Microsoft Windows Vista Build 5219 (Community Technical Preview 1) Review

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Build 5219: What's new?

As an interim build of Windows Vista that exists on the Beta 2 code tree and is thus a superset of the functionality we saw in Beta 1, build 5219 offers new features, but is also a bit rough around its virtual edges. Here are some of the new features found in this build, broken down by category.

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Just booting into build 5219, you can see a number of functional and aesthetic changes. The taskbar in this build is now translucent--compared to an opaque black color in Beta 1--and more elegant looking. That translucency won't help you get work done more quickly, but it does hint at fit and finish improvements to come. The taskbar improvements don't end with this simple graphical change, however. When you mouse over the taskbar buttons of running tasks, a new taskbar preview window pops-up ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]), giving you a nice visual reminder of the underlying window. What about when the taskbar is grouping buttons? Why, the pop-up stacks up, of course ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]).

Copy and move operations are much smoother in build 5219 than they were in Beta 1. For example, I often had problems dragging and dropping before, and had to resort to Copy/Cut and Paste instead. Now, everything works properly.

Task switching has also improved, and in two different ways no less. The typical ALT+TAB key combination, which switches you between running tasks, has changed to a more visual presentation, codenamed Flip, that previews the contents of each application's window as you navigate through the list. There is also a second new kind of task switching, codenamed Flip 3D, which is instantiated by hitting Windows Key + Spacebar; this style of task switching open windows in a stacked, three-dimensional view that appears to have been lifted wholeheartedly from Sun's Project Looking Glass, an advanced UI effort that will result in a future Linux and Solaris interface. No matter its origins, Flip 3D is cool looking ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]).

Help, though still woefully incomplete, does offer more information and is even occasionally (very occasionally) helpful ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]). Tray icons and other UI elements now display a new rounded balloon help pop-up ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]). Instead of cryptic desktop clean-up options like Tile Windows Horizontally and Tile Windows Vertically (as in XP), build 5219 now offers simpler options such as Show Windows Stacked and Show Windows Side by Side ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]).

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As I first reported two months ago (much to the software giant's chagrin), Microsoft has completely overhauled the Sidebar from early Longhorn alpha builds and has reintroduced it into the Windows Vista code tree. Though it's not enabled by default in build 5219, you can turn this feature on pretty easily, so I did so ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]).

There's a lot more here, but I'll be writing a lot more about Windows Sidebar soon. Stay tuned for a preview showcase that will highlight all the new information about the Sidebar, Sidebar Gadgets, and Windows XP compatibility.

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Microsoft has made significant improvements to Internet Explorer (IE) 7 since Beta 1 and more are planned for future builds ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]). At PDC 2005, Microsoft announced a new IE 7 feature called ActiveX Opt-In, which should answer the number one concern most security-conscious people (including myself) have with IE today: Many ActiveX controls are unsafe, have been silently installed on users' systems, and are often quite difficult to remove. With ActiveX Opt-in, the only ActiveX controls that will run in Web pages are the ones you OK. High-volume, trusted ActiveX controls such as Flash will of course be allowed automatically.

As with the Windows Sidebar, IE 7 is feature-rich and deserves more coverage. I'll be providing a second IE 7 Preview shortly that will cover the new IE 7 features more comprehensively.

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Windows Vista build 5219 reports that it is Windows Vista Ultimate Edition--see my [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] for more information about the various product editions, or SKUs, that Microsoft plans for this release. That means that it includes both Media Center and Tablet PC functionality. (In Windows Vista, there will no longer be Media Center and Tablet PC Editions of the product.)

I have a lot more to say about the Media Center and Tablet PC functionality in Windows Vista, mostly because there are some new features in each when compared to today's shipping versions of XP Media Center Edition 2005 and XP Tablet PC Edition 2005, respectively, but I'll cover that in a future showcase.

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Build 5219 also includes a peek at some of the new premium games that Microsoft will include in the Home Premium, Ultimate, and all business editions of Windows Vista. These games include new versions of a number of old favorites, but also new games such as Chess, Purple Place, and Shanghai. The icons for each title are all new ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]) as well.

The new Chess game (or Chess Titans as its sometimes called) it actually a 3D chess version ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]) that can be played at various skill levels, using different board and piece designs, and against a computer or human opponent.

Purble Place meanwhile, is aimed specifically at young children and features bright, large graphics ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]). It's designed to help children recognize colors, shapes, math, and patterns. There are actually two mini-games within this title, Build-A-Purble ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]) and Comfy Cakes ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]).

Shanghai ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]) is one of my all-time favorite games, and I've actually purchased various versions of this title for different computing systems over the years. (It's sometimes called Shanghai Solitaire.) You can choose from different board designs ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]) and various tile sets and backgrounds. Successful tile removals are celebrated with a little poof animation. It's quite nice.

As for the classic Windows titles, they've all gotten a nice makeover. FreeCell ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]), Hearts ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]), Solitaire ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]) and Spider Solitaire ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]) now sport the same gorgeous backgrounds and card styles. Even Minesweeper looks sweet ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]).

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In Windows Vista, Microsoft will be dramatically improving some of the baseline productivity features of the Windows OS. That means, among other things, that the system will include a consolidated contacts store that the company expects all email and related solutions to use or synchronize with, and a new Windows Calendar, similar to Apple's iCal, that, among other things, lets you publish your schedule to standard ICS (Internet Calendar System) format and even to RSS (Real Simple Syndication) ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]). I'm told that future versions of the Windows Calendar will be even more full-featured than the version found in build 5219. Certainly, that won't be hard: This version doesn't even let you create new events or tasks, and the only available view is 7-day.

Windows Backup (codenamed SafeDocs) has been overhauled since Beta 1 ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]). You can configure a backup schedule now, specify where that backup will be written to (CD/DVD, local disks, shared folders on network drives), and specify which files to back up ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]).

Windows Vista build 5219 also includes an integrated Shadow Copy client, which you manage from the Shadow [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] tab of the Properties dialog for your hard drive ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]). This feature, which first originated in [Only registered and activated users can see links. ], lets you cache older versions of data files so that you can recover information in the event of an error. So if you overwrite a critical file, or inadvertently change part of a document, you can "go back in time" and access older versions.

Let's see how this works. First, you need to enable Shadow Copies from the aforementioned dialog. Then, after you've mucked up a file, you can access its Properties dialog in Explorer and navigate to the Previous Versions pane ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]). Here, you can select between various different versions of the document (and your time travel experience is complete). This is a great feature, and I'm glad to see it being added to the Windows client.

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In Beta 1, User Account Protection (UAP) was disabled by default, but you could enable it with a Start menu icon. In build 5219, that situation is reversed: UAP is on by default, and you can still disable it, though I'd imagine the graphical option to do so will be removed later in the beta cycle. Here's what's odd. Unlike in Beta 1, UAP doesn't really pop up all that often for some reason. In fact, it kind of makes me wonder whether it's really working at all. I've been able to perform a number of admin-level tasks without needing to logon in build 5219.

The Parental Controls functionality is basically carried over from Beta 1, but with a nicer-looking interface ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]).

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In build 5219, Microsoft has enabled a new Windows Vista feature called Super Fetch, which examines your system over time, determines which applications you most typically load, and then preloads code from those apps in order to later speed application launch times and responsiveness. Super Fetch isn't just about caching, however. In a potentially blockbuster move, this feature will also let you use USB-based flash memory sticks as additional RAM for Super Fetch. That's right, folks: Stick in a 1 GB USB stick and you get 1 GB (or whatever) of super-fast cache RAM (encrypted for [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]) and an instant speed boost. I don't yet know a lot about this feature, but suffice to say I'm expecting a briefing soon. This could be revolutionary, especially for notebook users who can't easily boost RAM (or do so at all).

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From a driver and hardware compatibility standpoint, build 5219 doesn't appear to offer any improvements over Beta 1. The same problematic devices still cause issues in this build, in my experience, and after installing the build on several machines, I feel relatively sure that Microsoft hasn't yet made any hardware compatibility headway. This is absolutely not a problem for an interim build like this, though it would be disheartening to still have these issues in Beta 2, now due on December 7.