PDC 2005: More Windows Vista screenshots

Here's some shots from PDC of Vista that I took...

Wednesday, September 14, 2005 by Frogboy | Discussion: PDC 2005

Vista looks good but they still haven't gotten rid of the ugly icons in some places.  PLEASE change the icons throughout the system. 

An alternative way of doing Alt-Tab. It looks good but I didn't find it that practical.  The primary Alt-Tab method is fancier than the Windows XP alt-tab but noticeably slower.  I like slick but I don't want it to noticeably slow me down and I do a lot with Alt-Tab.

The sidebar and task preview (something we are working on for WindowFX too).  The sidebar now is merely a container for gadgets which is absolutely sweet in theory.  I like the concept a lot.  However, right now, the gadgets are apparently implemented in DHTML.  I relaly don't see that as a practical thing.  I'd like to see them switch to have gadgets be Avalon based with the noborders switch on.  I think gadgets would be a great way for Microsoft to get people to start using XAML. Note: This is not necessarily what the Sidebar is going to look like in the final version. This was a beta version that was shown at PDC.

Gadgets can be pealed off and live on the desktop as well.

New file save dialog. I like the design but if you look closely, Windows classic can still peer through so there's still some fit and finish to be done there.

And for fun, here's a screenshot of my Windows XP desktop running Object Desktop with the WindowBlinds 5 beta (public beta in a week or two):

WindowBlinds 5 on XP can do semi-transparent borders and Start bars and runs fast on fairly low end hardware.  On Windows Vista, WindowBlinds 5 will make use of the new Windows Vista compositer to allow for much more advanced skinning than we've seen previously.  Much of the next-gen skinning will be back ported to Windows XP (though users with install the Avalon libraries on XP will likely benefit). 

Overall, Vista's a really good experience.  But I do hope there's an overall fit and finish guy over there so that things like ancient icons and inconsistent fonts get fixed.  Some of these icons have managed to survive since Windows NT 3.1 (1994).

26 Reply 158 Referrals
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iTZKooPA
Reply #1 Wednesday, September 14, 2005 3:06 PM
They still haven't shown me anything that isn't already OUT there already...

Then again I also haven't gotten a chance to play with it yet...So I guess I will have to just hold on my judgement.

Lotherius
Reply #2 Wednesday, September 14, 2005 5:16 PM
I bet that alternative alt-tab will be cursed by the same problem that the current 'task switcher powertoy' is - that many apps (such as winamp) have multiple primary windows, only some of which are intended to be seen. With winamp, for example, when using the alt-tab with 'task switcher powertoy', you see that the Classic skinned interface is *still present* and is just hidden by the modern skin. There are several other apps that don't like screenshots being taken of themselves, as I'm sure you're aware of from when ObjectDock added app thumbnails.

It would be nice if everyone would update those apps for proper vista compatibility, but in the real world, many never do get updated.

Hengest
Reply #3 Wednesday, September 14, 2005 6:51 PM
But I do hope there's an overall fit and finish guy over there so that things like ancient icons and inconsistent fonts get fixed.


The mouse cursor should also be revamped to fit-in with the new interface.

Cyrax71
Reply #4 Wednesday, September 14, 2005 6:53 PM
Anyone have an idea of what the price of Windows Vista will likly be?

Thanks for the info.

Excalpius
Reply #5 Wednesday, September 14, 2005 7:46 PM
There are rumored to be as many as seven (ridiculous) versions...so price is going to be just as confusing.

9Iron
Reply #6 Wednesday, September 14, 2005 7:56 PM
Good lord they are using the same damn icons..... What a bunch of idiots

freezejeans
Reply #7 Wednesday, September 14, 2005 8:36 PM
Awesome! Thanks for the continued coverage of Vista...you're a lucky dude. I got to beta test Win95 prior to release and it was a blast seeing what each new build would bring and what MS was experimenting with. Must be fun

HighCommand
Reply #8 Wednesday, September 14, 2005 8:40 PM
It most likely will get changed by beta 2. Also, the true Aero interface will be implemented.

Oh, and 9Iron, thay aren't idiots. This is a beta, and one aimed at developers, at that.

SATYROBE
Reply #9 Wednesday, September 14, 2005 8:50 PM
+ thanks for shot on interaction of Stardocks windowfx with that, promising again. How much faster I go vista than the majority of my crucial apps. force me to anyway in the long run might also depend on whether they change usage terms. Lately when installing updates u agreed to not being allowed to old version even after having paid for both of em, at least with some programs of theirs it was like that. German law says u can get money back because of not having been able to see terms before buying unless they put that on the box, too. But in MS terms I could still not reinstall old version, + after installing new 1 instead of getting back, u accept terms and cant backdate. Good u told us that at least in the meantime a lot is backported. They making it hard on themselves? Im probably overlooking some other reason of theirs...., should ask them why myself 1 day.

9Iron
Reply #10 Wednesday, September 14, 2005 8:54 PM
Well, that certainly is good to know HighCommand

sixshot
Reply #11 Wednesday, September 14, 2005 10:04 PM
Perhaps the reason why some of the icons never changed is because most users never see them in the first place. If the users only use the basic functionality of Windows, the likelihood of seeing ancient icons from the old days is very very slim, maybe nil if we're lucky. I'm sure a bunch of us power-users are those who poke around, traverse, uncover, and tinker with various internal settings to better suit our needs. But this is all in theory.

The alt-tab looks kinda weird... I do not like having the windows tilted or turned in some degree to determine what window is what. I doubt alt-tabbing can ever be truly replaced unless they go with something similar to Mac OS X's own Expos.

What they can do is drop all seen windows into transparent mode (say, 50%), and have each hilighted (but not selected) window come up to 75% transparency. If the hilighted window happens to be minimized, perhaps only show the program icon. But that's just an idea... so who knows.

littleboyblue
Reply #12 Wednesday, September 14, 2005 10:38 PM
Question.

I have Vista Beta one installed on ym computer but I havent seen any implementation of the task preview or the new alt tab...any one have any ideas to as why? Thanks in advance.

Lotherius
Reply #13 Thursday, September 15, 2005 12:43 AM
I have Vista Beta one installed on ym computer but I havent seen any implementation of the task preview or the new alt tab...any one have any ideas to as why? Thanks in advance.


That's because this is a new PDC build... not beta one. I think.

Randahl
Reply #14 Thursday, September 15, 2005 2:18 AM
I dont know, I kinda like the "alt-tab" view.
Thanks for the heads up!

SATYROBE
Reply #15 Thursday, September 15, 2005 5:13 AM
Also like alt tab powertoy + wonder whether Vista will support old powertoys. Highlighting/transparency etc I solve applying ActWinMan 3.7 by actualtools.com + Tweak window 1.5(not tweak windows) by absolute way.com. Some wont want these tools TSR which they dont always have to be or paying for those either, I am sure they will be updated to vista at least in parallel alternative versions. The rest of what these tools dont do I add on by using macro program KeyText reg. vers on THEM, another thing normal users wont all want.

In a way MAC OS in itself seems like an alternative the majority may not want, shame that fact leads to apples hardware seeming overpriced in some aspects, which brings up another naive ?, will there be a day when I can recommend most of stardocks tools to the MAC users who want them at all, or which ones work/dont work already for THEM?

tehStealth
Reply #16 Thursday, September 15, 2005 6:52 AM
Anyone else NOT like the My Computer icon in Vista?

AND1FX
Reply #17 Thursday, September 15, 2005 7:06 AM
does anyone know where i can get that backgroud/wallpaper in the screenshots? (ie. the grass looking one in the pics)

pls pls pls pls ????

Threi
Reply #18 Thursday, September 15, 2005 8:17 AM
all i wanna know is if it has x64 support...

Yarlen
Reply #19 Thursday, September 15, 2005 8:26 AM
I think it will, or there will be an x64 version of it.

caseagainstfaith
Reply #20 Thursday, September 15, 2005 9:37 AM
Considering there is already a x64 version of XP, of course there will be an x64 version of Vista. But, I understand that x32 and x64 will remain separate versions. There are still plenty of x32 only processors still being sold even today, so they can't drop x32 support anytime soon. But, since the x32 and x64 versions are being developed in parallel, they should have the exact same feature set and essentially identical stability. But, the x64 version will have heafty RAM requirements, as 64 bit mode simply requires more memory since what used to take 32 bits will now usually take 64.

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