Windows Vista RC1, what Beta 2 should have been

Windows  Vista has hit the home stretch, or so you would think with Microsoft calling it Release Candidate 1.  Typically an RC1 is basically the final product that is just going out to a broad audience to shake out the final few, harder to find, bugs.  Does Windows Vista RC1 fit this bill?

This build is a remarkable improvement over the Windows Vista Beta2 build, which many found they were unable to live on.  In fact many couldn’t even get it to load on their systems, yeah that bad. The driver support was severely lacking, the application compatibility was largely non-existent. If something did work it was something that was designed for XP and you were fortunate enough that it didn’t rely on the many updated components of Windows Vista. The Release Candidate build should mark significant advances in both those areas, right?

I have now run 5600 A.K.A. the RC1 build on a wide variety of hardware platforms and number of different hardware types almost all with adequate driver support to get you up and running and connected to Windows Update, except for an x64 virtual machine in VMWare which doesn’t seem to have a driver for the NIC.  Usually getting drivers via Windows Update is OK, unless you don’t have network drivers or internet access. Unfortunately, many of these drivers that are being delivered also limited in capability and so you find yourself hunting down a better driver with additional capabilities from the likes of ATI or NVIDIA to  get enhanced functionality and to fix very visible and what must be well known problems like the inability to use suspend or lack of a sleep state on machine.  Drivers support is improved but still has a long way to go…RC quality?…No, I really don’t think so.  Now you may say these come from the vendors, how can I hold Microsoft responsible? Well I do,  and here is why,  Microsoft should have locked down the driver model early enough that vendors aren't playing catch-up because they have been dealing with breaking changes very late in the development cycle.

When it comes to application compatibility I figured I would load as many of the big hitter common apps and use that as my sampling.  I loaded itunes, Adobe Reader, Windows Live Messenger, Office 2007 Beta2, Citrix Client, Sun Java,  and Firefox.  The good news is all of these ran, but as with all things the devil is in the details.  Sun Java for example when an applet is rendered it shuts off glass.  Citrix wouldn’t pass credentials in IE7. Quicktime, which comes with itunes, thinks that admin rights are needed.  Firefox, Windows Live Messenger and Citrix were found to be vitalizing files which means the apps were not designed to run on Windows Vista or follow the logo specs.  Gee you would think that Microsoft could have corrected their own code to follow the UAC guidelines by now.  Well, goes to show you that while progress is being made on Vista we still have a long ways to go to get Windows Vista applications.  The real problem apps for application compatibility are the apps that rely on the underpinnings of Windows Vista.  This low level tie for products like Anti-virus and VPN make finding a product that will work hit or miss and a you waste a lot of time playing the waiting game on vendors.

Besides Hardware and Software you have the fit and finish of the OS, which at this stage should all be final.  You would expect to see no UI changes just bug fixes.  Is this this the case?  I expect not, and well I hope not too.  Paul Thurrott, for example, points out the lack of a consistent feel to the new wizards and the utter uselessness of the sidebar. I was initially in the sidebar camp, I loved the potential that it showed. OK, to be honest the media player applet sucked me in.  However since then I have been underwhelmed with it and find myself turning it off because it isn’t useful for me.  The Neosmart blog also has some good highlight of things that are lacking, notable the ability to sync your handheld devices.  How can the complete lack of a product to sync your Windows Mobile device be even be possible at this late stage in the game is anyone’s guess.  I am sure they will have something, but seriously why isn’t it part of the product?

There is no doubt this build is a remarkable improvement in performance, stability, and reliability. This is the quality bar Microsoft should have set for itself with Windows Vista Beta 2.  This seemingly mad dash to an arbitrary date set sometime in, what, November just seems silly to me.  Slow down, PLEASE,  take the time to incorporate the large amount of new feedback you are about to get from all the users who are now finally able to load and live on Windows Vista. That is the only way this will truely be the best Windows version ever.

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