Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 29th Aug 2006 17:56 UTC, submitted by Robert Kovacs
Windows Microsoft.com Canada has released pricing for Windows Vista. Windows Vista Ultimate is listed at $499 Canadian which translates into $450.36 in USD. Home Premium is listed at $299 or $269.86 USD, Vista Ultimate Upgrade is priced at $299 or $269.86 USD, while Home Premium Upgrade is $199 or $179.60 USD. At the same time, the first 100000 respondents can download Vista Build 5536. Microsoft is not giving out new keys, so you need your Beta 2 key. Update: Amazon.com now too sells Vista.
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I've just installed it
by Kroc on Tue 29th Aug 2006 21:39 UTC
Kroc
Member since:
2005-11-10

These are my thoughts (faults?)
* The installer is simple. However, it's the most intensive install I've ever seen. I feel as my hard disk has had its lifespan massively reduced already :/
* It's annoying. Within under your first minute of using the OS, you will be shouted at, reminded, prodded and notified about everything you don't care about. It's like having a five year old surgecially attached to you.
* IE7 changes appearence when you maximize it, going solid black, WTF!?
* I'm on a Macbook Pro. Windows XP flies on this machine. Vista does not. I'm used to installing OS(X) upgrades and my machine getting faster than before, not the opposite.
* Everything that was easy to get to before is one or two steps further away than it was before (Control Panel for example)
* The last time I saw something as pointless and annoying as the gadgets sidebar was the Channel Bar that was on by default in Win98FE. A slideshow constantly on the side of my screen beggars belief. Only a programmer could have decided that was a good thing.
* You can no longer shutdown / restart by pressing Win, U, U or Win, U, R.
* Getting to My Computer has become a whole world more harder to do.
* LUA is still no good. It does nothing but provide me with one extra button to press in just about every Wizard. It doesn't even ask me to type in my password. It serves absolutely no purpose other than to train me to never read annoying popups and just keep pressing Yes/Okay until what I want done, gets done.

I'm glad I moved to OS X. I held off trying Vista until it was ready, and even now I don't think it's anything that was promised. Vista = XP + DRM + teh shiney

RE: I've just installed it
by Thom_Holwerda on Tue 29th Aug 2006 21:42 in reply to "I've just installed it"
Thom_Holwerda Member since:
2005-06-29

* IE7 changes appearence when you maximize it, going solid black, WTF!?

This is a feature. When you maximise a window, it means you want to focus on THAT window, hence transperancy/blurrecy (...) is pointless.

Reply Parent Bookmark Score: 1

RE[2]: I've just installed it
by Kroc on Tue 29th Aug 2006 23:46 in reply to "RE: I've just installed it"
Kroc Member since:
2005-11-10

It's a hack, to quickly fix a problem with a UI system that was never properly designed with usability from the start.

Reply Parent Bookmark Score: 3

RE: I've just installed it
by n4cer on Tue 29th Aug 2006 22:16 in reply to "I've just installed it"
n4cer Member since:
2005-07-06

* The last time I saw something as pointless and annoying as the gadgets sidebar was the Channel Bar that was on by default in Win98FE. A slideshow constantly on the side of my screen beggars belief. Only a programmer could have decided that was a good thing.

This is optional and can be turned off. You can also select other gadgets beyond the default set.

* Getting to My Computer has become a whole world more harder to do.

There are several ways of accomplishing this including:

Start | Computer
Enable the desktop icon
Use Search (i.e., type the path to the drive/directory, typing Computer may also work)

* LUA is still no good. It does nothing but provide me with one extra button to press in just about every Wizard. It doesn't even ask me to type in my password. It serves absolutely no purpose other than to train me to never read annoying popups and just keep pressing Yes/Okay until what I want done, gets done.

It accomplishes the same thing as entering a password (elevates the context in which the application runs), and does prompt for a password by default for standard users. You can configure UAC to prompt Administrators for passwords via policy. If you don't pay attention to the text of the obvious elevation prompt, you likely won't when prompted for a password either.

Reply Parent Bookmark Score: 1

RE[2]: I've just installed it
by Kroc on Tue 29th Aug 2006 22:23 in reply to "RE: I've just installed it"
Kroc Member since:
2005-11-10

Even on a fresh install of OS X when I'm customizing and configuring everything (beyond that of a normal user), I come across the elevation prompt, two, maybe three times in the first hour.

I've seen it fifteen times in the first hour of Vista already.

Reply Parent Bookmark Score: 1

RE: I've just installed it
by MollyC on Tue 29th Aug 2006 22:18 in reply to "I've just installed it"
MollyC Member since:
2006-07-04

You're used to OSX getting faster with each version because it was so slow to begin with. 10.0 was a dog. 10.1, 10.2, and 10.3 increased the speed with each version. But 10.4 is slower than 10.3 in my experience.

Reply Parent Bookmark Score: 1

RE[2]: I've just installed it
by Kroc on Tue 29th Aug 2006 22:20 in reply to "RE: I've just installed it"
Kroc Member since:
2005-11-10

Tiger still boots faster than Vista. Even on a clean install. Leopard is reported as being quicker still.

Reply Parent Bookmark Score: 2