Now that Windows Vista has released to manufacturing, you might think that there is no opportunity for the product to get better before you get to use it.  Pre-Internet and before Windows Update, that was generally the case.  But things are different today.  With Windows Update, as new device drivers are available or issues are found and corrected, the product will simply get better and better over time.

While we worked hard to get a comprehensive set of drivers on the DVD prior to release-to-manufacturing (RTM), the magic of Windows Update and Automatic Updates makes this “frozen in time” distribution problem basically a non-issue.  For Windows Vista we are excited to have over 19,500 device drivers on the Windows Vista DVD (in contrast to just 10,000 for Windows XP when it shipped).  The number of device drivers is really a small way of looking at it, since each driver can usually support numerous actual different device models.  Indeed, sometimes a single driver can support hundreds of different models, as often is the case with video drivers.  But, what is even more significant is that at the RTM for Windows Vista, we already had an additional 11,700 device drivers on Windows Update compared to just 2,000 for Windows XP when it RTM’d in 2001.  And while we will have significantly more drivers online by official availability, we will continue to add more drivers even after the launch.  Because of the improvements in Automatic Updates for Windows Vista, users that choose the recommended setting for Automatic Updates will have the latest drivers installed and available when they add a new device.

The other experience that Windows Update helps improve is with third-party applications.  Supporting existing applications on the new operating system is obviously key to driving satisfaction and adoption of the new product.  We have worked hard with independent software vendor (ISV) partners to make sure that these applications work well on Windows Vista.  Many of these ISVs have had a chance to either respond to our feedback or test their applications themselves and have worked with us to address any issues.  Now that we have finished Windows Vista, we expect even more application vendors to test their applications and give us feedback.  As we work with these ISV partners, we will develop application compatibility updates to make even more applications work great with Vista.  As each batch is ready, we will put the new compatibility updates on Windows Update.

Read the rest of Jim Allchin’s comments at windowsvistablog.com

There are a lot of questions regarding release of the Windows Mobile Device Center.  Here is the heads-up that next week you will get your chance to download the new WMDC Beta and sync your mobile devices up with newer builds of Windows Vista.
When the Beta goes online, it will first be available only in English, with more language supported in short order.  Don’t worry on this last count, as language support is indeed a priority.

In the meantime, here’s an image of the start-up screen for your viewing pleasure:

Source: Windows Vista Team Blog : Windows Mobile Device Center Beta Coming Soon

I have had the chance to use Windows Vista RC1(Build 5600). I installed it inside of a VMWare Virtual Server. I then searched around the web and found these hints from a variety of sources (and one of my own). It’s all legal as nothing is reverse engineered.

According to Microsoft, the requirements for a successful Vista installation are:
Processor of at least 1GHz 32bit(x86) or 64bit (x64)
1Gb of system memory
A graphics card which is DirectX 9 capable and with 128Mbs memory
40Gb hard disk space
DVD Drive.
Audio
Network Capable

1. Installing Vista RC1 without a key
You can install Vista without a CD key. Just leave the product key field blank ,hit next, and answer no to the dialog box. You can then select any edition of Vista to install (Ultimate, Home Premium, Home Basic, Business, or Starter). Check the box at the bottom and there you go. Vista with no key. Note: You cannot activate if you don’t do this unless you have a CD key for the version you installed.

2. Logging on as Local Administrator if you have already logged in as a user
a. If you are having trouble logging on as the built-in Administrator account, you will have to modify some registry entries to display the Administrator account.
Log in using the user account you created during the Windows Vista setup process.
From the Start menu, click All Programs and then expand Accessories.
Right click on “Command Prompt” and click “Run as Administrator”.
Click on “Allow” from the Windows Security dialog.
In the Command Prompt window, type “regedit” (without the quotes) and press Enter.
In the Registry Editor, browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Add a new key called “SpecialAccounts” (without the quotes).
In the “SpecialAccounts” key you just made, create a sub-key called “UserList” (without the quotes)
Make sure you are navigated to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList
In the “UserList” key, create a new DWORD (32-bit) item and name it Administrator.
Double click on the new DWORD item and set its value to 1.
Close Registry Editor and the Command Prompt.
NOW:
Go to Start/All Programs and right click the command prompt.
Type Control UserPasswords2.
Click Advanced.
Click Advanced again.
Select Users.
Select Administrator and untick the the box “Administrator is disabled”NB. If you follow the above path (Tip 2.) you may find that some of the following tips, related to security, are not needed. Bu believe me, it makes a difference working withou those nags.

3. Exclude some unused services
It’s a good idea to try disabling these services a little at a time. If you do not have a complete knowledge of you computer, you may need some of these. Alternatively, you may leave them all in, they will not impair too much on the resident memory.

1. Run services.msc via the Run command (Win key +R).
2. Stop the following services and change their start-up type to disabled

- Computer browser (if not connected to LAN)
- Fax (if not using printer and fax)
- Windows Error Reporting Service
- Secondary logon
- Tablet PC Input service
- Print spooler (if not using printer and fax)
- Windows time
- Media center receiver service (This caused some dysfunction on my computer)
- Security center
- Routing and remote access (if not connected to LAN)
- Internet connection sharing
- TCP/IP NetBios helper
- Server (if not sharing resources through LAN)
- Offline files
3. Close the services management console.

By taking these steps, you will ensure that your OS has less processes running in the background, so more memory can be dedicated to the programs you open, not the ones that are used by Windows itself, by default.

4. Disable system restore
1. Control panel- System and maintenance- System
2. Advanced system settings
3. System protection tab
4. Uncheck all the drives.
5. Apply changes.

5.Disable some UI effects
1. Control panel- System
2. Advanced system settings
3. Advanced tab/Performance/Settings
4. Uncheck the following boxes:
- Fade or slide menus into view
- Fade or slide tooltips into view
- show shadows under menus
- Show translucent selection rectangle
- Slide open combo boxes
- Use a background image for each folder type
5. Apply changes.

One of the best ways to test a new (or old) operating system is to install it in a virtual environment. Instead of messing with physical hardware, you create virtual disks, run processes on a virtual CPU, test what happens when you add some virtual memory, and save the whole thing as a file that you can restore in a few minutes.

I’ve been running various builds of Windows Vista in virtual machines for months now, but not without a lot of pain. And recent builds have been particularly troublesome.

Windows Vista RC1 installs and runs just fine on Microsoft’s free Virtual Server 2005 R2. It also reportedly installs and runs on VMWare Server, although I haven’t personally tested this combination.

But if you try to install any recent build of Windows Vista on VMWare Workstation, you’ll be stymied. The opening setup screens appear, but the system appears to hang when it reaches the end of the text-mode “Windows is loading files…” screen.

Read the rest of the story at: Ed Bott’s Microsoft Report

Betagnome says *** I have tried to setup Vista on VMWare and earlier Virtual Server builds, as well as Virtual PC and have had no luck to date, I am downloading Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 Beta 2 as I post this and will attempt another virtual install - check back to see if I was successful. As you can tell by my nickname - I am not afraid of BETA software!!!