After The Windows Vista Beta 2 was so buggy and crash-prone that testers virtually demanded a third Beta release, Microsoft instead went ahead and moved on to Release Candidate 1. I haven’t seen much word yet about RAM requirements, but early versions demanded 1 GB, and Beta 2 needed 700 MB. The claim now is that 512 MB of RAM will do, but I doubt that you could run much more than the basic OS with just that.

So far, people are claiming that RC1 is a lot less buggy than the last Beta, but there are still long delays with installing and booting, and other problems (ZDNet called it “unbaked“) which may require a second “Candidate” release. Even so, MS seems to be rushing here, concerned more with the deadline than with possible quality issues. It’s still keeping its options open, though–despite XP’s RC1 being accompanied by a specific release date, Vista’s RC1 is not, so if more time is needed, MS hasn’t painted themselves into too restrictive a corner.

Additionally, not everyone is excited about Vista’s pricing, which is at $200 for the basic Home version and $400 for Pro ($100 and $260 for upgrades, respectively). The upgrade prices are deceptive, though–few people who have been running XP have computers brawny enough to handle Vista, which means that more people will probably be getting it bundled with new computers they’ll have to buy–which, rebates or not, will up the price considerably.