Windows Vista RC1/RC2

[Richard the Lionheart]

Windows Vista RC1 is now available to a specific group of users (CPP, MSDN, Technet).

Windows Vista Release Candidate 1 (RC1) is now available for Customer Preview Program (CPP) participants only. If you are not registered but would like to receive RC1, the CPP will open to new participants in the coming weeks. Please check back periodically for updates.

So if you signed up for the beta testing, you should have been sent an email about getting RC1.

Anyways, I just installed RC1 and I'm currently using it right now, and I must say that it's a major improvement (bug wise, performance wise) when compared to Beta 2. RC1 seems to run much faster and use up less resources. Thankfully it appears that some driver related bugs have been resolved and the Media Center finally works as well.

Overall, I think this is a major imporovement over Beta 2. And so the final version, in theory, should be even better.

[The Black Reaper]

do you get the released version for free because you were beta testing for them??

[wipeout140]

I got it free, but my question is I have read alot on dual booting do you think that would be the best as dont have spare HD. And i would like keep my XP install there just incase something goes wrong

1. Go to this Site
2. Login with your Live.com account.
3. Fill out the form.
4. A key will be displayed on the screen and emailed to you. They will also show you the download links for RC1.
5. That’s it!

[Richard the Lionheart]

In order to get RC1 you must have participated in the CPP when Beta 2 was released. Otherwise, I think you have to wait a couple weeks untill it is released to the public.

Regarding the dual boot, yes I would recommend that. I created a seperate partition for Windows Vista and installed it there, thus keeping my XP installation.

[Zuwxiv]

Ah, but have you ever tried using OSX? Years ahead. Vista is catching up to OSX, but by the beginning of next year Apple will be out with their new major update.

[Erik]

by the beginning of next year Apple will be out with their new major update.

Good, then microsoft can start copying whatever improvements Apple made by mid next year.

Overall, I think this is a major imporovement over Beta 2. And so the final version, in theory, should be even better.

Well, this is a "RC" so in theory the final version could be exactly the same.
Especially if you consider that microsoft wil be patching the crap out of it trough "auto updates" anyways.

[Spiff]

How much ram does it use while idle? Currently my Vista beta2 uses 750mb, compared to XP for me which uses 130mb

[Admiral Nelson]

How much ram does it use while idle? Currently my Vista beta2 uses 750mb, compared to XP for me which uses 130mb

ouch. I don't think I'll be installing Vista until I get a new computer, 1 gig of ram with Vista won't cut it.

[wipeout140]

How much ram does it use while idle? Currently my Vista beta2 uses 750mb, compared to XP for me which uses 130mb

Wow thats a massive difference, i download vista rc1 but if thats same for RC1 possible wont install RC1

[Incinerate_IV]

Is the difference really that big? Then I might try it. I downloaded it a week ago but never really got to installing it.

[Richard the Lionheart]

Memory usage can depend on what visual effect you use. If you use too much of all that transparent Aero effects and the such, then memory usage will increase.

If you don't use the Windows Aero theme and instead use the Windows Vista basic theme, then memory usage will be much less.


Also, RC 1 is now publicly available. So now everyone can try it out I think.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/default.aspx

[Spiff]

750mb is clearly not optimised though, if the biggest marketing feature is the thing that 90% of users have to disable then something is clearly wrong.

How much does it use now anyway?

[Richard the Lionheart]

750mb is clearly not optimised though, if the biggest marketing feature is the thing that 90% of users have to disable then something is clearly wrong.

How much does it use now anyway?

A simple theme? Biggest marketing feature? There is little difference between the Aero and Vista Basic themes anyways. The Vista Basic theme basically has that glass-transparent stuff deactivated, otherwise, it's exactly the same.

And the recommended amount of RAM for Vista is 1 GB I believe. I have 512 MB. :wink:

[Spiff]

Well it is, theyve clearly spent a lot of time thinking how they can make things look nice, when you think vista you dont really think about any of its other features, its all about the GUI

[Lee1026]

Well it is, theyve clearly spent a lot of time thinking how they can make things look nice, when you think vista you dont really think about any of its other features, its all about the GUI

The OS is supposed to be caching the hard drive on memory. It is just doing its job. Wait until you tried any of the other OSes. They do this even more.

[Richard the Lionheart]

Well it is, theyve clearly spent a lot of time thinking how they can make things look nice, when you think vista you dont really think about any of its other features, its all about the GUI

The two themes look exactly the same, with the exception of disabling the transparent effect basically.

And like I said, the system I'm using it on, has 512 MB of RAM, while the recommended amount is 1 GB. With 1 GB of RAM you should be able to run the Aero theme and everything with no problems.

[Lee1026]

Well, operating system is supposed to be caching stuff from your harddrive, because getting stuff from hard drive is really slow and getting it from memory is a lot faster. Windows is just doing what it is supposed to do.

[Incinerate_IV]

The whole point of Vista is a great theme and good security, because those are the 2 things Mac OS X have that Windows XP don't.

[Vanquisher]

Is this stable enough to be run on an average home pc safely? (Without crashes, compatability problems etc.)

[wipeout140]

Is this stable enough to be run on an average home pc safely? (Without crashes, compatability problems etc.)

Easily at the minute I updated my SP 2 XP version to Windows Vista Ultimate RC1. And it worth the download/install. It’s a major improvement over windows XP