Vista - Beta 3 - Build 5536 Screenshots

Windows Vista - Build 5536 Released-

Last week MicroSoft released an updated Vista Build 5536. Not much new here except performance tuning which makes it run better. See the link below for the latest screenshots. MicroSoft plans to release a Release Candidate 1 (RC1) version in the September timeframe for public download which should be even better. Stay tuned....












More screenshots available below:

http://www.pro-networks.org/forum/album_view.php?cat_id=23

Vista - Beta 3 - Build 5472 Screenshots

This weekend I got the chance to try the latest Vista Beta 3 - Build 5472 Ultimate Edition. This was a much improved experience over the last Build 5384. The install went quickly straight from the DVD. Microsoft has built in performance tuning as part of the install process, looking at the combination of cpu speed, system memory, video memory, among other factors. This build also has the updated Standard Theme in "silver baby blue" throughout, which really dresses up the look. Performance was snappy on my AMD 1.7 GHZ PC running 512 MB memory, and integrated 32 MB video card. Norton AntiVirus 2002 was not compatible so I'm using the bundled Vista Defender virus protection.
I liked this build so much, I've kept it running on my test PC. It is a totally workable system right now.

My Vista Beta 3 - Build 5472 screenshots appear below:



Selecting the Programs Menu, you see the expanded program titles.



The first panel displayed is the Welcome Center...below...



Below is the Personalization panel...



The Vista File Explorer saved my customizations and I was able to get it to work similar to XP.
Getting to see the other PC's on my home Network was also easier, with less security dialog boxes to confirm my actions. See below...



The Photo Gallery seems like an extension of the Vista File Manager, but can organize photos by meta data or tags you add to your photos to help organize them easier....see below..



Internet Explorer 7 looked unchanged except for the new theme treatments...see below



Below is how IE7 renders RSS newsfeeds from the new releases at Netflix... I still prefer the way the Maxthon browser displays RSS feeds...



The default seach provider for IE7 is MSN. You have to go online to Microsoft to change it. I changed my search service provider to Google. See below...



Using the IE7 seach bar takes me to a Google search...see below...



The Control Panel sports some new categories for Vista...see below...



The Control Panel can be configured similar to XP and called "Classic View". See below...



The Windows Mail program is unchanged from the last build...see below...




Windows Mail supports POP3 as well as IMAP email accounts like AOL/AIM web mail and can now be integrated easily into Windows Mail...see below.



The Windows compose email panel is unchanged.....see below...



You can jump via a button on the Windows Mail toolbar to the Calendar program...see below




This edition of Vista inlcudes the Meeting Place feature, basically a whiteboard to share documents and files online...see below...



To assist with the online Meeting Place, Vista includes a fax and scan function improved over XP....see below...



Vista Ultimate edition includes an upgraded Back-up and Restore function which supports back-up to DVDs. See below....



Vista includes a few new games like Chess Titans... see below...



While speaking about entertainment, the Vista Media Center is also included in this edition. This can server as your home entertainment library...see below...



Help in Vista is improved with a floating toolbar and links to how-to solutions...see below



The new Windows Media Player 11 is included, as seen before in earlier builds...see below



The Windows Sidebar is more attractive in build 5472 with a clock, address book, and RSS newsfeed gadgets. You can add similar sidebars and gadgets to Windows XP for free as well.....see the Vista Sidebar below



Vista offers integrated support from File Explorer to create and extract Zip files. I was able to run my favorite Zip utility called FilZip - a freeware zip program that offers support for 15 different file formats including ARJ, RAR, CAB, TAR, and others. See below...



Shutting down Vista is still a little tricky off the Start Menu right bottom tab...see below



For more information on the Vista experience, check out the Microsoft Windows Vista home page (below) listed in my Recommended links. Here you will also find sources to download separate free parts of Vista to skin your current Windows XP like IE7, wallpaper, icons, fonts, and more.




Overall, a very good ride....Vista Beta 3 - Build 5472 is easily the best build to date....

Vista Beta 3 - Build 5384 - Screenshots

I had the chance to download and try Windows Vista Beta 3 - Build 5384 recently.
Overall, I enjoyed the new look, but performance of the Beta was very slow. I was disappointed in the Vista File Explorer, and prefer the current one in XP. The clear Aero interface was not loaded because I have an integrated video card with only 32 MB of video memory. Vista makes working with ZIP files easy, but WinZip v8.0 did not run. And my XP tweak for removing the zipfolder.dll did not work in Vista. Overall a nice ride. MS has added enhanced coloring scheme in later builds using baby blue for the title bars. More on this in another posting.

Below are my screenshots taken trying the new Windows Vista Beta 3 - Build 5384.

Below is the Desktop showing the Start menu.



Below is the Explorer file manager with a 2-pane directory/files display. I found it a little difficult to navigate. This would be a good place for tweaking the settings, if they would save. Some folks may prefer an aftermarket freeware file manager.



Below is the Control Panel, using the "Classic View", ..good news....not much change here from XP



Below is the new Internet Explorer v7, which adds tabbed browsing, better security, and RSS support. The Vista fonts look better than the old IE6, but other browsers such as Maxthon offer more. The RSS display is very basic and is better in Maxthon.



One of the better upgrades for Vista is the mail client. Windows Mail is the same as Outlook Express but with spam control settings, and a new menu arrangement. See below...



Below is the junk mail filtering options panel....



Creating an email in Windows Mail looks the same as the current Outlook Express...



Vista includes a calendar program that allows collaboration over the web. See below...



The Vista Welcome Center is the first page that loads. This can be disabled.



Vista includes a version of the File Explorer called Windows Photo Gallery, which makes viewing all your photos in one place easy. Other freeware programs like Picassa, Irfanview, and others do the same job.



Vista includes an updated Windows Media Player v11, which has a similar look to the Photo Gallery...



The Vista Ultimate version includes the Windows Media Desktop interface shown below....This is for anyone using Vista as their home entertainment center to control video and audio viewing...




Below is the Personalization settings tab to control how Vista looks. The monitor resolution tab is shown here...



Vista includes the new Sidebar for keeping updated on important information, like email, news feeds, time, weather. You attach "gadgets" to the Sidebar to accomplish this. You can add gadgets from Yahoo for free to your existing XP desktop as well. So far there were not many gadgets included to try. See below...



Wordpad and Notepad are carryovers from XP and are unchanged. See Wordpad below...




Shutting down Vista is hard to find. Notice the little tab on the bottom right of the Start menu below....

Vista Beta 3 Install Workaround - Build 5384

Each time I tried to install Windows Vista Beta 3 I got the error "Error 80070241" unable to copy files...Below is the workaround solution.

Anthony Bell Posts 1, Error 80070241 Solution Was this post helpful ? ,

Hi all,
To Get around this error, i used the System Recovery in the vista setup screen,
Open up Two Command Line Panels goto your DVD Rom Drive
For Example D:\, then go cd source directory under Sources

Note: This is where setup files are and the install.wim file is located which is causing the issue maybe due to its 3GB big. See screenshot below:






















ok inside the other command line panel goto your C:\ and create a folder called vista
now back to your other Command line pannel at your dvd rom drive type xcopy /E /T *.* c:\Vista

[Note: this will copy all the files from your dvd to that folder even including subdirectorys this will take aprox 10 - 15 mins+ depending on the speed of the dvd rom

once its complete goto your c:\Vista\Source directory and type attrib -r *.*

then run setup.exe within c:\vista\source .. this will bypass that error you will no longer reciveve due to all the install files are running off c:

Windows Vista Beta Wallpaper

Below is a collection of Windows Vista Beta wallpapers.