Windows Vista Beta 2 Download [Archive]

vouder17

Jun 8, 2006, 02:01 PM

Well here is an interesting tid bit. Maybe you people with Boot camp can try it. Linky (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/preview.mspx)

These people must have CRAZY bandwidth O_o

Well it would be cool to try it out and give us a review, for those who have BC

jaxstate

Jun 8, 2006, 02:42 PM

Cool beans. I'd load this sucker up, only after some feedback on how it works on Macs.:p

panoz7

Jun 8, 2006, 02:57 PM

Thanks for the link. I was much more excited about this back when the public beta was supposed to come out in february. Will this run in parallels?

beloved84

Jun 8, 2006, 02:58 PM

question. if i install this on my mac, is it hard to unistall?

plinden

Jun 8, 2006, 03:02 PM

Thanks for the link. I was much more excited about this back when the public beta was supposed to come out in february. Will this run in parallels?
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=2497333

I'm going to download it in a couple of days when the initial rush dies down and try it out in Parallels. I'm not excited about it at all, just a nerd who wants to try as many OSs as possible on his Mac.

IanF0729

Jun 8, 2006, 03:07 PM

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=2497333

I'm going to download it in a couple of days when the initial rush dies down and try it out in Parallels. I'm not excited about it at all, just a nerd who wants to try as many OSs as possible on his Mac.

It will not work on Parallels because the BIOS they use is not ACPI compatible. It is also not possible on an upgrade from an XP.

I believe the developers who made Parallels have said they they do intend to add support for Vista is in a later version.

Right now I think the only way to run Vista on your Mac is to install via Boot Camp and delete the EFI partition.

beloved84

Jun 8, 2006, 07:15 PM

im installing!

http://dropshots.com/photos/102000/20060608/164255.jpg

MacRumorUser

Jun 8, 2006, 07:37 PM

im installing!

http://dropshots.com/photos/102000/20060608/164255.jpg

cool keep us updated. If it works with the gma950, airport & bluetooth fully supported it will be mighty

puckhead193

Jun 8, 2006, 07:50 PM

seems sketchy.....take windows XP which as been around a for a while and how flakey that is... now take vista which has been delayed for how many months in a beta :eek:

beloved84

Jun 8, 2006, 07:53 PM

when i finished installing vista... it restarted and lead me to this...and it freezes

http://dropshots.com/photos/102000/20060608/175014.jpg

jdiddy

Jun 8, 2006, 07:59 PM

Finally got the first part of the install done. I'm reparing the MBR as we speak. 4 OS's on a single laptop I can't wait.

jdiddy

Jun 8, 2006, 08:01 PM

when i finished installing vista... it restarted and lead me to this...and it freezes

http://dropshots.com/photos/102000/20060608/175014.jpg

Rerun the install but instead of a full install do a repair install of the MBR. Heres a link to the full instructions
http://blogs.msdn.com/hans_vb/archiv...03/615869.aspx

I just finished the repair part and its restarting again wohoo!

beloved84

Jun 8, 2006, 08:05 PM

it said it can't find any problems...

Bubbasteve

Jun 8, 2006, 08:11 PM

can you send me the link again? it seems to be a bad one.
here buddy (http://blogs.msdn.com/hans_vb/archive/2006/06/03/615869.aspx)

dmw007

Jun 8, 2006, 08:12 PM

I have it downloading now. I can use this under Boot Camp to use my Windows only software, right?

Bubbasteve

Jun 8, 2006, 08:16 PM

I have it downloading now. I can use this under Boot Camp to use my Windows only software, right?
According to this blog (http://blogs.msdn.com/hans_vb/archive/2006/06/03/615869.aspx) you can...downloading as well

dmw007

Jun 8, 2006, 08:18 PM

According to this blog (http://blogs.msdn.com/hans_vb/archive/2006/06/03/615869.aspx) you can...downloading as well

Cool, thank you Bubbasteve! :)

jdiddy

Jun 8, 2006, 08:18 PM

macsrockmysocks

Jun 8, 2006, 08:49 PM

Dude, I want it so bad. Is there any place I can get it besides microsoft's website? I have my product key already, but it says it is too busy.

treblah

Jun 8, 2006, 08:53 PM

Dude, I want it so bad. Is there any place I can get it besides microsoft's website? I have my product key already, but it says it is too busy.

EDIT: Removed link to the x86 English .iso

It worked for me earlier today when the MS page said too busy…

Only 9 minutes left!

macsrockmysocks

Jun 8, 2006, 08:54 PM

Here's the direct link (http://download.windowsvista.com/dl/preview/beta2/en/x86/iso/vista_5384.4.060518-1455_winmain_beta2_x86fre_client-LB2CFRE_EN_DVD.iso) to the x86 English .iso

It worked for me earlier today when the MS page said too busy…

Says access denied... Hmm... I wonder if anyone could send me the ISO in an email or something?

Bubbasteve

Jun 8, 2006, 09:02 PM

49870I got it working on my 2.0 MB the fan got loud as hell though. Wired ethernet works out of the box. No sound, wireless, BT out of the box. Generic Video drivers. I'll keep you all updated as soon as I get home. To the other poster that was at the same point as me. Follow those directions that I linked you to. I was stuck at the same point but by doing the repair isntall I got it working with no issues. Good luck.
This is from the blog link I supplied...

"1) Network drivers:
I’ve been told that the wired network card should work out of the box but the wireless network card doesn’t even if it shows in the Device Manager. In my case, what did you expect, none of them worked.
I downloaded the Yukon Gigabit drivers for XP here: http://marvell.com/drivers then updated the driver for my ethernet card (Or it could have been that I updated the driver for the so called wireless card with this driver too. There was something twisted.) with a version 853 or something like that. Sorry I can’t be more precise. Now the driver version for the card shows as 9.0.16.3. Once the wired connection worked, I ran Windows Update and that detected and installed the driver for the wireles card. So now both are working."

try that if you could

macsrockmysocks

Jun 8, 2006, 09:48 PM

WTF?! I went back to try to download it again, and it says that I have the largest amount of product keys I can have! Well, I haven't downloaded it yet. So I am sort of you know what.

treblah

Jun 8, 2006, 11:17 PM

I got an error during the 1st copying files part 68% into it and could only hard reboot. :mad: I'll try again tomorrow when I have more time.

EricNau

Jun 8, 2006, 11:27 PM

Is this thing Free? I thought for sure Microsoft charged for everything. :confused: :D

Bubbasteve

Jun 9, 2006, 12:02 AM

I'm running Vista right now and I must admit I'm pretty impressed with the visuals thus far and so far the OS has run smoothly...now I'm anxious to see what Jobs and co. have in store for Leopard!

Is this thing Free? I thought for sure Microsoft charged for everything. :confused: :D

Yep, it's free

Bubbasteve

Jun 9, 2006, 01:03 AM

I'm running Vista right now and I must admit I'm pretty impressed with the visuals thus far and so far the OS has run smoothly...now I'm anxious to see what Jobs and co. have in store for Leopard!

Yep, it's free

I retract my "impressed" statements about Microsucks beta of Vista....the OS already crashed on me ...that didn't take long

jamesmcd

Jun 9, 2006, 01:10 AM

This is probably really obvious and may be answered, but can I download the Beta and just upgrade my current Windows XP installation, thus keeping all my files?

Edit: Also, does this beta expire?

jamesmcd

Jun 9, 2006, 01:19 AM

Never Mind! the MS page answered my questions.

dmw007

Jun 9, 2006, 07:13 AM

I retract my "impressed" statements about Microsucks beta of Vista....the OS already crashed on me ...that didn't take long

Ha, got to love M$. ;) :rolleyes: :)

My download just finished, so I will try to install Windows shortly.....wish me luck...... :)

MacRumorUser

Jun 9, 2006, 07:16 AM

Ha, got to love M$. ;) :rolleyes: :)

My download just finished, so I will try to install Windows shortly.....wish me luck...... :)

Good luck!! I'm 2.5 hours left to download. Strangely it told me it would take 9 hours to download on and its only taking 4 ? Either my connection is faster than I thought or they were being very pesimistic when it comes to download times.

dmw007

Jun 9, 2006, 07:22 AM

Good luck!! I'm 2.5 hours left to download. Strangely it told me it would take 9 hours to download on and its only taking 4 ? Either my connection is faster than I thought or they were being very pesimistic when it comes to download times.

Thanks, but I just realized, I did not bring any blank DVDs with me on vacation- so I guess that I will have to wait until I get back home before I can install Windows....... :o :(

dmw007

Jun 9, 2006, 07:34 AM

Thanks, but I just realized, I did not bring any blank DVDs with me on vacation- so I guess that I will have to wait until I get back home before I can install Windows....... :o :(

Looks like I lied, my Aunt (who I am staying with here in Miami) has a couple spare DVDs- so I am burning the files for Vista to DVD now. :)

MacRumorUser

Jun 9, 2006, 07:40 AM

Looks like I lied, my Aunt (who I am staying with here in Miami) has a couple spare DVDs- so I am burning the files for Vista to DVD now. :)

You tease ;)

:D :D :D

I'm gonna try and install it later, after I've cloned my current hardrive as is, so if anything goes wrong I can go back and not have lost anything...

dmw007

Jun 9, 2006, 07:45 AM

I'm gonna try and install it later, after I've cloned my current hardrive as is, so if anything goes wrong I can go back and not have lost anything...

Good idea, I am not able to back up my files- so hopefully everything goes according to schedule..... :)

dmw007

Jun 9, 2006, 07:57 AM

First problem so far- I tried to launch Boot Camp, but it told me my firmware is not up to date, but it is, I already updated it via Software Update the other day. What should I do now? :confused: :confused: :confused:

PatrickF

Jun 9, 2006, 08:01 AM

The firmware update does not install through Software Update. You will have to run that one manually.

Download the one for your machine here http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/ and install it. Then run Boot Camp again.

dmw007

Jun 9, 2006, 08:05 AM

dmw007

Jun 9, 2006, 08:50 AM

Seems that I have run into yet another snag, I can not install Windows via Boot Camp- it does not seem to recognize the Vista DVD that I created.

Perhaps, I should just purchase XPee and install that instead..... :o

lexus

Jun 9, 2006, 09:14 AM

MS is doing this on purpose who gives an OS away for free!

ManchesterTrix

Jun 9, 2006, 09:15 AM

MS is doing this on purpose who gives an OS away for free!

It's a BETA. And it doesn't support EFI.

dmw007

Jun 9, 2006, 09:20 AM

MS is doing this on purpose who gives an OS away for free!

You are probably right. :rolleyes: Stupid M$. :mad: ;)

huck500

Jun 9, 2006, 09:32 AM

I retract my "impressed" statements about Microsucks beta of Vista....the OS already crashed on me ...that didn't take long

To be fair, you're running a beta of Vista with a beta of Boot Camp on a Mac... that it works at all is somewhat impressive.;)

aristobrat

Jun 9, 2006, 09:38 AM

How big of a partition are you guys giving it in Boot Camp?

dmw007

Jun 9, 2006, 09:52 AM

To be fair, you're running a beta of Vista with a beta of Boot Camp on a Mac... that it works at all is somewhat impressive.;)

Good point. :o :)

PatrickF

Jun 9, 2006, 02:57 PM

MS is doing this on purpose who gives an OS away for free!
Yes it's a beta and will expire June/July 2007.

treblah

Jun 9, 2006, 03:15 PM

So how do you take screencaptures in vista?

runninmac

Jun 9, 2006, 03:22 PM

Is this much different than BootCamp for XP? Does anyone want to write something in the Guides section?

Laser47

Jun 9, 2006, 03:36 PM

I installed vista on my pc, on the 2nd hard drive. Took 8 hours to download, mostly due to the surge of downloads. Installed perfectly and was interesting to play around with but im disappointed. Basically its just XP with eyecandy, and other visual adjustments. It has some neat features like hard drive encryption, and...... oh the games are 3d now!. I seriously cant believe it took them this long to come up with this, what was it 5 years. What happened to WinFS and all that other stuff.

All I have to say is I cant wait until 10.5!

PatrickF

Jun 9, 2006, 04:55 PM

So how do you take screencaptures in vista?
There's a Print Screen button on a PC keyboard.

CANEHDN

Jun 9, 2006, 05:12 PM

This is going to be a complete waste of money. I've just finished installing it(on a PC not my Intel iMac) and exploring it. This OS isn't any better than XP. Sure it's got a prettier UI but OS X is still better. It's got a few new features but OS X already has them. I'm very disappointed in it. All I can see that Vista is doing is sucking your precious memory. The entire layout is still the same with round cute little buttons. This is something I wouldn't recommend running on your Mac.

balamw

Jun 9, 2006, 05:38 PM

There's a Print Screen button on a PC keyboard.
You could probably a keyboard remapper like http://www.randyrants.com/sharpkeys/ to remap one of the F keys on the Mac KB to give you a Print Screen function. It claims to be Vista ready...

B

PatrickF

Jun 9, 2006, 05:50 PM

You could probably a keyboard remapper like http://www.randyrants.com/sharpkeys/ to remap one of the F keys on the Mac KB to give you a Print Screen function. It claims to be Vista ready...

B
Just to elaborate, I use Input Remapper. This will amongst other things make the function key work again and also make the "special" keys at the top of the MB(P) work again.

It also maps fn+Eject to print screen.

Edit: Forgot to link to it http://www.olofsson.info/

EricNau

Jun 9, 2006, 07:52 PM

I think I may have done something wrong...
I downloaded the .iso file from Microsoft, which was then mounted as a disk to my dekstop. I just clicked and dragged all of the (11) files into a burn folder, named the DVD "Windows Vista Beta 2" and burned it at 1x (as Microsoft suggested). I got a verification error after the burn was complete that said I needed to re-burn. I thought I'd try and ignore it, but my PC couldn't recognize it as a bootable disk, and it wouldn't open in Explorer.

Did I do everything right? Should I try again and hope that was a one-time error? What can I do to make sure it burns properly?

Thanks

ManchesterTrix

Jun 9, 2006, 07:56 PM

EricNau

Jun 9, 2006, 08:05 PM

Just open disk utility, select the image in the left-hand window and click burn. That will properly burn the ISO.
It won't let me burn the disk image, should I select the .iso file itself?

ManchesterTrix

Jun 9, 2006, 08:07 PM

It won't let me burn the disk image, should I select the .iso file itself?

Yes.

EricNau

Jun 9, 2006, 08:09 PM

Yes.
Thanks :)

As a side note:
Now when I insert a DVD, it shows up on my desktop as a burn folder; I could have sworn it used to be a picture of a DVD. ...or am I loosing my mind? :confused:

Billy Boo Bob

Jun 9, 2006, 09:09 PM

As a side note:
Now when I insert a DVD, it shows up on my desktop as a burn folder; I could have sworn it used to be a picture of a DVD. ...or am I loosing my mind? :confused:
Your Mac has been exposed to Windows. It's your Mac that's losing it's mind. :p

EricNau

Jun 10, 2006, 05:17 PM

I burned the DVD from Disk Utility but still, I cannot get my Windows PC to recognize it as a bootable disk. Plus, when I click on the DVD drive it in Explorer it still causes 'My Computer' to stop responding. I'm pretty sure the DVD is fine, so it must be the PC. The optical drive (in 'My Computer') says "CD Drive," but I know for fact it can play/read other DVD's. Could this have something to do with it?

Any thoughts? Thanks

Laser47

Jun 10, 2006, 06:08 PM

I burnt the DVD on my iBook using toast, disk utility seams like it does not do good at burning bootable disks for PC's.

chairguru22

Jun 10, 2006, 08:36 PM

To be fair, you're running a beta of Vista with a beta of Boot Camp on a Mac... that it works at all is somewhat impressive.;)

that gave me a laugh

dmw007

Jun 10, 2006, 09:32 PM

Your Mac has been exposed to Windows. It's your Mac that's losing it's mind. :p

I just hate how Windows manages to corrupt and attempt to destroy everything that is good in life. :mad: ;) :D

EricNau

Jun 10, 2006, 11:00 PM

It just started working out of the clear blue. I didn't do anything. :confused:

Meanwhile, I was stupid and didn't check to make sure my PC notebook met the minimum system requirements (it was given to me, so I wasn't that familiar with it). I'm so close! Does anybody know how to cheat and let Vista install anyway? I have over a 1 GHz processor, but I only have 240 MB RAM with 16 MB dedicated for graphics. It said I need at least 256 MB RAM.

Regular-John

Jun 12, 2006, 04:14 PM

Is this Vista thing an upgrade from XP, or can I download it [without and XP license] and have it running along side OSX?

MacRumorUser

Jun 12, 2006, 04:30 PM

Is this Vista thing an upgrade from XP, or can I download it [without and XP license] and have it running along side OSX?

When you register with microsoft, they will give you a serial key which they allow you to install Vista Beta on upto 10 computers.

EricNau

Jun 12, 2006, 04:40 PM

When you register with microsoft, they will give you a serial key which they allow you to install Vista Beta on upto 10 computers.
...which expires this time in 2007. From there you will have to buy a product key from Microsoft if you wish to keep your files (you cannot downgrade back to XP).

Regular-John

Jun 12, 2006, 05:04 PM

Cheers for that!

What's this EFI that everyone keeps mentioning?

EricNau

Jun 12, 2006, 05:05 PM

What's this EFI that everyone keeps mentioning?
EFI is the new BIOS :cool:

Regular-John

Jun 12, 2006, 05:08 PM

Oh I see :rolleyes:

So you have to delete it in order to install Vista?

Does anyone have a link to installation instructions?

treblah

Jun 12, 2006, 05:25 PM

Does anyone have a link to installation instructions?

Here you go (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=207908).

EricNau

Jun 12, 2006, 05:28 PM

Oh I see :rolleyes:
I guess I should elaborate. EFI (http://www.intel.com/technology/efi/) (Extensible Firmware Interface) was created by intel to replace BIOS. With the switch to intel processors, Apple also adopted EFI in their computers. Unfortunately, Windows does not support EFI (big surprise). Because of this, you must delete the EFI partition (about 200 MB) on your HDD before Windows Vista will work.

Regular-John

Jun 12, 2006, 05:43 PM

EricNau

Jun 12, 2006, 05:51 PM

Cheers again.

I've read that deleteing the EFI could potentially be dangerous and render your mac a very pretty piece of junk. Any truth in that?

Or can you restore the EFI [if need be] with the restore DVD?
As always, backup your entire system before making changes as major as this. Others recommend using Carbon Copy Cloner (http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html), which makes a complete, bootable copy of your HDD.

I'm not sure how you would restore the EFI partition (besides doing a complete erase and install).

princealfie

Jun 12, 2006, 06:59 PM

So what's the conclusion: Vista better than sex? :eek:

Kreamy

Jun 13, 2006, 03:26 AM

So what's the conclusion: Vista better than sex? :eek:

Sure, If you like your sex to only be gratifying on a superficial level, like to do the same routine stuff every time, and like your partner to scrutinise and explain every step of the way. Oh, and she may tend to freeze and fall over every once in a while, which can get frustrating, but you can just boot her back on.

Of course, she's getting better, but she's just not as good as the one on the other side of that partition.

:cool:

treblah

Jun 13, 2006, 03:39 AM

So what's the conclusion: Vista better than sex? :eek:

I'd give it a resounding 'Meh'. It is a heck of a lot faster than I expected it to be UI wise (Aero, Flip3D, ect.) and that was a nice surprise. I'm sure the 256MB helps.

Everything else just kind of sucks. It seems like they made changes to the GUI just because they could without really having any rhyme or reason. In the ~5 years they have been working on this it seems like a ton more could have and should have been done. :(

Until there is a real reason to upgrade (Halo2 is not a reason) I will stick with XP for my gaming needs.