All posts

I needed to reinstall Windows on my notebook, so I decided to try Whistler, the Windows XP beta.

My reasoning was fairly straightforward: I was already reinstalling every few weeks to a month. If I was going to go through the process again, I might as well get to play with the new features.

I copied my code and software onto my desktop machine at work. Then I worked from the desktop while I repartitioned, cleaned out, and installed the beta on the notebook.

Having another machine available made that experiment easier. The notebook could be occupied with its installation while I still had somewhere to get work done.

I really liked Whistler. There is something enjoyable about trying a new version of an operating system and seeing where it is going. Exploring the changes was part of the attraction, even before I had settled into using it.

Liking it and trusting it to behave were different things, though. In my experience, it was very buggy compared with Windows 2000 Professional.

That doesn’t erase the appeal. It does affect how I think about the experiment. A feature can be interesting while the system around it still needs work. Enthusiasm for trying it doesn’t make the bugs less inconvenient when I need the computer for something else.

I’m not presenting this as a recommendation to put a beta on an important machine. This was the choice I made while I already had a reinstall in progress and another computer to work from.

For me, the opportunity to explore won this round.

I wanted to see the new Windows. Apparently, I was also willing to meet some of its unfinished parts.