Windows Vista 5308
March 2, 2006 10:23 AM Subscribe
Microsoft has released their latest CTP (Community Technical Preview) of Windows Vista. Build 5308 Supposedly incorporates many more of the final features then previous CTP builds. Microsoft has also hinted at a final release during the first week of October this year.
[Insert obligatory "this operating system, it is blue?" comment...]
posted by twsf at 10:45 AM on March 2, 2006
posted by twsf at 10:45 AM on March 2, 2006
I hate to sound like a Microsoft Fanboy, but I've been running Vista for about a week, and I think I'm in love. It's the windows version of OSX. Of course many parts of it are clear rip offs from Apple, but I don't care, I might actually go out and buy it (OEM of course) instead of waiting to get a new machine with it preinstalled.
posted by blue_beetle at 11:03 AM on March 2, 2006
posted by blue_beetle at 11:03 AM on March 2, 2006
My favorite new song is "Bye Bye Miss American Cake"... sure parts of it are a clear rip-off of Don McClean's classic "Miss American Pie" and it's not quite as good and it skips when you play it and it only comes in 8-track, BUT "Miss American Cake" is $2 cheaper! So I'm going to rush right out and get it.
posted by tkchrist at 11:08 AM on March 2, 2006
posted by tkchrist at 11:08 AM on March 2, 2006
As a web developer and surfer I'm most interested in IE7's standards compliance and how much distribution it will get outside of Vista. There isn't any information in this article and others have been less than clear.
Love that Windows Explorer (explore.exe) as one of the reasons Windows starts slowly.
As for copying others, thankfully such common ideas that both Apple and MS "steal" aren't patented, particularly by them. It's not the OS, it's the person behind it.
Best of the web? To some extent, I'd guess we're most of us geeks -- but not hanging breathless on the latest news about Vista.
posted by 327.ca at 1:27 PM EST on March 2 [!]
Or the latest Apple stuff. But it all seems to be tolerated if you're at all familiar with the history of FPPs on Metafilter. Just skip over it perhaps?
posted by juiceCake at 11:10 AM on March 2, 2006
Love that Windows Explorer (explore.exe) as one of the reasons Windows starts slowly.
As for copying others, thankfully such common ideas that both Apple and MS "steal" aren't patented, particularly by them. It's not the OS, it's the person behind it.
Best of the web? To some extent, I'd guess we're most of us geeks -- but not hanging breathless on the latest news about Vista.
posted by 327.ca at 1:27 PM EST on March 2 [!]
Or the latest Apple stuff. But it all seems to be tolerated if you're at all familiar with the history of FPPs on Metafilter. Just skip over it perhaps?
posted by juiceCake at 11:10 AM on March 2, 2006
WOOOOOOHHOOOOOOO! APPLE RULEZ!!! SUCK IT HATERZZXZXZZ!!!!1!!!
Okay, my job is done for the day.
posted by fungible at 11:14 AM on March 2, 2006
Okay, my job is done for the day.
posted by fungible at 11:14 AM on March 2, 2006
Having played with 5270, I liked it enough to be interested in this build. Vista does some things that Windows has needed to do for a long time.
I'm not going to deny that lots of it is a clear rip off of OSX and in some ways a rip off of Linux, but it is a nice operating system at this state.
The new features in IE7 are clearly just Firefox Code with a blue "e" as the icon, but at least it's not so security flawed anymore. Vista has promise, but it's like that the DRM and the slew of other things Vista has promised will make it less worth it once there's a final release.
posted by Hexidecimal at 11:27 AM on March 2, 2006
I'm not going to deny that lots of it is a clear rip off of OSX and in some ways a rip off of Linux, but it is a nice operating system at this state.
The new features in IE7 are clearly just Firefox Code with a blue "e" as the icon, but at least it's not so security flawed anymore. Vista has promise, but it's like that the DRM and the slew of other things Vista has promised will make it less worth it once there's a final release.
posted by Hexidecimal at 11:27 AM on March 2, 2006
There is a LOT to like in Vista. It is really stable int his build and the security enhancements will go a long way to silencing critics (not zealots, they don't care about reality anyway).
Good stuff for users (unified per application volume control is cute but a trivial example) and a lot of great usability stuff.
posted by soulhuntre at 11:48 AM on March 2, 2006
Good stuff for users (unified per application volume control is cute but a trivial example) and a lot of great usability stuff.
posted by soulhuntre at 11:48 AM on March 2, 2006
"The new features in IE7 are clearly just Firefox Code with a blue "e" as the icon"
That, and they've moved the refresh and stop button to the other side of the address bar. Is this just to be different or am I missing something? All I know is that it makes me so angry!
posted by aceyim at 12:13 PM on March 2, 2006
That, and they've moved the refresh and stop button to the other side of the address bar. Is this just to be different or am I missing something? All I know is that it makes me so angry!
posted by aceyim at 12:13 PM on March 2, 2006
So what's the deal with these community releases? Which community are they releasing it to? Can I just download and install it?
posted by hoverboards don't work on water at 12:22 PM on March 2, 2006
posted by hoverboards don't work on water at 12:22 PM on March 2, 2006
It's my general opinion that you cannot backport security; it has to be designed in from the beginning. I believe that the Windows codebase will never be secure. Vista will likely improve things for awhile, but in a couple of years, we'll be right back where we are now. Or worse.
It's like trying to use scotch tape on cheesecloth. You can kind of make it hold water for awhile, but it will always, eventually, leak.
OS X is certainly not perfect. There were a lot of really dumb security gaffes in the early versions, visible even to my relatively inexperienced eye. For instance, any user on the system could dump the encrypted passwords. That's... not a good idea.
They've fixed that hole, but a lot of their codebase still comes from the NeXT, which was created way before security was much of an issue. So I fully expect OSX is going to develop more problems. I do believe, however, that it will always be better than Windows. (except possibly for a short time after Vista ships.)
Linux hasn't been doing too well, either... there have been a huge number of security problems in the kernel lately. They're developing at such speed now that the code can never shake out. There's no better recipe for security problems than adding new features at breakneck speed. Linux tends to be harder to exploit because the distros are all different, but I expect that the patch/reboot cycle is going to get worse and worse over the next couple of years. Whether that will translate to actual security breaches, I don't know.
Vista's security improvements will only be temporary. If you like the features more than you dislike the DRM, buy it... but don't buy it for security.
posted by Malor at 12:28 PM on March 2, 2006
It's like trying to use scotch tape on cheesecloth. You can kind of make it hold water for awhile, but it will always, eventually, leak.
OS X is certainly not perfect. There were a lot of really dumb security gaffes in the early versions, visible even to my relatively inexperienced eye. For instance, any user on the system could dump the encrypted passwords. That's... not a good idea.
They've fixed that hole, but a lot of their codebase still comes from the NeXT, which was created way before security was much of an issue. So I fully expect OSX is going to develop more problems. I do believe, however, that it will always be better than Windows. (except possibly for a short time after Vista ships.)
Linux hasn't been doing too well, either... there have been a huge number of security problems in the kernel lately. They're developing at such speed now that the code can never shake out. There's no better recipe for security problems than adding new features at breakneck speed. Linux tends to be harder to exploit because the distros are all different, but I expect that the patch/reboot cycle is going to get worse and worse over the next couple of years. Whether that will translate to actual security breaches, I don't know.
Vista's security improvements will only be temporary. If you like the features more than you dislike the DRM, buy it... but don't buy it for security.
posted by Malor at 12:28 PM on March 2, 2006
That, and they've moved the refresh and stop button to the other side of the address bar.
It seems as if Mozilla is planning a similar layout for Firefox 2.
posted by catachresoid at 12:40 PM on March 2, 2006
It seems as if Mozilla is planning a similar layout for Firefox 2.
posted by catachresoid at 12:40 PM on March 2, 2006
So what's the deal with these community releases? Which community are they releasing it to?
"Community release" is, I believe, Microsoft-speak for "public beta" except with less of that negative not-finished-yet "beta" vibe and with a little more of that "we're all part of a community" Mac/Linux vibe.
posted by kindall at 12:55 PM on March 2, 2006
"Community release" is, I believe, Microsoft-speak for "public beta" except with less of that negative not-finished-yet "beta" vibe and with a little more of that "we're all part of a community" Mac/Linux vibe.
posted by kindall at 12:55 PM on March 2, 2006
I'm not going to deny that lots of it is a clear rip off of OSX and in some ways a rip off of Linux, but it is a nice operating system at this state.
Yeah, depending on what it chooses from each, I think that's a good thing, that is, the ripping off. IE7 looks worthless still.
posted by mrgrimm at 4:55 PM on March 2, 2006
Yeah, depending on what it chooses from each, I think that's a good thing, that is, the ripping off. IE7 looks worthless still.
posted by mrgrimm at 4:55 PM on March 2, 2006
So far, the IE7 beta is asstastic.
posted by eyeballkid at 5:30 PM on March 2, 2006
posted by eyeballkid at 5:30 PM on March 2, 2006
No comment on Vista, but in other news Microsoft will give you Americans a free flash drive if you have a passport account:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mysterysolved/corp/default.mspx
posted by bystander at 8:33 PM on March 2, 2006
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mysterysolved/corp/default.mspx
posted by bystander at 8:33 PM on March 2, 2006
Some notes and rebuttals:
In this case "Bye Bye Miss American Cake" will be more expensive. I can buy OS X for $129 retail, Windows XP home costs almost $200. If you're talking about the machines that run OS X being typically more expensive, that is correct, although it's offset by the total cost of ownership.
NeXt was based on BSD, a flavor of UNIX, which has always had multiple users and security in mind.
327.ca, best of the web indeed. We're inundated with Apple posts here.
blue_beetle: When you buy a new computer, the windows installed on it is the OEM version. The version you buy in the store with no hardware is usually not.
posted by schlaager at 9:07 PM on March 2, 2006
In this case "Bye Bye Miss American Cake" will be more expensive. I can buy OS X for $129 retail, Windows XP home costs almost $200. If you're talking about the machines that run OS X being typically more expensive, that is correct, although it's offset by the total cost of ownership.
NeXt was based on BSD, a flavor of UNIX, which has always had multiple users and security in mind.
327.ca, best of the web indeed. We're inundated with Apple posts here.
blue_beetle: When you buy a new computer, the windows installed on it is the OEM version. The version you buy in the store with no hardware is usually not.
posted by schlaager at 9:07 PM on March 2, 2006
No comment on Vista, but in other news Microsoft will give you Americans a free flash drive if you have a passport account:
Finally, my passport account is useful for something. 1 Free Flash Drive.
posted by Hexidecimal at 9:09 PM on March 2, 2006
Finally, my passport account is useful for something. 1 Free Flash Drive.
posted by Hexidecimal at 9:09 PM on March 2, 2006
Pepsi Blue Screen Of Death!
posted by SteelyDuran at 11:51 PM on March 2, 2006
posted by SteelyDuran at 11:51 PM on March 2, 2006
How dare you post a story about a product that doesn't begin with a lowercase i. Didn't you read the guidelines?
posted by srboisvert at 4:11 AM on March 3, 2006
posted by srboisvert at 4:11 AM on March 3, 2006
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posted by 327.ca at 10:27 AM on March 2, 2006