Microsoft Windows Vista Vs Windows Xp

Microsoft: The Windows OEM License Dies with Its Computer

Licenses for Windows come in various flavors from Retail to Volume, but perhaps the most common of all is provided by original equipment manufacturers together with operating systems preloaded on new computers.

Since over 80% of the revenues of the Windows Client Division come from sales of Windows on new machines, the OEM licenses are bound to represent the vast majority of EULAs. At the same time, the OEM End User License Agreement is the one offering the least amount of flexibility to customers because it irremediably ties Windows to the PC.

"The original OEM Windows licenses that ships with the PC is bound to that PC. So, if you buy a PC with an OEM Windows license, that OEM Windows license stays with that PC. If you sell the PC, you have sold the OEM Windows license with it. If you donate the PC, you donate the OEM Windows license with it. If you burn and destroy the PC, you burn and destroy the OEM Windows license with it," explained Eric Ligman, Microsoft US Senior Manager Small Business Community Engagement.

Ligman revealed that this situation is also valid for OEM Windows licenses on refurbished computers. As long as the motherboard of a refurbished PC is not changed, customers will not need a new OEM Windows Desktop Operating System license. Since the Windows copy is intimately connected with the PC's motherboard, the OEM license for the operating system will be valid for the refurbished computer as long as that critical hardware component stays in place.

"Just because you wipe the information clean off the hard drive before transferring the PC, it doesn't change the fact that the OEM Windows license stays with it. Because of this, yes, you certainly can reload the original OEM Windows CD back onto the PC since the OEM Windows license is tied to it anyway. Just be sure that when you transfer the PC to the new owner that you also transfer all of the OEM Proof of license components with it as well," Ligman added.

source: news.softpedia.com

 

10 top Vista tweaks part 2

As I noted in the first installment of this series, some of my favorite productivity-enhancing techniques don’t involve custom code or registry edits.

Instead, they involve learning how the basic building blocks of Windows work, and then rearranging those components to cut steps out of the tasks you perform most often.

In today’s installment of this two-part series, I share some of my favorite tweaks for getting maximum mileage out of Windows Search. I also explain the inner workings of volume shadow copies and how you can make better use of these automatic backups with System Restore and the Previous Versions feature. I show how to get quick access to your local and network data files by combining shortcuts in a single, easy-to-reach location, and I explain why hybrid sleep should be the default on every desktop PC.

Just as in last week’s edition, each tweak gets its own page in this post. I’ve also put together a gallery of instructions, each one annotated with step-by-step instructions so you can follow along. The two pieces are a matched set for each entry in the list; if you look only at the text or only at the gallery, you’re missing the complete picture.

Here’s a quick list of what’s in part 2:


6. Save your favorite searches
The Start menu search box works just fine for quick, ad hoc searches. To really tap into the power of Windows Search, though, spend a little time to create searches that bring together the types of files you use most often (Word documents modified this month or last month, e-mail messages from Fred or Rick, and so on). Then save those searches so you can reuse them later or copy them to another computer.


7. Fine-tune your search settings
Speaking of Windows Search, did you know that there are three separate areas where you can tweak settings that control search behavior? Use these tweaks to make Start menu searches more useful, simplify the complicated advanced search syntax, and add IFilters to search inside types of files that aren’t supported by a default Vista installation.


8. Make the most of System Restore and shadow copies
Did you know that System Restore in XP and Vista use completely different techniques to save snapshots of data? In this tweak, I explain why you might want to increase the amount of space set aside for volume shadow copies. I also introduce a free utility that lets users of Windows Vista home editions find and restore files from automatically created backups.


9. Bring network files closer
The fastest way to get to files in any network location is via a shortcut. And the best place to save those shortcuts to network locations is in the Computer window. You can add shortcuts to shared folders, FTP sites, or websites where you publish files. Here’s how.


10. Master power management
In XP, you have standby and hibernate. Vista adds a third power state, called hybrid sleep. Here’s what you need to know and how you can tune a desktop system to take advantage of this useful mode.

source: blogs.zdnet.com

 

What is coming in Windows 7?

Over the past six months, many individuals have downloaded early, unauthorized Windows 7 test builds that have leaked from Microsoft since late last year (the 6519 series).

They’ve been looking for clues — any clues — about some of the new bits that will be part of the next version of Windows client, expected out in late 2009 or so.

But one potential new Windows 7 feature about which I haven’t seen a whole lot of speculation is something called “Windows Sensors.” (See the screen shot above from an early Windows 7 build sent to me by a tester who asked not to be identified.)

What are these mysterious Windows Sensors mentioned under the “Hardware and Sound” category in the Windows 7 Control Panel — alongside Windows SideShow, Tablet PC settings and game controllers? Are they the kinds of sensors that will enable the new and improved multi-touch/gesture recognition that Microsoft has confirmed will be one of the new features in Windows 7? (Monitor vendor Albatron recently demonstrated a forthcoming LCD monitor that incorporates sensors required for multi-touch.)

Makes sense (no pun intended), but perhaps there’s something more in the works. Look at screen shot above. This is a “Learn About Using Windows Sensors” screen from the same early Windows 7 build. “Programs on your computer can communicate with your Windows-compatible sensors,” it says. It calls out “Windows Media Player” and “Inbox — Windows Mail” as sub-categories here. And it offers users the option of being notified “when compatible programs and sensors are installed.” Does this simply mean that Windows Media Player and Windows Mail are examples of applets that will be able to take advantage of multi-touch?

Perhaps there’s more going on here and Windows Sensors will be the next version of Plug and Play — a way for Windows to automatically “sense” what kinds of peripherals or devices can/should be automatically connected and synced. Sensors are also key to home-automation systems. Could Windows 7 be the control hub for users’ fridges, stoves and home-security systems, via Windows Sensors?

source: blogs.zdnet.com

 

Installing Windows 7 Milestone 1 Build 6519 (FROM XP TO WINDOWS 7)

Installing Windows 7 Milestone 1 Build 6519 provides an experience almost identical to that of Windows Vista with the exception of a quite different finish.

In this context, Windows 7 M1 gives the impression of something that Microsoft just threw together rather than a fully-fledged development milestone for the next version of the Windows client. Leaked details related to Windows 7 Build 6519 spawned observations that the version was too similar to Windows Vista for comfort. Now, make no mistake about it, Windows 7 M1 is no Vista, but at the same time the similarities cannot be denied.

The installation experience starts with a standard Windows Vista screen which permits the user to select the language of the operating system, the keyboard input, and the time format. Even the installing instructions mention Windows Vista exclusively. So does the Install/Repair screen that comes next and the Product Key dialog box. And just as in Vista, this part of the installation process can be circumvented.

Users can deploy Windows 7 without entering a product key, but they will be promoted to select an edition of the platform. Here it is all Vista, including Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, and Ultimate. The Windows Vista N editions are also present. But no Windows 7 option whatsoever. In fact, the first mention of Windows 7 comes via the Microsoft Pre-Release Software License. This document is the first clue throughout the deployment process that users are actually installing Windows 7 and not Vista.

The installation will continue just as in Vista with the options of an Upgrade or a Clean install. The Windows 7 files will be copied, expanded, features and updates installed, the devices will be configured, and users will be promoted to set up accounts and passwords, choose a computer name, update mode, time zone and network connection. Next, the logon screen will say Windows 7 Ultimate, provided that the user has chosen the Ultimate SKU of the operating system to install.

source: news.softpedia.com

 

MS: $200 million for Windows advertising

Microsoft may not be willing to let Apple have the last word about Windows Vista, after all.

According to a June 20 Fortune Magazine article, Microsoft has earmarked “an additional $200 million for Windows advertising this year, even though in nonlaunch years thre is typically no budget increase at all.” It sounds as though this is in addition to the $300 million Microsoft already has agreed to spend with Crispin Porter + Bogusky to improve the company’s overall image and brand.

Fortune explains Microsoft’s image makeover plan, codenamed “FTP168? (with FTP being “Free the People”):

“A year ago Ballmer okayed the effort, led by Bill Veghte, who is responsible for both Windows and search. He partnered with marketing boss Mich Mathews, then the two recruited an all-star team from across the company - the best experts at branding, packaging, online advertising, and other specialties….

“The aim of the campaign will be to talk about things you can do with your PC that you could never do before.”

At the same time, over the next 18 months, Microsoft is planning to focus on the synergies of three different Microsoft lines — Windows client, Windows Mobile and Windows Live. Microsoft is going to make sure users know that all three of these are Windows in its various guises. From the article:

“Aside from the flagship Windows 7, which will succeed Vista for PCs, the company will launch a new version of Windows Mobile as well as a new version of the services known as Windows Live. For the first time, they’re going to be promoted as aspects of the same thing.”

Microsoft already is stepping up its campaign to more tightly integrate Windows 7 with Windows Live services — its Web-based mail, instant-messaging, security, photo-management and more. And Microsoft Chairman Gates recently played up the fact that Microsoft plans to make Windows client more tightly aligned with Windows Mobile.

source: blogs.zdnet.com

 

Fighting the Windows Vista SP1 Crusade

Windows Vista is by no means a failure, nor is it a lost battle, as Microsoft is fighting the Service Pack 1 crusade opening new fronts against both itself and rival companies.

Having RTM'd Vista SP1 on February 4, 2008, and then released it to the general public in March and April, the Redmond company has essentially breathed new life into its latest Windows client and it's willing to do everything it takes to convince end users to give the operating system at least a second look of not a new try. Furthermore, Microsoft indicated that it was ready to go beyond the traditional lines of marketing campaigns that spawned the Wow.

In fact, the software giant has made a number of moves designed to benefit Windows Vista. In early June, Christopher Flores, Director Windows Communications pointed out the release of a new whitepaper set up to reveal the business value of Vista SP1. While indeed parading Vista SP1 to customers, Microsoft also slaughters Windows XP SP3 and Windows 7 as viable alternatives. With over 150 million licenses sold worldwide to date Vista is faring rather well, but this is not stopping Microsoft from virtually eating its young in order to increase sales.

In this context, the company is also pushing hard new marketing campaigns, coughing up no less than a reported $500 million, which is the unconfirmed sum that it paid for the Vista Wow. Fast Company revealed that the Redmond giant would pay ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky $300 million for a campaign and another $200 million just for Windows advertising until the end of 2008, according to Fortune Magazine. Speculations indicate that Microsoft is hard at work on an antidote to Apple's Get a Mac ads which have hurt both the Microsoft brand and Windows Vista.

But one thing that Microsoft has clearly done in favor of Windows Vista was to kill Windows XP sales through the retail and OEM channels for good starting on June 30. XP was so far the biggest impediment in terms of Windows Vista adoption and Microsoft has surgically removed it from the store shelves as well as from new OEM computers. The only Windows client selling on new machines, with the exception of ultra-low-cost mobiles and desktop computers, is Windows Vista SP1.

And if all this is not enough to convince users, the Microsoft Virtual Labs is also hosting a Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 test drive, offering a free taste of the operating system online. It is safe to conclude that Microsoft is on the offensive. Armed with SP1 the company is pushing Vista left and right and all the apparently disparate actions related to the Windows client slowly come together in a puzzle that reveals a common vision.

source: news.softpedia.com

 

XP SP3 and Vista - 1 Billion PCs, Onward to 2 Billion with Windows 7

Windows XP Service Pack 3 and Windows Vista Service Pack 1 have quite a healthy playground at their disposal, no less than 1 billion PCs worldwide.

According to market analyst firm Gartner, the number of computers in use worldwide has passed the 1 billion milestone. The company emphasized having taken into consideration only the installed base of PCs and not the units that are shipping. But while Windows XP and Windows Vista, with their respective service packs account for the lion's share of the 1 billion PCs, the two operating systems will survive to see computers hit the 2 billion mark well together with Windows 7 in 2014.

George Shiffler, research director at Gartner, revealed that there is a lack of balance between the developed and developing worlds. In this regard, 15% of the world's population in developed markets account for 58% of the computers installed globally, while emerging markets make up for the rest. "There’s a startling difference in per capita PC penetration between mature and emerging markets. Of course, much of this difference reflects the disparity in average living standards between mature and emerging markets. But, rapid economic development across emerging markets is not only narrowing the disparity in average living standards, it's closing the difference in per capita PC penetration between mature and emerging markets," Shiffler said.

Still, Gartner predicts that the largest growth for installed PCs worldwide will take place into emerging markets over the next six years. The company forecasts that by 2014, the per capita PC penetration in the developing world will double. In fact, even at this point in time, emerging markets are the factor responsible for the fueling of double-digit PC growth worldwide. This tendency will only accentuate with the continuous drop in PC average selling prices.

Both Windows XP SP3 and Windows Vista SP1, along with future Windows operating system from Windows 7 onward, will still be around in 2014 when the installed base for PCs will go over 2 billion units. In fact, extended support for XP SP3 is not scheduled to expire until April 2014, and Microsoft is bound to prolong support for Vista past this milestone, although the latest Windows client will no longer be at SP1 stage at that point in time, having hit at least SP2, if not even SP3. For XP however, SP3 is the latest service pack that Microsoft will ever release. According to the Redmond company's Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer, Windows 7 is planned for availability in late 2009.

"Emerging market governments are also increasingly committed to reducing the digital divide by promoting PC use among their citizens through a variety of means, including providing PCs directly to the less affluent, "added Luis Anavitarte, research vice president at Gartner. "Whereas mature markets accounted for just under 60 percent of the first billion installed PCs, we expect emerging markets to account for approximately 70 percent of the next billion installed PCs."

source: news.softpedia.com

 

New Performance and Reliability Updates for Vista SP1

A reliability and performance update is available for download for Windows Vista Service Pack 1. This specific release targets all Windows Vista editions, provided that they have the first service pack integrated.

The update comes with the promise of improving the performance and reliability of the gold version of Vista SP1, and is not addressed at the RTM SKUs of the latest Windows client. Two updates are up for grabs for both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Vista SP1. "This update resolves issues that may affect some Windows Vista SP1-based computers. These issues have been reported by customers who use the Error Reporting service or Microsoft Customer Support Services," Microsoft informed.

The Redmond company softened all the rough corners of the RTM build of Vista, including problems related to stability and speed. However, while some issues survived, others were introduced specifically by SP1. The current update is designed to tackle performance, responsiveness, and reliability issues affecting Vista SP1 in a variety of scenarios. At the bottom of this article, you will find the complete list of improvements that the update will deliver to Windows Vista.

The Vista SP1 reliability and performance update signals that a practice started with Vista RTM is turning into a tradition for Microsoft. When SP1 was in the early stages of development, the Redmond giant started serving bits and pieces of the service pack for Vista RTM as performance, reliability, and compatibility releases through Windows Update and the Download Center. The end purpose is, of course, to decrease the level of reliance on service packs, and put the Windows Update infrastructure into the limelight.

The advantage of WU over service pack releases is that end users get much more rapidly resolves and enhancements for their operating system. As far as Microsoft is concerned, the evolution of Windows platforms in sips rather than in big gulps is preferred due to the flexibility it introduces, along with the obvious benefits for users. Still, the dependency on service packs in corporate environments is a factor which will continue to force Microsoft to focus on service pack releases, even though the company is slowly moving Windows Update to the centerstage.

According to Microsoft, "this update includes the following improvements on a Windows Vista SP1-based computer:

• This update improves the stability of Windows Vista SP1-based computers by addressing some crashes that may occur when you try to check e-mail by using a POP3 e-mail client such as Windows Mail or Mozilla Thunderbird. The crashes may occur on a Windows Vista SP1-based computer in the following scenario incoming POP3 and outgoing SMTP traffic monitoring is enabled.

• Both a third-party antivirus application and an antispyware application are installed, such as the following applications: ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite by Check Point Software Technologies and SpySweeper by Webroot Software.

• This update improves the reliability of the Windows Vista SP1 based-computers by addressing some problems that occur when you delete user accounts by using the User Accounts item in Control Panel. When this problem occurs, the system may stop responding (hang).

• This update improves the reliability of Windows Vista SP1-based computers that experience issues in which large applications cannot run after the computer is turned on for extended periods of time. For example, when you try to start Excel 2007 after the computer is turned on for extended periods of time, a user may receive an error message that resembles the following: EXCEL.EXE is not a valid Win32 application

• This update improves the reliability of Windows Vista SP1-based computers by reducing the number of crashes that may be caused by the Apple QuickTime thumbnail preview in Windows Live Photo Gallery.

• This update improves the performance of Windows Vista SP1-based computers by reducing audio and video (AV) stuttering. Such AV stuttering may occur when the audio or video component is streaming high definition content from a Windows Vista SP1-based computer that has a NVIDIA network adapter nForce driver version 67.5.4.0 that is installed to a Windows Media Center Extender device."

 

The mythical Vista application

I love analysts. Whether it's predicting tomorrow's next big thing or sounding the death knell for yesterday's industry pacesetter, analysts never run out of new ways to get it wrong.

Case in point: Windows Vista and the "app gap." According to Evans Data Corporation (EDC), less than 10 percent of developers are writing for Microsoft's current state of the art. The majority (49 percent) are still writing for XP, while a small, but growing, contingent (13 percent) are focusing on Linux. Meanwhile, the myriad major media outlets continue to decry the lack of new Vista applications. "It's the OS that nobody wants," they say, and developers are "reacting accordingly."

Of course, they're wrong. Again.

You see, there's no such thing as a Vista application. Just like there's no such thing as an XP application. Or a Windows 2000 application. Developers who write for Windows rarely target a specific version. Rather, they select a particular API framework -- for example, MFC/ATL or .Net -- and proceed from there. Whether or not the resulting application runs on a given Windows version depends on what, if any, version-specific API extensions the developer employs in their project.

For the majority of application types, this is a nonissue: They use the generic API functions, which allows them to run across any version of Windows that supports that framework. And since Microsoft does a good job of back-porting new frameworks to its legacy OS platforms, developers are rarely faced with a choice between rich API functionality or a broad installed base (the notable exception being video game developers, for whom leveraging DirectX 10 means committing to Vista).

So the entire Vista "app gap" argument is a bit of a straw man. The real question should be: Why aren't developers leveraging the various iterations of the .Net framework? As anyone who follows Microsoft's development road map will attest, most of the company's cutting-edge API evolution is taking place within .Net. In fact, when the "experts" talk about new programmatic resources in Vista -- Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), and so on -- they're really talking about the .Net framework 3.0. And since .Net 3.0 is available on down-level platforms (such as Windows XP), the argument circles back around to a question of .Net acceptance among developers -- and why they have (so far) shunned it.

The answer is twofold: First, developers don't like to target APIs that aren't broadly available across the installed base. Despite Microsoft's aggressive support of down-level versions, there's still a big difference between "available" and "available after downloading 20MB-plus of complex libraries and having them installed across various parts of your system." The fact of the matter is that .Net doesn't ship as part of Windows XP, and that means that developers need to convince users to first install the required version of the .Net framework before they can install a piece of software -- not always an easy sell, especially in the locked-down world of enterprise IT.

As the first OS to ship with the .Net framework installed by default, Vista was supposed to encourage development of .Net 3.0 applications. However, since it also supports legacy Win32, COM, ATL, MFC, and down-level .Net framework applications, there's no real shortage of Vista programs. In fact, unless you've just got to have that latest and greatest WPF/WCF framework functionality, there's little to motivate you, the developer, to make the jump to .Net 3.0, or even 2.0. Assuming you don't bump into the User Account Control (UAC) mechanism, your "legacy" Windows application probably looks and works great under Vista as is. I know, because that was the case with my own code: A few tweaks to accommodate UAC (mostly shifting some temporary files away from newly protect directory structures) and my applications and services were running like champs under Vista -- just like they do under Windows XP, Server 2003, and Windows 2000. Why fix it when it ain't broke?

source: weblog.infoworld.com

 

Official Windows 7 Blog soon

Get ready for a unique source of information focused exclusively on the next iteration of the Windows client.

Microsoft might be mute on Windows 7 now, under the new transparency policy imposed by Steven Sinofsky, Senior Vice President, Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group, but the situation will not last. The successor of Windows Vista is right on the verge of getting its own online outlet, namely the Windows 7 blog. It appears that Microsoft is continuing the model of its current Windows client which has enjoyed the benefits delivered via the Windows Vista blog since April 2006.

Details are scarce at this point in time. Microsoft has failed to indicate a deadline for when the Windows 7 blog will go live. But also, most importantly, the company has yet to disclose the actual name of the Windows 7 blog. This because Windows 7 is just the product number, or codename if you will, of the next version of Windows, but not the actual name of Vista's successor. As Windows 7 will evolve through development stages, Microsoft will undoubtedly drop the label based on the product number. In this context, the Windows 7 blog will feature the full name of the operating system.

The Windows Vista blog went live almost a year ahead of the general availability date of the platform. With Sinofsky gagging all Windows 7 details almost to perfection, the blog for the next release of Windows could take a while before it will be made available, most likely very close to the finalization/launch of the platform. Chances are that the Redmond company will grab an entirely new domain as compared to the one hosting the Vista blog which is "windowsvistablog.com," and not stick the Windows 7 blog content under what is available now.

Microsoft is also looking for the right Public Relations Manager to "be an instrumental part of a team that will introduce the world to Windows 7," according to the company, which adds that he/she will "be responsible for developing and managing the execution of the Windows community and blogosphere outreach plans including Web content, community events, and the Windows 7 blog."

source: news.softpedia.com

 

5 Misunderstood Aspects of Windows 7

Windows 7, the successor of Windows Vista, but also of Windows Server 2008, in the form of Windows 7 Server, had been under development over at Microsoft under the lead of Steven Sinofsky, Senior Vice President, Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group since 2007.

At the end of 2007, the Redmond company made available Windows 7 Milestone 1 to a select group of partners. However, under Sinofsky, translucency is the new communications policy of the Windows team, and little details are indeed made public, or even leaked. This is why there are aspects of the next iteration of Windows which fail to be in conformity with the little transparency Microsoft did manage to offer on Windows 7.

1. The Windows 7 Kernel – After it played hide and seek with the MinWin kernel, Microsoft has managed to create a consistent level of confusion related to the core of Vista's successor. It seems to be unclear whether Windows 7 will feature MinWin, or a new kernel, or the same old kernel as Windows Vista. Well, it's rather simple. First off, there was never talk of a completely new, built from scratch kernel. And MinWin wasn't really the kernel, but the core of Windows 7. Which essentially means that Microsoft has taken the existing kernel plus a series of core components and worked to slim them down.

What the Redmond giant is doing is mainly to continue the evolution of Windows Server 2008, as far as the core of the operating system is concerned. The core of Vista's successor is an evolution of what is available today, and is a new major version of the kernel, hence the Windows 7 label. And yes, Windows Vista was the sixth version of Windows, but Microsoft is only counting from kernel version to kernel version and not from one Windows release to the other.

2. The Myth of the Complete Overhaul - Some want Windows 7 to be written from scratch, arguing that Microsoft needs to flush down Vista, Windows XP, and all past Windows versions, and start over. Such a scenario is argued to be the sole solution to save Microsoft. And at the same time this is impossible. Windows 7 will not be built from scratch because it simply can't be. Windows Vista had serious problems when it came down to application and hardware incompatibility and lack of driver support.

Now imagine a brand new and shiny Windows 7, with no connection to any previous versions of Windows. Nothing would work. Nothing! Not your programs, not your hardware, nothing. The truth is that neither Microsoft, nor the environment of hardware and software developers depending on the Windows as a platform, and not even end users can afford, or are ready to deal with a complete overhaul.

3. Windows Vista R2 - Because of the fact that Microsoft has indicated that Windows 7 would be using Vista as its foundation, critics have already started to emerge labeling it Windows Vista Release 2. No one, with the exception of Sinofsky of course and the Windows project, knows what Windows 7 will end up as. To jump the gun and start throwing dirt at it even before the first beta is on the horizon is simply an indication of people waiting for Microsoft to fail. And although the company did not disappoint them in the past, criticism should be postponed until a palpable build of Windows 7 hits.

4. One SKU to Rule Them All - There is increasing feedback pointing to the need for Microsoft to simplify the edition bonanza of Windows 7, and to avoid offering the same SKU richness as it did with Windows Vista. Windows Vista Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, Ultimate are just the start of it. There are also N variants for Europe and upgrade packages. However, the Redmond company knows that a single SKU is not the way to go. While simplification is indeed necessary, copying the Mac OS X model is not the right solution to offer a balance to both home and business users. And even with Windows Vista, all SKUs ship on a single install media, but the actual installation is governed by the license key.

5. The Silence is Deafening - The latest misunderstood aspect is on the other side of the barricade, so to speak. The silence around Windows 7 is deafening. Sure enough, Microsoft did manage to offer a few details about the touch computing capabilities coming, and is bound to share more at PDC2008 - Professional Developers Conference between October 27-30, 2008. But Microsoft needs to understand that while saying too much about Windows Vista has hurt that release, saying nothing about Windows 7 will hurt this one. And after Vista, I'm not sure if the company can afford another slip...

 

XP vs. Vista: An Objective Comparison

Introduction

With 90% of the consumer desktops running it, Microsoft Windows is the de facto standard operating system. Love it or hate it, it's what most of us have to work with every day. So when MS decides to introduce a new version of Windows to the market, there's an understandable uproar. Converting your system to run with the new version can introduce headaches, from things as minor as rearranging desktop icons to showstoppers like major application incompatibility. Historically, the improvements to Windows with each successive version have been worth the hassle—Windows ME notwithstanding. With this latest transition, however, many people have been asking whether it really is worth the trouble to upgrade. To answer that question, here's a head- to-head comparison between the current incumbent, Windows XP, and the newly arrived successor, Windows Vista.

You may be wondering, why make this comparison now? With the recent release of Service Pack 1 for Vista, the new Windows has more or less settled into its permanent form, giving us a chance to realistically compare the two systems on their own merits. Comparing Vista to XP in the first months of its release was not a valid measure of their relative merits, as many issues not under MS's control were causing Vista to misbehave. Now though, issues relating to driver support, third-party vendor foul-ups, and other such teething issues have been mostly resolved.

For clarity's sake, this comparison will be broken up by topic, covering each of the major functions that a modern operating system is expected to fulfill. Following that, there will be a list of any miscellaneous issues for each OS that weren't covered in the general overview. So, let's crack open the crypt, and see what shambling horrors emerge!

Look and Feel

One of the first things people notice about an operating system is how it presents itself. As much as people might like to say they don't care, appearance does effect our perception of how a system works. More than just graphical style though, look and feel is also about the responsiveness of the system. How fast do menus open when I click on them? Am I getting enough feedback on what the system is doing when it's busy? Does the system present me with the information I need in a useful manner? All of these are questions that are important to look and feel.


Windows XP's Luna interface was criticized by many as having a childish, toy-like look. The conspicuous use of bright blues and greens throughout the interface was a radical departure from MS's historically staid black on gray interface. Colors aside, though, the use of large blocky buttons and oversized icons lent XP a somewhat childish look. This was not helped any by the addition of search avatars that looked more appropriate to a saturday morning cartoon show.

Even so, XP's interface offered real improvements in usability. The addition of thumbnail and gallery view modes to the Explorer file manager meant that finding a single image in a folder of hundreds was no longer a mind-numbing chore. The Start menu also saw improvements, with links to the most commonly used folders added, as well as an automatically updated list of the most frequently used programs.

Windows Vista sought to avoid the "tinkertoys" image that XP had garnered, and consequently, Vista's Aero interface is dominated by glossy buttons and smoked glass. The conspicuous use of transparency in many interface elements is æsthetically appealing, though it can lead to some confusion on a busy desktop with a dozen or more windows open at once. The inbuilt search bar on the Start menu is a nice touch, although the use of cascading slide-over menus in the Programs submenu can be confusing at times. Improvements to the Explorer file manager include the use of breadcrumb-style navigation in the address bar, which speeds up navigation without need to resort to the folder tree side pane.

Performance and Functionality

Historically, every version of Windows has had more overhead than the last, requiring a more powerful machine to run than the one before. Traditionally, this has been offset by improved functionality; each version adds its own bells and whistles that—hopefully—make life more convenient. What improvements, then, did XP and Vista each bring to the user experience?

XP's main improvement to the user experience was stability. The version it replaced in the consumer market—Windows ME—was widely reviled as the most unstable version of Windows yet. By switching over from the aging Win9x kernel to the newer and more stable Win NT 5 kernel, Windows XP eliminated a lot of the crashes and DLL Hell issues that had plagued users before. Driver rollback gave users the much-needed ability to revert back to an older version of a given driver, if the update did not produce the desired results. The addition of sub-pixel font rendering, known as ClearType in MS jargon, greatly improved the readability of text on LCD-based displays. DirectX 7 (and later DX9) greatly improved 3D graphics quality and performance. With Service Pack 2, XP also got improved integration with anti-virus and anti-spam software, as well as a fully functional software firewall. These changes were more evolutionary than revolutionary, but as a whole they served to make XP a more stable platform than its predecessors.

Vista brought a number of changes, both in end-user functionality and in "under the hood" functionality changes, among which are: newer versions of Internet Explorer and Windows Media player, and improved search functionality. Expanded speech recognition and text-to-speech functionality, improvements to memory management and process handling, and a whole new screen rendering framework were also included. The new Vista Desktop Window Manager replaces the older GDI screen-drawing interface altogether, effectively treating the screen as a 3d image. This allows for smoother screen-drawing, as well as amusing visual tricks like live thumbnails of minimized windows, Flip 3D, and using video files as desktop wallpaper. Windows Gadgets—mini programs that live on the desktop—give the user at-a-glance info, and make the desktop useful as more than a place to plop down a bunch of shortcut icons. Overall, Vista brings a number of badly-needed improvements to how Windows functions in day-to-day life.

Problems

Warts. Lumps. Flaws. Call them what you will, every OS has its defects, the places where it stumbles, comes up short, or just plain fails to deliver. XP and Vista both have a lot to recommend them, but they also have their fair share of problems.

XP's main faults centered around security. Being the first consumer-grade Windows version to be based on the NT kernel, XP had a combination of questionable security practices and powerful networking features that made it an irresistible target for malware authors. Prior to Service Pack 2, a Windows XP machine would find itself irretrievably compromised within minutes of being connected to an unprotected internet connection. The default behavior of giving new user accounts Administrator privileges only compounded this, and the severe crippling of non-admin user accounts meant that even conscientious users couldn't do much to proactively limit the damage. Service Pack 2 did much to fix this, by fixing the previously unusable Windows Firewall, and adding prominent notifications when anti-virus programs were missing or out-of-date. Even so, users can still find themselves horribly compromised with little-to-no warning, and frequent reinstalls are a depressingly common remedy to the numerous infections.

Much of Vista's early criticism has centered around stability, rather than security. The introduction of a new driver model, as well as heavy DRM provisions, served to bring back the sort of instability and frequent crashes that many users had hoped were left behind with WinME. Much of this has since been fixed, as hardware manufacturers have become more familiar with the new driver model, but issues with stability remain, especially when legacy WinXP drivers must be used to maintain compatibility with older hardware.

A problem that has not gone away, though, is Vista's new privilege management system, known as User Account Control. To be fair, it does allow for more flexibility in privilege escalation, letting people run as limited users most of the time without too much difficulty. The problem lies in its implementation. Constant, persistent, annoying nag boxes pop up whenever you do anything that requires privilege escalation. This escalation, by the way, is required for not only actions taken by third party programs, but for many things within Windows itself, including a fair portion of the Control Panel. An operation as simple as copying files from one user to another can generate UAC prompts for every copy and move operation, as well as for opening folders and subfolders.


One criticism common to both is the use of product activation, known in MS jargon as Windows Genuine Advantage. Intended to combat piracy, WGA serves mainly to frustrate and punish users who purchased their copies of Windows legitimately. An inventory of a system's hardware is done at install, and thereafter, every time a significant change is made—i.e. one you have to open the case for—the user is required to re-activate Windows. This activation process should, in theory, be easily done over the internet, but it often fails due to internet connectivity issues, corrupted hardware indices, or any number of other unknown issues. Additionally, if the number of significant changes passes a certain threshold, the user is required to call Microsoft and spend time groveling to a customer disservice lackey in order to get a new product key. Ironically, though, this does little to impede those who would obtain their copies of Windows illegitimately. WGA cracks, keygens, and other bypass mechanisms are plentiful and easily obtained, and frequently used. In all, the main accomplishment of WGA seems to be the continued alienation of MS's primary customer base.

Conclusion

So, the question remains, which is better, XP or Vista? The answer is: it depends. Aside from a few easily-forgettable games from Microsoft Game Studios, there are no games that require Vista to run. Older programs, on the other hand, can sometimes misbehave or outright fail to function in Vista, due either to bad coding practices on the part of the application writers, or irregularities in the backwards-compatibility modules of Vista itself. Unless you run into one of these edge cases, however, the choice boils down to cost vs. benefit. Vista offers improved æsthetics and a more featureful user interface, at the cost of increased overhead, occasional glitches, and in the case of laptops, somewhat reduced battery life. XP offers the broadest compatibility with older hardware and programs, but still suffers from all the old complaints. In the end, it's up to you to decide.

TechwareLabs published review

 

Windows Vista SP1, the Truth and Nothing but the Truth

Can users handle the truth about Windows Vista? Now with Service Pack 1 in its arsenal, Microsoft is ready to prove that they can. Or, at least, its own version of the Vista SP1 truth.

Microsoft is on a mission. A mission to salvage what little is left of the latest Windows client, although admission of such a scenario will never come from the company. There are, of course, inherent questions as to why the software giant is reacting so late to spreading the Vista gospel. What is clear in this context is that Microsoft's truth about Vista failed to correspond to the reality of the operating system before SP1. While its was poorly marketed as a Wow in performance, security, reliability, compatibility and stability, Vista revealed its true face to consumers, moving slower than XP in common scenarios and being plagued by software and hardware incompatibility problems.

Loyal to the saying "better late than never," Microsoft did react, first with the evolution delivered by SP1 and more recent with the Vista-centric performance at the Worldwide Partner Conference 2008. "[A] major theme is around Windows Vista deployment. You'll hear from Brad Brooks about where we are. It's time for us to bust through the mist. We've got to bust through the mist with you first, because you're out there with our customers. You must be running our software first, so that you can be credible and honest in front of our customers. You also have to be supported on the back end. So I think our goal today with you is to bust through the mist on Windows Vista," stated Allison Watson, Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Partner Group, Microsoft.

It fell on Brad Brooks, Corporate Vice President, Windows Consumer Product Marketing, to bring the truth about Windows Vista to the public. In this regard, the mission was to dispel the myths about Windows Vista. Myths circulating at the level of common consumer perception in the marketplace. Still, Microsoft is ready to bet big that the real story of the operating system is different from the image of a handicapped product built by Apple's constant mockery with the Get a Mac ads.


Microsoft, Do Blame Microsoft!
Microsoft simply cannot throw the blame on anyone else but itself. The reason is rather simple and Brooks said it out loud and clear: "We've been quiet about it." It appears that the new translucency policies set in place by Steven Sinofsky, Senior Vice President, Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group for Windows 7, are contagious and they spread to Vista too. Microsoft simply sat back and took everything that was thrown at the latest Windows client. The company failed to react in any manner to Apple's Get a Mac ads that trashed Vista and made it an item synonymous with a perfect victim for ridicule, irony, sarcasm and so on and so forth. However, at the same time, a much needed wake up call seems to have taken Microsoft out of its lethargy. I just hope that it will not be a repeat of the Wow...


Vista Some Things Broken – a Lot of Things Broken
"And let's start that story, the real story, at the beginning, with the creation of Windows Vista. We had an ambitious plan. We made some significant investments around security in this product. And you know what, those investments, they broke some things. They broke a lot of things. We know that. And we know it caused you a lot of pain in front of your customers, in front of our customers. And it got a lot of customers thinking, and even yourselves and our partners thinking, ‘Hey, is Windows Vista a generation that I want to make an investment in?’" Brooks asked.

In Brooks’ own words, Vista is now dramatically changed compared with what the company was offering just a few months ago. What's different? A little something called Service Pack 1. SP1 has taken Windows Vista to the next level of reliability, compatibility, support and, most importantly, performance. There is a simple experiment that all Vista users can try out – uninstalling SP1 after at least a month of use, and trying to run plain vanilla Vista RTM. The conclusion is that, had the gold edition of Vista debuted at SP1, Microsoft would not have any myths to debunk.

source: news.softpedia.com