next release

Hi, I've been testing for a while now and saw in general a great improvement when we went to 5270 build except some features had been taken out from Beta 1. I know the next release will be in Feb but do we have an indication of when in Feb it will be, and will we be able to upgrade this time instead of a clean install?

you better hope that it CANNOT be upgraded - otherwise, how big of a change/progress/improvement would it have been? No thanks.
You're not supposed to rely this much on a Beta OS to want to keep an older version in any form..
"Tim O'Neill" wrote in message

Hi, I've been testing for a while now and saw in general a great improvement when we went to 5270 build except some features had been taken out from Beta 1. I know the next release will be in Feb but do we have an indication of when in Feb it will be, and will we be able to upgrade this time instead of a clean install?

This reply makes no sense.... Why wouldn't you want to upgrade? And anyone who is testing vista would want to try upgrading as part of their testing scenarios.

You're not supposed to rely this much on a Beta OS to want to keep an older version in any form..

Eh? Did you mean "...to want to *not* keep an older..."? If not, what did you mean?
Scøtt http://wlm.scottisafool.co.uk/
Adahn wrote:

you better hope that it CANNOT be upgraded - otherwise, how big of a change/progress/improvement would it have been? No thanks.
You're not supposed to rely this much on a Beta OS to want to keep an older version in any form..
"Tim O'Neill" wrote in message Hi, I've been testing for a while now and saw in general a great improvement when we went to 5270 build except some features had been taken out from Beta 1. I know the next release will be in Feb but do we have an indication of when in Feb it will be, and will we be able to upgrade this time instead of a clean install?

As to your question there are conflicting reports of when the next drop will be made available. Some have said Feb17th while others the 21st, but somewhere around then.
Josh http://windowsconnected.com
"Tim O'Neill" wrote in message

Hi, I've been testing for a while now and saw in general a great improvement when we went to 5270 build except some features had been taken out from Beta 1. I know the next release will be in Feb but do we have an indication of when in Feb it will be, and will we be able to upgrade this time instead of a clean install?

The original poster asked if we will be able to "upgrade" from an existing CTP installation to the next one, as opposed to formatting and doing a "clean" install.
But if that was possible, to "layer" the next build onto an older one like that, wouldn't it'd mean that the developers haven't been doing much work on the core, or would it? I'd rather have enough changes and improvements between builds to break the possibility of an incremental upgrade, than the other way around :)
""Scøtt Lovegrove [ScottIsAFool]"" wrote in message

This reply makes no sense.... Why wouldn't you want to upgrade? And anyone who is testing vista would want to try upgrading as part of their testing scenarios.
You're not supposed to rely this much on a Beta OS to want to keep an older version in any form..
Eh? Did you mean "...to want to *not* keep an older..."? If not, what did you mean?
Scøtt http://wlm.scottisafool.co.uk/
Adahn wrote: you better hope that it CANNOT be upgraded - otherwise, how big of a change/progress/improvement would it have been? No thanks.
You're not supposed to rely this much on a Beta OS to want to keep an older version in any form..
"Tim O'Neill" wrote in message Hi, I've been testing for a while now and saw in general a great improvement when we went to 5270 build except some features had been taken out from Beta 1. I know the next release will be in Feb but do we have an indication of when in Feb it will be, and will we be able to upgrade this time instead of a clean install?

So what about when you want to upgrade from 98 to XP :p there are massive kernel changes there, massive changes all round, but you can still upgrade ;) In theory, yes, when we can upgrade, we should be able to upgrade from one ctp to the newer release.
Scøtt http://wlm.scottisafool.co.uk/
Adahn wrote:

The original poster asked if we will be able to "upgrade" from an existing CTP installation to the next one, as opposed to formatting and doing a "clean" install.
But if that was possible, to "layer" the next build onto an older one like that, wouldn't it'd mean that the developers haven't been doing much work on the core, or would it? I'd rather have enough changes and improvements between builds to break the possibility of an incremental upgrade, than the other way around :)
""Scøtt Lovegrove [ScottIsAFool]"" iwantalivemessengerinvite@googlemail.com> wrote in message This reply makes no sense.... Why wouldn't you want to upgrade? And anyone who is testing vista would want to try upgrading as part of their testing scenarios.
You're not supposed to rely this much on a Beta OS to want to keep an older version in any form..
Eh? Did you mean "...to want to *not* keep an older..."? If not, what did you mean?
Scøtt http://wlm.scottisafool.co.uk/
Adahn wrote: you better hope that it CANNOT be upgraded - otherwise, how big of a change/progress/improvement would it have been? No thanks.
You're not supposed to rely this much on a Beta OS to want to keep an older version in any form..
"Tim O'Neill" wrote in message Hi, I've been testing for a while now and saw in general a great improvement when we went to 5270 build except some features had been taken out from Beta 1. I know the next release will be in Feb but do we have an indication of when in Feb it will be, and will we be able to upgrade this time instead of a clean install?

Hi Tim,
Reports are that the February CTP will be released either after the 16th or 21st. It will include upgrade support from prior versions of Windows, but it will be rough, prepare for problems. -- -- Andre Windows Connect | http://www.windowsconnected.com Extended64 | http://www.extended64.com Blog | http://www.extended64.com/blogs/andre http://spaces.msn.com/members/adacosta FAQ for MS AntiSpy http://www.geocities.com/marfer_mvp/FAQ_MSantispy.htm "Tim O'Neill" wrote in message

Hi, I've been testing for a while now and saw in general a great improvement when we went to 5270 build except some features had been taken out from Beta 1. I know the next release will be in Feb but do we have an indication of when in Feb it will be, and will we be able to upgrade this time instead of a clean install?

I understand that you would not want to upgrade from an earlier CTP release and I do not use them as production machines however as in XP SP2 it may be possible to pretty much put a whole new OS on without losing any previous settings you have done (and yes I know it wasn't a whole new OS or even close but it was very significant). In a testing scenario this can be quite nice as if you have set the machine up with cetain security elements etc. then you don't have to go through them again.

"Adahn" wrote in message

The original poster asked if we will be able to "upgrade" from an existing CTP installation to the next one, as opposed to formatting and doing a "clean" install.
But if that was possible, to "layer" the next build onto an older one like that, wouldn't it'd mean that the developers haven't been doing much work on the core, or would it? I'd rather have enough changes and improvements between builds to break the possibility of an incremental upgrade, than the other way around :)
""Scøtt Lovegrove [ScottIsAFool]"" iwantalivemessengerinvite@googlemail.com> wrote in message This reply makes no sense.... Why wouldn't you want to upgrade? And anyone who is testing vista would want to try upgrading as part of their testing scenarios.
You're not supposed to rely this much on a Beta OS to want to keep an older version in any form..
Eh? Did you mean "...to want to *not* keep an older..."? If not, what did you mean?
Scøtt http://wlm.scottisafool.co.uk/
Adahn wrote: you better hope that it CANNOT be upgraded - otherwise, how big of a change/progress/improvement would it have been? No thanks.
You're not supposed to rely this much on a Beta OS to want to keep an older version in any form..
"Tim O'Neill" wrote in message Hi, I've been testing for a while now and saw in general a great improvement when we went to 5270 build except some features had been taken out from Beta 1. I know the next release will be in Feb but do we have an indication of when in Feb it will be, and will we be able to upgrade this time instead of a clean install?

just the thought of upgrading one unstable beta with another one gives me the shivvers, do a clean install if anything, if you dont want to risk conflicts of all sorts
"Tim O'Neill" wrote in message

Hi, I've been testing for a while now and saw in general a great improvement when we went to 5270 build except some features had been taken out from Beta 1. I know the next release will be in Feb but do we have an indication of when in Feb it will be, and will we be able to upgrade this time instead of a clean install?

True, but dealing with the problems and trying them out is the only way to get a decent end product and anyway, I love a challenge!
"Andre Da Costa" wrote in message

Hi Tim,
Reports are that the February CTP will be released either after the 16th or 21st. It will include upgrade support from prior versions of Windows, but it will be rough, prepare for problems. -- -- Andre Windows Connect | http://www.windowsconnected.com Extended64 | http://www.extended64.com Blog | http://www.extended64.com/blogs/andre http://spaces.msn.com/members/adacosta FAQ for MS AntiSpy http://www.geocities.com/marfer_mvp/FAQ_MSantispy.htm "Tim O'Neill" wrote in message Hi, I've been testing for a while now and saw in general a great improvement when we went to 5270 build except some features had been taken out from Beta 1. I know the next release will be in Feb but do we have an indication of when in Feb it will be, and will we be able to upgrade this time instead of a clean install?

[inline]
""Scøtt Lovegrove [ScottIsAFool]"" wrote in message

So what about when you want to upgrade from 98 to XP :p there are massive kernel changes there, massive changes all round, but you can still upgrade ;)

Not WITHIN the beta phase of the same OS! :p

In theory, yes, when we can upgrade, we should be able to upgrade from one ctp to the newer release.

Too inefficient for developers to allot their time and resources to specifically allow for such inter-CTP upgrade scenarios. Almost -every- single file would get replaced in any case anyway, amounting to a individual file-by-file deletion as opposed to formatting first, so you'd just be asking for more defragmentation.
It'd be much better, more intuitive, to just improve the "Windows Transfer" wizard for migrating all your files and settings over...

I agree totally that you shouldn't upgrade beta > beta. But in theory you could if you wanted. The only trouble with doing files and settings transfers could possibly be the same if you run a files and settings transfer using pre-sp2 on xp, then try running it on the same files once you have installed sp2, the versions mismatch.
Anyway, long and short of it, no, you shouldn't upgrade beta > beta, but you could if you wanted... ;)
Scøtt http://wlm.scottisafool.co.uk/
Adahn wrote:

[inline]
""Scøtt Lovegrove [ScottIsAFool]"" iwantalivemessengerinvite@googlemail.com> wrote in message So what about when you want to upgrade from 98 to XP :p there are massive kernel changes there, massive changes all round, but you can still upgrade ;)
Not WITHIN the beta phase of the same OS! :p
In theory, yes, when we can upgrade, we should be able to upgrade from one ctp to the newer release.
Too inefficient for developers to allot their time and resources to specifically allow for such inter-CTP upgrade scenarios. Almost -every- single file would get replaced in any case anyway, amounting to a individual file-by-file deletion as opposed to formatting first, so you'd just be asking for more defragmentation.
It'd be much better, more intuitive, to just improve the "Windows Transfer" wizard for migrating all your files and settings over...

Me too, I look forward to testing some Upgrade scenarios. :) -- -- Andre Windows Connect | http://www.windowsconnected.com Extended64 | http://www.extended64.com Blog | http://www.extended64.com/blogs/andre http://spaces.msn.com/members/adacosta FAQ for MS AntiSpy http://www.geocities.com/marfer_mvp/FAQ_MSantispy.htm "Tim O'Neill" wrote in message

True, but dealing with the problems and trying them out is the only way to get a decent end product and anyway, I love a challenge!
"Andre Da Costa" wrote in message Hi Tim,
Reports are that the February CTP will be released either after the 16th or 21st. It will include upgrade support from prior versions of Windows, but it will be rough, prepare for problems. -- -- Andre Windows Connect | http://www.windowsconnected.com Extended64 | http://www.extended64.com Blog | http://www.extended64.com/blogs/andre http://spaces.msn.com/members/adacosta FAQ for MS AntiSpy http://www.geocities.com/marfer_mvp/FAQ_MSantispy.htm "Tim O'Neill" wrote in message Hi, I've been testing for a while now and saw in general a great improvement when we went to 5270 build except some features had been taken out from Beta 1. I know the next release will be in Feb but do we have an indication of when in Feb it will be, and will we be able to upgrade this time instead of a clean install?

Build to build upgrades are not supported of course, but the Feb CTP will support upgrades from released versions of Windows, I suspect 2000 SP4 and XP SP2. -- -- Andre Windows Connect | http://www.windowsconnected.com Extended64 | http://www.extended64.com Blog | http://www.extended64.com/blogs/andre http://spaces.msn.com/members/adacosta FAQ for MS AntiSpy http://www.geocities.com/marfer_mvp/FAQ_MSantispy.htm wrote in message

just the thought of upgrading one unstable beta with another one gives me the shivvers, do a clean install if anything, if you dont want to risk conflicts of all sorts
"Tim O'Neill" wrote in message Hi, I've been testing for a while now and saw in general a great improvement when we went to 5270 build except some features had been taken out from Beta 1. I know the next release will be in Feb but do we have an indication of when in Feb it will be, and will we be able to upgrade this time instead of a clean install?

I have never had much success in upgrading any Microsoft Windows OS. When you upgrade, you take your old problems with you to the new version. Therefore, I do a clean install.
Also, until they tell us differently, we're advised to do a clean install, even if upgrade is available. Unless you're testing the upgrade route, and I prefer not to. :) Now, since I've said that, we'll probably be asked to test upgrade. :(
-- Nancy Ward MSN Messenger MVP
"Tim O'Neill" wrote in message

Hi, I've been testing for a while now and saw in general a great improvement when we went to 5270 build except some features had been taken out from Beta 1. I know the next release will be in Feb but do we have an indication of when in Feb it will be, and will we be able to upgrade this time instead of a clean install?

The History of Windows thus far says we should be able to upgrade our operating system. The ability has been there since Windows 95, at least. Although I've not had all that much success with upgrading, some have, and will want to go the upgrade route.
You say you'd rather have enough changes and improvements ... break the possibility of an incremental upgrade... Well, I'd think there your requirements would have been met with an upgrade path from Windows 3.1 to Win95 to Win 98 to Win 98SE to WinME to Windows XP. Each of these Operating System major version changes has been able to go the upgrade route.
I'm not supporting/advising the upgrade route; I'm merely pointing out that it's very possible we will be able to upgrade without too much difficulty if Microsoft wishes. However, I should also point out that in beta testing, it's not common that we are advised/asked to upgrade from one version of a beta to the next.
-- Nancy Ward MSN Messenger MVP
"Adahn" wrote in message

The original poster asked if we will be able to "upgrade" from an existing CTP installation to the next one, as opposed to formatting and doing a "clean" install.
But if that was possible, to "layer" the next build onto an older one like that, wouldn't it'd mean that the developers haven't been doing much work on the core, or would it? I'd rather have enough changes and improvements between builds to break the possibility of an incremental upgrade, than the other way around :)
""Scøtt Lovegrove [ScottIsAFool]"" iwantalivemessengerinvite@googlemail.com> wrote in message This reply makes no sense.... Why wouldn't you want to upgrade? And anyone who is testing vista would want to try upgrading as part of their testing scenarios.
You're not supposed to rely this much on a Beta OS to want to keep an older version in any form..
Eh? Did you mean "...to want to *not* keep an older..."? If not, what did you mean?
Scøtt http://wlm.scottisafool.co.uk/
Adahn wrote: you better hope that it CANNOT be upgraded - otherwise, how big of a change/progress/improvement would it have been? No thanks.
You're not supposed to rely this much on a Beta OS to want to keep an older version in any form..
"Tim O'Neill" wrote in message Hi, I've been testing for a while now and saw in general a great improvement when we went to 5270 build except some features had been taken out from Beta 1. I know the next release will be in Feb but do we have an indication of when in Feb it will be, and will we be able to upgrade this time instead of a clean install?

Go the upgrade route (if MS permits) to have a better bug hunt! Do a clean install if you want to make it easier on yourself.
-- Nancy Ward MSN Messenger MVP
wrote in message

just the thought of upgrading one unstable beta with another one gives me the shivvers, do a clean install if anything, if you dont want to risk conflicts of all sorts
"Tim O'Neill" wrote in message Hi, I've been testing for a while now and saw in general a great improvement when we went to 5270 build except some features had been taken out from Beta 1. I know the next release will be in Feb but do we have an indication of when in Feb it will be, and will we be able to upgrade this time instead of a clean install?

nancy, if we are testing beta to beta conflicts, what will that have to do with the origional purpose of windows updates in the first place, its asking for trouble where the user in the market would never get the chance to run into. if we log bugs from upgrade routes from actual released versions, we can have the logged bugs we actually need, rather than redundant problems were asking for in the first place. its a great idea to bug as much about the upgrades as possible to get them cleaned up in the end result, but upgraders on the market are using final versions of windows, and those are the versions that need to be tested

"NLWard" wrote in message

Go the upgrade route (if MS permits) to have a better bug hunt! Do a clean install if you want to make it easier on yourself.
-- Nancy Ward MSN Messenger MVP
bbaker@ilrcsudbury.ca> wrote in message just the thought of upgrading one unstable beta with another one gives me the shivvers, do a clean install if anything, if you dont want to risk conflicts of all sorts
"Tim O'Neill" wrote in message Hi, I've been testing for a while now and saw in general a great improvement when we went to 5270 build except some features had been taken out from Beta 1. I know the next release will be in Feb but do we have an indication of when in Feb it will be, and will we be able to upgrade this time instead of a clean install?

Ben, I qualified it with saying (if MS permits). We never know what the next build will be. Sigh... I think you knew what I meant anyway...
-- Nancy Ward MSN Messenger MVP
wrote in message

nancy, if we are testing beta to beta conflicts, what will that have to do with the origional purpose of windows updates in the first place, its asking for trouble where the user in the market would never get the chance to run into. if we log bugs from upgrade routes from actual released versions, we can have the logged bugs we actually need, rather than redundant problems were asking for in the first place. its a great idea to bug as much about the upgrades as possible to get them cleaned up in the end result, but upgraders on the market are using final versions of windows, and those are the versions that need to be tested

"NLWard" wrote in message Go the upgrade route (if MS permits) to have a better bug hunt! Do a clean install if you want to make it easier on yourself.
-- Nancy Ward MSN Messenger MVP
bbaker@ilrcsudbury.ca> wrote in message just the thought of upgrading one unstable beta with another one gives me the shivvers, do a clean install if anything, if you dont want to risk conflicts of all sorts
"Tim O'Neill" wrote in message Hi, I've been testing for a while now and saw in general a great improvement when we went to 5270 build except some features had been taken out from Beta 1. I know the next release will be in Feb but do we have an indication of when in Feb it will be, and will we be able to upgrade this time instead of a clean install?

Andre
No disrespect meant but you are a space cadet. How in the world can you say something like that
-- Peter
Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.
"Andre Da Costa" wrote in message

Build to build upgrades are not supported of course, but the Feb CTP will support upgrades from released versions of Windows, I suspect 2000 SP4 and XP SP2.

Just to end this discussion (maybe!) I think if MS is going to provide an upgrade route to end users then we need it as soon as posible to test. Set up a clean XP SP2, put in some apps and system settings and see if the upgrade works. Otherwise MS are going to have to create some very simple migration tools for end users. In general the home user is not great at backing up their data or at knowing what they actually have on their PC.
The question was very much prompted by the fact that I built a friend a 64bit machine. He ran Windows XP 32 bit before ordering from MS (against my advice - he's not that IT literate) - a trial version of XP-64 and bang, no upgrade path - he lost everything the fool. I told him that was primarily because as yet it is not a released product but then I wonder how much more work they have to do on it and if in the end they will have a 32 to 64 upgrade path and if MS is counting on a mass migration from XP to Vista then there has to be a clear, safe, and easy migration path and we should now be testing it. Wow, that needed some punctuation!
It makes very little difference to me - I run everything server based so in my organisation no data is held on the local computer but still, not just looking out for myself!
"NLWard" wrote in message

I have never had much success in upgrading any Microsoft Windows OS. When you upgrade, you take your old problems with you to the new version. Therefore, I do a clean install.
Also, until they tell us differently, we're advised to do a clean install, even if upgrade is available. Unless you're testing the upgrade route, and I prefer not to. :) Now, since I've said that, we'll probably be asked to test upgrade. :(
-- Nancy Ward MSN Messenger MVP
"Tim O'Neill" wrote in message Hi, I've been testing for a while now and saw in general a great improvement when we went to 5270 build except some features had been taken out from Beta 1. I know the next release will be in Feb but do we have an indication of when in Feb it will be, and will we be able to upgrade this time instead of a clean install?

On Mon, 6 Feb 2006 07:52:23 -0800, Andre Da Costa wrote:

Build to build upgrades are not supported of course, but the Feb CTP will support upgrades from released versions of Windows, I suspect 2000 SP4 and XP SP2.

So you think at that point it is worth risking upgrading a fully installed XP SP2/MCE system? Might have to remove Windowsblinds first methinks :) -- Tekguru (Daron Brewood) MS-MVP/Mobile Devices
Webmaster: UKs largest Pocket PC Site http://www.4WinMobile.com

According to Neowin.net, The February CTP will be released to TAP (Technology Adoption Program) Beta Tester's Only! The rest of us (I am a MSDN Operating Systems Level Subscriber) get to wait until Beta 2 comes out on April 12th, 2006!
"Tim O'Neill" wrote in message

Hi, I've been testing for a while now and saw in general a great improvement when we went to 5270 build except some features had been taken out from Beta 1. I know the next release will be in Feb but do we have an indication of when in Feb it will be, and will we be able to upgrade this time instead of a clean install?

I said suspect, I did not say that is the case, suspect, meaning, not certain. My reason for assuming this is simply because of the many businesses still running 2000 Pro (including where I work). Many powerful machines can run Windows 2000 Pro, we have some of them here in our engineering department, reason why we didn't choose to deploy XP on them was simply because we want to standardize and train individuals on one platform and its fully compatible with the software we use on it. -- Andre Extended64 | http://www.extended64.com Blog | http://www.extended64.com/blogs/andre http://spaces.msn.com/members/adacosta FAQ for MS AntiSpy http://www.geocities.com/marfer_mvp/FAQ_MSantispy.htm
"Peter Foldes" wrote in message Andre
No disrespect meant but you are a space cadet. How in the world can you say something like that
-- Peter
Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.
"Andre Da Costa" wrote in message

Build to build upgrades are not supported of course, but the Feb CTP will support upgrades from released versions of Windows, I suspect 2000 SP4 and XP SP2.

I would still continue doing clean installs until beta 2 when Microsoft really says, go is go. You can try for testing purposes, I know I will be doing it to give feedback where necessary. But if you are into testing that aspect of the operating system, do a clean install. Windows Blinds is not compatible with Vista, so it would probably just disable it during the upgrade process. -- Andre Extended64 | http://www.extended64.com Blog | http://www.extended64.com/blogs/andre http://spaces.msn.com/members/adacosta FAQ for MS AntiSpy http://www.geocities.com/marfer_mvp/FAQ_MSantispy.htm
"Tekguru (Daron Brewood)" wrote in message

On Mon, 6 Feb 2006 07:52:23 -0800, Andre Da Costa wrote:
Build to build upgrades are not supported of course, but the Feb CTP will support upgrades from released versions of Windows, I suspect 2000 SP4 and XP SP2.
So you think at that point it is worth risking upgrading a fully installed XP SP2/MCE system? Might have to remove Windowsblinds first methinks :) -- Tekguru (Daron Brewood) MS-MVP/Mobile Devices
Webmaster: UKs largest Pocket PC Site http://www.4WinMobile.com

I'm doing it in VM Ware. -- Andre Extended64 | http://www.extended64.com Blog | http://www.extended64.com/blogs/andre http://spaces.msn.com/members/adacosta FAQ for MS AntiSpy http://www.geocities.com/marfer_mvp/FAQ_MSantispy.htm
"NLWard" wrote in message

I have never had much success in upgrading any Microsoft Windows OS. When you upgrade, you take your old problems with you to the new version. Therefore, I do a clean install.
Also, until they tell us differently, we're advised to do a clean install, even if upgrade is available. Unless you're testing the upgrade route, and I prefer not to. :) Now, since I've said that, we'll probably be asked to test upgrade. :(
-- Nancy Ward MSN Messenger MVP
"Tim O'Neill" wrote in message Hi, I've been testing for a while now and saw in general a great improvement when we went to 5270 build except some features had been taken out from Beta 1. I know the next release will be in Feb but do we have an indication of when in Feb it will be, and will we be able to upgrade this time instead of a clean install?

The 32 bit and 64 bit architectures are different, thats why the upgrade path is not available. He could have done a dual boot though and share application directories if he wanted to maintain compatibility. My opinion though, don't expect an upgrade path from 32 bit Windows to Windows 64, there will be continued improvements I believe in the migration tools. -- Andre Extended64 | http://www.extended64.com Blog | http://www.extended64.com/blogs/andre http://spaces.msn.com/members/adacosta FAQ for MS AntiSpy http://www.geocities.com/marfer_mvp/FAQ_MSantispy.htm
"Tim O'Neill" wrote in message

Just to end this discussion (maybe!) I think if MS is going to provide an upgrade route to end users then we need it as soon as posible to test. Set up a clean XP SP2, put in some apps and system settings and see if the upgrade works. Otherwise MS are going to have to create some very simple migration tools for end users. In general the home user is not great at backing up their data or at knowing what they actually have on their PC.
The question was very much prompted by the fact that I built a friend a 64bit machine. He ran Windows XP 32 bit before ordering from MS (against my advice - he's not that IT literate) - a trial version of XP-64 and bang, no upgrade path - he lost everything the fool. I told him that was primarily because as yet it is not a released product but then I wonder how much more work they have to do on it and if in the end they will have a 32 to 64 upgrade path and if MS is counting on a mass migration from XP to Vista then there has to be a clear, safe, and easy migration path and we should now be testing it. Wow, that needed some punctuation!
It makes very little difference to me - I run everything server based so in my organisation no data is held on the local computer but still, not just looking out for myself!
"NLWard" wrote in message I have never had much success in upgrading any Microsoft Windows OS. When you upgrade, you take your old problems with you to the new version. Therefore, I do a clean install.
Also, until they tell us differently, we're advised to do a clean install, even if upgrade is available. Unless you're testing the upgrade route, and I prefer not to. :) Now, since I've said that, we'll probably be asked to test upgrade. :(
-- Nancy Ward MSN Messenger MVP
"Tim O'Neill" wrote in message Hi, I've been testing for a while now and saw in general a great improvement when we went to 5270 build except some features had been taken out from Beta 1. I know the next release will be in Feb but do we have an indication of when in Feb it will be, and will we be able to upgrade this time instead of a clean install?

P.S. I am currently sitting on the Windows Vista Beta Testing sidelines (I have had very horrible luck with Builds 5231 and 5270, to which Andre is probably getting sick and tired of all of my complaints about the current Builds, from the MSDN Newsgroup), and will resume Beta Testing Windows Vista (with my MSDN Subscription) as soon as Microsoft gives us MSDN Subscriber's a New Build. Until then, I will be running the IE 7 Beta 2 Public Preview on top of Windows XP Service Pack 2.
"Kevin Panzke" wrote in message

According to Neowin.net, The February CTP will be released to TAP (Technology Adoption Program) Beta Tester's Only! The rest of us (I am a MSDN Operating Systems Level Subscriber) get to wait until Beta 2 comes out on April 12th, 2006!
"Tim O'Neill" wrote in message Hi, I've been testing for a while now and saw in general a great improvement when we went to 5270 build except some features had been taken out from Beta 1. I know the next release will be in Feb but do we have an indication of when in Feb it will be, and will we be able to upgrade this time instead of a clean install?

On Tue, 7 Feb 2006 14:43:22 -0800, Andre Da Costa [Extended64] wrote:

I would still continue doing clean installs until beta 2 when Microsoft really says, go is go. You can try for testing purposes, I know I will be doing it to give feedback where necessary. But if you are into testing that aspect of the operating system, do a clean install. Windows Blinds is not compatible with Vista, so it would probably just disable it during the upgrade process.

Right - makes sense I guess. Just eager to see it in the flesh as to how it will look - will have to get VPC sorted out I guess and give it a go that way! -- Tekguru (Daron Brewood) MS-MVP/Mobile Devices
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