Beta One is now available, and most of the interesting stuff is invisible.<br> <br> The cool new UI isn't there yet, and most of the OS feels like Windows XP Version 1.1.&nbsp; Sure it's got the .NET Framework 2.0 and Indigo and Avalon, but these are foundational pieces that don't mean anything until you get to play with something built on top of them, and there isn't any of that yet.&nbsp; Even Solitaire is the same old Solitaire.<br> <br> This is good news - a lot of the changes are small things, the sorts of things that you appreciate more in the end than big sweeping changes for no particular reason.&nbsp; The Start Menu is more refined, for example, and desktop search technology is built-in and accessible.&nbsp; (It was built-in to Windows XP, but was never really made available in any useful way).<br> <br> There really isn't much I don't like about Windows XP, so it's not like we need a new OS release.&nbsp; If I had to buy it, I probably wouldn't - I'd wait until I got a new computer that came with it.&nbsp; I think that's how most people will end up upgrading.<br> <br>Thu, 01 Sep 2005 19:17:09 GMT