I finally got to upgrading the beta 2 of Windows Vista to RC1 last weekend. I did expect it to be better and based on many blog posts I also expected it to be quite faster.

But I did not expect the speed improvement I found. You have to see it to believe it. Occasionally it feels significantly faster than my current Windows XP Pro!

Besides from that, I have noticed improved networking in general – beta 2 worked fine with my wireless card, except when it didn’t  but RC1 just works. Boot times are still not as good as with XP but once Vista loads it flies.

Finally, a big disappointment – the processor throttling (aka SpeedStep on older Intel mobile processors) is still not working on my Intel Pentium-M (Dothan, 2 years old now). For an RC1, this is inexcusable.

Oh, yeah – the Flip3D (3D ALT-TAB replacement that stacks windows of open apps in 3D) looks significantly better, probably due to better anti-aliasing algorithm.

I have not had any crashes and all of my hardware works fine, but it was fine with beta 2 as well.

All in all, a must-have upgrade for beta 2 users. For others… well, if you’re not developing software for Vista, I see no reason to rush and install this.