So I downloaded and installed M$'s latest OS which is in it's second beta release. I downloaded the 64-bit version, so that I could take advantage of my AMD processor. I must say for a beta release, I'm pretty impressed thus far. Most of the drivers for my hardware were already included with the OS which definitely cuts down on setup times. They seemed to have done alot of homework this time taking some pages from both and Apple OSX and Linux. There's alot tighter security measures automatically in place which significantly reduces the risk of infection. Probably the biggest step they have made, is totally re-writing a new kernel file which supports the OS as before, but has programs operate in basically a wrapper which prevents viruses and so forth access to the kernel which in past incarnations of windows would effectively destroy the OS. The thing I love most about it so far is if I have an application crash, the OS will tell me exactly why the app crashed (instead of an obscure error code) and give me options as to how to fix the error to prevent the same crash. The other nice thing it does is renders the whole desktop in 3D, which means no lag in redraw if I move one content box that is over another. I'm still exploring the OS, because it's huge and there is just soooo much there but I'm really digging it thus far. The biggest drawback I can really say about the new OS for now, is that many people will have to upgrade their machines to get the best out of the OS once it is officially launched (to run with the Aero desktop, which is by far the best mode, you will need a videocard with at least 128megs of memory).

IE7, I dare say is even better than Firefox in most respects. You can have IE run in sandbox mode, effectively cutting off mal-ware and so forth access to your OS preventing it from taking up residence and then sucking away resources. It also incorporates many of the same features as Firefox such as tab-browsing and RSS feed. The only thing that Firefox still is much better at handeling, at the moment, is CSS. Hopefully, they will fix the CSS rendering problems once it is fully launched.

AWWWW i cant run windows Vista, dont have the RAM for it

Ohwell... A few more years n ill be able to afford a good comp >.<

I am using IE7, it's a big improvement over IE6 and is better than Firefox, in my opinon.

Vista should an option to disable all the graphical shading and smoothing. I wouldn't want the OS to suck up too much memory.

How did you download Vista? I checked and you need some kind of ticket to download it.

I just signed up for the beta program. It was pretty simple and it's open to anyone. They give you two options to obtain the OS, you can either download it (which took me roughly 5 hours) or you can just order a dvd kit where all you pay for is just the shipping & handeling. To run the beta, you need a pretty topend machine only because the only install option is the ultimate edition, which is the version which will have all of the bells and whistles.

I really do like IE7 better than Firefox and it does alot of things better than it, but it is still lacking in the CSS support. Supposedly, Microsoft claims that this will be remedied once IE7 is finalized, but I don't know if that's true since it is already in beta stages.

Xeno, ram is pretty cheap. THe nice thing about Vista, even with the new GUI, is not too memory intensive.

i know RAMs cheap, I have around 6GB of ram sticks in a box, but my motherboard is crap and there isnt enough slots, and its a rare type of board, they're not likely to work in it

Bus:

You have a link to the beta site?

Sorry I don't. I just saw that they closed the customer preview program. I signed up last week and they noted that they had been slammed with requests. In fact, they noted that the iso download will only be available to people who have received a product key for only one more week. Even with the beta, you need to activate it within 14 days of installation so people can't share product keys (and install on multiple machines).

I have the next best thing to Vista. Its called Vista Transformer it loads a theme like Vista but still running on 32bit mode.

Its free
http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloadget.php?...c25ca204843af6e