Comments on: Windows Vista ready to launch, but not quite polished

By: Long Zheng

Long Zheng — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 09:57:44 +0000

@Chris: I don’t doubt Vista is worth buying, I would persuade everyone to upgrade as soon as possible. Sure it won’t be as polished as I would have hoped it would be, but that’s just a layer of interface over a lot of code. And the code is great. It’s going to be fast and secure.

By: chris

chris — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 08:23:40 +0000

Hi Long Zheng. Your blogs are really interesting and screencasts. Having just read the Windows Vista ready to launch, but not quite polished article. It made me wonder if it is worth me buying vista in january. Im not too bothered about the screensaver part but is there anything else i should consider!

By: Windows Vista screencast: screensavers at istartedsomething

Windows Vista screencast: screensavers at istartedsomething — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 07:36:09 +0000

[...] Windows Vista will be shipping with a list of new and update screensavers including: 3D Text, Aurora, Bubbles, Mystify, Photos, Ribbons, Windows Energy and Windows Logo. Some of these are even 3D based, so they will give the video card a good workout between boring sessions of word processing and spreadsheet charting. In this screencast, I am demonstrating the Ribbons, Mystify and Bubbles screensavers, but with a twist. In the RTM version of Windows Vista, the advanced options of the screensavers will not be available due to reasons I mentioned before. However these features can still be access through the registry, and they create some pretty cool effects! [...]

By: Tech Talk Blog

Tech Talk Blog — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 03:35:34 +0000

All your TechTalkBlogs are belong to us

Frank officially announced this afternoon that the Australian Student Partners have taken over TalkTechBlogs…

By: Long Zheng

Long Zheng — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 01:40:51 +0000

@Nitz: The screenshot of the properties is real. Let’s just say when you hack through the resources of EVERY SINGLE system32 file in Vista, you will eventually find stuff. People say I have a lot of spare time.

By: Nitz

Nitz — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 21:43:20 +0000

Bouncing around on wikipedia, I was looking at different software codenames, most notably some of the previous Windows codenames, such as Chicago and such. But then I found an interesting article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_%22Vienna%22

I remember hearing ‘Blackcomb’, but never heard about the rename to ‘Vienna’. If memory serves me right, Blackcomb is a mountain, as was Whistler. I believe I was once told that the name Vienna was from an establishment near those mountains, but I can’t clarifiy the validity of that statement.

Regardless, citing the article:

Focus
Originally, internal sources pitched Blackcomb as being not just a major revision of Windows, but a complete departure from the way we have typically thought about interacting with a computer. While Windows Vista is intended to be a technologies-based release, with some added UI sparkle (in the form of the Windows Aero set of technologies and guidelines), Vienna is targeted directly at revolutionizing the way we interact with our home and office PCs.

For instance, the “Start” philosophy, introduced in Windows 95, may be completely replaced by the “new interface” which was said in 1999 to be scheduled for “Vienna” (before being moved to Vista (”Longhorn”) and then back again to “Vienna”).

The Explorer shell will be replaced in its entirety, with features such as the taskbar being replaced by a new concept based on the last 10 years of R&D at the Microsoft “VIBE” research lab. Projects such as GroupBar and LayoutBar are expected to make an appearance, allowing users to more effectively manage and keep track of their applications and documents while in use, and a new way of launching applications is expected—among other ideas, Microsoft is investigating a pie menu-type circular interface, similar in function to the dock in Mac OS X.

Also from the article:

As of 2006, it is still planned as both a client and server release with a current release estimate of anytime between 2009-2012, although no firm release date or target has yet been publicized.

In January 2006, Blackcomb was renamed to “Vienna”.[1]

No idea how valid any of this is, as none of the information is cited, but it has definantly caught my attention.

However, I’d much rather see the features discussed here be released in the form of a service pack, or we could always pull the Windows 9x deal… ‘Second Edition’ :]

Quick question however: Where did you get the screenshot of those properties? That a valid source or a good photoshop?

This was a great read, thanks!

By: Steve Clayton: Geek In Disguise

Steve Clayton: Geek In Disguise — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 19:56:47 +0000

Vista RC1 visual tour

If you haven’t seen RC1 yet, Computerworld has put together a pretty good visual tour. The fit and finish…