Windows Vista: So?
Beta One is now available, and most of the interesting stuff is invisible.
The cool new UI isn't there yet, and most of the OS feels like Windows
XP Version 1.1. Sure it's got the .NET Framework 2.0 and Indigo
and Avalon, but these are foundational pieces that don't mean anything
until you get to play with something built on top of them, and there
isn't any of that yet. Even Solitaire is the same old Solitaire.
This is good news - a lot of the changes are small things, the sorts of
things that you appreciate more in the end than big sweeping changes
for no particular reason. The Start Menu is more refined, for
example, and desktop search technology is built-in and
accessible. (It was built-in to Windows XP, but was never really
made available in any useful way).
There really isn't much I don't like about Windows XP, so it's not like
we need a new OS release. If I had to buy it, I probably wouldn't
- I'd wait until I got a new computer that came with it. I think
that's how most people will end up upgrading.