Windows Vista Beta Review

Before, learning the features in Windows Vista Beta, one may ask the question “what is meant by Beta?” The answer is quite simple. Before release of final version of a product, Company releases the test version of the product to some test users other than the developers, so that problems in the product can be rectified, and solved.

Features of test version

The test version contains the almost all features of the final product enabling one to use all the features. Some software companies will release more than one version of beta, with correcting some of the issues of the previous beta, and also with some more new features. Some products beta expires after some days after it being installed.

One cannot say what happens to the system, in case of problems. The system may get damaged. One cannot predict the amount of damages caused. The company cannot be held responsible for whatever cause. Some people enroll themselves for the testing purposes. For those, the company sends the copy of the beta product.

Difference between Windows Vista Beta 1 & 2

Microsoft released so far, 2 beta versions of Windows Vista for testing purposes. Beta 1, and Beta 2. It is available for free download for the subscribers and registered testers, and some of registered users from the Microsoft company web site. The download may take longer if the network speed is low.

The beta 1 had less number of features and some problems. Beta 1 still had older version of Windows Media Player i.e. 10. The latest version is 11, which was released with Beta 2. The Internet Explorer was introduced in beta 1 itself and it had some problems. The beta 2 included a patch for the internet explorer, which solved problems discovered in beta 1.0.

Major changes with the introduction of Media Player 11

The introduction of Media Player 11 introduced drastic changes in sound clarity and Media library. Another feature of both beta versions was the aero effect. This brought revolutionary changes to the look for Windows, icons and as well as to the desktop. A new type of look, 3D effect was introduced for Windows. This was the major advancement achieved from the previous version of Windows family of operating systems, i.e., Windows XP.

Setup problem solved

In Beta 1 there was a problem in the setup. The computer name was asked two times, i.e. at the initial setup stage, and after rebooting. The problem was overcome in beta 2. Windows Vista has renamed or replaced some folder names which were existed in Windows XP and Windows 2000. In Windows XP, One sees in root folder, the there is a folder with name “Document and Settings”, under which there is one more folder called “All users”. The “All Users” folder contained the folders for different login users, with folder names being names of the login users. Instead of this structure, Microsoft has done with a new structure. In the root itself, a “Users” folder which is followed by folders with names of different users. There is a folder called “Public”. There are many folders like “Desktop”, “Documents”, “Downloads”, “Favorites”, “Music”, “Pictures”, and “Videos” etc. Music, Pictures, and Video are no longer subfolders under “Documents” folder.

In Windows Vista a folder concept called virtual folder has been introduced. The virtual folders are not actually real folders. They are only xml-based containers for links to other folders and files. One may find Windows Vista as a feature rich operating system in the days to come.

Windows Vista Beta Review

Features of test version

Difference between Windows Vista Beta 1 & 2

Major changes with the introduction of Media Player 11

Setup problem solved

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