[Vista] December CTP coming; Vista UI changes.

NetRyder

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Windows Vista December CTP: Build 5276

The December Community Preview (CTP) build of Windows Vista will be build 5276, plus or minus one build, I was told today. Beta testers, MSDN subscribers, and TechNet members can expect to the see December CTP in a week or ten days. It includes a huge number of new features when compared to the previous CTP (October), but is not the feature complete version of Vista that Microsoft promised to deliver in December. That feature complete version will be delivered internally this month, but testers won't see a feature complete CTP until January or February.

Microsoft Cuts Vista UI to Two Display Modes

And speaking of Windows Vista, you might recall that Microsoft had originally planned to deliver three versions of the new user interface, called Aero Glass, Aero Express, and Aero To Go. Those plans have been revised. Now, Microsoft will offer two modes only, called Windows Vista Aero (which includes the glass effects) and Windows Vista Basic, which is roughly like the XP display. However, all of the capabilities of the three previous modes are still in there: Windows Vista Aero is the equivalent of Aero Glass, and you can get the equivalent of Aero Express by turning off the translucency effects while running Windows Vista Aero. The best news? Contrary to rumors, you'll only need a 64 MB video card with hardware 3D capabilities to run Windows Vista Aero on a typical PC (higher resolution displays will require more video RAM).
http://www.windowsitpro.com/windows...rticleID/48722/windowspaulthurrott_48722.html

Seems like the December CTP is going to be just in time for the end of finals. Looking forward to testing this, especially since I basically had to skip over 5231. :)
 
I read about that earlier, saw the post on Neowin. Makes me wish more and more I had beta access :(
 
So can it be concluded that the change in graphics card requirements is a result of advanced GUI features being cut as well? I can't tell if the implication is that 64MB will run the GUI to full capacity, of if that's for more minimalistic settings.
 
I would assume so. I think I read initially you would have needed a 128MB video card, which has now been cut to 64MB. However, I could be wrong on that.
 
Earlier on I had heard 256MB would be necessary to run with full effects. If that was legitimate and it's gone down to 64MB, then surely things have been cut.
 
muzikool said:
Earlier on I had heard 256MB would be necessary to run with full effects. If that was legitimate and it's gone down to 64MB, then surely things have been cut.

That's more like a butcher.

I wonder why they made such a drastic change?
 
I don't have anti-Microsoft or anti-Vista sentiments whatsoever, but I can't help notice the "cuts" or "push-backs" that keep occurring with this OS. They have solidified a release period, but so many other things do not seem solid.

Vista will be an improvement on XP, but will the final version be "the greatest Windows release since 95?" It's rough when the good news concerns what isn't going to be cut, instead of what success has been achieved with new features and innovations.
 
Well I would think they are trying things, which aren't initially working out. Either that, or they are finding better ways to do it :)
 
kcnychief said:
Well I would think they are trying things, which aren't initially working out. Either that, or they are finding better ways to do it :)

It just seems a bit late in the game to be "trying things" to see if they "work out." I would think, at this point, that features and requirements would be solidified. Maybe that's not how the roadmap works, but as a consumer it makes me nervous about the final product when it's less than a year away.
 
You make a valid point, but until the OS goes to RTM, the hardware requirements could change a billion times :)
 
But they (hardware requirements) are changing on account of things that shouldn't be last-minute.

I'm not a programmer and I don't have the experience to know how these things should play out. Once again, I'm speaking from the perspective of a concerned consumer.
 
The real requirement for Aero Glass was and still is a DX9-capable GPU. The amount of video memory never was and is still not an enforcemed requirement.

256MB of VRAM was only recommended for displays with resolutions higher than 1600x1200. The amount of VRAM determines the overall performance - like anything else, the more the better.

See the second slide on this page that I had posted from WinHEC '05 back in April this year. 64MB of video memory was always the baseline requirement for Aero. 128 and 256 were recommended, and they still are for better performance, especially on higher-res displays.
 
I think right around the time Vista comes out, time for Derek to get a nice new PC :)
 
Vista will be just fine. I constantly keep on finding out about new features...
 
It will be fine, but will it be the best since 95? I'm almost positive I've heard that claim from Microsoft itself.
 
I think it will be, and you can see by the "constant changes" they are working very hard at it.

'tis a shame that WinFS won't be in the first relase though, that would have been hot!
 
They are no doubt working very hard on it, as I'm sure they have been for a long time. "Constant changes" doesn't make me secure about the result when coming down the final stretch. At this point I would hope they were nitpicking the heck out of a mostly final product. Have the feature set complete, the GUI done, and spend the time left fixing every little bug that's reported by testers.
 

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Also Hi EP and people. I found this place again while looking through a oooollllllldddd backup. I have filled over 10TB and was looking at my collection of antiques. Any bids on the 500Mhz Win 95 fix?
Any of the SP crew still out there?
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Impressed you have kept this alive this long EP! So many sites have come and gone. :(

Just did some crude math and I apparently joined almost 18yrs ago, how is that possible???
hello peeps... is been some time since i last came here.
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