Other networking features include being able to access a business computer network remotely without using a virtual private network VPN , and more file and folder sharing between peers. Microsoft added backup and recovery features like automatic backups to make Vista Business more reliable. Automatic backups allow the user to backup files or the entire PC on an automatic basis, says Microsoft. Some other reliability features include Shadow Copy, which makes copies of changes to files in case they are mistakenly deleted, and automatic hard drive defragmentation.
User account controls UAC helps Vista business users define which administrative tasks a user can do like downloading drivers or installing software. Security features like UAC help keep business computers protected from inadvertent virus attacks by only allowing administrative users to download files.
New on the Windows Vista desktop is a Welcome Center which contains links to frequently asked questions such as, "How do you configure your printer? Frankly, we think it is better for you to look beyond the Windows ecosystem for e-mail, Internet browsers, and security applications. After closing the Welcome Center, you'll notice to the far right there is a shaded sidebar populated with three example Gadgets "widgets" to everyone else , tiny desktop applets that display content, such as RSS feeds.
In one Gadget, a slide show of images from the sample photo library display; in the next, the current time; finally, there's a Gadget for subscribed RSS feeds. We downloaded and installed Firefox 2, made Firefox our default browser, and quickly set up a few RSS feed subscriptions. Guess what? The familiar Start menu features some cosmetic changes for Windows Vista.
Aside from the distinctive rounded icon, the Start menu now includes a built-in Search function. We would have preferred to have access to Search directly from the desktop rather than digging down a level or two.
The new Start menu is divided in half, with access to documents, pictures, music, games, recent items, My Computer, network, Control Panel, default programs, and Help along the right-hand side. Also new within Start is an Instant Off button.
This button caches all your open files and processes, allowing you to turn off your laptop or desktop quickly without all the "cleaning up files" messages you see in previous versions. We like the feature, but on our Acer Travelmate , Instant Off and closing the lid to hibernate sometimes produced limbo states where the laptop simply wouldn't wake up again, forcing us to reboot.
In Windows Vista, files become unmoored from the traditional directory tree structure--kind of. The more ambitious plan of including a whole new file system was scrapped early on; instead, Windows Vista relies on metatags, which are keywords linked to files to make them searchable. With metatags, you can create virtual file folders based on a variety of search terms. Say you're doing a report on mountains, any file that is keyword-enabled to include "mountains" will be grouped into a virtual folder without physically dragging that file to a new location.
The downside is that older files say you upgraded your system from Windows XP or imported data from an earlier version of Windows will have to be retroactively metataged in order to be searched. Also different is the file path displayed within Windows Explorer. Gone are the backslashes, replaced with arrows that offer drop-down menus of alternative folders.
We liked this efficient feature. Finally, there's a compatibility wizard buried deep within Windows Vista. Most Windows XP applications we loaded performed just fine. Should you need to run an older application, say from Windows 95, the compatibility wizard allows you to tweak the display resolution and emulate Windows 95 for that program.
For example, we were able to run a Windows optimized game demo on our Windows Vista test system. Features Our gut feeling is that most of the significant bells and whistles are designed for the Enterprise-level customer, not the business user. Having a large number of features should not be confused with actually providing significant value to all users across the board. Windows Windows. Most Popular. New Releases.
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