Windows Vista: an XP Evolution

[B1gDaddy87]

It's been already some time since the Windows Vista Beta 1 has been released and now there's a thing, that puzzles my mind. When you look at Vista, the first thing you see is Aero Visual Style.

When the idea of a new version of Windows, Longhorn at the time was just beggining to arise, and the first alpha build screenshots were just delivered to the users judgement i was simply blown away. It looked so cool, it looked so different.

There was a sidebar, the look changed alltogether, it was something else.

Now, what do I see after these years of development? I see Windows XP, a bit redesigned, with glass effects added and so on. But the core is still there. There's no sidebar anymore, the Start Menu is the same, and once again, as with XP, Microsoft is trying to stick everything they can into it.

So what I want is I want to know your opinion on this, and what do you think we will see in Beta 2. Is it going to be an XP in Evolution, or as Paul Thurrot said: maybe we'll see a Revolution.

[stgeorge]

From the screen shots I've seen, Microsoft kept all the old crap and just put in new ways to get to them (look at the control panel). Notepad is still the same, Paint is still the same. I thought Allchin said they were rewriting all of the accessories and games. I guess he was lying through his teeth. Icons are a little different on the topmost layer, but if you dig a little deeper still there are a ton of Windows 95, NT and XP icons all over the place. Even the Windows 2000 style minimize/maximize/close buttons appear in places! This OS is going to be a huge mess.

[Ghostdraconi]

Yes the visuals in the Vista gold are unimpressive ...

Oh wait

[Alpha2004]

rofl.

the gui in vista hurts my eyes...but its only beta 1!

take a look at whistler beta 1...cmon man they improved a lot of stuff!

[STV]

its what is under the covers that counts.

STV

[cobain81]

As most of you, I'd like more innovative interface because i think look & feeling of OS and applications increases productivity, but there are things much more important to expect from Vista: increased stability, performances and security, better .NET integration, Virtual Folders, etc...

And don't you forget we're one year away from final version, maybe MS could reserve us some surprises ;P

[Menge]

i've been using Vista all day long now. Had only one serious lockup (which i dont know what caused, btw).

But yeh... the UI right now is not pretty. The glass actually is kinda pretty and all... but once you start to get more windows, it starts to get kinda chaotic under the transparent areas. Plus, the color scheme isn't that nice (god, i hate those baby blues on menus). i'm curious to see what the final will look like :)

[c4nad14n]

its still the beta. im happy that all we're seeing isnt just superficial changes in these builds. seems like microsoft is trying to make improvements that matter, and not just a different ui

[Malisk]

its what is under the covers that counts.

STV

586297784[/snapback]

What do you mean? It's what's given to the end user that counts. That's the audience of Vista.

Anyway, personally I'm seeing as many differences as I saw in Windows 2000. I'm not really sure what you all are expecting, but there's already in Beta 1 plenty of new stuff -- finally a good search engine, virtual folders, new ways to visualize folder contents, a much improved Internet Explorer, a new development API for the next generation of Windows applications, a new user mode... It has all signs of a major revision of the Windows OS so far...

But I have no doubt this will be less of a change than from Windows 3.1 -> Windows 95 though, as in how you use the OS. It'll probably stay XP-like with start menus, Explorer navigation, etc in the RTM. Windows 95 changed completely even before beta 1, and I think such major changes is what you do before the betas to get them in as early as possible, because otherwise you'd be throwing away work you'd do later. Even in Windows XP Beta 1 did you start seeing how you'd come to use the OS and I doubt Vista will be so much different. But I'm still not disappointed in what I'm seeing; this is far more than 95 -> 98, 98 -> Me, or 2000 -> XP.

[Javizun]

its only on beta come on, people are jumping all over the place saying vista is only xp with a new theme blah blah blah. For christ sake is on beta stages

most of you probably dont remember how xp beta looked back in the days,and plus that sidebar was ugly screen clutter-we akready have a a place where recently used files and icons to your most/frequently used apps exist. Is called START MENU and quick launch....the sidebar added nothing meaningful to the os

plus i experienced major improvements with vista-on my p4 3.0ghz system this os is running like a champ,

[XIII]

For that reason, I don't think Vista will be sold well when it is released. I personally found everything I want in XP already. The search function of Vista can easily acquired through MSN desktop search installation. It can replace really well the search bar integrated into the Start menu.

The visual style only encourages a certain amount of customer to purchase. However, it is not a solid reason to upgrade. Not many people use MacOS for visual style, about 80-90 percent of them use it because of security and ease of use.

Besides, Vista code is based on Server 2003 and Server 2003 is based on XP. Pretty much, we are purchasing XP indirectly no more no less.

However, when vista is still longhorn, the sidebar really intrigues me about functionality and what Windows can be capable of. Perhaps dropping the sidebar is Microsoft 's worst mistake.

[BigCheese]

The UI in beta 1 is not what the final UI will look like.. At beat 2, you'll see some impressive stuff. ALso the start menu has changed. It now has a search, and the "All Programs" thing is shown inside the start menu in a tree view.

[Malisk]

Bah, I hated the side bar for the space it consumed... Taking away like 15% of the screen. :x

[Sticktron]

Not many people use MacOS for visual style, about 80-90 percent of them use it because of security and ease of use.

586297874[/snapback]

LOL.. how the hell can you make summary judgement like that? You cannot just pull statistics out of your rectum and speak of them as fact.

Personally, I think your stats are backwards-- security is on the mind of maybe 10%, and the rest use Macs for their style (which is directly tied to useability). In fact, I image there are very few Mac users who are interested in the bull**** surrounding computers, and just want a solid machine to design on, that feels as creative as they are.

Edited July 30, 2005 by Sticktron

[STV]

What do you mean? It's what's given to the end user that counts. That's the audience of Vista.

586297860[/snapback]

Uhh...not right now! right now the main focus it fixing and "perfecting" the base on which the rest will run on.

by beta 2 and the release candiate phases, that is when the end user should start to be targeted.

STV

[root]

Beta Screenshot of Windows XP

Microsoft beta software looks crappy. Vista will improve in time. Once it is final, then it'll be worth judgeing.

[Extended64]

Whistler was freak'n awsome i'd have rather had that then XP.

[icecaveman]

I feel like going rampage with machine gun on you all dumb asses. I HATE PEOPLE like you, you get your pirated BETA copies that were ONLY intended for DEVELOPERS, not newbies!

NT6 is even bigger step than NT5 was from NT4... you dumb ****.

[Scorbing]

The future of Windows Vista doesn't look too good. First of all, a lot of companies are just now merging to Windows XP Pro and Windows 2003. It took me a long time to dump Windows 2000 for XP Pro. What makes Microsoft think companies are going to just drop XP to get into Vista? After they spent thousands of dollars switching to XP, you really think they are going to spend thousands more to get into a new, full of bugs, OS?. It really bothers me a lot because Microsoft hasn't even finished stabilizing XP and correcting all of its aweful bugs and security issues and they are already thinking about releasing a new OS that, chances are, will have more bugs and security issues than Windows 2000 and XP combined.

What Microsoft should have done is improve XP and release a more stable and secure XP with new features instead of creating a new OS with useless crap and visuals that will only slow the system down.

[Matt A. Tobin]

i also liked watercolor maybe MS should do a watercolor glass theme :-p

[madnuke]

I liked the slate theme, but hey its not really a visual release more for developers.

[icecaveman]

Please people you seriously need to shut your m... fingers... you have no idea what you are talking about and it's not like Microsoft won't gain from Longhorn in the future.

[Jeremy1]

What Microsoft should have done is improve XP and release a more stable and secure XP with new features instead of creating a new OS with useless crap and visuals that will only slow the system down.

586298569[/snapback]

No, what Microsoft should have done is exactly what they're doing. With the sheer amount of change happening in the OS, a new OS is basically required. You could not possibly put all of the changes in Vista into XP, and still call it XP. Even at this Beta 1 stage, it's already pulled away from XP and is obviously it's own OS.

As for visuals that will "only slow the system down," I don't know what you're talking about. There are four different levels of visuals, and you'll only see what your hardware is capable of. There will be no "slowing down" of anything.

[Scorbing]

Please people you seriously need to shut your m... fingers... you have no idea what you are talking about and it's not like Microsoft won't gain from Longhorn in the future.

586298577[/snapback]

They can gain even more on XP if they just improve and correct their security issues and bugs. XP is a great system that can be optimized and improved in many ways. Vista could have waited longer.

[Jeremy1]

They can gain even more on XP if they just improve and correct their security issues and bugs.

586298582[/snapback]

The "security issues" require a fundamental reworking of the OS to completely solve them, and that's what Vista is supplying. As for bugs... :rolleyes: