Waiting for Windows Vista

I write this to you, dear reader, from Windows Vista Beta 1. I’m currently installing my drive image software so I can return this machine to its old, yet functioning, Windows XP Pro state. I’ve read some of the reviews, but since my employer has an MSDN subscription, and I’ve been watching this OS since PDC 03, I wanted to give it a shot.

The UI was pretty when it came out on the Mac. It looks pretty: flashy window animations, translucent windows, shadowing. But after a while, it gets pretty annoying. Every page in a wizard does this annoying popup thing. The transluceny is kinda neato for about five minutes. I’ve seen a lot of cool demos of what’s possible with Avalon, but none of it is in this beta.

The reason I’m uninstalling it though – and I’m the first to admit this is unfair, given Vista’s beta status – is that Windows Explorer is unusable. Everywhere I browse
Takes.
For.
Ever.
To.
Get.
To.

Double click the C: drive in Computer (note the missing My) and wait 4 minutes for it to show you the folders. All these virtual folder searches kick in, and it takes a lifetime. It also freezes the rest of the desktop so you can’t do anything else. If you a have a movie playing in Media Player, it’ll freeze.

I can see why MS is stressing this as a beta for developers (although it doesn’t need to be since WinFX is available for XP), hardware manufacturers and IT departments. So, I’ll start waiting for Beta 2.

And start learning Avalon.