http://www.vector-studio.com/
Also check out the News about the New Matrix Game and why Microsoft is interested in it

I just changed MB, Processor and Memory.
Accordingto rumours, I should have to reactivate the machine. I didn't have to.

Some days later, I felt like upgrading to the same version (just to get all files back where they are supposed to be.)
Then, I had to enter my serial and reactivate XP, or I would not be able to login...

I like where Microsoft is trying to go with XP, in terms of making the interface more lively and colorful, but the LUNA UI is terrible. It's very toy-like and bloated, or as I like to call it; "Sesame Street on acid".

I'd like to see MS develop more elegant and tasteful themes.

Beyond that, I really don't think XP is all that exciting. It's an improvement over the Win9x codebase, but it's just not "cool", at least not yet. Right now I think Apple has the coolest OS, especially hardware. MacOS X running on a G4 PowerBook is simply awesome!

LOL...yea, cuz that's what makes an OS great..."to be cool". Windows 3.1 was "cool"...use that maybe? Wait...DOS is by far the "coolest", you should just stick with DOS if you're look for cool.

LOL...yep, windows XP just isn't "cool" enuff. ;)

No, there are no "official" release dates.

As they say in the newsgroups, it will be ready when it's ready.

And as far as the NT team goes, this is 100% true.

Just read the news on Yahoo.com that the release of Win XP has been moved back to October from August, nothing new in that. I remember Win2k, which kept sliding back. With so many people complaining about crashes, instability I am sure they would like to give the OS a good tweak.

So, they put out a notice that the software was leaked to the net, but no one has posted any links yet! Wassup wit dat? =]

winxp rocks

for all u ppl that havent tried it yet, you're in for a BIG suprise
If it doesnt work on you system, then it just means it SUCKS big time

dont worry. just get a new one then
w00t

I installed WinXP two days ago and have been configuring and reconfiguring and running it though the mill. I've only turned up 2 bugs so far. One with tool pop-ups in help and the other with DSL config not I.D.ing Ethernet cards. Considering I have Win98, Win2000, Linux Mandrake-8 and WinXP on my computer, I'm supprised it's as stable as it is. :) I have even been able to play Unreal Tournament and use Photoshop6 on it without reinstalling to the new OS. This is a very strong build and I'm sure many will be happy with the fast boot-up, configurability and ease of use. The new interface can be shut off for those who are comfortable with the 98 style, but new-comers (who don't have to unlearn) will find it very helpful. Current version is a 180-day beta.

I got my XP Pro Beta2 CD today, and I gotta say that it rocks. I'm usually a devout Win2k fan, but I think this is the best Windows yet.

If you guys read whats on that link I gave you, its alot more then what I guessed, the number of alowed activations will be in the hundreds.

And reformatting and activating a computer thats already been activated doesn't count towards that.

I don't think thats unreasonable at all.

When I was upgrading my Windows 2000 system on a Gateway E-4400 to Windows XP, Whistler, Beta 2, I got the following blue screen which I cannot get rid of, even booting from the CD-ROM:

IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL. the HEXADECIMAL code was:
0x0000000A (0x00000016, 0x0000002,0x0, 0x80102310)

Can anyone give me some guidance. I posted this on the XP Beta2 workgroup this morning but have not gotten any response. I am completely
down and am reluctant to preview Whistler on any other machine in my office or to purchase new equipment with Whistler.

Before I installed I was warned to and did install the upgrade for Symantec's SymEvent.sys to the latest version, 10.3.1.13.

Anyone have a similar experience or a suggestion as to a solution? I called Microsoft and was told that there was no support for a beta. Pretty bad, although he did clue me in about the Windows XP forum, where I posted this comment this morning but have had no response.

Best regards, Louis

DID YOU BOOT TO SAFE MODE WITH DA SAME PROBLEM?
Good chance it is a driver.
Also turn off any antivirus enabled in BIOS

I had the same problem. Mine turned out to be Roxio's Easy CD Creator 5.01 - the problem surfaced after I installed the 5.01 patch. After totally deinstalling the software, the blue screen went away.

READ MY POST BELOW YOURS.
EXACTLY THE SAME PROBLEM I HAD.
NO WAY OUT.
IF YOU HAVE ANOTHER HARD DRIVE, JUST CLEAN INSTALL XP AND AFTER ALL PUT YOUR CURRENT HD AS A SLAVE AND BACK UP YOUR DATA (IF YOU DIDN'T DO THAT BEFORE).
HAPPY TESTING.

Do a clean install of XP.

Try installing Easy CD Creator 5 without the Take Two application. This application is know to cause blue screens and extremely long boot delays on Windows 2000. It might be the same problem.
There is a document about this on Roxios web site. Forgot the link...

try swapping memory, and checking memory settings in the bios. i recently had a w2k installation give me the same blue stop screen during install. turned out to be a faulty stick of sdram...

hope that helps...

Testers were told specifically that there are NO changes in networking, security and the base/kernel.

Also the activation disabling hasn't been turned on for many builds making that statement pointless.

I'm already working on XP pro. I had dual boot system W98/W2K. During system check Sym NAV2001 is not compatible, I updated symevent to newest release and system reboot. After initial screen (Whistler beta2 logo) the TOTAL CRASH BLUE SCREEN. I had only one choice clean Whistler install. Even now after few weeks of everyday 8 hour use of XP pro I'm not so satisfied like W2K before. 3 times system FREEZE whithout any specific reasons. I tried repeat my moves and system go through. STRONG POINT : REALLY FAST BOOT.

this issue is documented on the symantec site, there was a patch issued a while ago.
go here for more info
http://www.symantec.com/...es/symevnt/symevnt.html

No kidding it's not perfect... it is a BETA build and you should never compare that to the stability and reliability of Windows 2000 which is FINAL code.

I just got my CPP copy of WinXP beta2 two days ago, installed it yesterday, and all I really have to say is its hidious.

On the flip side, when you put it back to the classic interface, all the new icons make it look much...prettyier.

Windows XP is a great OS but it is just a shame that they use that stupid activation s***. Microsoft will lose money with this product.

The way activation works, you can reformat, reinstall, as many times as you want, on your machine. What if you change to a new machine? you can do that to.. for a limited amout of times, probably about 20 (I'd guess)

This discourages people from sharing with friends cause they might loose the ability to upgrade in the distant future (which by then there will probably be new versions of windows).

Small upgrades are not counted, only major hardware changes from its Original configuration, such as the mainboard/cpu, or everything but.

btw - I will post a link to where I read this, as soon as I find it.

http://www.hardocp.com/a.../windows/xp_piracy.html

I know this is for "security and priacy control" but who the hell is Microsoft to tell us how many times we can and cannot change our hardware configurations of our machines?? I mean COME ON NOW. Will your car stop starting if you change you engine or transmission a few times?

I suppose you could run a secure firewall so MS couldn't get any data from your box, but then again is it worth the sacrafices?

Guys, MS has every right to enforce their EULA and prevent piracy. You can change your hardware all you want, but if it constitues a new machine, then you will need to buy another copy of the software. MS has not really enforced their EULA for years and a lot of people have gotten a free ride. Over the next couple years, the free ride will be over, you play you pay. Don't count on the open source "movement" for a free ride either, there's no longer term business model there.

Umm.. sorry man but you're mistaken. Nowhere does Microsoft tell us how many times we can and cannot change our hardware and upgrade. Where'd you get that idea? Just jump to conclusions or what?

Uhhh... Let's say I upgrade my PC everytime anything new comes out. That means that my PC will essentially be an entirely new one every 2 months at most. If:

a) I can keep reactivating Windows for my new PCs, then the whole activation thing is pointless.

b) I have a limited number of "totally-new" PCs I can reactivate for then MS has effectively limited the number of my hardware upgrades.

Besides, who are we kidding here? Do you *really* think no one will crack this? The cracks are already out, people! It will just get in the way of honest people who want to do things legally. Maybe even push a few border-line people over the edge...

I'm usually pro-MS (because everyone seems to get them wrong, imho), but they are mistaken in this move. Aren't they making enough money from their OEM deals?

RasEm Brsiq

Uh, the point of most EULA's was that the software should be run on only 1 machine at a time. So, if you scrap your old MB & CPU for a new one, then your machine is different, but its still your main machine. Thats the one you want the software installed on, not the old hardware.
Hey, it almost looks like MS is "stifling innovation" here by limited upgrades. :)

i read somewhere that we would be able to put new hardware and change some hardware around and everything, but you could only have 3 major hardware changes without the activiation thing working. this is what i heard on a website (i don't exactly remember what site) a while ago, so it might have changed.

Well, PC sales have been slowing, which means less OEM sales. So I guess they're hoping to make it up by getting the occasional pirates to buy their software. Because, let's face it, those who heavily pirate will just either (a) find a way to continue or (b) live with what they have.

Don't shoot the messenger, I'm just relaying some info regarding the new product activation setup and why MS is doing it. Any problem you have with the way it works take up with MS. You guys are still missing the point, since MS writes and own the code, the can make it work or deactivate it under any circumstance they want (to the extant it is supported by the market). It is the future, get used to it.

Umm, sorry man but MS is using hardware identifiers to generate the unique I.D. for a particular install. The I.D. that is created from an install of XP OS or XP Office is generated from either the MAC address of the NIC or the hard disk I.D. or both. So it will be up to MS to decide when to require the purchase of a new product, through deactivation, when there is a large enough hardware change. No jumping to conclusions, that's how product activation works.

Morons like you posting this "heard it from I can't remember where web sites" is exactly why there is so much confusion about WPA. You can change hardware as many times as you like but if you change too much at once you quite possibly are installing it on a new system which is not in accordance with the EULA. Get used to it.

if u are a head without a brain u can live with that. if u have a brain stick with your old system or head over to linux !

According to a Microsoft Seminar I attended, they plan on two activations being allowed. After that, you can always call in and have a sob story...they claim they'll let you activate a lot more often on the Windows side. The office side, they're going to stick to their guns. This is where they're loosing the most money.

Also, the activation uses the UIN in the registry. This is generated based upon your chipset, motherboard, processor type and speed, memory, BIOS version, video card, NIC MAC address, etc...Its a UNIQUE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER, unique to your machine....
Microsoft says they'll allow up to a 30% change without having to re-authenticate. Swapping a hard drive, your upgrading your memory will be ok. A new motherboard or processor (or both) will require a new authentication.
I was advised NOT to tell MS that I had replaced the MOBO for an upgrade; rather say it was because of a crash. As far as upgrades go, MS wants you to buy a new copy of the OS.

MS also says that they're going to be coming out with new OS's and apps every 12-18 months, and speed up the end of life process....

They're also going INSANE with their licensing program, but thats a whole other thread....

Get used to it? uhm...no. You can buy a $200 piece of software every time you buy a new hard drive if you like...you'll be giving MS the money they're losing when I download it and install it my current PC...and future PC...and brother PC...and whatever. I'd normally buy the software, but if they expect me to buy the same software again because I decided I want a new M/b and HD they can blow me. Don't tell me "you can call MS and get a reactivation code if you upgrade"...I don't have the time for that, I'll just make my life alot easier by just not buying it.

Get used to it...MS is only screwing people that don't know they don't have to be screwed with.

I would just like yall to know, it's NOT even CLOSE to being considered a hassle to anyone that's used it.

I don't think I like this licensing scheme. We pay a flat fee every year for about 600 machines. That includes Office and Windows. Unless Microsoft comes up with another way to deal with us this is going to be a real pain.