RSSVista 'Enterprise CTP' Feature Complete
By Nate Mook | Published February 22, 2006, 2:50 PM
Microsoft has announced the arrival of the February Windows Vista CTP, which was renamed to "Enterprise CTP" as the company moves from monthly to audience specific naming. The release means Windows Vista is now "feature complete," offering the first glimpse at the Windows Sidebar.
In a conference call Wednesday, General Manager of Windows Client Product Management Brad Goldberg heralded the Enterprise CTP -- numbered build 5308 -- as a "call to action for businesses." Microsoft is encouraging enterprises to begin testing out new features starting today.
"Windows Vista is as much, if not more, a business focused release that will provide significant value for business customers," Goldberg said. He cited four examples of how the operating will benefit companies: deployment and support costs, security, connecting people and information, and mobile productivity.
"For no other reason than security, businesses are going to want to deploy Windows Vista," Goldberg explained. Key areas of focus include work on Internet Explorer to provide a safer browsing experience, as well as user account control. Goldberg noted that 80 percent of users in enterprises work as administrators and Microsoft hopes to drive that number down with Vista.
Corporate data protection will be boosted in Windows Vista through full drive encryption using BitLocker, along with work done on Group Policy functionality.
The Enterprise CTP also includes the new Mobility Center, Goldberg said. From there, users can modify all settings on their mobile PC depending on the environment. For example, when giving a presentation an enterprise user can quickly change the desktop background, switch power settings and disable instant messaging.
Mobile Windows Vista users will additionally be able to access terminal server based applications without a VPN, and seamlessly move across networks from a mobile environment to a connected one. Microsoft wants to see businesses begin putting Vista on new laptops when the OS launches later this year.
To aid in application compatibility testing and promote quick adoption of Vista, Microsoft will make available a toolkit earlier than it did for Windows XP. A beta version is slated to ship when the next Vista CTP is released.
Calling it "one of the biggest areas of impact in the overall Windows Vista release," Goldberg also detailed a new system image format available for the operating system. The idea is to ease deployment across a large number of PCs, while supporting customization for language and form factor.
Although it has been given the moniker Enterprise CTP, the release contains the same consumer features that will ship with Vista, including the Windows Sidebar.
"This is the milestone that we had previously talked about as being the February CTP," Goldberg said in response to a question from BetaNews. "The reason we're calling it Enterprise CTP is we're trying to be very specific around the call to action for businesses."
The Enterprise CTP will be available to over 500,000 testers, and Goldberg says Microsoft is doing nothing to limit the release to enterprise customers.
But Goldberg was less clear on whether or not the company would release an official Beta 2 build of Windows Vista. Before, "Beta 2 would be a static point in time release," he said. "Beta 2 moved to be this process, [which] will end with the next CTP we'll release next quarter."
The next CTP, ostensibly taking the place of Beta 2, will be a broader, end-user release, although it's not yet clear whether Microsoft will make that build available to the general public.
After that point, there "will be more CTPs along the way." Goldberg would not comment on whether we will see an actual release candidate build of Windows Vista later in the year, or simply continued CTP builds.
One area Microsoft refused to touch on during the conference call was the planned editions for Windows Vista. News of six different SKUs and two special EU-only versions leaked out late last week. The Enterprise CTP does not represent a specific edition, Microsoft said.
Michael Burk, Client Manager of the Windows Product Division, promised that Microsoft would be "making more information available on the Windows Vista SKUs very, very soon."
the new theme runs like crap on my 2.2ghz, 1gb ram, and ti4400 pc. i was hoping that even with such an old video card id be able to run the new theme without the aero effect but i was wrong. the only way to get vista to run well for me is using the windows classic look. if i havent built a new pc by the time vista is released id have to stick with xp. i dont see any advantages of using vista over xp as of right now.
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|ing olmadıgından tam ne oldugunu anlamak zor
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|64bit and 32bit versions are on MSDN Subscriber downloads now.. Downloading both...
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|Where is anybody finding it on connect.microsoft.com?
all i get is the following:
nomination start and end dates, view program details, or apply for the program..
ProgramNomination Start DateNomination End DateOptions
Microsoft Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 Beta7/22/2005 12:00:00 AM7/1/2006 11:59:59 PMDetails Apply
Windows Network Developer Platform9/20/2005 12:00:00 AM Details Apply
OneNote 200310/28/2005 12:00:00 AM Details Apply
Windows in italiano11/7/2005 12:00:00 AM Details Apply
DirectX SDK Public Beta Program12/1/2005 12:00:00 AM5/31/2006 11:59:59 PMDetails Apply
SSMA V211/28/2005 12:00:00 AM Details Apply
Commerce Server 2006 Public Beta12/5/2005 12:00:00 AM5/26/2006 11:59:59 PMDetails Apply
Certificate Lifecycle Manager Beta 12/14/2006 12:00:00 AM6/30/2006 11:59:59 PMDetails Apply
Systems Management Server v4 Open Beta2/15/2006 12:00:00 AM Details Apply
Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0 - Beta2/15/2006 12:00:00 AM Details Apply
Feedback Tool for Interactive Designer Public CTP1/23/2006 12:00:00 AM Details Apply
Feedback Tool for Expression Graphic Designer1/24/2006 12:00:00 AM Details Apply
Windows "Monad" Shell Details Apply
SMS 2003 R2 - Open Beta2/21/2006 12:00:00 AM Details Apply
Microsoft SMS 2003 Desired Configuration Monitoring: Configuration Manifest Program2/17/2006 12:00:00 AM5/31/2006 11:59:59 PMDetails Apply
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|I'd like to get my hands on a copy of it to test it myself. I never even got around to testing one of the old Longhorn builds.
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|How can they say this is feature complete? There is still now indication of a side bar and compatibility with existing DirectX and OpenGL applications is extreamly low.
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|No side bar? What are you talking about?
http://www.pcmag.com/sli...171997&po=18,00.asp
Also feature complete just means that all the features are included now, not that they are all finished and working perfectly. If they were Vista would be ready to release.
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|It sho is perty.
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|Who the hell cares? By the time an actual version of Windows Vista comes out, we'll be on Mac OS XX and Vista doesn't even come close to matching the features of Mac OS X.
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|Does a childish message deserve a response?
So, name a feature that OSX has that Vista does not?
I could ask Vista fans here to name features that don't exists in OSX and they could go off.
dcm37, you have got to understand that most OS work is not meant for your bedroom. I know OSX has some cool items like ichat and so on, but for the most part those are "nice to have" items and don't mean much to the corporate world. While MS is building in some nicer eye-candy, the OS is meant to run a business. It supports hardware from any manufacturer through an incredible abstraction concept, data security features, remote deployment and admin controls, etc...
I'm not MS fanboy, but I do understand how they've changed the face of computing and business forever. There is a reason why they hold such a HUGE market share.
OSX is nice, but I can't see it penetrating much more than it already has. In fact, I beleive MS will regain some of its lost market share in the coming years. Why? For the most part, OSX has sold because of the vast popularity of the ipod. (All this while MS still lead the OS market with an OS that was released in 2001.) While the ipod has dominated it won't hold the market like it has since new competitors are coming out every day. If MS gets into the portal music market, then they will become second in market share siphoning sales from ipod. What does this mean? The number of people buy OSX simply because they own an ipod will dwindle. Couple this with a new OS from MS, you can see why Windows may even hold a greather share than the did several years ago.
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|I'm gonna wait one more release (to the next CTP) before installing this myself. 500,000 (plus probably 500,000 more "unaccounted" beta testers) ;) is a good number of input before being able to make an educated decision to give it a try/not. What I care to know (whenever info is more solid):
1. Is it stable enough to run as main OS right now (Messenger Live beta is good enough for everyday use for example).
2. Any serious hardware (drivers) and software compatibility issues or is it fairly XP/2000 friendly as I expect/hope.
3. What are some of the most annoying known bugs in it (they may be not relevant to me if I normally use comparable third party software for that functionality, say Nero/WinAmp).
4. Any way to stick IE6 rendering engine on there. IE7 pissed me off ;)
5. Can it peacefully co-exist on same partition as WinXP.
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|I found a copy of the beta-2 and installed it on a second partition on my hard drive, just to check it out and get a taste of it. After being thoroughly delighted, I decided it would be best that I wipe that partition... now, when I'm on the XP partition and go into hibernate, I get the Vista loading bar when returning... lol, I hope that's something that will be fixed
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|Since you installed Vista on the same hard drive as XP your boot.ini and other windows boot files in the root directory were changed. This is not a fault of Vista.
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|Interesting... didn't have trouble with the first release of Longhorn... or any other Windows or otherwise OS I've installed on the same hard drive..........
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|Please sned your Beta 2 copy to Microsoft, i'm sure they will be overjoyed, as it's not out yet...
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|I consider RTM/Gold a beta product, and I won't even bother until Vista SP1. Sorry, I run a business and let the testers beta it for me, on something as critical as a core OS.
It's a great strategy that hasn't failed me yet, except for NT4, which in general was quite buggy up until SP6a.
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|Good strategy, though SP1 will likely come around 8/07, a good 12 months after RTM (if judging by XP's***ory). And if you buy a PC during that period, I doubt you'll see it worthwhile downgrading it to XP. It'd probably be a good machine to test interoperability with XP/rest of your system etc.
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|Thanks Nate; great report!
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|Technet Plus members will be getting it on dvd as well. a subscription for non expiring trials of ALL their software including vista CTP build is $579, that might sound like a lot but you get evreything, winsvr3003, xp, ISA, exchange etc... well worth it.
Cant wait to test it my self when I get it in the mail. in the mean thime check out the screen shots:
http://www.win-vista.net...;include=view_album.php
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|The Enterprise CTP will be available to over 500,000 testers, and Goldberg says Microsoft is doing nothing to limit the release to enterprise customers.
Sounds like they want it to leak wonder if you need to register it.
I hope there is a public beta i would realy like to try this OS out to see if it is worth buying a copy.
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|This is the first version of Windows I have ever been excited about.
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|I was excited about XP. It is a pretty solid OS.
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|Tell me about it... I can't friggin wait!
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|95 was my favorite, because I was actually a beta tester, and I got to fly out to Seattle for the launch event. I even got to shake Bill's hand. :) 2000 was my favorite release of Windows from an actual product standpoint, although Vista is certainly shaping up nicely.
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|do u think it is solid
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|XP is really great. Most of the new functionality in Vista can be obtained by souping up your XP with various 3rd party software: Dantz Retrospect for backup, Maxthon/Firefox for tabs, Yahoo Widgets for like-Sidebar, Outpost/ZoneAlarm for bidi firewall, DesktopX/Aston/Directory Opus for eye candy, Picasa/ACDSEE for tagging images, Ava Find for instant file find, etc.
So it's not that painful waiting for Vista. So much superb software out there to try and enjoy.
Of course it works in your favor if you don't actually pay for all that software ;)
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|Hopefully with the longer cycles, there will indeed be more functionality, and not just boatloads of maintenance.
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|it will prolly be leaked...
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|I guarantee it. Every build up to now has been.
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|A torrent will probably be up tomorrow.. :P
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|As I suspected, it's already out
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|How does one obtain the CTP? I used to beta test NT4 and 2000 but I've fallen out of the loop.
I don't see any way to apply on the Connect website.
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|I don't see it on MSDN either. All the previously released CTP's are there, but nothing new as of 3:30PM EST.
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|It will be released on MSDN tomorrow.
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|Newsgroups!
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|it's on connect.microsoft.com right now for beta testers.
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|Still not on MSDN as of 2/23/2006 - 10:32 a.m. CST (16:32 GMT)
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|It is up there now.
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|You know, at first, I was skeptical. But now, after reading some of the features of Vista, I am looking forward to it myself. I would like to try it, and see what this is all about...
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|It's about time. I'm seriously VERY anxious to try it. Unfortunately, I'm no official BETA tester.
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|Of course, that won't stop the more... eager among us...
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|nice
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|Heres registration site: https://connect.microsof.../lightregistration.aspx However, its so busy you get "unexpected error" report time I tried it.Lets face it whole world wants it free, not just "germans", So probably loading up Microsoft Sever Farms for use & testing is more priority right now.Also getting first pages of disc beta test installed plus downloadable & installable (burnable?) edition, all sorts of questions of use preperation are still hanging.April might be more of Christmas in this, As there are so many system variables for consumers.Launch is expected 25OCTOBER2006 as thats WINDOWS XP Birthday. Signed:PHYSICIAN THOMAS STEWART VON DRASHEK M.D.
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|looks like they pulled the plug on the vista beta. It's not in the available list of programs to join.
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