I managed to get my hands on a copy of Windows Vista Beta 2 and I’m going to share my first experiences with the pre-release version of Microsoft’s new flagship product.
Installation
To begin with, I was pleasantly surprised by the new installation process. Up until now, the first parts of the install were handled by a text-based installer, but now that is all changed. After a fairly quick loading screen, Windows jumped straight into a nice graphical installer.
One complaint I do have about the installer is the lack of consistency. Some windows were drawn with Windows Classic styles, while some used pseudo-transparency (they looked nice, but you couldn’t move them), and some just looked strange. I wouldn’t really mind personally if the whole install was done in Classic, but it seemed very strange to have different styles here and there.
User Experience
The machine I used to test the beta on doesn’t have a meaty enough graphics card, so I am stuck with the frankly quite ugly Aero Basic interface. Apparently, Microsoft have decided that it looks even uglier than Luna (the Windows XP style) and are pulling it from the final version of Vista.
Windows Explorer is vastly improved and images are now automatically displayed as thumbnails regardless of their size (except when coming over a network). Also, the whole navigation and tasks system is updated, and I found it surprisingly easy to adapt to the new Explorer style. Search is built in to Explorer, which I’ll discuss a bit later. One thing I would add, though, is tabbed file browsing, which I find helps me organise space a lot when I’m using Konqueror as a file browser on Linux.
Control Panel
The Control Panel is completely updated, and I like it. Most of the individual Control Panel applets now open inside the main window, rather than launching a new, small window, although there is usually an option to open the ‘Classic’ version of any applet. It takes a bit of time to get used to the reorganisation, but once you do it is really nice having everything in one unified window.
Security
Security is a big focus for Windows Vista, and rightly so. Microsoft has an awful track record when it comes to security; real security features only recently debuted in Windows XP Service Pack 2 with the Security Centre.
One of the best features is User Account Control (UAC) and it picks up on something that Mac OS X and Linux have had for a very long time. When running as administrator, applications can do whatever they want to your computer. With UAC, any tasks that require admin privileges are marked with the Windows shield icon. Applications that need admin (such as installers) are also marked with the icon.
If you’re running as admin, you’re prompted to whether you launched the application and whether you want to continue. If you’re not admin, you are prompted to enter an administrator password to continue with the action.
This is a very important step forward in fighting malware, and although it can sometimes be an annoyance, in my opinion it is worth it for that extra level of security it provides.
Search
Search is awesome in Windows Vista, without a doubt. Search is built in to almost every part of the operating system, from the Start menu (convienient for searching for programs when you have loads installed), to Windows Explorer and applications like Windows Photo Gallery.
Searching is fast (and by fast I mean less than a second on a Sempron 2600+ @ 1.6 GHz with 1.5GB RAM). Searching is really easy, because search is so well integrated throughout all the applications.
In Explorer, I can search for keywords and instantly get results from all the files I have, regardless of where they are. The best bit about this is I can save my search and open it later, and it will always be up-to-date. Searching in Windows Vista is much better than Google Desktop, which is what I currently use on Windows XP, probably because of the integration and the ability to save searches.
Microsoft isn’t exactly the first to use search. One of the best examples of search at the moment is Mac OS X Tiger’s Spotlight, and it seems Microsoft have taken a leaf (or rather, a few) from Apple’s book.
Overall, Vista Beta 2 is impressive and also considerably stable considering its beta status. I’ll post some more of my impressions when I’ve had a chance to go a bit deeper into the OS.
EDIT: I have just installed the Beta on my main machine, which has a decent enough graphics setup to support all the Vista Aero interface features. I’ll post again soon with some of my opinions of that and more…
Re: User Account Control
Peter and I had quite a heated debate on a forum about the merits of root in Linux. He is convinced that it is a good idea, adds significantly to the security of the OS and isn’t too much of an inconvenience.
I think that root is such a hindrance that it must be either removed from Linux or its implementation removed significantly. This is primarily because it involves opening a terminal. Whilst this is trivial for existing users of linux, the sort of user it wants to attract (computer-literate but not necessarily a geek) will not be happy with command lines, and so however simple the code is, the opening of the terminal in itself is a barrier.
The User Account Protection feature in Vista is much better than the root idea in linux. This is because it:
a) does not require any use of the command line
b) asks for permission from the user AFTER the application has requested the action, as opposed to having to log in as root before the action is requested
c) allows for seamless checking, in a clear manner, ensuring that the user understands what is happening, and does not panic.
Linux needs to adopt this approach, or a similar method of making root easier to use.
I think we finally came to the agreement that Linux needs a graphical sudo on steroids without a password needed.
We need unity in the field of security, so that users won’t panic on either platform if they see something like this, they will have seen it before and be reassured that they are in control etc.
If Linux does do something similar to UAC, which I think it should, it will most likely be accused of copying by the anti-Linux group. However, having something unified and recognisable across platforms and systems (like the feed icon idea) can only help users on all systems to feel safe and comfortable with the system they are using.
[...] Read it now. [...]