Windows Vista


Windows Vista introduces a breakthrough user experience and is designed to help you feel confident in your ability to view, find, and organize information and to control your computing experience.

The visual sophistication of Windows Vista helps streamline your computing experience by refining common window elements so you can better focus on the content on the screen rather than on how to access it. The desktop experience is more informative, intuitive, and helpful. And new tools bring better clarity to the information on your computer, so you can see what your files contain without opening them, find applications and files instantly, navigate efficiently among open windows, and use wizards and dialog boxes more confidently.

To make searching even more efficient, Windows Vista enables you to add or edit file properties or data associated with a file, like a keyword on a document, the artist of a song, or the event where a picture was taken, to make it easier for you to find in the future. For example, you could add a "graduation" keyword to photos taken at a graduation ceremony when you save them to your computer. Later, just search for "graduation" in the Quick Search box in the start menu or the Windows Photo Gallery, and all the graduation-related pictures will be displayed.

Windows Vista also builds upon the User Account Protection initiative—by default, limiting Internet Explorer 7 to just enough permissions to browse the Web, but not enough to modify your files or settings—keeping your PC safer from Web-based attacks. This Windows Vista-only feature, known as protected mode, means that even if a malicious site attacks a potential vulnerability in Internet Explorer 7, the site's code will not have enough privileges to install software, copy files to the Startup folder, or hijack the settings for your browser's home page or search provider.

Gadgets

Gadgets are mini-applications with a wide variety of possible uses. Gadgets can connect to Web services to deliver weather information, news updates, traffic maps, Internet radio streams, and slideshows of online photo albums. Gadgets can also integrate with your applications to streamline your interaction with them. For example, a gadget can give you an at-a-glance view of all your online instant messaging contacts, the day view from your calendar, or an easy way to control your media player. Of course, gadgets can also have any number of dedicated purposes. They can be calculators, games, sticky notes, and more.

Sleep

Windows Vista introduces a new power state called Sleep. In Windows XP, after you shut down your PC, it takes a long time to turn it back on. The new Sleep state in Windows Vista combines the speed of Standby with the data protection features and low power consumption of Hibernate. Resuming use when your PC is in the Sleep state takes just 2-3 seconds. You can shut down and restart your computer less often by using the new Sleep state, a simple one-click on and off experience which not only reduces power consumption, but also helps protect your data.

Sleep on desktop PCs

Sleep works in a different way on Windows Vista-based desktops than it does on Windows Vista-based laptops. When you turn off a Windows Vista-based desktop, all the documents, applications, and data that are currently in use are saved in two places. First, they are saved to the memory, or RAM, where they are quickly accessible (in Windows XP this was called Standby). Simultaneously, the information is saved to the computer's hard disk (in Windows XP this was called Hibernate). In Sleep, Windows Vista simultaneously saves the current user information to both memory and the hard disk.

In Sleep, Windows Vista uses the data saved to memory to help you restart faster after extended periods of non-use. Simply move the mouse or press any key on the keyboard, and the computer starts up within seconds.

The Sleep state uses the data saved to your hard disk to protect it in case of power loss. When you resume the use of your desktop after a power failure, Windows Vista will quickly restart from Sleep using the data saved to disk, with all of your data and applications intact.

Sleep on laptop PCs

On laptop PCs, you can enter the Sleep state by pressing the Power button or closing the laptop lid. Your data is saved to memory, letting you resume use faster. As battery power winds down, Windows Vista quickly transitions the data to disk to help keep the data safe. Windows Vista lets you resume use of your computer more quickly and reliably than previous versions of Windows.

SuperFetch

SuperFetch, a new feature in Windows Vista, allows applications and files to load much faster than on Windows XP-based computers. In previous versions of Windows, system responsiveness could be uneven. You may have experienced sluggish behavior after booting your machine, after performing a fast user switch, or even after lunch. Although too many carbohydrates might slow you down after lunch, your computer slows down for different reasons. When you're not actively using your computer, background tasks—including applications such as automatic back-up and antivirus software—take this opportunity to run when they will least disturb you. These background tasks can take space in system memory that your applications were using. After you start to use your PC again, it can take some time to reload your data into memory, slowing down performance.

SuperFetch, a new technology in Windows Vista, understands which applications you use most, and preloads these applications into memory, so your system is more responsive when you first boot or when you switch to a different user profile. SuperFetch uses an intelligent prioritization scheme that understands which applications you use most often, and can even differentiate which applications you are likely to use at different times (for example, on the weekend versus during the week), so that your computer is ready to do what you want it to do. SuperFetch can also prioritize your applications over background tasks, so that when you return to your machine after leaving it idle, it's still responsive.

External memory devices

Adding system memory (RAM) is often the best way to improve your PC's performance. More memory means more applications are ready to run without accessing the hard drive. However, upgrading memory is not always easy. You must learn what type of memory you need, purchase the memory, and open your computer to install the memory—which sometimes can invalidate your support agreement. Also, some machines have limited memory expansion capabilities, preventing you from adding RAM even if you are willing to do so.

Windows Vista introduces a new concept in adding memory to a system. USB flash drives can be used as External Memory Devices (EMDs) to extend system memory and improve performance without opening the box. Your computer is able to access memory from an EMD device much more quickly than it can access data on the hard drive, boosting system performance. When combined with SuperFetch technology, this can help drive impressive improvement in system responsiveness.

EMD technology is both reliable and secure. You can remove an EMD at any time without any loss of data or negative impact to the system; however, if you remove the EMD, your performance returns to the level you experienced without the device. Wear on the USB drive is not an issue when using it as an EMD. A unique algorithm optimizes wear patterns, so that a USB device can run as an EMD for many years, even when heavily used. Finally, data on the EMD is encrypted to help prevent inappropriate access to data when the device is removed.

Hybrid Hard Drive

A Hybrid Hard Drive is a new type of hard drive with an integrated non-volatile flash memory buffer. If your machine is equipped with a Hybrid Hard Drive, Windows Vista takes advantage of this hardware to boot, hibernate, and resume use more quickly. Hybrid Hard Drive technology can also improve system reliability and battery life.

The hybrid drive is intended for mobile PCs running Windows Vista. Your data is written to the flash memory, which saves work for the mechanical hard drive—saving you battery power. The hybrid drive helps Windows Vista resume use faster from Sleep because data can be restored from flash memory faster than from the mechanical hard drive. And since the mechanical hard drive is not working when you are in Sleep state with the Hybrid Hard Drive, you have less risk of hardware problems with the hard drive when you're on the move. Windows Vista takes advantage of Hybrid Hard Drives to save battery life, resume use faster from hibernation, and improve reliability.

Network Setup

With Windows Vista, setting up a network between multiple PCs and devices (including printers, music players, and game systems) is simple and intuitive. The Network Setup Wizard allows you to set up wired or wireless networks by identifying unconfigured network devices and adding them to the network. The Network Setup Wizard also automates the process of adding new devices to your network. It automatically generates secure network settings to keep your network safe from intruders.

Network settings can also be saved to a portable USB flash drive to make adding PCs and devices to the network a quick and easy process. Simply insert the USB flash drive into a PC or device and it will automatically read the data and ready itself to join the network. File and printer sharing is also easily enabled on each PC on the network from the Network Setup Wizard, so you can share documents, photos, music, and other files across your network.

Network Explorer

Once a network is set up, you need to be able to easily browse content on networked PCs, devices, and printers. The new Network Explorer in Windows Vista makes it easy to share files and take advantage of the connectivity that a network provides. It presents a view of all PCs, devices, and printers on the network, and is significantly faster and more reliable than My Network Places in Windows XP. The Network Explorer is even able to use custom, representative icons for different devices (when enabled by manufacturers). You can also directly interact with select devices—adjust settings or control music playback, for example.

Wireless Networking

Windows Vista improves the wireless network experience in a number of ways. The new Network Awareness feature in Windows Vista keeps your applications aware of and optimized for the network's changing capabilities. Your data is also more secure with enhanced support for the latest wireless security protocols, including WPA2. Windows Vista helps you avoid connecting to fraudulent wireless networks which seem like legitimate hotspots but, in fact, are not. Windows Vista also provides an easy way to create ad-hoc wireless networks to use peer-to-peer applications such as file sharing and application collaboration.

Security

User Account Control (UAC), a new set of features in Windows Vista, helps strike a balance between the flexibility and power of an administrator account and the security of a standard user account.

Activities such as surfing the Web, sending e-mail, and using productivity programs don't require special administrative privileges. Windows Vista makes it easy to perform these activities and be productive using standard user accounts.

When you want to perform an administrative task, like installing a new program, Windows Vista prompts you to verify that you want to install the program before allowing that administrative task to run. This way, the use of administrator privileges is minimized, making it more difficult for malware, such as viruses, worms, spyware, and other potentially unwanted software, to have machine-wide impact on your PC.

UAC also helps protect family computers from malware. Often malware is hidden in programs that appeal to children. To help protect your computer, you can create standard user accounts for your children. When your child tries to install a piece of software, the system will ask for an administrator account's password. Your children cannot install new programs by themselves.

Better protection from malware

Security alerts enable you to quickly resolve potentially damaging issues that can harm your Windows Vista PC.

·         Windows Defender helps protect you against spyware and other potentially unwanted software.

·         And the Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT) periodically scans your PC looking for known prevalent viruses. (The MSRT is not part of Windows Vista but may be downloaded from Microsoft at no additional cost.)

In addition to using these built-in Windows Vista features, you should help keep your computer healthy by using antivirus software such as Windows OneCare or an antivirus solution from one of Microsoft's partners.

With Speech Recognition in Windows Vista you can control your computer by voice whether dictating an e-mail or controlling applications. Microsoft-designed Speech Recognition is entirely focused on what you want. Right from the start, you can work through guided setups and an interactive training application to get familiar with key concepts and commands. The innovative natural user interface provides choices or additional questions to help you along. Whether starting an application, selecting a word, or correcting a sentence, you are always in control and are smoothly guided toward a list of smart choices.

Until now, there has not been an easy way to manage all of these individual sync relationships — you often have a fragmented experience that depends on the specific device or data sources. The new Sync Center helps you to initiate a manual sync, stop an in-progress sync, see the status of current sync activities, and receive notifications to resolve conflicts.

Use the new Sync Center to manage the synchronization of your data with other PCs or the devices you connect to your PC. While Sync Center offers a unifying synchronization experience, it does not incorporate the sync tools or functionality provided by third-party applications. Windows Vista itself detects, diagnoses, and helps you respond to common problems. But when incidents that require support do occur, Windows Vista provides centralized support tools and resources to quickly diagnose and resolve issues. In Windows Vista, Remote Assistance is optimized for the enterprise, with faster performance, built-in diagnostic tools, and the ability to assist users at home, on the road, or from a remote location.