Number 283 - December 2006

Microsoft Vista Beta--Continued Look
by Brian K. Lewis, Ph.D.*, Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc.
As I mentioned at the end of last month's article, the hard drive in my Vista machine died and I had to replace it. I had no trouble installing Vista on a new drive. Everything seemed to be in working order. Then I tried to activate it. That resulted in an error indicating that the key number was already in use. I figured all I needed to do was call Microsoft and get a new key number. After much time and talking to 4 different people over a three-day period, I was promised a new key by e-mail--never happened. I was afraid my 15 days would run out before I finished trying out Vista. However, I managed to get a DVD with a newer build (5472) on it and a new key. I installed that build and although it had a few glitches, it is now working well on my system. Before I finished this review, I was able to download the Vista Pre-RC1 beta. This is supposed to be the last before the first Release Candidate. At this point, and possibly by the time you read this, Microsoft will have released RC-1 (Release Candidate - 1) for broad consumer testing. There may also be an RC-2 before the final version is available for sale. So this review will cover some of the changes in Vista which a user would notice based on this latest build (Pre-RC1, build 5536).    One of the first things I noticed in Vista in all the builds is the beautiful desktop wallpaper. As you might expect Microsoft has them in a folder called "vistas" and they are just that, magnificent scenic vistas. Even though I don't have the Aero interface available, the icons on the desktop are semi-transparent. Then when you position your mouse on one, a large square lights up around the icon. There is no problem identifying which icon you are selecting. You can also select three different sizes for these icons: classic, medium and large. To change the size you right click an open area of the desktop, select the first item on the menu (view) and the sub-menu shows the icon sizes. The large size is really large! I can get only 4 icons in a column on my 17" monitor with a 1024 x 768 resolution. Either the classic or medium size works quite well for me.    Another new item on the desktop is the sidebar. This is a vertical column on the right side of the screen. Initially it contains a slide show, a large analog clock, and a link for news. You can modify the sidebar by adding or removing gadgets. You can also close it and/or prevent from loading when Vista loads. Some of the other gadgets are a calendar, calculator, stock ticker, contact list, or RSS feeds. If you find the sidebar distracting, you can either hide it or turn it off. Either can be selected by right-clicking on the sidebar and selecting from the pop-up menu.    One of the first things you notice is that there is no button labeled "Start" on the task bar. Instead there is a round, multi-colored logo. This is the same logo that shows up when Vista is loading and seems to have replaced the square window logo, but with the same colors. I guess it is supposed to be intuitive for you to click on this logo to get a menu. However, I suspect new computer users might be a bit confused by this until they figure out what it's for. This round logo is also on the 300 page Windows Vista Product Guide supplied to SPCUG with a copy of the Consumer Beta 2 version of Vista.    When you click on the "Vista" logo button, you get a menu similar to that found in WinXP. Similar, but different. The first line just above the task bar has a fill-in box labeled "search". This can also be used to run program commands (i.e., CMD, msconfig, regedit, etc.). Once your hard drive has been indexed, the search function is much faster than the one in XP and there is no dog wagging its tail or turning pages. That animation has been removed.    The right column of the start page has a list of items that include documents, computer, pictures, music, control panel, search, network, help, etc. On the bottom line below these click-able items are two icons and a right-pointing arrow. Putting your mouse on the arrow brings up the shut-down, restart, log-off, hibernate menu. The two icons are for either locking your computer or putting it into hibernation.    The left column has a set of click-able icons related to various Microsoft items including IE and Windows Mail. The rest of the list is pre-loaded with the Welcome Center, Media Center, Windows Photo Gallery, and others. It is also the place where your most frequently used programs will eventually show up.    Just above the search box is an bar labeled "all programs". When you place your mouse on this line, the list above it changes to show all the programs on your computer. Many of these relate to software that Windows installs along with Vista and all are near the top of the list. Your applications will be shown further down in folders. Clicking on a folder will open it showing the contents below the folder title. The program list no longer expands across the entire desktop no matter how many programs you have installed. Instead you have a vertical list with a scroll bar. So far, I have found it more convenient than the program list in XP.	One of the things that came with this latest build is a nagging icon in the system tray that insists I need to back up my computer. For those who never get around to doing this, the nag is probably a good idea. So, I decided to try a backup. There are two different types of backup in Vista Ultimate, data files or a complete hard drive backup. Just as a side note, this CompletePC backup is not included in any of the Vista Home editions, only in the Business, Enterprise or Ultimate editions. The Home Editions have only the file backup. Anyway, I started a complete image backup using the DVD drive. Vista said it would take 5-8 DVD's to complete the backup. Why such a wide range I don't know. Then, it rejected three of my DVD's, saying they could not be formatted (why do they need formatting?). So, I found another brand and tried it, using a DVD-RW of course. It took one hour to format and write one DVD. However, it took only 3 DVD's to complete the backup. In my opinion you really need to have an external hard drive, formatted for the NTFS file system, or a second hard drive for your backup. Otherwise you'll spend far too much time trying to back up to DVD's.    Another application I've played with is the Photo Gallery. Using the LAN connection I copied a few hundred photo files from my main computer to the Vista computer. The transfer took only minutes, as the LAN connections are 100 Mb boards in both systems. Viewing them in the Photo Gallery was quite interesting. Leaving the cursor on the photo resulted in an enlargement along with the date and time the photo was taken, its resolution and total size. There is a navigation bar at the bottom of the window and a means to greatly increase the viewing size of all the photos on the page. (In the My Pictures folder you can increase the viewing size of individual photos.) The Gallery can also be used to organize your photos, print or e-mail them. Like Picasa it also has some limited editing functions.    Vista also incorporates a Windows Calendar in all of its editions. This is a simplified appointment calendar and includes a to-do list. It also has a separate contacts list with space for e-mail addresses, home and business phones. You can import contacts from your Outlook Express address book or files that are in a CSV format. If you have never used a computer-based calendar or contact list, this might save you from purchasing third-party software.    At this point I'm going to shift gears and provide you with some information on the consumer editions of Vista that will be available, probably in January. The entry-level version is Home Basic. This version is designed to be the simplest to use and has the most basic functions. It is targeted at users who are only interested in doing e-mail, some Internet surfing and basic document creation. If you want to share photos, maintain or listen to music or videos, DVD/CD burning, then you need to get Home Premium. The Basic version does not include the Windows Media Center that has these functions along with recording and watching TV and online entertainment.    Amazon is taking advance orders for Vista and is pricing Home Basic at $199 with an upgrade from XP Home priced at $99.95. Home Premium is priced at $239.00 and an upgrade from XP Home at $159.00.    There are two other consumer versions of Vista, Business and Ultimate. The Business version, like Home Basic does not include the Media Center, Windows DVD maker or Movie Maker. It also lacks Parental Controls as Microsoft expects this version to be used only in SoHo or small business operations. Vista Ultimate includes all the functions of the Home editions and the Business edition. The only thing it lacks is the Anytime Upgrade since this is the most complete edition of Vista. The other editions can be upgraded, at a price.    The advance pricing of Vista Business is $299.00 with the upgrade priced at $199.00. Presumably this is for an upgrade from WinXP Professional. However, that isn't clear to me at this point. The pricing for Vista Ultimate is $399.00 and the upgrade is $259.00.    The "word on the street" is that RC-1 will be available early in September. If so, I will try to get a copy and play with it for a while. So, the November Monitor should have the third article in this series of looking at Vista, including more on its security systems. There are also other innovations that you, the future user, might find interesting. Please remember that my comments are based on the beta or preliminary versions of Vista. The software is always subject to change.    *Dr. Lewis is a former university & medical school professor. He has been working with personal computers for more than thirty years. He can be reached via e-mail at bwsail@yahoo.com.    Copyright 2006. This article is from the October 2006 issue of the Sarasota PC Monitor, the official monthly publication of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., P.O. Box 15889, Sarasota, FL 34277-1889. Permission to reprint is granted only to other non-profit computer user groups, provided proper credit is given to the author and our publication.
Number 283 - December 2006