Considering there isnt a Windows Vista section yet, and I went to search and put in "Vista" and got nothing I decided to put it here.

So for my few questions, I just downloaded the Vista RC1. I will be installing it probably monday or tuesday on a spare but capable PC, it will have nothing on its HD so it will be a clean install.

1) Any problems I should be warned about?

2) ** Big question what programs are out that can use Vista, like what aims, utilities etc.?

3) Will it beable to install my Radeon 9550 ATI Drivers?

And anything that will stop me from using, trying or doing this, possibly a driver problem or something.


Thanks for any comments and information.

Lots of programs work. I couldn't find a driver for my crappy SB PCI 16bit sound card. Finally after no sound for 3-4 days, MS had the SB driver for me as a windows update. I had a hard time getting my NIC working also. AdAware and Spybot work, as well as AVG. Most benchmarks work. I'm not all excited about the wallpaper/desktop, so, as usual(also saves resources) i run a plain black desktop background. You're gonna want to disable all unnecessary services and start-up programs, or you'll be using copious amounts of RAM..idle on desktop. I haven't tried any office-type apps yet(word/office,open-office,etc.). Other than that, nothing to be concerned about. It's interesting, and purdy. Install was uneventful. GL

PS.. IE7 actually works nice. Cool zoom feature.

Does any of the Instant Messengers work with it yet ( AIM, MSN, Yahoo, Trillian, etc.?



Thanks Storm~

Not sure. I can't see why not. I don't use IM anymore. :?

In general, every software works EXCEPT those that need drivers. Like Antivirus some work some dont, Daemon tools not working, Nero not working, etc...

So basically if you need a driver to make it work you may have issues.

I've been running all ther versions (now on RC2) and my main issues are Nero and Daemon tools

Have fun

Nero 6-series, especially Nero 6.0.1.16, work well in both 32 and 64-bit Vista RC1 and RC2. There's a "compatibility" notice at installation start up which can be ignored, let run at "recommended" settings. Virtual drive doesn't work of course. Nero 7-series does not install or run in Vista. Alcohol is iffy. Daemon-tools 3-series will work under the administrator account in 32-bit, not at all in 64-bit. Daemon-tools for XP X64 might work, I haven't tried it.. 4-series Daemon-tools does not work at all. Avast antivirus is good, free, and supports Vista.

Just about all programs that need overlay, such as PowerDVD, do work but Vista switches from Aero to basic desktop when running. Some wireless Lans, such as the one native to the Asus P5W DH, are NOT supported yet, but everything else on the P5W DH has drivers including all the ATA ports and Realtek audio. There's no Remote support. Check for the latest Bios for your motherboard as some are starting to provide Vista-specific settings such as audio and AHCI type.

Games are a few fps slower but DO all run under vista, as does Premiere and some video editing applications and Sound Forge, Wavelab etc. Pinnacle/Avid does NOT install, and after forced install does not run. Many Warez cracks will not work due to different port-mappings in Vista, but legitimate versions of the same programs do run. (Algorithmix Pro and Nuendo for instance.)

All in all Vista is a good experience if you have a good system.

I was able to install drivers for all of my peripherals since Beta 2. With 32 bit Vista, most XP drivers work and they don't have to be signed. My biggest difficulty so far has been Nero, which not only doesn't work but also litters the registry with entries that conflict with Vista's Media Center. Uninstalling doesn't completely eliminate these entries and I had to manually uninstall by going into the registry and cleaning everything up. Heed Vista's warnings and don't even try to install Nero. To burn CD and DVD images you can use ImgBurn. There are other freeware and shareware programs to compile the images. Programs like CPU-Z and Speedfan work fine when you run them as an administrator. Also take into account that you might have to perform a clean install when Vista is finally released next year, but you can use the migration wizard (Windows Easy Transfer) to back-up your files and settings and restore them after a clean install. Avoid programs that require to be loaded at startup. If you still need to install them and they don't load properly at startup you can use a utility like autoruns to prevent them from doing so. The program should still work when you launch it manually. The RC builds will work until June 07.

You can keep both Vista and XP in the same drive on different partitions. The bootloader will prompt you. To change the bootloader's settings (default OS, etc.) I recommend VistaBootPRO. It can be installed on both XP and Vista. If you don't want to deal with bootloaders then install Vista on a separate drive.

The 9550 is supported by ATi's Vista beta drivers but I'm not sure if Aero will work.

I've used Nero since Vista 54-something. The problem is that the full package of Nero installs all sorts of junk, audio editing, codecs, etc which are not needed and DO conflict not only with Vista's settings but even cause problems in MCE or regular multimedia-heavy installs of XP. The newer the build of Nero the worse this problem. Nero itself as a burner works and is safe. If the files are extracted from the Nero exe you can then go to the temp directory and install JUST the writing program. That leaves the rest alone. The burning tool in DVDlab, which is not a predatory install at all, also works well for Video DVDs. DVDdecrypter needs no installation and writes ISOs well.That's why Imgburn is ok, again it doesn't put crap into the registry. The only burning program officially approved by MS is Sonic Solution's (Roxio I think, Yeech!) By the way, some programs, such as TyTool and DVDlab actually run BETTER in Vista than they ever did in XP. Smoother, less freeze-prone, and Vista's automatic sorting of directory files makes vob extraction faster.

Busted, I tried to install just Nero 6 but the installer didn't give me the choice to not install the other stuff. Is there a way around this? I also tried a version 6 OEM I had laying around here and that worked OK in Beta 2 but not so with the RCs. Any suggestions? I do use Nero Vision under XP and will buy the Vista compatible version when it's released, but for the time being I'll just use Vista's built-in capabilities for burning video DVDs from the DVR content.

Gotcha! Thanks! I've also used Nero since prehistoric times.

I just installed Nero 7 (7.5.something) on my PC running Vista (new install, not upgrade, too).

It is a pain, and I had to use WinXP SP2 compatiblity, and when it "stopped responding", I quit the install, and re-ran it right away, and it finished. It was kind of strange.

I have it running, fine and dandy now. No conflicts, or anything.

7 IS a big pain, and not just the installation. Use 6.0.1.16, (or 6.0.1.18, though I found the latter a bit buggier myself) as recommended in the Vista forums, and as according to my own experience. Ahead, along with all the other companies, will soon start releasing Vista-compatible software, but knowing Nero it will be buggy as Hell until 2008.. 6.0.1.16 is probably the most trouble-free build of DVD-compatible Nero ever released it seems. It installs in Vista without any issues.

Yes AIM triton works, but you can't just download it. You need to search for AIM Vista or somethign along those lines in google

Here is the link

Thought I might help ya out. I can't speak to Yahoo IM or anything other than AIM, but I thought I would drop the link. I personaly would move to RC2 if it were 64bit but at this time they have only released a 32bit version (at least that I could find hehe).

Actual problems: X-FI has no drivers, they have an old set but its build specific so I have to use built in audio on my mobo, which blows compared to a $200 X-Fi Platinum Pro. Logitech has 0 drivers for Vista so don't expect Setpoint. All chipset stuff works flawlessly, NIC's included. Vista is quick to judge when a window doesn't respond, meh. I really need to map the settings functions because M$ has moved alot of sh!t around and renamed it as well. Took me forever to find the damn icon size adjuster.

Edit: Rc2 for 64 bit is up, I just started the download.

Where did you get Vista RC2? I looked for it when i was going threw the RC1 stuff I didn't see it anywhere.. Link would be very nice thank you.


My PC Specs when I install it tomorrow or Tuesday will be


ASUS P4SP-MX Mobo
Celeron 1.8GHz Processor
768 Mbs of Ram
Radeon 9550 Graphics Card


I really could carealess if I get sound.

I'm mainly installing Vista to test it out, see what its got under the hood.


Thanks Storm

Release Candidate 1
http://download.windowsvista.com/p [...] wnload.htm


Release Candidate 2
http://download.windowsvista.com/p [...] wnload.htm