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Longhorn

Posted: July 19th, 2005, 7:17
by Jinxx
It's that time again: I finally got my invitation to test the next version of Windows.

Things have started on a wonderful note due to the invitation acceptance system on Microsoft's beta site being broken. Go team Microsoft!

Fortunately, I'm not under an NDA until I get hold of the beta code, so I'm allowed to tell you guys all this stuff.

Posted: July 19th, 2005, 7:23
by deject
Are they still not going to put WinFS in Longhorn? Also, whatever info on the useability of the 3D interface would awesome.

Posted: July 19th, 2005, 7:26
by Jinxx
From what I've heard, beta 1 is just going to be XP again with all the features Microsoft are stealing from the Mac. No 3D, no WinFS, nothing interesting at all by the sounds of it.

Posted: July 19th, 2005, 7:29
by deject
Jinxx wrote:From what I've heard, beta 1 is just going to be XP again with all the features Microsoft are stealing from the Mac. No 3D, no WinFS, nothing interesting at all by the sounds of it.
well then what's the point? This might barely be as much of an upgrade as 98 was over 95...

Posted: July 19th, 2005, 7:32
by Dr. kitteny berk
why add a hundred new features in one go?

if you do that, problems will be utter bastards to track down, however if you add one at a time, you know where shit goes wrong.

Posted: July 19th, 2005, 7:43
by Jinxx
Beta testing is important. It doesn't matter that the shiny candy that's used to distract simple people such as yourself isn't there just so long as the software you're being given allows you to make a positive impact on the development process with your feedback, input and bug reports.

Beta 1 is usually about establishing a sense of rapport with the people who file the bug reports, the comments readers, and the development team. By the time you get to beta 2, you're usually only dealing with a handful of people so it's important to make a good start at the beta 1 stage.

I'm gonna be really critical this time... I've been a near enough full time Mac user for a year now and so much more thought has been put into that than any version of Windows. If MS genuinely want to make a good OS from this flakey old codebase, then they've got a hell of a lot of work to do.

I was a pain in the arse with Windows XP (Whistler), SP1, and SP2... Now I think it's time to crank it up to 11.

Posted: July 19th, 2005, 10:11
by Grimmie
With Microsoft shutting down all support and patches for Win 2000 very recently, I believe this is their little way of saying, in a robotic voice..

1) PREVIOUS VERSIONS OBSELETE
2) DELETE OLD SOFTWARE
3) PURCHASE NEW SOFTWARE
4) ...
5) PROFIT PROFIT PROFIIIITT...

Posted: July 19th, 2005, 10:13
by Jinxx
6) PATCH PATCH PATCH PAAAAAAATCH
7) SERVICE PACK 1
8) ...

Posted: July 19th, 2005, 17:17
by cashy
Jinxx wrote:simple people such as yourself
fuck you im not simple!


how can you use a horn on a pc?

Posted: July 19th, 2005, 17:20
by Dr. kitteny berk
on your hands and knees, backing up carefully...

Posted: July 19th, 2005, 21:56
by Hehulk
Grrr, curse you for getting in. They must have turned me down.

Well done though

Posted: July 19th, 2005, 22:07
by Dr. kitteny berk
Jinxx's been an MS OS beta bitch since the begining of time (give or take) and this is beta1, so a pretty limited group of testers.

if you've tested before, you'll probably get on a later test

Posted: July 20th, 2005, 12:33
by Stuk
Hmm, I'm interested in Longhorn...but whether I'll buy it or not depends, all the shiney new features sound like they're going to take up quite a bit of RAM and CPU, XP steals enough RAM as it is. :( All this is obviously not good if your trying to play games on an 'older' system.

I might have a look at Linux sometime when Longhorn comes out, see if its worth switching...damn incompatibility. (btw. can anyone suggest a good version of Linux? I have Ubuntu running on a PII not very well, tried Fedora and failed).

Well, I'd like to see some screenshots if possible =)

Stuk

Posted: July 20th, 2005, 12:39
by Jinxx
Well, last night I finally got my invitation code into their system, filled out the survey and I now wait to see if I get picked for the beta 1 phase of the test.

As beta 1 is going to be for a relatively small group of testers, I don't have my hopes up. But because my invitation was for a Microsoft Valued Professional (how I ended up with this status is still slightly blurry - but I do know it was a good night), I might still end up with beta 1.

Of course, I'm going to be testing this with an eye to see how well it performs with games over XP and, pending a proper NDA arriving in the mail, I'll let you know if I can.

Posted: July 28th, 2005, 8:02
by Jinxx
Ladies & Gentlemen, beta 1 has been made available to me. I shall download it when I get home this evening.

Posted: July 28th, 2005, 16:28
by cashy
make sure you keep us posted, i cant wait to see how well it games
also lets start the bidding for the source code

Posted: July 29th, 2005, 9:06
by Jinxx
Yes, that's right... IE7's CSS is no better than IE6's.

Posted: July 29th, 2005, 9:34
by wyrd
oh tits

it's soooo annoying atm with firefox ignoring borders when doing widths and ie not, makes layout's an arse

Posted: July 29th, 2005, 12:16
by Joose
Jinxx wrote:Yes, that's right... IE7's CSS is no better than IE6's.

gaaahh! gnargh! grrrargh! :x


*eats own face in frustration*

Posted: July 29th, 2005, 12:23
by Stuk
Jinxx wrote:Yes, that's right... IE7's CSS is no better than IE6's.
Those anal cock pockets! GAHHHghgHG!!1!