5456 is Beta 2. It is just another interim build. Unfortunately, if
you are not a Techbeta tester no one here can tell you how to download
it since it is only available through Microsoft Connect to registered
testers.
Everyone knows this Chad.
"Chad Harris" <Bushisamoron.net> wrote in message
http://www.activewin.com/awin/comments.asp?HeadlineIndex=35590&Group=1
Dear Longhorn / Windows Vista Beta Tester, We are pleased to announce
the availability of Microsoft® WindowsT VistaT Build 5456!! Many, many
of the things you've reported in Beta 2 have been fixed. While we
believe this build to be generally better than beta 2, it is an interim
build and has not been through a rigorous test pass. Keeping that in
mind we would like you to try it out, move off of Beta 2 and begin
filing bugs against 5456. In addition to the many bug fixes you'll
find:
a.. List View is back! Thanks to your feedback on this the shell team
has added back this popular feature.
b.. We no longer change the system clock when you set your time zone.
We have removed this feature.
c.. UAC behavior has changed a bit. You'll find deleting things off
the desktop to work much easier now for starters.
d.. The images posted first will be for x86 and x64 English. Home
Basic, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate are all in the image and can
be installed with the appropriate product key. You will not need a new
key for this build. Existing beta 2 keys will work.
e.. The Windows Driver Kit, Software Development Kit in addition to
German and Japanese language versions of Vista are planned to follow
shortly.
Upgrade Beta 2 - Beta 2 to RC1 will be a supported scenario. We need
your help finding bugs we need to fix that may impact our TAP customers
that have deployed Beta 2 and the Preview Program users who may
upgrade. The below items are a few we know about already. If you must
clean install, clean install Home Basic or Home Premium and hunt for
bugs specific to that build. Do the help files point at a feature
that's not there? Is there something broken there that works in
Ultimate?
Please take the time to verify bugs you've filed that are still active.
Go to Connect and let us know if they still happen or if they have been
fixed. When burning your DVD's please do so at 1x or 2x and CRC them
when done using the CRC utility posted on the Connect site. The
customer experience improvement telemetry that we've been getting back
on Beta 2 shows that not quite ¾ of setup failures are the result of a
failure to read from the media. Testing shows that burning at slower
speeds greatly increases the chances of a good burn.
a.. Remove Applications Before Upgrading When upgrading Windows Vista
Beta2 x64 to Windows Vista 5456 x64 you may be unable to uninstall
applications after the upgrade is completed. We recommend users
uninstall any applications prior to upgrade that you may need to remove
after the upgrade has completed.
b.. Potential Data Loss with Windows Mail Existing Windows Mail
settings AND Data will NOT migrate successfully from Beta 2 to 5456. Be
sure to use Windows Easy Transfer to save any Windows Mail data you
care about before upgrading. You will receive an error message when
first booting into 5456.5 that says "Unable to upgrade your message
databases." Once the upgrade completes you can restore your Windows
Mail settings and data using Windows Easy Transfer.
c.. Last Logged in User Changed on Upgrade When upgrading from Beta 2
to 5456, the last logged in username shown at the logon screen after
completing the upgrade will be Administrator. You will need to click
the "Switch User" button to login as your user account.
d.. Xbox 360 as a Media Center Extender Support for Xbox 360 as a
Media Center extender is not included in this Vista build. In order to
continue using the Xbox 360 as a Media Center Extender with Vista,
please remain on Beta 2 (build 5384). Support for the Xbox 360 as an
Extender will be available in a future Vista build.
e.. Pseudo Localized Text Present Parts of the OS contain
Pseudo-localized text, or non-english characters placed together to
approximate English words. (Text that looks similar to the following:
"?i?d??§ ?èðì? Þläÿ??") This is used internally, is known and being
addressed in future builds.
f.. Username with a . generates error On a clean install, during OOBE,
if you add a username which contains a period (.) in it, you will
receive an error message after hitting next that says your computer
name is invalid. You will need to remove the period from the computer
name to continue. This is set to be fixed in a future build.
Please take the time to download and provide feedback as early as
possible. Information about ways to provide feedback can be located in
the Feedback icon on the desktop of your Windows Vista system.
Participants may access the new build immediately by going to the
Longhorn/Windows Vista home page on Connect and selecting Downloads
from the left-hand pane. New product keys are available on Connect for
Home, Home Premium, Business, . Your previous keys from package [5342
and Up] will continue activate Ultimate edition.
From
http://www.microsoft-watch.com/article2/0,2180,1982512,00.asp
On June 27, when asked whether Microsoft had any availability update, a
spokeswoman provided the following statement, via e-mail:
"In March we announced 'Microsoft is on track to complete the product
this year, with business availability in November 2006 and broad
consumer availability in January 2007.' We continue to track to those
dates but have always said (and our customers expect) that quality is
the final determinant."
The company plans to make available Release Candidate 1, the near-final
and more broadly available test build, of Vista in the third calendar
quarter of this year, the spokeswoman added.
Some testers who downloaded the new build over the weekend said they
felt Microsoft should have designated 5456 as Beta 2 and held off from
releasing the code to a wider testing audience until this week. Others
said they thought Microsoft should give all Beta 2 testers the option
of installing the latest test build, as it is more stable and solid
than the code they downloaded a month ago.
The new Vista test build "feels like, two steps forward, and one step
back" when compared to Beta 2, said Ryan Hoffman, a Windows tester and
founder of the Extended64.com Web site. "I've had some bad experiences
with Desktop Window Manager (DWM) on my desktop, but overall, it's
better than Beta 2."
Of the few new additions to Build 5456 are:
a.. An option to install and turn on the ActiveX installer service. The
service is designed to facilitate the installation of ActiveX controls,
if approved by an administrator, by a standard user. The goal: To make
User Account Control (UAC) security more practical and useful to
enterprises.
a.. The return of the List View feature
a.. Fewer UAC prompts, especially when deleting items from the desktop
a.. Draggable Internet Explorer tabs
Microsoft officials are aware of problems that testes have encountered
with Beta 2, and are encouraging testers to continue to report them.
"Not quite three-fourths of (Beta 2) setup failures are the result of a
failure to read from the media," Microsoft officials reported in the
note inviting testers to try Build 5456. "Testing shows that burning at
slower speeds greatly increases the chances of a good burn."
But 5456 isn't problem-free, either. Microsoft is cautioning testers to
remove applications before upgrading from Beta 2 to 5456 in certain
cases.
"When upgrading Windows Vista Beta2 x64 to Windows Vista 5456 x64 you
may be unable to uninstall applications after the upgrade is completed.
We recommend users uninstall any applications prior to upgrade that you
may need to remove after the upgrade has completed," Microsoft
officials said, via the note to testers.
Microsoft also is cautioning testers that their existing Windows Mail
settings and data will not migrate successfully from Beta 2 to 5456.
Several testers running 5456 said poor driver support continues to be a
nagging problem for Vista.
"The biggest problems that I have is with drivers," Extended 64's
Hoffman said. "Right now, nVidia graphics drivers are just not at the
quality that they need to be - and that's my frustration."
Brandon LeBlanc, a blogger with Microsoft's The Hive online community
site, also said he is having driver problems, even with the latest
build.
"I like 5456, but it doesn't run well on the Toshiba M400 due to lack
of drivers on Intel's part," LeBlanc said.
Since Beta 2, the M400 has been unable to sport (Vista's Aero) Glass
(interface) due to the lack of drivers. Now this isn't the fault of
Microsoft but rather Intel. Intel needs to get with the program here,"
LeBlanc blogged.
I read on the internet that th elatest build 5456 is out an dmuch more
stable
than previously, including - I hope - more WLAN nw adepter driver
support.
My simple question is how I get hold of this cause Windows update does
not
seem to download it, cause I am still running build 5384 ...
Can anyone help ? Cause I am desparate to get my WLAN Netgear WPV111
device
to work !
