How Long

[Oh-its-all-gone-wrong]

Hi All,

Apologies if this is a daft question but i got Vist Build 5308 with Technet,
i`ve installed it and activated it but was wondering how long the trial was
for, is it a 90 day trial or unlimited? As they progress the to RC1 and RC2
can i just upgrade or will it be a fresh install?

Many Thanks
Si

 

[Jimmy Brush]

Build 5308 is a (very old) interim build. I'm not sure when it expires, but
it does have an expiration date. It cannot be upgraded to another build.

Build 5384 is the official Beta 2 build, which you should have gotten or
will receive soon in a technet shipment. I think Microsoft is planning on
allowing an upgrade from Beta 2 to RC1, although there is no official word
on this. If I recall correctly, this build expires in May of 2007.

Also, no word on if you will be able to upgrade from RC1 to the final
release. However, I would plan as if I couldn't.

Regardless, upgrading from one beta release to another is generally
considered a bad idea, even if MS allows it.

- JB

Vista FAQ
http://www.jimmah.com/vista/

 

[Mark D. VandenBerg]

Try opening a command prompt and then typing "winver" which should give you
the version and the expiry date. The steps I use are:

Click on Start > (type) "cmd" > Enter (type) "winver" > Enter

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

No RC2 is projected. Just RC1 and its interim builds.

You can upgrade from builds under some conditions (you can't upgrade an old
Ultimate build to a newer Home Basic build, for example). Upgrade from 5308
is not allowed, however. Upgrades were not turned on until 5384.

There is no inherent problem in testing upgrading but there are problems
with drivers that will get you sooner or later.

The TechBeta testers have been asked to test Home and Home Basic when doing
clean installs and Ultimate when upgrading, so there are all kinds of
reasons to test upgrading. Testing is much more structured in TechBeta,
though, so no one need feel that all the angles aren't covered if one does
not try upgrading scenarios for himself.

Upgrading should NOT be used as a personal convenience, however, since that
is not what beta testing is all about.

For purposes of the CPP a clean installation of RC1 will get better
performance than an upgrade when RC1 is released into the wild. There is no
particular reason for CPP folks to upgrade from Beta 2 5384 to the RC1
milestone build when that time comes.

Clean installations yield better bug info than upgrades.

 

[Guest]

Actually, you dont need to open a cmd prompt before typing winver.
Just click start, type winver, press enter.
This will work for a lot of commands like msconfig, services, regedit etc etc
The 'Start Search' text box also acts like a run line in most cases.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

And if you just love winver you don't hit enter but right click on the
program icon in the Start Menu and choose "Place on Quick Launch". That's
what I did with msconfig so I can easily open the neat new Tools tab.

 

[MICHAEL]

And for those who don't know, you can download an add-on
to have that same Tools tab for msconfig in XP.


-Michael

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

It is a neat XP enhancement for sure.

And for those who don't know, you can download an add-on
to have that same Tools tab for msconfig in XP.


-Michael

 

[MICHAEL]

Absolutely. One of those nice little things that just make sense.


-Michael

 

[Guest]

Never though of putting msconfig in quick launch...nice, thanks for the good
idea
I love my quick launch bar