Introduction

Windows Vista, Microsoft's newest OS and arguably its largest project ever has finally hit Beta 2. Windows Vista is the latest and most complex operating system to emerge from Microsoft's Redmond, WA campus. It is the fourth major release of the NT family of operating systems, targeted at both the home and the enterprise.

Microsoft's progress with Vista has been closely followed by many journalists and technical pundits. It is behind schedule and has had a handful of features postponed or culled. In short, this is a very important release for Microsoft, one where it can't afford many mistakes. As a result, the company has taken its time perfecting the OS, being careful to release a product that is well-built, feature-rich, and stable.

Scope

This article will preview Vista and give you a broad look at what Vista has to offer. Keep in mind that this is a beta and some of the characteristics detailed later on in this article can and probably will change between now and the release of Vista. Also note that this is not a full review of the OS. While we believe an overview is warranted at this time, we're not going to delve deeply into every issue due to the fact that we're dealing with a beta. To give you a better idea of what this article covers, I've included an outline of its contents:

Article contents

Hardware

Hardware requirements

Vista's hardware requirements have been known for awhile, and apply to this beta.

Minimum Requirements (Vista-Capable PCs):

800 MHz Intel-compatible processor

512MB of RAM

DirectX 9.0-Capable Graphics Processor

20GB HD

Recommended Requirements (Premium-Ready PCs):

1 GHz Intel-compatible processor

1GB RAM

DirectX 9.0-Capable Graphics Processor, with 128MB graphics memory. (64MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor less than 1,310,720 pixels [no more than

1440x900]; 128MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor at resolutions from 1,310,720 to 2,304,000 pixels [no more than 1920x1200]; 256MB of graphics memory to

support a single monitor at resolutions higher than 2,304,000 pixels [more than 1920x1200]).

1440x900]; 128MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor at resolutions from 1,310,720 to 2,304,000 pixels [no more than 1920x1200]; 256MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor at resolutions higher than 2,304,000 pixels [more than 1920x1200]). 40GB HD with at least 15GB "free space"

Test system

Generally when I am reviewing beta operating systems, I use whatever throw-away gear that I might have. For this preview I've decided to throw my main machine at Vista. I really wanted to get a good feel for what using Vista day-to-day might feel like on more modern hardware that I have plenty of experience using. Here are the specs of the test machine:

Athlon 64 X2 3800+

nForce 4 Ultra chipset

2GB PC3200 DDR

Western Digital 160GB SATA-II hard drive

PCIe NVIDIA Geforce 6800GS/256MB video card

Sound Blaster Live 5.1

Epson Stylus CX5400 multifunction printer/scanner

On with the installation...

Download the PDF

(This feature for Premier subscribers only.)