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In June Microsoft made Windows Vista Beta 2 publicly available and gained feedback from testers experiences. This feedback was incorporated into two later versions for betatesters, MSDN subscribers and members of the TAP (Technology Adaption Programs). At the end of August 2006 Microsoft released a new Vista version called Build 5536 which is a major update compared to Beta 2 and is already rated as Pre-RC1. This RC1, Release Candidate 1, will be released sometime in September 2006 to the waiting crowd - and its going to be available for everyone and not just some selected testers. RC1 is considered to be a major milestone and is almost ready to ship.

But even this latest Build 5536 (in comparison: Vista Beta 2 had the version number 5384) is not just faster but also more stable and compatible with drivers and software. In this short report, well discuss the major changes since Windows Vista Beta 2.

Installing Windows Vista Build 5536
Fast? We cant think of another word to describe the setup of this latest Build. We already described how Vista can be installed with only a few clicks and keyboard inputs. Not only has Microsoft shortened the user input but also the installation speed itself: The product is completely installed within 20-25 minutes on our notebook (Centrino 2Ghz, 2 GB RAM) which is as fast as the Windows XP setup on the same machine. Especially advanced users who love to reinstall their system on a regular basis will benefit from this short setup duration.
After the installation a small wizard pops up: It enables you to individualize your system by selecting a background, a user picture or choosing a user account name/password. After that the performance assessment determines the speed of your computer and adjusts the visual appearance of Windows Vista accordingly.

Desktop and User Interface (UI)
Right from the first start youll notice that some legacy XP icons and dialogs are forever gone - the system just looks and feels more complete. There is even a new (nice) wallpaper and a couple of new gadgets for the Windows Sidebar (e.g. the weather gadget that has been removed in an earlier build celebrates its comeback).

Click here to view the original size

The interface in Build 5536 finally looks mature: Icons, menus and the Windows features are displayed correctly without making me think that some first grade UI-student designed them. After all its actually fun working with the new AERO UI and the eye-candy that has been integrated into Vista.

Annoying Windows Live integration?
Since the early 55xx builds Microsoft added a couple of shortcuts to some Windows Live Services. Out of the 20 current services (we hear there are 20 more in the making) youll find ads to 5 services and a couple of other Microsoft services right within Windows Vista:

• Windows Live Ideas
• Windows Live Toolbar
• Windows OneCare
• Windows Market Place (not a Live services)
• Windows Live Mail Desktop
• Windows Live Messenger
• Technical support

We hear that a lot of members of the Windows community have been upset with this integration since its product advertising planted right into the operating system. However, we think that the Windows Live offers are somewhat interesting (especially for first-time users) and most of them are totally free - so there is no need to critize that step as long as Microsoft keeps the shortcuts to the Welcome Center and the start menu. We noticed that, after you downloaded the Windows Live Messenger using the integrated shortcut, the shortcut itself does not disappear - so there is still need for a little fine tuning.

Device drivers
We have been surprised positively: Except for the onboard-sound device in our notebook every piece of hardware has been successfully installed. Graphic card, TV card, printer, scanner, wireless adapter, firewire and the card reader were recognized and installed - no problemo. Using Windows XP we are used to at least five yellow entries in the device manager.

Right after finishing setup: Almost every piece of hardware has been detected and installed!

User account control
Microsoft promised to make the User Account Control (UAC) feature less annoying while performing potential dangerous actions on your system that require administrative rights. In earlier builds this mechanism has been heavily criticized: Whenever a program or an action requires administrator rights the screen gets dark and Windows Vista asks specifically whether to perform this action or not. However, these messages totally destroyed the normal work flow and popped up while performing harmless actions like deleting shortcuts on the desktop. Since Build 5536 the User Account Control feature starts to make sense and does not pop up as often. We think this feature is important not only for beginners: A lot of users have grown to automatically click OK without reflecting on what they are actually doing thus destroying or infecting their system heavily.

Surfing the web
Like Internet Explorer 7 RC1 (which has been released a couple of days ago) the performance of Vistas IE-version has been increased dramatically as well. We have set up our IE 7 with five start pages that are always loading while starting the browser. With Beta 2 or previous XP IE 7.0 versions it takes 4-6 seconds to open up the browser - Build 5536 only needs 1-2 seconds to load all five tabs! Nice!

Windows Media Center in Vista
The Media Center in Beta 2 and even the following builds has been a disaster performance-wise: It took forever to display content and it frequently crashed on all our test machines. Since 5536 most issues have been resolved and its behaving a lot faster: Media Center loads up just withing 3-5 seconds and displays content instantly.

Our conclusion
Working with Build 5536 is just fun - its the best build ever and weve been using Windows Vista since the early Longhorn alpha days (Build 4074)! There are still some minor issues and the performance (although its great) is not perfect yet. Lets wait until RC1 hits in September until we see a nearly-final Version of Windows Vista - so far we can say: Microsoft is back on track!

Cheers,
Sandro Villinger