With the arrival ofWindows Vista, Microsoft has continued
to add innovation to its ubiquitousWindows operating system
family.Windows Vistahashundreds of new featuresand
followsWindows XP, Windows 2000, Windows 98
and Windows 95, with each new version growing moregraphically intensive and feature
rich.
There are two business versions of Vista available,
Windows Vista Business for organisations of all sizes, and
Windows Vista Enterprise, which is only available to
Microsoft Software Assurance members.
Windows Vista is the most graphically demanding of the Windows
product family, and features a new
Windows Aero interface which introduces 3D, transparent
windows, and other
graphical innovations.
Vista also has improved searching, better multimedia support and
new
security features designed to improve on Windows XP and
older versions of Windows, which were frequently hacked by
malicious web users.
Because of Vista’s new features,
Microsoft recommends that users run it on PCs with a minimum of
512MB RAM for the basic Vista ‘experience’ but ideally a dual-core
or Intel Pentium- class processor with a minimum of 1GB memory,
plus a premium graphics card such as
ATI or NVIDIA.
As such, some businesses consider Windows Vista more suited to
the
home market, and few organisations plan to upgrade to
Vista this year.
In addition, many users recently moved to Windows XP from
Windows 2000 or Windows 98, so a
migration is unlikely in the immediate future.
Many IT managers are waiting for Vista to support particular
business applications and hardware, and currently face a range
of
compatibility issues.
Windows Vista news stories/features
November 2006: What we have been waiting for >>
July 2006: Microsoft ends Windows 98 and ME support
>>
August 2005: Check out the changes on Windows Vista
>>
June 2006: Microsoft forced to make Vista changes >>
March 2007: Windows Vista sales outstrip XP launch >>
July 2006: Vista drives a hardware shake-up >>
April 2007: New Vista licences target large firms >>
March 2007: Microsoft discounts Vista licences >>
May 2006: Vista packs the prettiest of punches >>
June 2007: New encryption options in Windows Vista >>
May 2007: Microsoft Windows Vista security feature reviews
>>
June 2007: Microsoft delivers critical Vista patches in June
>>
June 2007: Microsoft patches Windows Vista IE 7 >>
May 2006: Microsoft spells out Vista requirements >>
July 2006: Microsoft ends Windows 98 and ME support
>>
July 2007: Big Microsoft Vista concerns for Big Pharma
>>
June 2007: Stephenson Harwood chooses XP over Vista for stability
>>
May 2007: Vista has had no major effect on PC sales
>>
May 2007: Older platforms get the brunt of May patch activity
>>
May 2007: When Microsoft Vista and VPNs don’t mix >>
June 2007: NLTMv2 to the fore in Vista >>
May 2007: Windows Vista’s little surprises >>
May 2005: Intel to bundle PGP data encryption in chip platforms
>>
April 2007: Windows Server Lognhorn Beta 3 now publicly available
>>
April 2007: NTFS and the Registry in Vista packaged up
>>
April 2004: Microsoft issues hotfix for file copying bug in Vista
>>
April 2007: Removing malware from your Windows system
>>
April 2007: Learn about new boot options in Windows Vista
>>
April 2007: Microsoft offers two licence options >>
Other Microsoft special reports
Company focus: Microsoft >>
Microsoft: after Bill Gates >>
Microsoft IT training: an expert view >>
Microsoft Windows: an expert view >>
Microsoft Business Solutions: an expert view >>
Windows Vista on the rest of web
Microsoft home
>>
Microsoft: Windows Vista >>
Microsoft Office
>>
Microsoft Windows update
>>
Microsoft: Windows XP >>
Wikipedia: Windows
Vista >>
BadVista >>
Paul Thurrot’s
SuperSite for Windows: Windows Vista Activity Center
>>
Microsoft: Windows Vista upgrade >>
Microsoft: Windows Vista Product Guide >>
Microsoft: Hardware
Design for Windows Vista >>
Microsoft TechNet
>>
Microsoft: Windows
Vista >>
CTV.ca: How secure is Windows' new Vista? >>
Tom’s hardware:
Windows XP vs. Vista: the benchmark rundown >>
c/net reviews: Windows Vista Ultimate >>
Windows Vista blogs
Microsoft Developer Network: blogs
>>
Microsoft: Windows Vista
blogs >>
Scobleizer: Robert Scoble’s blog
>>
Microsoft: blog news
channel >>
Microsoft: Windows Vista blogs >>
Windows Vista video
Windows Vista
did not steal ideas from Mac OS X >>
The Real
Windows Vista >>
Vista install
in 2 minutes >>
Windows Vista
vs XP >>
Windows Vista RTM - Demonstation of Windows ReadyBoost
>>
Vista Aero
glass >>
Windows Vista
- Windows Media Center - clip 2 >>