Installing LongHorn
With all aplomb, I started on the PDC bits of LongHorn after I returned back to India on the 3rd of November. First off, I had to convert the ISO images of LongHorn into CD format and the DVD had versions for the various platforms and I was confused for the X86 set, since there were two ISO images with vague names (pro_xxx and fre_xxx). The documentation also did not mention about what these files were, since they differed in size too. But I took the risk and converted the pro_??? image into a CD and it fit nicely into one single CD. I started the installation post that and everything went well, until I reached the screen where I had to decide on the partition where the installation had to happen. I choose one of my existing partitions and had to click multiple times on the format button before something did happen and the partition was formatted silently in a minute with no progress indication!! But that was OK, and installation continued... for a loooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggg time... :-)
The place where I got stuck was in the hardware detection screen and that hung on for around 1.5 hours with no luck. I had to abort the installation by switching off my test machine and maybe I will try the installation again later or wait for a more stable build. But overall, the software does live up to its expection in terms of an Alpha!! :-) I've actually heard conflicting reports about the installation process itself, since some of my other collegues who attended the PDC were able to install the same in their laptops in about 1/2 hour. Maybe my desktop hardware was not in the HCL for LongHorn.