From Provider Notes

Windows Vista is the scheduled next version of Microsoft Windows operating system, superseding Windows XP. It was previously known by its codename Longhorn, after the Longhorn Saloon, a popular bar in Whistler, British Columbia. The name "Vista" was unveiled on July 22, 2005. Microsoft's release date for Windows Vista was January 30th, 2007, more than five years after the release of Windows XP, making this the longest time span between releases of desktop versions of Microsoft's Windows operating system.

For a more Penn-centric view of Windows Vista, please visit the University-Centric Windows Vista article.

Contents 1 Brief feature overview 1.1 Delayed 1.2 Dropped 2 Versions 3 System hardware requirements

Brief feature overview

• User Account Control is a new security technology that allows a user to operate effectively as a "standard" user with least privileges, which was often a difficult thing to do in previous versions of Windows. When performing tasks that require Administrator privileges, a dialog box like the one pictured to the right appears to verify that you want to perform the action, and will accept authentication credentials if you not logged in as an Administrator. [1]
• Aero: a re-designed user interface, code-named Aero – an acronym for Authentic, Energetic, Reflective, and Open. The new interface is updated to a modern look and feel, making extensive use of transparency and visual effects.
• Search as you Type: Similar to Apple's 'Spotlight' or 'Windows Desktop Search', this feature will speed up searching through the most regularly used directories to turn up results as you type.
• Windows Sidebar: A new panel on the right-hand side of the screen where a user can place 'desktop gadgets' (similar to widgets in OSX or KDE), 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.
• Windows Firewall: The firewall has been upgraded with advanced packet filter rules as well as outbound filtering.
• Windows Defender: Microsoft's Anti-spyware product has been incorporated into Windows, offering protection against malware and other threats. Changes to various system configuration settings (such as new auto-starting applications) are blocked unless the user gives consent. Windows Defender updates are integrated into Windows Updates.
• Windows Update: Software and security updates has been simplified, now operating solely via a control panel instead of as a web application.
• Speech recognition: Vista's Speech Recognition software is designed to make Vista totally navigable by speech, as well as having normal dictating functionality. After required training, it is supposed to operate with a high level of accuracy. However, some experts are skeptical about the real functionality of Microsoft's implementation.
• Windows Meeting Space: This allows users to share their certain applications, or their entire desktop, over their network connection.
• SuperFetch: Speeds up the loading of programs by 'learning' your Windows usage habits. By noting what time of day you tend to load applications, SuperFetch will begin pre-loading applcations into RAM, for quick startup times.
• ReadyBoost: Allows users to add additional flash memory, such as flash drives or SD cards, for allocation of additional memory once the RAM is at capacity. This feature only works with flash memory with sufficiently high read/write speeds.
• Better disk management: Drives and partitions can be resized without the loss of data.
• Previous Versions: Backs up files and folders as they are used, allowing you to choose from multiple revisions when restoration is necessary.
  • Only available in Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions
• Internet Explorer 7 supports many long-awaited features that have been available for a while in browsers like Firefox and Safari, such as tabbed browsing, RSS, a search box, a phishing filter, and improved standards support. ActiveX controls are disabled by default. Also, Internet Explorer can 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.
• The "My" prefix on folder names has been dropped, and "Documents and Settings" has been renamed to "Users". The "Pictures", "Movies", "Music" etc. folders now reside in the user's main directory, not under "Documents" as in previous versions of Windows.
• Windows Media Player 11, an updated version 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"), an intuitive and highly graphical interface for the media library, and the ability to easily share music libraries over a network.

Delayed

• Windows PowerShell: A command line interface offering a new, more *NIX-like range of scripting and computer interaction, will be delayed until some time after release.
• Support for EFI: Microsoft intends to add support for Intel's Extensible Firmware Interface once the specification becomes more common on desktop computers.
• PC- to- PC Sync: A peer-to-peer synchronization technology that was intended to keep document revisions current across multiple computers running Vista. This will not be included in the initial release, but will likely be added in some form in the future.

Dropped

• WinFS: Windows Future Storage was slated to be an entirely new relational file system for Vista, operating on NTFS. Being a relational database, WinFS would have been able to store more information about the data it held, allowing for better organization and faster access. Unfortunately, development of WinFS was delayed, initially to be released with SP1 for Vista. Since that time, however, the WinFS project has been cancelled entirely, with useful functionality being instead rolled into ADO.NET and Microsoft SQL Server.
• Palladium/NGSCB: The Next-Generation Secure Computing Base architecture was intended to both improve the security of the OS from the hardware up, and to restrict control of media interaction through tight DRM integration. However, due to difficulty of implementation and lack of interest on behalf of programmers, support has been mostly dropped for Vista. Some aspects of this feature set will continue to exist in Vista, making use of Trusted Platform modules mainly for the drive encryption features present in the Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions. It is anticipated that future revisions of Vista will include more extensive use of these technologies.

Versions

Windows Vista will ship in five editions in the United States. All versions will be available for both 32-bit and 64-bit architecture. There is more information about each edition of Windows Vista at the official website.

A partial table of the features for each edition is available at WinSuperSite.

1. Windows Vista Home Basic: This edition is an extremely limited version of Windows and is intended for budget users. The Windows Aero visual style is not included with this version, though the Windows Vista Standard visual style is (which has no transparency).
2. Windows Vista Home Premium: Based on Home Basic, this edition is comparable to Windows XP Home and includes features aimed at the home market, such as the Windows Aero visual style, HDTV recording capability, and DVD authoring, burning, and playback. It also adds some infrastructure-related features such as support for Tablet PC functionality, scheduled backup, and full support for Windows Meeting Space.
3. Windows Vista Business: Comparable to Windows XP Professional, and aimed at the business market, this edition supports domain-based authentication, Encrypting File System (EFS), and control over the installation of device drivers, all features which both Home Basic and Home Premium lack. This edition does not include many of Home Premium's higher-end media features, such as Windows Media Center.
4. Windows Vista Enterprise: This edition is aimed at the enterprise segment of the market, and functions like an enhanced version of the Business edition. It includes a technology called BitLocker that supports encryption of the system volume and support for simultaneous installation of multiple languages. This edition is not available through retail or hardware vendors.
5. Windows Vista Ultimate: This edition works as a superset of the Home Premium and Enterprise editions and additionally comes with "Ultimate Extras", a replacement for Microsoft Plus! that includes special online services for downloadable media. The Ultimate edition is designed to be the most impressive edition of Vista, targeted at high-end PC users and enthusiasts, gamers, and media professionals.

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. Such licenses will be sold by Microsoft's partners and OEM's, but not directly by Microsoft.

System hardware requirements

Microsoft has several sets of hardware requirements for Vista. These requirements below are ISC's suggested minimum configuration for the full user experience.

• CPU: 1.0 GHz dual-core x86-compatible 32-bit or x64-compatible 64-bit microprocessor

• Motherboard: Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI)-compatible firmware is required.

• Memory: 1.0 GB

• Graphics Card: A DirectX 9–compatible graphics processing unit (GPU) that is capable of supporting Windows Vista Display Driver Model (WVDDM) (only needed for Aero Glass) and has 64 megabytes of Video RAM. A video card of 128 megabytes or greater is required for Premium editions.

• Hard Drive space: A 40GB hard drive is required with at least 15 gigabytes of free space.

• Optical: CD-RW/DVD-ROM

• Display: Copy-restricted high-definition digital content, such as next-generation HD DVD movies, will be displayed at a reduced resolution of 480p (DVD quality) or 540p, unless viewed on a High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection(HDCP)-compatible monitor. Very few existing displays and no retail video cards are compliant with this standard. [2][3][4]