I havent heard a lot about this, but I have heard the name so it rings a bell. What is up with it anyways? I mean I know it is going to bee badass but what is the scoop on it? I hope it's better than I expect it to be. It needs to be userfriendly.

Where have you been all these months? Vista has made it to the papers! Anyways, Vista is Microsoft's latest incarnation of Windows, which they promise (it will be broken within a week, I can guarantee that ) to be the latest and greatest. I don't really feel like typing out all of the huge improvements in Vista, so head over to http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista to read about anything and everthing that's in Vista.

I was one of those beta testers and currently I have Vista. First off, the bigest disapointment I have had is that the Aero effects have been disabled, due to "Program Incompatability". Another disapointment is that currently it has bugs, which is a given , not to bad its just when there is a big one and Vista can't handle it you are dead, you have to re-boot and start over on whatever you were doing, but that happens on average maybe once in three days. As people said up there it does tie up ram, but you should be ok with 512mb. Its really easy to get a key and download legally, BUT it only lasts until June 1, 2007, then Vista and any files associated with Vista will be inaccessable, unless you buy the upgrade and install that over the beta. If your computer is a depended on computer I don't think its a good idea to download Vista, as you will be frustrated if you typing something like this when all of a sudden it freezes. Oh, the download took me about 3-4 hours to download on a high speed broadband connection (RR) and then it took I'd say 45 minutes to an hour to install as an upgrade. It works good, but to bad about Aero. If you want to take a look at whats to be offered with the new operating system but not actually download it, you can download the IE 7 beta, WMP 11 (which from mu pov ROCKS) or the Microsoft Office 2007 programs easy, legally, and for free at microsofts site. Someone also said something about System Requirements, if you go to the Vista Beta site, listed below there is a utility you can download that will evaluate your computer to tell you if your computer is Vista compatable. According to microsoft new beta testers who do not have a key for Vista yet have until well... today to download Vista, and after today, if you have a key you can download Vista until July 14th, GET YOUR KEY QUICK.

Vista BETA:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/default.mspx

IE 7 BETA:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.mspx

WMP 11 BETA:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsme...11/default.aspx

Microsoft Office 2007 BETA:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/beta/getthebeta.mspx

If you have any more questions you can pm me.

Either all of you are wrong, or I got lucky somehow, because I went to microsoft.com, found the Vista section, and at the bottom, it said Download Windows Vista Beta. So I clicked it, it made me sign up at microsoft, so I did. Then I went back and it had a page with a serial key and like 8 different download links from several locations. It also sent me an email with the links so if I plan on downloading in the future.

I may have just gotten lucky, but if not, then it's there.

Well ive got Vista release 1 from microsoft (no not beta, there past that stage) it works a treat you can buy it for about £10 so thats around $22.

There is no reason an OS cannot run on a 866 Mhz machine with 256 MB ram, without a DVD drive decently. Linux can. Vista passes that line, wasting more space in the drive and memory than really needed. FreeBSD packs more features, decent applications, etc. into two CDs(1.4 GB approx) which includes KDE(which can do useless stupid effects and run decently on a machine such as mentioned) and as for Vista, it packs less into a 7 GB download(approx 7 CDs). What a waste...What a waste.

That is impossible, and probably illegal, Vista's beta testing new members acceptance closes tonight at 12:00, there is no way you can have a final copy, its not done yet. I am a beta tester and trust me, they can't be ready yet. Really, they aren't past that satge if they are still handing out betas, which they are. Just curious, how did you purchase it? Was it online or in a store.

Go to http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/default.mspx and you will see, as I quote "Get Ready for Windows Vista
Getting ready for Windows Vista, available in early 2007, means choosing the edition that's right for you and ensuring that you have the right PC to enjoy the experiences you want."

I think you might have waisted that money.

what's the big deal about Vista anyways? It's just like mac osx tiger, runs like a cow and has the worst schemes I have seen since XP came out...

Seriously guys, just screw microsoft and get some distro of Linux. I bet that within weeks of the official release of vista (cause they cant do it legally before that), the software for most linux distros will have incorporated any new file extensions. even if you don't have the latest and greatest in hardware, linux runs on pretty much the crappiest pcs around. running server on 98mb RAM, all is smooth, even as a desktop, while even win98 lags.
not that I am saying I think everybody out there has 98mb RAM, but hardware was the concern in this topic...

Download the ISOs from the various sites and get going - or get free CD (and I mean free, postage paid and all). Linux isnt as hard as rumour would have it, and in some ways a lot like Windows.

When XP was first out it was all over the web about being the absolute best, and now vista is getting pretty much the same thing. Now that we all know that XP sucks, perhaps we can draw some conclusions to Vista?

Does anyone knows how and were will be the GUI for Vista be stored? I heard a roumor that it will be completly use the graphic adapters memory ?