Longhorn PDC 4051 (6.0.4051.0) is expected to be given to PDC’s attendees on Monday, but FlexBeta has some screenshots already.
Longhorn 4051 Out in the Wild
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Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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I downloaded the bittorrent link and im not that pleased infact i hardly used it for an hour b4 i got rid of it. 4051 is all nice lookin, the icons are animated but there resolution is terrible.
it started up but didnt work, the new bliss wallpaper just stayed on the screen, i had to start explorer.exe myself through the task manager.
The next thing is the “better” automatic hardware finder. It really is terrible, if you dont want to install the hardware then your in for some crap, everytime the close button is clicked the “found new harware pops back up”. But one good thing about this is that it finds the drivers for hardware automatically without the need for browsing media.
Everything crashed, just trying to do some small simple things like clicking back on the explorer made it crash, it is also extremely slow, slow, slow.
I reallise how early the stage is in production but there is just so many problems with it that need to be dealt with.
Yes it is pretty and will no-doubt be evolving over the next couple of years, i just dont think that microsoft should have released this pre-beta because its one of the buggiest things ive ever had the trouble to work with.
But saying that, this really gets me exited about how the final will be. Roll on 2006
All I want to know, as a web developer: Any improvements in MSHTML? Better support for position:fixed, for example?
Gosh, when I think about how many years I will have to wait before I can use modern web technologies in my websites just because Microsoft refuses to update IE in XP any longer. I could cry all day. I hate this flawed browser so much.
Sorry man i couldnt get the hardware ti wirk right on mine so i couldnt get ie to load mate. Although it is a little bit prettier.
“I will never understand this? What the hell are people doing with their XP boxes that is making them so unstable? XP is one of the most stable desktop OSes I’ve ever used. Only Windows 2003 has lasted longer.”
I completely agree with you. I have used Windows XP on several different machines (PII 400/192 mbram, P500/312 mbram and my own box, Athlon xp 1600+/512 mbram) and all were/are as stable/fast as can be. The PII machine now runs Server 2003, extremely stable, and so darn fast! The same goes for my own box, I have used server 2003 on that system for months, without any problems or what so ever (I now run MDK 9.2, ditched my Server 2003 install).
My point is: I think the stability of XP isn’t that bad. I think you can compare the situation to what’s happening in Amsterdam right now: Crime rates have been going down for 8 years in a row, but the people of Amsterdam feel less safe every day. Like Windows: it has become more stable, but people still think it isn’t. My advice: try using Windows without prejudice. It might help.
As Thom and Adam said, XP is a very capable operating system. I admit for a long time I stuck with Win2K because of the horrid default GUI and “improved” Start Menu of XP. But once I decided to use it, turn off all the annoying graphical effects, and disgusting Luna theme, I’ve found it is a very fast and stable system.
The layout is improved from Win2K, only slightly, but enough IMO. The boot time is significantly faster. It has much better Windows 95 and 98 emulation for applications. It is an all around better operating system.
I think most of those who constantly criticize XP saw it a few times in screenshots, and maybe used Windows 95 once. The other possibility is they are just making things up.
My God, Microsoft keeps getting better and better at making their OS as ugly as possible!! They don’t have any sense of combinations of colors, and if XP’s interface was labeled by many as a circus, well, this thing will be a total new kind of circus, the ugliest ever. Take a look at the computer window for example. Way too many options, and that stupid figure of the two Lego people that take about 100×100 pixels on screen, and for what? And the icons are ugly ugly ugly!!! And now the serial number is even longer, and of course the damn activation thing that doesn’t let you install Windows over and over as many times as you want except perhaps if you never change a single component in your PC.
I don’t remember where I read this recently, but a reporter said that he thinks Windows doesn’t have more than 10 years of life. Sounded crazy at the time, but if they release it with this GUI, suddenly it doesn’t seem so crazy, specially when compared to Mac OS X, who turned really pro with Panther, and I suppose it’s going to be even better in 2006 when Longhorn comes out. If people walks into a store and sees this ugly duck on screens, and they know about Mac OS X, many of them will shell the extra bucks for a Mac.
Sebastian
Sebastian, open your eyes for a change and read: this is NOT the definitve Longhorn GUI! This is just a temporary GUI untill MS finishes Aero! Why does nobody understand this? Prejudice all over the place… Do they sell that stuff in liters somewhere??
Thom, even if it’s not the definitive GUI, given the bad taste of Microsoft for aesthetics, Aero is going to be a pretty ugly one too. I stick with Mac OS X.
Sebastian
That is an extremely ignorant position to take, Microsoft is intentionally withholding their definitive UI to protect it from being copied. I admit, this one is ugly, and I feel Luna was even worse.
However, saying that Aero will be ugly without ever seeing it is foolish at best. It won’t even be seen by the general public for well over a year. How can you possibly judge it that far in advanced? Luna was ugly, so? Just because Microsoft has made one bad call on a OS UI doesn’t mean they are incapable of ever improving.
True… and what about PNGs with transparencies? I’m tired to see IE-optimised websites because they don’t care to follow standards. I’m developing a web page right now in CSS and it’s 100% okay with Mozilla, Konqueror, Opera and even Lynx… but NOT in IE!
Quote: These screenshots just strengthens my theory that Microsoft cut the number of usability experts they have on their payroll in half for every new release of their OS. /Quote
Well…ummm…yep.
I really think that if the UI ends up looking at all like it does, that everyone will simply choose an “Win Classic” theme with all the bells and whistles turned off to get any work done, just as I (and most people I know) have done in XP.
I just strip all the bull off of XP…then it’s actually ok. I just hope it’s possible in Longhorn, because this is even more useless (IMO) than XP’s default colors and sidebars, panels and oversized icons.
Maybe Aero is truly awesome, though. But one things to keep in mind is that MS DOESN’T WANT to make to radical a change or much of their userbase would be alienated.
>Longhorn will never take off if the issues of stability/security/speed are not resolved. The critics of GUI at this point when interface will be replaced with Aero (whatever it is) make not much sense.
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Welllll…This new GUI is obviously indicative of the direction they’re taking, dontchathink? IMO it’s the wrong direction…I agree that Aero could be awesome, though. This does, however put a dent in my expectations.
A quote:
“I will never understand this? What the hell are people doing with their XP boxes that is making them so unstable? XP is one of the most stable desktop OSes I’ve ever used. Only Windows 2003 has lasted longer.”
/A quote.
For me, I am crashed to my blank desktop image fairly often by IE or by my filemanager which closes all open instances of IE or the filemanager and empties my systray. I have had this problem with every XP install on every PC with every config I’ve ever tried. It is a part of life in XP on an almost daily basis, just like missing drivers on startup were part of life in 98.
It’s true.
If you crash Windows XP on a daily basis it is not a problem with XP. It is either a hardware issue, driver issue, third-party software issue, or user-error. Probably a combination of several of the above, and all rooted in the main problem “user-error”.
If you don’t install hacked up third-party apps, avoid and check for Spy/Adware, update periodically, and stick with certified drivers Windows XP rarely, if ever, crashes.
>If you don’t install hacked up third-party apps, avoid and check for Spy/Adware, update periodically, and stick with certified drivers Windows XP rarely, if ever, crashes.
I use the Windows Classic theme, update regularly, use SpywareGuard, Norton AV, use exclusively certified drivers and STILL when IE encouters a site it doesn’t like (and I don’t mean some obscure site, I’m talking espn.com or my hotmail inbox, neither all the time, but intermittently), or my filemanager can’t wrap it’s mind around what it’s trying to display for one reason or another, all instances of explorer are closed, my systray emptied and I’m kicked out to my blank desktop image, with no taskbar. It takes 30 second or so for the taskbar to come back up, still with a mostly empty systray (missing many apps I was running…which are still visible from the processes screen of the task manager, but are simply missing from the systray). This happens regularly. It has happened on every install of XP I can remember using long enough.
Yesterday, I went to a business to pitch em a website I was working on and the same thing happened. Different hardware, default GUI, completely different situation…Not user error, it happened upon loading their homepage, which is set as ScotiaBank’s site.
Anyway…you can tell me I’m hallucinating or that it’s false…but you’d be wrong.
I tell you people, may be cost more, but buy a Mac with Mac OS Panther and you will forget about all these Windows problems, crashes, self installed spyware like Gator and hundreds more, viruses and incompatibilities of all kinds. There are neither viruses nor spyware for Mac OS X, and if there ever is, they won’t be even 1% of their Windows counterparts. Mac OS X wasn’t ready for primetime until now, get a Mac with the new version of Mac OS X and you won’t be disappointed. Oh, and by the way, Mac OS X doesn’t need a serial number or activation process.
Sebastian
I know you’re not hallucinating, but I am also certain the problem isn’t from the operating system. Troubleshooting what exactly is causing the problem isn’t easy, but it is what will ultimately lead you to the real answer. I would hazard a guess in the direction of spy/adware if IE is usually involved. There are also several nasty XP targeting viruses out recently.
I would doubt Norton before I thought XP was at fault, and I rather like Norton’s tools.
I really am not trying to argue with you about this, you seem more reasonable than many folks on the internet.
I am positive though, that the problem is something more than simply a Windows XP glitch. Make sure Windows is fully updated, try selectively disabling apps, using http://housecall.antivirus.com to scan once, run AdAware with the latest updates, and then try looking for hardware issues.
I swear, if XP was unstable I would be the first to bash it, I am no fan of Microsoft, but it isn’t. To be honest I don’t (personally) use Internet Explorer, and haven’t for over a year, so I can’t vouch for its stability. Try Mozilla or Opera and see if you still have the same issues.