A Look into Vista

With a scheduled release date of late 2006, Windows Vista promises both heightened security and a heightened user experience.

Windows XP has finally passed the torch. After waiting years for Microsoft’s Longhorn operating system, the newest member of the Windows family was unveiled under the release name of Vista. In this version of Windows, the focus seems to be about efficiency and a reduction of the number of defects. After this, the shift is to an increased confidence from the user’s perspective, including better security. Lastly, Vista is about an enhanced user interface. The latter, however, is obviously the most prevalent.

In the Beta 1 release the new user interface named Aero, isn’t complete, but there is enough of it in the package to show if off. Aero provides users a more modern landscape by utilizing 3D graphics accelerators to implement Glass. Glass makes windows translucent to make the focus on the content more prevalent rather than the window itself. Another added touch is the way icons are displayed in Vista. Live icons are used showing the content of the file i.e. a thumbnail of a photo, or the first page of a word document. This, along with enhanced desktop searches utilizing metadata makes locating the exact file far easier than previous operating systems.

In an effort to curtail the number of hangs a computer encounters,

Vista is built with auto-diagnosis and auto-correction of common errors. The auto-diagnosis capability warns users of impending hard drive failures, low virtual memory, and other failures that usually cause crashes and data loss. This early warning system also suggests what actions to take to prevent such problems. Should Vista fail to boot, the Startup Repair tool will guide users through a step-by-step process that helps them to recover data and minimize loss.

The enhanced security of Windows Vista is by far it’s greatest asset, at least from an IT department’s eyes. No longer do users require administrator rights to run most applications. Standard users can still run most applications as well as users in the administrators group. Those in the administrators group are not without their own upgraded security. When certain administrative tasks are preformed, Vista will question the users intentions and ask for administrative credentials. Home users are not left out of the heightened security prevalent in

Vista.

Vista comes with a new firewall helping to better control applications, the system services have been hardened to help prevent the spread of malware, and Internet Explorer 7 helps protect users from dangerous websites. Rounding out the home security portion of this OS is the parental control panel. Parents can lock out children from games and other applications that they feel are inappropriate.

Users can expect the second round of Beta testing to take place in the first half of 2006 and the product’s final release in the latter half of 2006.