Paul Thurrott published part 3 of his Windows Vista Beta 2 review

Windows Vista Beta 2--and to a larger degree, interim build 5456, which arrived about a month after Beta 2--offer a much more streamlined and complete-feeling user experience than previous builds. Given the fact that the past few Community Technical Preview (CTP) builds were considered feature complete, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Beta 2 offers little in the way of major new features. But that isn't to say that things haven't changed. In fact, some parts of the system have changed in subtle, but very important ways.

Windows Vista Beta 2 Review Part 3