the time and has made leaps and bounds since I first started reviewing TerraMaster devices almost three years ago. It is not quite there yet if you are comparing the likes of Synology, which, sadly, a lot of users online do all the time. OpenClaw setup One of the main selling points of the new F4-425 Pro is the inclusion of OpenClaw, with TerraMaster claiming that it is "powered by the world's first AI-native TOS 7 OS, supporting local-first smart workflows and independent data control." However, I immediately ran into problems trying to enable OpenClaw. After waiting 20 minutes at the "Enabling" message of the OpenClaw app following installation, I decided to do some searching online and discovered that it couldn't complete the installation process due to SPC being enabled, which is something TOS 7 immediately recommends to be enabled on first boot. SPC for NAS (TOS 7) is basically the same principle as UAC in Windows; it blocks executables from being launched by non-Super Users. After reaching out to my contact about these issues, I received the following response: Anyway, this only became clear when I closed the OpenClaw app screen and clicked on the OpenClaw icon in the taskbar; that is when I saw the message about disabling SPC. I think, due to the fact that this is a requirement, this should be a prompt during the installation process, not when closing the App Market and then trying to launch OpenClaw. There's also no 'Getting started' guide for people like me who have never used OpenClaw. I tried to add an LLM and discovered the tutorial led nowhere. That's when I started looking around the official TerraMaster forums, and I found a guide that helpfully explains that you won't get anywhere with OpenClaw unless you have a paid plan, which is disappointing because I imagined there would be an option to use a local LLM as I do in SubtitleEdit with Whisper-XXL. In addition, with the marketing imagery on the official site, it says that the OpenClaw feature is "all processed 100% locally for absolute privacy." which led me to believe that I could install a local LLM, not one that required paid tokens. In any case, TerraMaster does not provide guidance for this new feature, which was also a selling point of the F4-425 Pro! My contact also provided clarification about the above points I raised with TerraMaster Since it is not in the scope of the review to add paid services, I'll leave that to the people who are more qualified with OpenClaw. F4-425 Pro Surveillance App TOS also comes with a Surveillance app, which is not installed by default; it can be found in the App Market recommended section. In addition, after installing, it doesn't drop a shortcut on the Desktop or top taskbar, but you can "Send to Desktop" from the App Market listing for the app for a quick way to open it. Adding my Reolink POE doorbell camera was painless. TerraMaster doesn't appear to have a repository of preconfigured cameras; instead, the camera must be added using ONVIF or RTSP. No mobile Surveillance app TerraMaster still doesn't have a dedicated Surveillance app, although from searching online, Surveillance can be used and managed through the TNAS mobile app. I tried this with the updated TNAS mobile app beta in combination with TOS 7 and got a message that Surveillance was "Only accessible through web browser," so I reckon this must be limited to the stable versions of TOS 6 and the mobile app. More quirks In addition, whenever I minimized the Live View window in the browser Surveillance app, the feed appeared to switch to the Low-bandwidth stream, and there was no way to get the High-quality stream back. To get the High-quality stream back, I had to close Live View and then reopen it. Benchmarking A pretty cool feature of the TOS 7 is that it allows you to install directly to the NVMe M.2 SSD. In order to do that, you would have to leave out any HDDs during initialization, and even then, the system partitions are always written to two HDDs when they are eventually added. With three NVMe slots, this also gives an interesting scenario where you could build a TRAID storage Pool for installing all your apps and Docker on, and keep the third for SSD cache on the HDD pool. Limitless options! SATA PCIe 3.0 X1 A CrystalDiskMark test on a mapped network drive from within a Windows 11 25H2 PC (image above) connected over a 5 GbE hub was well within acceptable ranges. Although the read result on SATA was a little less than with the F4-425 Plus, for some reason, while writes were generally better. SATA PCIe 3.0 X1 I also ran the NAS Performance tester, which tests the link speed performance. As you can see, it pretty much maxes out the 5GbE connection. Of course, you can also opt to bond the two 5 GbE connections for a bit more umph, but I didn't do that. TOS 7, which, as of testing, is still in Beta, comes with an App Center that has a bunch of handy programs you can install right off the bat, such as Emby, Plex, Docker, as well as in-house Backup and Surveillance solutions. As you can imagine, any media streaming services you would want to host off the F4-425 Pro will work great, thanks to the Intel Core N350 CPU and its 16 GB of DDR5 memory. Accessing from mobile is only possible if Security Isolation Mode is disabled, which can put your NAS at risk from external sources, so there was no way to access it from the TNAS Mobile app. It's also quiet. I had this sat next to my computer on my work desk for the past week, and I did wonder if the noise I was accustomed to with NAS devices would annoy me, but all I could hear was a soft whirring of the rear fan (which was a little annoying) when the disks were not actively copying or reading data. Conclusion So what have I learned? Unfortunately, this release raises a few important questions and concerns that I feel haven't been adequately addressed. What I didn't like Our variant shipped with TOS 7 beta, and it's advised not to use it in a production environment. I feel that's a bit limiting on an $800 device. The mobile app is also still in beta and does not support some of the first-party apps, like Surveillance, and it still has quite a few bugs. I am a bit confused about the OpenClaw marketing along with the F4-425 Pro. I feel like that if it's going to be a main selling point, then offer official guidance on how to get started with it. TerraMaster recommends enabling SPC, but then markets the NAS for use with OpenClaw, which requires disabling SPC to be able to use it, opening up genuine security concerns for the NAS; and that's before you get into the security concerns of OpenClaw itself. Of course, the above issues won't be a problem if you decide to install something else on it, or even go back to the stable TOS 6. I wish TerraMaster had just given TOS 7 as opt-in rather than shipping with it. TOS 7 has been available as a preview since December 2025 (so well before my last TerraMaster review), and according to a thread on Reddit where a user shared a screenshot from the TerraMaster Facebook page, it is scheduled to launch today, June 23, but there's nothing about that in the TerraMaster news blog. My contact confirmed over email that TOS 7 exits beta today. The rubber feet also deserve a mention as they continue to be a problem, with them coming unstuck the moment you shift the F4-425 Pro anywhere on your desk. What I liked What it comes down to, though, aside from what I already mentioned, you are still getting a quality, affordable device here, so recommending it will depend on the individual's use case. If you're just looking for a relatively small NAS device to manage virtual machines on, backup your files, and take care of your home theater streaming, then it is a great device that will certainly futureproof you for some time. It provides good performance, takes up little space, and is, on the whole, very quiet. Four bays afford proper redundancy using TRAID or RAID 5, and you can even expand on storage capacity by adding the 2-bay D5, or 4-bay D8 Hybrid DAS over a USB 3.2 (10Gbps) link. Considering the 2024 releases were more about power, with the likes of an Intel Core i5-1235U high-end laptop CPU under the hood, I asked my contact last time if we could expect more of the same in higher-end models and was told: It makes a lot of sense to use Intel's N350 chip inside a NAS; it is more than capable of doing what the F4-425 Pro is intended for, media streaming and backup. The only downside is still the clear lack of community and even staff support on the official forums. In the past, I have had topics go unanswered for days, or there would be generic-type "we've noted this and passed it onto our developer team" type responses. Along with the other things I mentioned, it all ends up costing it a couple of points. If you are comfortable with the command line, Docker, and setting up TrueNAS or Unraid, you'll be fine. You can do great things with this hardware. In TOS, the apps are a bit lacking, and things don't always work as expected.\ AI NAS?! What has become clear to me this year is that we are going to start seeing all kinds of "AI NAS" come to market, and while that might be good for us consumers, be diligent and research these claims. Although the F4-425 Pro technically comes with AI, it is really using a cloud service that is externally sourced off-device through the third party OpenClaw app. My colleague did review a newcomer to the NAS space earlier this year, and it includes a local AI assistant inside the Zettlab D4 NAS, and they do not even use AI in the product name, check out Chris' review here. Where to buy and a discount coupon However, it does not change the fact that this is truly a great entry-level home media-class NAS that you can buy right now. TerraMaster is having a 20% off launch discount, plus you can also still apply our unique 10% off coupon on checkout, which only works on the official website. So here is a breakdown of the pricing that is only valid on the official TerraMaster website. TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N350) + 20% discount + 10% coupon = $575.99 TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N305) + 20% discount + 10% coupon = $503.99 TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N350) + 20% discount + 10% coupon = £525.59 TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N305) + 20% discount + 10% coupon = £460.79 Use NEOWIN coupon code during checkout for 10% discount Over on Amazon US and UK, the F4-425 Pro also gets a 20% launch discount, but here, the above 10% coupon cannot be applied. TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N350) for $639.99 at Amazon US (was $799.99) TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N305) for $559.99 at Amazon US (was $699.99) TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N350) for £583.99 at Amazon UK (was £729.99) TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N305) for £511.99 at Amazon UK (was £639.99) As an Amazon Associate, when you purchase through links on our site, we earn from qualifying purchases.
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