onion2k wrote:Anyone who runs a Microsoft Beta product is, in my opinion, utterly mental.
I've run quite a few, and while I can't disagree with being mental (HEH!), I will say there are non-insane reasons to do so.
First and foremost, as a developer (we all are, right?), its important to know whats coming in the future, so our code can work for users.
For example, I code a webgame. I'd love to switch to xhtml, but I can't because IE doesn't handle it correctly. In Beta1 of Vista, its still broken. However, in Beta2, it might be fixed! That would be extremely useful knowledge for me, as I could then begin moving towards xhtml.
But beyond that, I'm also a user. I'd like to know if - some ten years later - they finally fixed the idiotic and annoying startbar adjust issue. Whats that? Move your start bar to stretch across the top of the screen, instead of the bottom.
Now open a few new windows that aren't maximized. Eventually, you'll find an application (for example, possibly media player) that will open with the top of the window bar BENEATH the start bar. Oddly, Microsoft added support to ensure that didnt happen before the release of win95, yet various applications and upgrades have not removed the behavior - all the way to Windows XP!
Its not insane for me to want to see if they fixed that, and if not, let them know on their beta forums. In fact, thats exactly why they do betas.
Of course, I'm the first to stand in line and argue that running windows is (by itself) insanity. But then again, I never claimed to be sane!
