barely fatal

With so many sites showing Windows Vista screenshots – the RC 1 can be expected soon – and the Mac fanboys waving their flame swords, I thought I’d give it a try, too. Since I don’t have a PC at hand I could use (more like dare) for a standard install, I tried installing it on Virtual PC and Virtual Server. I even got me the latest beta of Virtual Machine Additions. It installed alright, and in Safe Mode it even runs acceptably. However, don’t think of running it in Normal Mode with the Glass themes on a VPC – I didn’t even manage to make the Start Menu unfold, it’s so incredibly slow. Do any of you have some experience how to speed it up or is it absolutely useless, with the bad graphics driver emulation and stuff?

By the way, I also tried the Office 2007 Beta. Some of the standard apps like Word really look different now, clean, much more workflow oriented. Totally new way to access the menus – it’s a lot easier to find what you need in the options screens. It’s all in the same line as the new IE7. We should expect to need time for the adjustment, though. I liked it so far.