B & I SNOWDEN-Find a Wealth of Products and Services
PC Reading
12-26- to 12-29
Pc repair and Up Grading
X86 Cpu and Motherboards.
01-02 to 01-05
review notes on Windows Vista
These capabilities make Windows Vista a great operating system solution for your company PCs. From the perspective of an IT professional, Windows Vista is easier to deploy, and less expensive to maintain, than any earlier version of Windows. From the perspective of end users, Windows Vista's improved performance and reliability add value by allowing people to be more effective while performing their jobs.
Security
Microsoft has been able to increase the security of Windows XP significantly since its initial release by providing updates such as Service Pack 2, but major security improvements require significant architectural changes that can only be made by releasing a new operating system release. With Windows Vista, Microsoft is making fundamental investments in technology to help make customers more secure. Efforts include using a security development lifecycle to develop more secure software and providing technology innovation in the platform to provide layered defense, or defense-in-depth. Windows Vista includes many security features and improvements to protect client computers from the latest generation of threats, including spyware and other types of malware.
User Account Control
With Windows XP and earlier operating systems, IT departments had to choose between the application compatibility and convenience of having users log on as an administrator, and the security and stability provided by having users log on as a standard user. User Account Control in Windows Vista gives administrators the option of restricting permissions while still enabling most applications to run.
To help provide this combination of security and compatibility, File and Registry Virtualization automatically redirects writes and subsequent reads to areas that the standard user does not have access to. Changes made to the virtualized registry settings and folders are visible to only that user account and the applications the user runs, so the integrity of the computer is protected. If an application does require administrator credentials, Windows Vista will prompt the user for the credentials before allowing the application to run.
Windows Firewall with Advanced Security and Windows Service Hardening
The personal firewall built into Windows Vista builds on the functionality that is included with Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2. For example, Windows Vista's firewall blocks all inbound traffic until a computer has the latest security updates installed. The bi-directional firewall also includes outbound filtering that enables users to configure it to selectively block both outbound traffic and inbound traffic. Every aspect of Windows Vista's firewall can be configured using Group Policy settings, so client security settings remain constant. For the first time in a Windows operating system, Windows Vista firewall management is integrated with IPsec. The firewall works closely with Windows Service Hardening to restrict what services can do on the system, providing defense-in-depth and reducing opportunities for attackers to compromise vulnerable computers. Windows Service Hardening restricts critical Windows services from doing abnormal activities in the file system, registry, network, or any other resources that could be used to allow malware to install itself or attack other computers. For example, the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) service can be restricted from replacing system files or modifying the registry.
In Windows Vista, Internet Protocol security (IPsec) and firewall management are integrated in a single console, known as Windows Firewall with Advanced Security. This console centralizes inbound and outbound traffic filtering along with IPSec server and domain isolation settings in the user interface, enabling increased visibility into security settings.
Malicious and potentially unwanted software
User Account Control, discussed earlier in this document, and security improvements to Internet Explorer (including the new Protected mode, which will be discussed later) can reduce the impact of malicious and unwanted software in Windows Vista. In addition to these features, Windows Vista can detect and clean many malware applications including spyware and other potentially unwanted software using Windows Defender and the monthly delivery of the Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT) through Automatic Updates (AU). These technologies help protect the integrity of the operating system and the privacy of users' data. Although Windows Vista includes many anti-malware technologies, a full anti-virus solution is still recommended for the best protection. Note that the built-in anti-malware detection, cleaning, and real-time blocking is primarily targeted at unmanaged users. Windows Vista does not include enterprise management level support for anti-malware via group policy beyond troubleshooting and enabling/disabling Windows Defender.
Internet Explorer Enhancements
Windows Vista builds upon the User Account Control initiative to limit Internet Explorer to just enough privileges to browse the Web, but not enough to modify user files or settings by default. This Windows Vista-only feature, known as Protected mode, will be in Beta 2. As a result, even if a malicious site attacks a potential vulnerability in Internet Explorer, the site's code won't have enough privileges to install software, copy files to the user's Startup folder, or hijack the settings for the browser's homepage or search provider.
To help protect a user's personal information, Internet Explorer:
 | Highlights the new security status bar when visiting a Secure Sockets Layer-protected site and lets the user easily check the validity of a site's security certificate. |
| Has a phishing filter, which helps users browse more safely by advising them when Web sites may be attempting to steal their confidential information. The filter works by analyzing Web site content, looking for known characteristics of phishing techniques and using a global network of data sources to decide if the Web site should be trusted. Filter data is updated several times an hour, which is important given the speed with which phishing sites can appear and potentially collect a user's data. |
| Clears all cached data with a single click. |
Network Access Protection
Windows Vista includes an agent that can provide information about a client’s health state and configuration to network access servers or peers. With Network Access Protection, clients that lack current security updates, lack virus signatures, or otherwise fail to meet your computer health requirements cannot communicate on your private network. Network Access Protection can be used to protect your network from remote access clients as well as local area network (LAN) clients using wired or wireless connections. The agent reports Windows Vista client health status, such as having current updates and up-to-date virus signatures installed, to a server-based Network Access Protection enforcement service. A Network Access Protection infrastructure, included with Windows Server "Longhorn", determines whether to grant the client access to your private network or to a restricted network.
Routing Compartments
To prevent unwanted forwarding of traffic between interfaces for virtual private network (VPN), Terminal Server, and multi-user logon configurations, the Next Generation TCP/IP stack supports routing compartments. A routing compartment is the combination of a set of interfaces with a login session that has its own IP routing tables. A computer can have multiple routing compartments that are isolated from each other. Each interface can only belong to a single compartment. For example, when a user initiates a VPN connection across the Internet with the current TCP/IP stack, the user's computer has partial connectivity to both the Internet and a private intranet by manipulating entries in the IPv4 routing table. In some situations, it is possible for traffic from the Internet to be forwarded across the VPN connection to the private intranet. Routing compartments in the Next Generation TCP/IP stack isolate the Internet connectivity from the private intranet connectivity with separate IP routing tables.
Wireless Single Sign-On
The deployment of wireless networks has promoted the use of Layer 2 network authentication, such as 802.1X, to ensure that only an appropriate user or device is allowed on the protected network and that their data is secure at the radio transmission level. The Single Sign-On feature executes Layer 2 network authentication at the appropriate time given the network security configuration, while at the same time seamlessly integrating with the user's Windows log-on experience. Administrators can use Group Policy or the Command Line Interface to deploy Single Sign-On profiles to client machines. Once a Single Sign-On profile is configured, 802.1X authentication will precede the Windows logon. This feature enables scenarios such GPO updates, Log-On scripts and wireless Bootstrap, which require network connectivity prior to user logon.
Broad Support for Wireless Security Protocols
The native WiFi architecture in Windows Vista has wide support for the latest security protocols, including WiFi Protected Access (WPA), WiFi Protected Access 2 (WPA2), Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP), Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol-Transport Layer Security (PEAP-TLS), Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), and others. This broad support ensures interoperability between Windows Vista and almost any wireless infrastructure. Personal networks at home or in small businesses can also be more secure through WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK using a pre-shared key. The capabilities of the wireless network card are examined by Windows Vista, and the most secure protocol is chosen by default when creating a new wireless network Security in Windows Vista is also extensible. Using the EAP-HOST framework, Windows Vista is able to support custom authentication mechanisms defined by a hardware vendor or by an organization itself.
Platform Improvements
Windows Vista's authentication capabilities are more flexible, providing a variety of choices for customized authentication mechanisms such as fingerprint scanners and smart cards. Deployment and management tools, such as self-service personal identification number (PIN) reset tools, make smart cards easier to manage and deploy. Smart cards can now be used to log on to Windows Vista, too. Further, Windows Vista enables authentication using Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) or Web services.
Certificate enrollment is made easier because Windows Vista includes Credential Manager enhancements that enable backing up and restoring credentials stored on the local computer. The new Digital Identity Management Service (DIMS) provides certificate and credential roaming within an Active Directory forest and end-to-end certificate life cycle management scenarios.
Windows Vista's auditing capabilities make it easier to track what users do. Auditing categories now include multiple subcategories, reducing the number of irrelevant events. Windows Vista integrated audit event forwarding collects and forwards critical audit data to a central location, enabling enterprises to better organize and analyze audit data.
.gif){kind=icon}
Top of pageMulti-Tiered Data Protection
Theft or loss of corporate intellectual property is an increasing concern for organizations. Windows Vista has improved support for data protection at the document, file, directory, and machine levels. The integrated Rights Management client allows organizations to enforce policies around document usage. The Encrypting File System, which provides user-based file and directory encryption, has been enhanced to allow storage of encryption keys on smart cards, providing better protection of encryption keys. In addition, the new BitLocker™ Drive Encryption enterprise feature adds machine-level data protection. It provides full volume encryption of the system volume, including Windows system files and the hibernation file, which helps protect data from being compromised on a lost, stolen or decommissioned machine. In order to provide a solution that is easy to deploy and manage, a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 chip is used to store the keys that encrypt and decrypt sectors on the Windows hard drive. It requires the TPM and an enterprise management infrastructure to ensure that the feature is easy to use for end users.
Reliability and Performance
While Windows Vista takes advantage of modern computing hardware, it also runs faster and more reliably on the same computers used to run Windows XP. The operating system is more dependable, and Restart Manager reduces the number of times users need to restart their computers. Applications that run on Windows Vista are more reliable too, because applications can recover from deadlocked situations and improved error reporting enables developers to fix common problems. Windows Vista can even help detect and recover failing hard disks and memory.
Automatic Recovery
With Windows XP and earlier operating systems, recovering from a service failure typically required users to restart their computers. With Windows Vista, most service failures are not noticeable to users, because Windows Vista will automatically restart most services in the unlikely event that they fail. If necessary, Windows Vista can automatically address service dependencies and restart multiple services to maintain the reliability of the operating system. Because users often restarted their computer to resolve problems with failed services, automatic recovery also reduces the number of restarts.
Built-in Diagnostics
Windows Vista can self-diagnose and resolve a number of common problems. For example, Windows Disk Diagnostics proactively detects impending disk failures and can alert the support center to replace the failing hard disk before total failure occurs. For administrators, Windows Vista will guide them through the process of backing up their data so the hard disk can be replaced without data loss.
Windows Vista also includes memory diagnostics to help administrators track down problems with unreliable memory. Previously, memory diagnostics were available only as a download and were difficult for many IT professionals to use. In Windows Vista, if Windows Error Reporting (WER) or Microsoft Online Crash Analysis (MOCA) determines that a failure may be caused by failing memory, Windows Vista prompts the user to perform memory diagnostics without requiring an additional download or separate boot disk. If memory diagnostics identifies a memory problem, Windows Vista can avoid using the affected portion of physical memory to enable the operating system to start successfully and to avoid application crashes. Upon startup, Windows Vista provides an easy-to-understand report detailing the problem. Windows Vista also includes the Network Diagnostics Framework (NDF). The NDF provides users with advanced means to assist in problem resolution for network-related issues. When unable to connect to a network resource, the user is presented with clear repair options rather than error messages which can be difficult to understand. If Windows Vista can repair the issue automatically, it will; if not, the user is directed to perform simple steps to correct the problem without having to call for support.
Startup Repair Tool
Windows Vista includes the Startup Repair Tool (StR) to automatically fix many common problems and enable end users and IT professionals to quickly diagnose and repair more complex startup problems. When a startup failure is detected, the system fails over into StR. Once started, StR performs diagnostics to determine the cause of the startup failure. StR even analyzes startup log files so that you don't have to. Once StR determines the cause of the failure, it attempts to fix the problem automatically. The entire process requires little to no user input. Problems StR can automatically repair include:
| Incompatible drivers |
| Missing or corrupted startup configuration settings |
| Corrupted disk metadata |
After the operating system has been repaired, Windows Vista notifies the user of the repairs and provides logging so that IT professionals can determine exactly which steps StR performed. StR also includes tools to assist IT professionals in manually troubleshooting startup problems. StR reduces support calls related to startup problems, and when users do need assistance, StR enables you to quickly solve the problem.
Application Reliability
Windows Vista is engineered to reduce the frequency and impact of user disruptions. It includes fixes for known crashes and hangs, and enhanced instrumentation that will provide greater insight into what causes unresponsive conditions.
Windows Vista will offer improved application reliability from the first day that businesses deploy it, and the new error reporting capabilities will enable applications to continue to become more reliable over time. With earlier versions of Windows, application hangs were very hard for developers to troubleshoot because error reporting provided limited or no information about hangs. Windows Vista improves error reporting to give developers the information they need identify the root cause of problems. This enables continuous improvements in reliability.
Performance Improvements
Windows Vista offers improved performance and responsiveness compared with Windows XP. For example, Windows Vista can automatically detect problems related to long startup times or an unresponsive user interface, and add an event to the event log that describes the condition and that possibly provides information about the root cause of the performance problem. Administrators can use this information to troubleshoot problems on a case-by-case basis, or aggregate the event log data by using a tool such as Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) to analyze performance for the entire enterprise.
The Next-Generation TCP/IP stack automatically senses the network environment and adjusts key performance settings, such as the TCP receive window. Improved stack auto-tuning and configuration reduces the need for manual configuration of TCP/IP settings. It enables faster network transfers, more intelligent bandwidth usage, and fewer retransmissions of lost data on the network. This can lead to a significant reduction in the time required to transfer a large file or back up a hard drive across the network.
Deployment
Deploying a new operating system to an enterprise is no small task, but Windows Vista image-based deployment makes the process as efficient as possible. Images are the most reliable and quickest way to deploy an operating system, but they have not historically been part of the standard Windows operating system installation, requiring additional software and many hours of labor to maintain. To help reduce the complexity of the deployment process, Microsoft based the installation of Windows Vista on the file-based disk imaging technology called Windows Imaging (WIM); modularized Windows Vista to make customization and deployment of the images easier; and made significant other deployment enhancements to the core operating system.
Modularization
Windows Vista is modularized, which makes it easier to customize. When preparing to distribute Windows Vista to an organization, IT professionals configure and add optional components to distribute to a given set of computers. Languages, for example, are components, so the English language can be distributed to one set of computers, while French, German, and Spanish go to a different group. Drivers and updates are also components, making it easy to update images as hardware and software requirements change.
Windows Imaging
WIM is a file-based image format, which provides significant benefits as compared to the more common sector-based image formats. The WIM image format is hardware-agnostic, enabling you to maintain only a single image for multiple hardware configurations. WIM can also store multiple images within a single image file, making image management easier and saving disk space by storing only a single copy of each file. For example, you might store two images in a single WIM file — one image that contains only the Windows Vista operating system and a second image that also contains core applications. The WIM format reduces image file sizes significantly by using a compressed file format and single-instance storage techniques. (The image file contains one physical copy of a file for each instance of it in the image file, which significantly reduces the size of image files that contain multiple images.)
Maintaining WIM images is easy, because drivers, updates, and some other Windows components can be added and removed offline without ever starting the operating system image. Windows Vista includes tools to directly edit images to change general and regional settings, apply operating system updates, add drivers, and install updates. This feature saves hours of work maintaining setup images, because there is no need to start the image to make configuration changes.
Additionally, the WIM image format allows for non-destructive deployment. This means that you can leave data on the volume to which you apply the image because the application of the image does not erase the disk's existing contents.
Either modularization or WIM alone can dramatically simplify deployment; but together, they revolutionize the way client operating systems are installed. In other words, the combination of the two technologies provides a greater benefit than the two technologies would if offered separately. Most notably, the two technologies significantly reduce the number of operating system images that must be maintained. In other words, IT departments that previously maintained different images for each language and computer type can probably use just one or two Windows Vista images, thereby freeing the staff for other priorities.
Nondestructive Imaging
With previous versions of Windows, imaging could only be used for new Windows installations since deploying an image would overwrite the computer's hard disk. To upgrade a user's computer, IT professionals had to copy the user's files and settings to a different computer, and then restore the files and settings after deploying the image. Windows Vista includes nondestructive imaging using the WIM image format, which copies files and settings to a reserved portion of the computer's hard disk before deploying the Windows Vista image. After the Windows Vista image is deployed, Windows Vista migrates the files and settings and then restores the portion of the computer's hard disk that had been reserved. Overall, migrating to Windows Vista is much more reliable than migrating to Windows XP.
Unattended Installations
Most Windows Vista administrative tools, including Windows System Image Manager and the Microsoft Windows User State Migration Tool (USMT), can be controlled from a command line or script. This functionality saves time when the user must repeatedly perform the same, or similar, tasks. IT departments that do not use scripting will still save time configuring unattended setup by editing a single file: Unattend.xml. Windows Vista includes graphical tools that make it simple to configure an unattended installation without manually editing the file. Because Extensible Markup Language (XML) files are text-based, they can be edited manually or programmatically using a script.
Manageability
Monitoring, maintaining, and troubleshooting hundreds or thousands of computers can be both time-consuming and expensive. Windows Vista represents a significant step forward in Microsoft's commitment to reducing Windows computers' total cost of ownership (TCO). Windows Vista is designed to reduce the cost of desktop support, to simplify desktop configuration management, to enable better centralized management of the desktop and to decrease the cost of keeping systems updated. Expanded Group Policy settings make almost every aspect of Windows Vista centrally configurable, and powerful command-line and scripting tools enable IT professionals to automate monotonous tasks. Monitoring and reporting are designed to be centralized as well.
Configuration Management
Windows Vista technology ensures that changes to Windows files and settings happen in a predictable and reliable way. Windows Resource Protection (WRP) technology allows the system to protect itself from undesirable changes to system files, folders, or registry keys — changes that could render a computer or application inoperable. System settings in the registry are protected from inadvertent changes by users or unauthorized software; only the Windows trusted installer can make changes to protected system files and settings.
Group Policy
Almost every new configuration setting in Windows Vista can be controlled using Group Policy. Additionally, Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) is now included with Windows Vista. To make Windows Vista more flexible in environments in which multiple users use a single computer, such as schools and libraries, Windows Vista can have multiple Local Group Policy objects applied. This feature improves security and manageability in such shared-use environments as libraries and schools.
Policy-based Quality of Service
With Policy-based QoS, an IT department will be able to define flexible QoS policies to prioritize and/or throttle outbound network traffic without requiring modifications to applications. These QoS policies will apply to outbound traffic based on any or all of the following conditions: sending application; deployment through Group Policy (such as a set of users, machines); source/destination IP address; source/destination port; and protocol.
Eventing, Instrumentation, and Error Reporting
Windows Vista is easier to manage, saving IT professionals both time and effort. Event descriptions contain more data to help you identify the root cause of a problem and include event information in XML format, making it easy to expose events data to be leveraged by the management tools. For common problems, the process can be automated to launch tasks when a specific event appears. Windows Vista makes manually analyzing events easier, too, by enabling you to customize how the Event Viewer displays them. Additionally, Windows Vista can forward events to a central location to make identifying, tracking, and troubleshooting problems easier.
Automation
Windows Vista automation capabilities let repetitive management tasks be performed without human intervention, reducing the likelihood of manual errors. Windows Vista adds several key automation capabilities:
| Web Services for Management (WS-Management), an industry-standard Web services protocol for protected remote management of hardware and software components, makes Windows Vista easier to manage across a network by allowing administrators to remotely run scripts and perform other management tasks. |
| Key administrative tasks that can be performed from a user interface (UI) can also be completed from a command line, expanding the Windows XP command-line interface even further. This feature enables scripting and one-to-many administration. |
| An improved Task Scheduler lets administrators launch a set of tasks in a specific sequence, ensuring they do not run simultaneously, and automatically launch tasks in response to events or when the computer is idle. The credentials used to launch the tasks can now be stored in Active Directory rather than on the local computer in order to improve the security of the passwords and simplify mandatory password changes. |
Supportability
Windows Vista is designed to drive down user support costs in four key ways:
| Reduce the number of incidents. Windows Vista features such as Windows Resource Protection and User Account Control help users be productive while preventing them from making system changes that would affect the system's performance. Additionally, Windows Vista's failure recovery automatically resolves many common problems. |
| Help users help themselves. Windows Vista is engineered to help users help themselves, greatly reducing the need for support from IT administrators or support center professionals. User Assistance — Windows Vista's version of help files — in Windows Vista provides better search capabilities, is easier for end users to understand, and can be customized by the IT department. |
| Reduce support time. When problems occur, Windows Vista provides IT and support center professionals with tools, detailed events, and performance counters to make it easier to determine what happened and how to fix it. The ability to detect failing disks and memory allows IT professionals to proactively replace hardware before a problem becomes catastrophic, enabling the problem to be resolved in a few minutes rather than several hours. |
| Reduce the cost of supporting remote users. Windows Vista's improved Remote Assistance tool makes it easier and less costly to service computers in remote locations. To reduce bandwidth costs, the greatly improved Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) enables clients on a local area network (LAN) to share updates directly, instead of downloading the same files repeatedly across wide area networks (WANs). |
Productivity
User productivity is still one of the key considerations for IT departments evaluating a new operating system. Windows Vista seeks to add value to enterprises by substantially improving user productivity. Improvements to the user interface help both end users and skilled IT professionals become more productive. By allowing users to easily find what they need, Windows Vista helps users focus on what is most important for them to get job done.
Usability and End-User Productivity
Microsoft has improved the usability of almost every aspect of Windows Vista, including the Start menu, Windows Explorer, and Control Panel. For example, the Control Panel now lists specific tasks that the user may want to perform, such as changing the screen's resolution. Users can even use the Quick Search text box to search for applications on the Start menu or for specific Control Panel tasks. These usability improvements mean users spend less time figuring out how to use the operating system and more time completing their work.
AERO
Windows Vista's user interface, code-named "AERO" (Authentic, Energetic, Reflective, and Open), is easier and more fun, even as it makes users more productive. Computers designed for Windows Vista create a professional and attractive environment based on a theme of translucent glass. Even applications created before Windows Vista become more attractive because Windows Vista has improved wizards and common dialog boxes that are shared by all applications.
Users with high-resolution monitors can finally take full advantage of their displays because Windows Vista smoothly scales icons and windows. As a result, users do not have to squint to read an e-mail message on their new 1600x1200 laptop display. Users who have previously used lower resolutions to make text more readable can increase the display resolution for added clarity and sharpness without decreasing readability.
Explorers
Windows XP includes several specialized Explorers to enhance users' experience when interacting with specific types of content, such as Documents, Photos, and Music. Windows Vista builds on this concept by including layout, command, and organizational tools that are appropriate for the information the Explorer displays onscreen.
Information Visualization
Windows Vista has amazing information management capabilities that enable users to find documents, e-mail messages, and other information in seconds and then to work with that data in ways that are most intuitive to them. In fact, Windows Vista's new tools are so flexible and so easy to use that users will rarely need to search for information on their computers.
First, the new Document Explorer, replacing the My Documents folder in Windows XP, is much more powerful. Instead of simply showing icons for documents, the Explorer shows high-resolution thumbnails that preview the document's content. Users can dynamically adjust the size of these thumbnails up to 256x256 pixels, which is large enough for users to know whether they've found the right document without opening it.
Search
Users can search documents, e-mail, contacts, and Web sites right from their desktop. Windows Vista searches are not limited to the local computer and can include shared folders, and other network resources. For all those times users think, "I know I've seen that somewhere, but where was it?" search capability makes it easy to find the content that user is looking for.
Start Menu
The Windows Vista Start menu makes it easier to open specific applications and browse all applications. Users can type part of the application's name in the Start menu's Quick Search box to launch the application. For example, to launch the Calculator tool, users press the Windows key, type Calc, and press Enter. Windows Vista makes it easier to browse the applications installed on the computer by replacing the Windows XP All Programs menu with a tree view, similar to Windows Explorer. This feature helps users find applications that are nested in folders several levels deep.
Sharing
Windows Vista makes it easy for users to share files, whether on a single computer or network. First, Windows Vista gives users the option to save their files into a personal or public profile, thereby differentiating whether the content will be available for personal or public use. Next, the new Sharing Wizard shows every person who has an account on that computer or in the Active Directory, enabling the user to choose which individual can access which files. Finally, Windows Vista enables users to more easily keep track of shared content by showing two Search Folders: one that displays all shared content and one that displays all content that has been taken offline.
Mobility Improvements
Windows Vista provides a single, easy interface for connecting to any type of network, including wireless local area networks (WLANs), wireless wide area networks (WWANs), ad hoc wireless networks, and Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). Once connected, the Windows Vista Network Explorer enables users to visually browse all network resources, including computers and devices, people on the network, and shared folders. The speed and reliability of discovering networked computers, servers, and devices is improved significantly over that provided by Windows XP.
Windows Vista provides a single user interface for managing all types of data and device synchronization called SyncManager. SyncManager is capable of managing almost any type of device synchronization, including music files to a portable audio player, calendar information and e-mail messages to a PDA, contact information to a mobile phone, files between two networked computers and lies between a network computer and a file server.
Windows Vista's new default power-off state is Sleep mode. Sleep combines the resume speed of the Windows XP Standby mode with the data protection and low power-consumption characteristics of Hibernate. In the Sleep state, Windows Vista records the contents of memory to the hard disk, just as it would with Hibernate. However, it also maintains the memory for a short period of time, just as Windows XP maintains the memory in Standby mode.
IPv6
IPv6 support in Windows Vista enables enterprises to support a larger network address space while eliminating the need for NAT or other workarounds. IPv6 scales well beyond the IPv4 address space, and provides additional security with full support for IPSec. Enterprises can deploy IPv6 within their infrastructure without having to completely upgrade their network with IPv6 transition tunneling mechanisms to support the tunneling of IPv6 traffic across an IPv4-only infrastructure.
Note Features discussed on this site are subject to change. Some features may not be included in the final product due to marketing, technical, or other reasons.
New Visuals
End users want great graphics, high dots per inch (dpi), rich 3-D, animations, transitions, fades, all in a glitch-free environment, and Windows Vista offers these next generation graphics.
They also want a richer application environment that is consistent with the shell user interface (UI). Working with Windows Vista enables developers to provide a richer, more tailored user experience for their own metadata and applications. With the release of Windows Vista, a new visual roadmap exists to enable developers to enhance their applications and user experiences to take advantage of the new visual features such as Windows Vista User Experience, the Windows Vista User Experience Wizard framework; Microsoft Windows Presentation Foundation, formerly code name "Avalon"; and Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML) technologies.
Inside New Visuals: An Application Developer's View
A new graphics driver model has been introduced with Windows Vista that is stable and secure; it has built-in fault tolerance to enable constant use of the graphics processor unit (GPU) for the rich graphics sported by the operating system and the applications. The GPU memory manager and scheduler in this driver model enable multiple graphics applications to use the GPU to run simultaneously.
Windows Graphics Foundation 2.0 (WGF), also known as Direct3D10, sits on top of, but is distinct from, the new driver model. Applications can use this application programming interface (API) for compelling next-generation cinematographic visuals as well as taking advantage of the massive computational horsepower available on the GPU for more general purpose applications that are easily parallelized (termed GPGPU). An example of such use is image processing.
Introducing the Windows Vista User Experience
What is the Windows Vista User Experience? The Windows Vista User Experience is the user experience guidelines for Windows Vista, governing the look and feel of the operating system. These guidelines express not just the way the pixels are drawn, but how the user interacts with the system and the feelings it should evoke.
These guidelines, and the Windows Vista User Experience user interface, are the result of years of design and user research by Microsoft. The Windows Vista User Experience guidelines, however, are built on existing design guidelines that Microsoft employs today. There are steps that application developers can take today to prepare for the Windows Vista User Experience, most of which are recommended for Microsoft Windows XP. For 90 percent of all applications, looking like a Windows Vista User Experience application means developers need to just do a few things:
| Do not hard code any colors. All colors should be based on system or theme metrics and use comctl32.dll v6. This will give developers the latest look and feel for their buttons, text boxes, and so on. |
| Use theme painting APIs if they want to owner-draw any elements that look like standard system elements. |
| Use the correct color, layout, and writing styles. This matters when trying to make a positive experience. |
| Use the Windows Vista User Experience Wizard (the framework on which all new wizards should be built) and Task Dialog (the next generation of error message and prompts). |
Windows Vista User Experience Themes and Wizard Framework
In addition to the new driver model, Windows Vista developers will also be able to easily apply Windows Vista User Experience themes to their applications and common controls. By using the Windows Vista User Experience themes, application developers can use the new look of Windows Vista within their application. The design and functionality of applications that use these themes will appear to be an extension of Windows Vista. This creates a consistency within the Windows Vista environment that will put the end user at ease and provide a level of confidence.
Windows Vista will also support the Windows Vista User Experience Wizard framework, thereby extending the Windows Vista User Experience themes. The Windows Vista User Experience Wizard framework gives native application developers the ability to use the Windows Vista User Experience style in their dialog boxes. Again, this provides the consistency and confidence that the end user needs to master a new application.
One of the new innovations in the Windows Vista User Experience Wizard framework is that the wizards are "theme aware," automatically adjusting the font style, font color, font size, and control visual to the appearance dictated by the user's theme. If developers want to use other features of the Windows Vista User Experience Wizard framework without the new theme support, the "Classic" or Microsoft Windows 2000 Server look is still available. In addition to adjusting the visual appearance, the Windows Vista User Experience Wizard framework enables developers' pages to adjust to the size of the property sheet on a page-by-page basis. While enabling users to resize any page, the automatic adjustment will help optimize the "Size to Content" ratio for the developer. The Windows Vista User Experience Wizard framework will also enable developers to rename or hide command buttons in the wizard. For example, if a developer is creating a wizard to enable file sharing, one of the buttons in the wizard might be renamed "Share File" instead of the standard "Next". Lastly, the Windows Vista User Experience Wizard framework supports the ability to brand the wizard with a company logo by supplying a background bitmap to be easily positioned on each of the wizard screens.
Task Dialogs
In Windows Vista, task dialogs will replace the message box or most other instances of a single-step prompt or error message. Task dialogs are a dramatic upgrade to the visual appearance and functionality to the error message experience by adding such features as the main instruction and supporting text and links. The API for the Task dialog is primarily a replacement of the existing message box, although it adds support for features such as hyperlinks and customizable button labels and icons.
Windows Presentation Foundation
Windows Presentation Foundation is Microsoft's unified presentation subsystem for Windows and is exposed through .NET Framework 3.0 (formerly WinFX), Windows Vista's managed-code programming model that extends the Microsoft .NET Framework. Windows Presentation Foundation consists of a display engine that takes full advantage of modern graphics hardware and an extensible set of managed classes that developers can use to create rich, visually stunning applications. Windows Presentation Foundation also introduces XAML, which enables developers to use an XML-based model to declaratively manipulate the object model.
In Windows Vista, .NET Framework 3.0 supports an API that enables developers to host Windows Forms controls and forms in a Windows Presentation Foundation application, and vice versa. When a developer creates an application in Windows Presentation Foundation, most of the code is written and implemented in XAML. XAML is faster, easier to implement, and easier to localize, making it a better choice than the equivalent procedural code. With XAML, there is no performance penalty because XAML is an XML-based representation of the object model.
Windows Presentation Foundation Architecture
Windows Presentation Foundation itself consists of two main parts: the engine and the programming framework.
| Windows Presentation Foundation engine. The Windows Presentation Foundation engine unifies the way developers and designers experience documents, media, and UI, providing a single runtime for browser-based experiences, forms-based applications, graphics, video, audio and documents. Windows Presentation Foundation is built on top of Microsoft DirectX(r), which enables it to unleash the full power of the graphics hardware present in modern computers and is engineered to exploit advances in hardware moving forward. For example, Windows Presentation Foundation's vector-based rendering engine enables applications to scale to take advantage of high-dpi monitors without requiring extra work on the part of the developer or user. Similarly, when Windows Presentation Foundation detects a video card that supports hardware acceleration, it takes advantage of it. |
| Windows Presentation Foundation framework. The Windows Presentation Foundation framework delivers solutions for media, UI design, and documents that go well beyond what developers have today. Windows Presentation Foundation is designed for extensibility, enabling developers to create their own controls on top of the Windows Presentation Foundation engine from scratch or by subclassing existing Windows Presentation Foundation controls. Central to the Windows Presentation Foundation framework are controls for shapes, documents, images, video, animation, 3-D and "panels" in which to place controls and content. These "primitives" provide the building blocks for developing next generation user experiences. |
XAML Programming
XAML is an XML-based markup language that can be used to declaratively program the Windows Presentation Foundation object model. It is especially useful for implementing your application's UI. Each XAML tag corresponds to an object model class. A tag also usually has a collection of attributes that corresponds to the properties of the tag's associated class. At compile time, the parser converts the XAML into a partial class that contains equivalent procedural code. Each XAML tag becomes an instance of the corresponding object model class, and the tag's attribute values are assigned to the corresponding object properties. Then the partial class that is created from the parsed XAML is combined with the page's code-behind file by the common language runtime compiler to create an object for the page.
For additional information on Windows Presentation Foundation and XAML, visit the Windows Presentation Foundation section of the .NET Framework 3.0 Developer Center.
Windows Vista User Experience Guidelines
Follow the
Microsoft Windows Vista User Experience Guidelines (or "UX Guide" for short)
to build your application's user interface so that it takes advantage of all the
new features of Windows Vista and provides a consistent user experience for your
customers. These guidelines contain information on what's new in Windows Vista,
design principles, guidelines for controls, text, windows, and aesthetics. The
guidelines will help designers and developers create high-quality, consistent
Windows Vista applications.
Conclusion
User experiences in Windows Vista have been radically enhanced over prior versions of Windows operating systems. By using the technologies available in Windows Vista, developers and designers will create visually appealing applications to improve usability. Windows Vista's new visuals and display technologies, such as Windows Presentation Foundation and XAML, make it simpler to create breakthrough user interfaces with less effort than ever before
other links SITE MAP or B & I SNOWDEN-Find a Wealth of Products and Services