My impression of Vista RC2

My review of Vista 64 -



Before anyone goes ballistic about me reviewing something that isn't a final
release - let's be clear - it is a "release candidate 2" - not alpha, not
even beta - "RELEASE CANDIDATE TWO". And yes, I did use the 64 bit
drivers, not the 32. My video and sound card have both been available for
about 1 year so they haven't just arrived on the market.



That being said, I didn't expect it to be perfect but I remember beta
testing Windows CHICAGO and it worked like a dream compared to this.



Reasons I want to use Vista - supposed to be better for 64 bit processors -
give me a reason to use the power that is in my system. I'm looking forward
to DX10 games although I currently don't have a DX10 card - I'll probably
wait until April.



System config -

Intel Core 2 Duo 6700

2 GIG of RAM

ATI X1900XT

Creative Labs X-FI basic



Install issues -

Got stuck on first install (flashing cursor top right - had to start from
scratch - for some reason it worked on the second.



Hardware Issues -

Native R300 video drivers crashed incessantly

Didn't recognize sound card



Installed 64 bit drivers from ATI's web page - not much of an improvement -
still crashed in many Windows native programs - e.g. screen saver.



Installed X-FI drivers from Creative Labs web page - gave me about 20
messages about the drivers not being signed - sound card recognized but
unusable. - yellow exclamation





I was going to test a few games that people said were much slower in Windows
(such as FEAR with the features turned on) but didn't get a chance since it
kept crashing from the native programs for video - no need to waste time on
a game. Besides there was no sound so what was the point.



The install defaults are still ridiculous - I support over 1000 people and
give them the choice of what they want for a start menu - 98% prefer classic
and almost everything but the last 4 items selected, no grouping, no locked,
no hidden. Yet MS continues with this. I doubt that I'm alone since every
IT person I've ever met does the same thing. I frequently get calls from
people whose systems I've worked on when they go to a new company and ask
how to get it back to those settings because it takes too long to get to
things in the new and "improved" xp start menu.



After playing with it for about 20 minutes and constantly getting a notice
about the R300 recovering and it constantly going black on ever option I
tried, I figure I'll wait for SP1 of the final release before I test it
again.



I just took the time to fill out a survey on Office 2007 and it was 20 pages
about the stupid ribbons - not what features don't work or what features are
still missing. I'd fill out a survey about Vista but I'm sure it would be
20 pages about the screen backgrounds or the icon for the start menu.