Big Booger
June 11th, 2006, 03:18 AM
The news Wednesday that Microsoft had finally posted a public beta for its long-awaited, often-delayed Windows Vista brought the usual rush by multitudes who couldn't wait.
Enough, apparently, that some users have reported overloaded sites that never begin the download. (As of mid-day Thursday, TechWeb was unable to reach the English-language, 32-bit download file.)
That inability to access Beta 2's multi-gigabyte download may be a blessing in disguise. Tucked into Microsoft's Web site are notes that may be deal-breakers for many.
Here are five. Read 'em before you download, or pay $10 to order a DVD from Microsoft.
1.) You'd better have a DVD burner
The hours it'll take you to download Vista Beta 2 -- 9 hours using a 1.5Mbps connection (such as DSL) by Microsoft's estimate -- will be wasted if you don't have access to a DVD-RW drive. It's possible, of course, to download the file and burn it to DVD on one PC, then install it on another, although certainly a hassle.
Sans DVD-RW, your only other option is to order the DVD, which costs $6 in the U.S. with another $4 for shipping and handling. Microsoft says the disc should arrive in 2 to 4 weeks.
2) It goes dead in 2007, so if Microsoft delays Vista again…
Like most previews from the Redmond, Wash. developer, Vista Beta 2 has a time limit, after which it -- poof! -- stops working. The deadline: June 1 2007.
Although that may seem like more than enough time -- over a year away -- it's unclear what will happen to your PC if, say, Microsoft doesn't meet its previously-announced January 2007 release date for the consumer editions of the OS.
It's not as if Microsoft hasn't delayed Vista before.
View the 3 other items at the link below:
http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=ZKHJTBBW301VKQSNDLRSKHSCJUNN2JVN?articleID=188703028&pgno=2&queryText=
Enough, apparently, that some users have reported overloaded sites that never begin the download. (As of mid-day Thursday, TechWeb was unable to reach the English-language, 32-bit download file.)
That inability to access Beta 2's multi-gigabyte download may be a blessing in disguise. Tucked into Microsoft's Web site are notes that may be deal-breakers for many.
Here are five. Read 'em before you download, or pay $10 to order a DVD from Microsoft.
1.) You'd better have a DVD burner
The hours it'll take you to download Vista Beta 2 -- 9 hours using a 1.5Mbps connection (such as DSL) by Microsoft's estimate -- will be wasted if you don't have access to a DVD-RW drive. It's possible, of course, to download the file and burn it to DVD on one PC, then install it on another, although certainly a hassle.
Sans DVD-RW, your only other option is to order the DVD, which costs $6 in the U.S. with another $4 for shipping and handling. Microsoft says the disc should arrive in 2 to 4 weeks.
2) It goes dead in 2007, so if Microsoft delays Vista again…
Like most previews from the Redmond, Wash. developer, Vista Beta 2 has a time limit, after which it -- poof! -- stops working. The deadline: June 1 2007.
Although that may seem like more than enough time -- over a year away -- it's unclear what will happen to your PC if, say, Microsoft doesn't meet its previously-announced January 2007 release date for the consumer editions of the OS.
It's not as if Microsoft hasn't delayed Vista before.
View the 3 other items at the link below:
http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=ZKHJTBBW301VKQSNDLRSKHSCJUNN2JVN?articleID=188703028&pgno=2&queryText=