Q's Scoop - What's Hot in the New Vista! Nice Changes!

QCHQCH Ancient GuruChicago Area - USA Icrontian
edited April 2006 in Science & Tech
I was in a technical review today with Microsoft system engineers. (BTW, System engineers are so much better than sales. They flatly will tell you their opinion of something…). I cannot give divulge some of the info due to sworn “secrecy” but these items are available other places and I was told that if the info can be found other places, then it’s OK to talk about it.… Here are some of the basic things I picked up.

  1. Vista (due late 2006 or early 2006) has torn out the old IP code from Windows 95 era (IPv5) and replaced every bit of IP code with the new IPv6 standard. This has proven to increase data transmissions by more than 20%. With Longhorn (server version) to Vista systems, the performance difference was measured in the hundreds of percent increase in speed.
  2. The Ultimate and Enterprise versions of Vista will have Bit Locker encryption for the entire hard drive. Decrypting will be done at the bios/ hardware level with an integrated TPM (v1.2 and above) or removable media (USB Flash drive). This means a lost laptop will be VERY hard to crack without opening up the laptop, hacking the chip to get the encrypted key to decryption the hard drive, then crack the admin password. A pain… so don’t lose your password or the hard drive is useless without reformatting…
  3. Microsoft is attempting to TOTALLY phase out 32-bit applications by 2009. Yep, that means our current systems will not be supported with the newest applications beyond 2008...
  4. New power saving functions… a new type of system state. In between Hibernate and Standby. Technically in between state S3 & S4… Should allow a system to come out and be alive in about TWO seconds!!!
  5. Much faster cold boot…. Shooting for 15 seconds from pressing the power button until you can interact… This also uses Priority settings for hard drive Input/ Output. Similar to CPU priority…
  6. Patches will act more like UNIX by shutting down services, patching, and restarting the service instead of requiring a reboot…
  7. One DVD for all versions and there are NO MORE HAL’s…. Only two hardware types… 32-bit and 64-bit. Imaging will be SO much easier!!!
  8. Installs are faster and require less interaction. Instead of transferring thousands of files then installing, asking many questions, and wait the 30 minutes or more before the system is ready…. One 2.0 GB file (really an image) and three questions. 1) Language and keyboard layout, 2) PC Name, & 3) Windows install key…. Then 15 minutes later, the system is ready!!!
  9. Upgrading directly from WinXP to Vista and NOT doing a fresh install…. Vista scans for malware first, saves documents, and settings, installs and reapplies the settings and documents…
  10. The “administrator” account is hidden, locked, and inaccessible except in safe mode!!!!!
  11. UNIX/ LINUX applications can be DIRECTLY ported into Vista with almost no problems.


That's about it :thumbsup:

Comments

  • QCHQCH Ancient Guru Chicago Area - USA Icrontian
    edited April 2006
    No comments?
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited April 2006
    "That's it"! That's it? That's a lot. I'm liking what I see so far. The only troubling part (and I am by no means an OS wizard) I see is the cessation of 32-bit applications. But, I suppose that won't really be stumbling block, as it will be a gradual process.
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited April 2006
    I'll settle for a 15 sec cold boot any day. If things had gone as planned sure we would have seen an instant boot ...but under the circumstances I'm even surprised they got it down to 15.

    I can't wait to get my hands on tweaks!

    Thanks for the poop QCH!:thumbsup:
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited April 2006
    One DVD for all versions and there are NO MORE HAL’s…. Only two hardware types… 32-bit and 64-bit. Imaing will be SO much easier!!!

    AWESOME! :thumbsup:
  • QCHQCH Ancient Guru Chicago Area - USA Icrontian
    edited April 2006
    From what I gathered, you install a resource kit application, drag the 2 GB image over, drop patches in to the app and it adds it to the image... that's how you patch an existing DVD. You want to remove Messenger or the games, the resource tool has the ability to do that...

    Setting up new systems should be sweet... no more hours of updating of the slipstreamed stuff.
  • GargGarg Purveyor of Lincoln Nightmares Icrontian
    edited April 2006
    It's all great news (but hopefully they don't phase out 32-bit without making some kind of emulator). Sounds like the first major upgrade in quite some time.

    I might even buy it :D
  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited April 2006
    15 second boot..HA. Gonna have to totally revise the motherboard. The BIOS is freaking old and needs to go. Another way of booting needs to be designed BADLY.
  • RWBRWB Icrontian
    edited April 2006
    I used a dell that had like a 10 second complete bootup for XP Pro. The rest of the computer sucked though :P
  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited April 2006
    Very cool, Q..

    I think the move to 64-bit computing was inevitable. Just about every new PC that can be purchased today supports x86-64 extensions (or EMT64 if you are intel). I especially like the UNIX porting capabilities.

    I'm confused about the IPv4 removal though. If they are moving to 100% IPv6, they would need some kind of a translator. There is no way in hell that the internet and corporate networks will move to IPv6 within the next 5 years :)

    Some of our software guys at work were beta testing Longhorn. Its got a cool user interface, but it ran like a pig in my opinion. Definitly a long way away from 15s bootup in it's beta state.. thats for sure :).. It was running on a P4 2.8, w/512MB ram. You'll need a gig to run this smoothly unless they really trim it down. In the services snap-in, there are TONS of unnecessary services running. Lots of multi-media and networking services that are really unnecessary.
  • QCHQCH Ancient Guru Chicago Area - USA Icrontian
    edited April 2006
    Gargoyle wrote:
    It's all great news (but hopefully they don't phase out 32-bit without making some kind of emulator).
    From what they are saying this week (next week could be different), the higher priced/ featured versions of Vista will have a free single use version Virtual PC WITH a free license for any of the previous windows OS's. That way old apps can be used but still not have to make Vista open to old exploits... Good idea, in my mind.
    lemonlime wrote:
    I'm confused about the IPv4 removal though. If they are moving to 100% IPv6, they would need some kind of a translator. There is no way in hell that the internet and corporate networks will move to IPv6 within the next 5 years :)
    Instead of building patches to make IPv4 work with IPv6, they took the opposite approach. They built the system to run IPv6 natively and then scale down to run IPv4 if needed. All the code is optimized for IPv6 though. That's why transfers between Longhorn and Vista were up to 800% faster than XP to Server 2003.... Most switches and nic card could care less about the IP version. New drivers would probably be all that's needed. a byte is a byte to a nic card. WinXP had a patch over a year ago that added IPv6 support. I'm guessing that if a company has WinXP w/ SP3 (which will be out early next year) IPv6 will be fully incorporated...
    lemonlime wrote:
    Some of our software guys at work were beta testing Longhorn. Its got a cool user interface, but it ran like a pig in my opinion. Definitely a long way away from 15s boot up in it's beta state.. that’s for sure
    The senior engineer was joking about some of there goals and where there were now... They are fairly far away from reaching many of the goals... BUT they are still working on code and fixes and have not begun the hardware optimizing yet. That's why there are no official required/ recommended specs for Vista yet. They don't know what they have until they can begin the optimization phase... Look for the final Beta release to start addressing optimization.

    Funny thing is... this guy had a Dell Latitude D810. Fairly new and with many very current specs... on a scale from 1 to 10 for system performance as judged by the OS... he was a 3... No system out can go beyond 5. They really mean to build a scale that is unreachable for a year or two.

    He did say that he thought a 32 MB Video card would be bare minimum, 64 Preferred, and 128 optimal.... RAM... 256 MB Minimum, 512 Preferred, 1 GB Optimal...

    REMEMBER... I'm taking what the engineers stated and adding a bit of assumption and logical extrapolation to the discussion. NONE of these are official MS info... the engineers specifically indicated that many of the features were not set in stone and each build had changes and goals were always changing. If 15 seconds is the goal today, it may be 18 tomorrow... How things appeared this week may change or disappear totally... Even the engineers are clueless as to the final product that is only 7 or 8 months away...
  • QCHQCH Ancient Guru Chicago Area - USA Icrontian
    edited April 2006
    Also... Vista is being compared to WinNT as far being a "from the ground up" build. This is not a modification. When WinXP was released, it was based on the basic W2K which was heavly modified WinNT... not so with Vista. It's a whole new beast.
  • GargGarg Purveyor of Lincoln Nightmares Icrontian
    edited April 2006
    QCH2002 wrote:
    ... not so with Vista. It's a whole new beast.

    So will they take the opportunity to remove bloat, or will the install take up 10+ gigs and have a couple hundred services running?

    Yeah, I guess that's kind of a rhetorical question.
  • QCHQCH Ancient Guru Chicago Area - USA Icrontian
    edited April 2006
    Gargoyle wrote:
    So will they take the opportunity to remove bloat, or will the install take up 10+ gigs and have a couple hundred services running?
    Microsoft IS begining to hear the screams from 6 years ago regarding services and default admin rights for new users. Longhorn is suppose to ask you during setup what function the system will perform... DNS, DHCP, Fileserver, or Active Domain. It then installs the basic services and apps that it needs... The rest is not even installed let alone enabled.

    I would say that MS has taken great steps to remove old bloat........ and replace it with new and improved bloat. ;D
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited April 2006
    I hope they give us, the admins, the ability to choose "barebones" or "minimal" a lalinux installers, so that we can start with the core system and then tack on only the services and features that we need. The way I set up an AD domain controller is not the same as the next guy, etc...
  • QCHQCH Ancient Guru Chicago Area - USA Icrontian
    edited April 2006
    primesuspect wrote:
    I hope they give us, the admins, the ability to choose "barebones" or "minimal" a lalinux installers, so that we can start with the core system and then tack on only the services and features that we need. The way I set up an AD domain controller is not the same as the next guy, etc...
    For the basic out of the box install of Vista... nope. Only the three questions I listed above (note #8). This was intended to make the average install faster and less complicated. For us Admins, we'll have to modify the DVD image to have the things we want or don't want.

    As for the domain stuff... right now there are some 18,000 editable attributes that you can modify with GPO's.... in Longhorn, it is over 32,000!!!!

    MS is stuck between easy of install and use for the average user and how to make administrative installs and administration useful and granular enough. Tough line to walk without making two different products, like WinXP Home and Pro. I'm looking forward to really messing with this "image" and Toolkit....
Sign In or Register to comment.