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Release Information

  screenshot <!-- Do not change unless you have read "Wikipedia:Software_screenshots"! -->
  caption Windows Vista April EDW (Build 5365) Desktop
  developer Microsoft
  family Windows NT
  source Model Closed Source
  kernel Type Hybrid Kernel
  working State Beta
  license Microsoft EULA
  website Windows Vista


Windows Vista is the next major version of , Microsoft's current consumer and business operating system, making this the longest time span between releases of Windows.




















OVERVIEW

Windows Vista has many new features, such as an updated Graphical User Interface dubbed Aero , improved Searching technology, a number of new security features, and completely redesigned networking, audio, print and display sub-systems. Vista also aims to increase the level of communication between machines on a home network using Peer-to-peer technology, making it easy to share files, password settings, and digital media between computers and devices. For developers, Vista also has an entirely new Development API , called WinFX , based on the .NET Framework , which aims to make it significantly easier for developers to write high-quality applications than with WinFX 's predecessor, Win32 . The Enterprise edition of Vista is expected to include Microsoft's Virtual PC technology, so that line-of-business applications that are incompatible with Vista can still be used in a fashion similar to how Mac OS X 's " Classic " mode supported older Macintosh applications.

According to Jim Allchin , the co-President at Microsoft responsible for Windows Vista's development, there are over one thousand New Features And Technologies being introduced. In many ways, as Bill Gates has said, Windows Vista will be the broadest and most comprehensive update since Windows 95 , which was released twelve years prior to the expected release date of Vista.

Microsoft's primary stated goal with Vista, however, has been to improve the state of Security in the Windows operating system. Amongst the many Common Criticisms Of Windows XP , the most significant has been its security vulnerabilities, and an overall susceptibility to Malware , Viruses and Buffer Overflow s. In light of this, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates announced in early 2002 a company-wide Trustworthy Computing initiative which aims to incorporate security work into every aspect of software development at the company. This was one factor that delayed the development of Vista, as Microsoft prioritized improving the security of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 above finishing the next version of the operating system.


DEVELOPMENT

See Also: Development of Windows Vista



Microsoft first talked about "Longhorn" in July 2001, even before Windows XP's release in October of that year. It was originally expected to ship sometime late in 2003 as a minor step between Windows XP and "Blackcomb" (now known as Windows "Vienna" )."Longhorn Gores Blackcomb; Microsoft OS; Product Development." ''Client Server News'', July 30 , 2001 Gradually, "Longhorn" assimilated many important new features and technologies of "Blackcomb", and so the date of release was pushed back a few times. Faced with ongoing delays and concerns about Feature Creep , Microsoft announced on August 27 2004 that it was making significant changes. "Longhorn" development basically started afresh, building on the Windows Server 2003 codebase, and re-incorporating only the features that would be intended for an actual operating system release. Some previously-announced features, such as WinFS , were dropped.

Windows Server "Longhorn" , the successor to Windows Server 2003, is also under development, and is based on the same codebase as Windows Vista. It is planned for release in the second half of 2007.


EDITIONS

On 2006 .. All versions will be available in both 32-bit x86 and 64-bit architectures, except Windows Vista Starter which will only be available in 32-bit. The following details the various editions and the features that each will offer. There is more information about the release of Windows Vista at the official website .

A partial table of the features planned for each edition has been published at Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows: Windows Vista Product Editions .

  • not--- Windows Starter 2007; don't edit this unless you can provide a more authoritative source than the Microsoft Feb 26 2006 press release, linked above, describing the product as "Windows Vista Starter" -->Starter: Much like the Windows XP Starter Edition , this edition will be limited to Emerging Markets , mainly to offer a legal alternative to using unauthorized copies. It will be severely limited, for example only allowing a user to launch at most three applications with a user interface at once, will not accept incoming network connections, and physical memory is limited to 256 MB.

    • ; Windows Vista Home Basic: Similar to Windows XP Home Edition, Home Basic is intended for budget users not requiring advanced media support for home use. The "Aero Glass" theme with translucent effects will not be included with this edition. Home Basic will support up to 8 GB of physical memory.

; Windows Vista Home Premium: Based on the Windows Vista Home Basic, this edition will additionally support more advanced features aimed for the home market segment, such as HDTV support and DVD Authoring . Extra games, mobile and tablet computer support, file system encryption, and a photo management application are also included. This edition is comparable to Windows XP Media Center Edition and Tablet PC Edition. Home Premium will support up to 16 GB of physical memory.
; Windows Vista Business: Comparable to Windows XP Professional, and aimed at the business market. Does not include the Media Center features of Home Premium, but does include the IIS web server, fax support, offline files, dual physical processor support, Remote Desktop , ad-hoc P2P collaboration capabilities, and support for 128 GB of memory. Product Activation is not present in this edition.
; Windows Vista Enterprise: This edition is aimed at the enterprise segment of the market, and is a superset of the Business edition. Additional features include a single-session version of Virtual PC , Multilingual User Interface support, BitLocker Drive Encryption , and UNIX application support. This edition will not be available through retail or OEM channels, but through Software Assurance .The full list of Software Assurance benefits, including Vista features specific to Enterprise, are outlined at Microsoft's Software Assurance web page for Windows Vista .
; Windows Vista Ultimate: This edition combines all the features of Home Premium and Enterprise editions, and additionally comes with Podcast creation support — which Microsoft has dubbed "blogcasting" — a game performance tweaker (code-named WinSAT), DVD ripping capabilities, and special online services for downloadable media, as well as additional customer service options. The Ultimate edition is aimed to be the most impressive edition of Vista, aimed at high-end PC users, gamers, multimedia professionals, and PC enthusiasts. Like the Business and Enterprise versions, product activation will not be required.

"Home Basic N" and "Business N" editions of Windows Vista will additionally be available in the European Union countries. These editions will ship without Windows Media Player , as required by sanctions brought against Microsoft for violating anti-trust laws. Microsoft and EU reach agreement , from BBC World News.

The three retail editions (Home Basic, Home Premium, and Ultimate) of Windows Vista will ship on the same DVD. The features of the Home Premium and Ultimate editions may be "unlocked" at any time by purchasing a one-time upgrade license through a Control Panel tool called Windows Anytime Upgrade . The Business edition will also be upgradable to Ultimate. Such licenses will be sold by Microsoft's partners and OEMs, but not directly by Microsoft.


NEW FEATURES

See Also: Features new to Windows Vista


Windows Vista has a long list of new features, changes, and improvements. While a complete list has not been published by Microsoft yet, recent development builds of Windows Vista, Microsoft employee blogs, and published documentation have collectively identified most of the features that Microsoft intends to include when the product is released.
Aero and Flip 3D require Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) to be passed.


End-user features


  • .

  • has changed as well; it no longer uses ever-expanding boxes when navigating through Programs. Even the word "Start" itself has been removed in favour of a blue Windows "Pearl".

  • Search: significantly faster and more thorough search capabilities, similar to what is offered by Microsoft's Windows Desktop Search , Copernic , and Apple Computer 's Spotlight . Search boxes have been added to the Start menu, Windows Explorer , and several of the applications included with Vista.

  • , which are small applets designed for a specialized purpose (such as displaying the weather or sports scores). The gadgets can also be placed on other parts of the desktop, if desired.

  • Internet Explorer is upgraded with support for Tabbed Browsing , RSS , a search box, a Phishing filter, IDN with anti-spoofing technology and improved standards support. ActiveX controls are disabled by default. Also, Internet Explorer will operate in a "protected mode" sandbox which operates with lower permissions than the user, preventing it from accessing or modifying anything besides the Temporary Internet Files directory.Protected Mode IE has been described in detail at the Internet Explorer team blog: Protected Mode in Vista IE7 and More details on Protected Mode IE in Windows Vista . IE7 is no longer integrated with the explorer shell for a better security (Local files typed in IE7 are opened using the explorer shell and Web sites typed in explorer shell are opened using IE7).

  • Windows Media Player 11, a major revamp of Microsoft's popular program for playing and organizing music and videos. New features in this version include word-wheeling (or "search as you type"), a completely new and highly graphical interface for the media library, and the ability to share music libraries over a network with other Vista machines, the Xbox 360 , and other Media Center Extenders.

  • User Account Control is a new security technology that allows Windows to operate effectively as a "standard" user with the least privileges, which was often a difficult thing to do in previous versions of Windows because the previous "limited" user accounts proved too restrictive. When an action requiring administrative rights is requested, the user will first be prompted to confirm their action (or be asked for an administrator password if they are not themselves an administrator).

  • Windows Firewall {Link without Title} : Supports both incoming and outgoing traffic. It's also possible to create advanced packet filter rules.

  • and other threats. Changes to various system configuration settings (such as new auto-starting applications) are blocked unless the user gives consent. New version uses Windows Automatic Updates to receive definition updates, also works properly with standard user accounts and there's integration with IE so that downloads are scanned when they are downloaded to help ensure that you do not accidentally download malicious software.

  • are also included, most notably Spam filtering. Windows Mail was demonstrated by the development team in this Channel 9 video .

  • Windows Update : Software and security updates have been simplified, now operating solely via a control panel instead of as a web application. Mail's spam filter and Defender's definitions will also be automatically updated via Windows Update.

  • Vista includes a range of Parental Controls to limit when accounts may be used, what programs and web sites are blocked, and monitoring capabilities.

  • while the computer is on or off.

  • Speech Recognition is fully integrated into Vista, which can be "trained" to understand a user's voice, to activate commands in any Windows application, and to enable voice dictation.

  • Many new fonts, including several designed especially for screen reading, and a new high-quality Japanese font. See . ClearType has also been enhanced.

  • Games: Every game included with Windows has been rewritten to take advantage of Vista's new graphics capabilities. New games include Chess , Mahjong Titans and Purble Place . The Games section will also hold links and information to all games on the user's computer. One piece of information that will be shown is the game's ESRB rating.

  • Windows Calendar is a new calendar and task application.

  • Windows Photo Gallery , a photo and movie library management application. WPG can import from digital cameras, tag and rate individual items, adjust colors and exposure, create and display slideshows (with pan and fade effects), and burn slideshows to DVD.

  • Windows DVD Maker , a companion program to Windows Movie Maker , which provides the ability to create video DVDs based on a user's content.

  • Windows Collaboration is the replacement for NetMeeting . Users can share applications (or their entire desktop) with other users on the local network, or over the Internet using peer-to-peer technology.

  • SuperFetch , which will speed up the loading of programs and windows by storing files and programs in memory. Optionally, Superfetch can also use USB 2.0 flash memory drives to cache data for faster access. Though Flash Memory drives are not as fast as RAM , they have faster access times than magnetic Hard Disk drives.

  • ReadyBoost, makes PCs running Windows Vista more responsive by using Flash Memory on a USB Drive , SD Card , Compact Flash , or other form of flash memory, in order to boost system performance.

  • ReadyDrive, enables Windows Vista PCs equipped with a Hybrid Drive to boot up faster, resume from Hibernation in less time, and preserve battery power. Hybrid hard drives are a new type of hard disk that integrates Non-volatile Flash Memory with a traditional hard drive.