Is Windows Vista back on track?
MS-Watch | at | by Mike
After giving Windows Vista Beta 2 less-than-stellar report cards, Windows testers are finding more to like about a new Vista test build that Microsoft made available for download on June 23.
Microsoft quietly released to Technology Adoption Partner (TAP) and other selected technical beta testers the first post-Beta-2 build of Vista, Build No. 5456, over the past weekend.
The new build contains very few new additions and no major code cuts, according to testers. It is mostly a bug-fix build, testers said.
Unlike Beta 2 -- the major milestone release Microsoft made available for download to two million testers -- the new Community Technology Preview (CTP) 5456 build has not gone through as rigorous a test pass, according to a note Microsoft issued to Vista 5456 testers. Nonetheless, the Vista team characterized the new build as "generally better than Beta 2."