Security & Protection
1
Overall Security
All of your computer’s security needs are now bundled in
one easy-to-find, easy-to-monitor location. The Windows
Security Center helps make your PC more secure by alerting
you when your security software is out of date or when your
security settings should be strengthened. The Security
Center also tells you whether your PC is set up to receive
automatic software updates from Microsoft. Windows Vista,
along with Internet Explorer 7, contains many security
features to safeguard you and your organization from
threats, while keeping your intellectual property protected.
2
Windows Defender
One of the key tools in the Security Center is Windows
Defender. It works with Internet Explorer 7 to help protect
your computer against pop-ups, slow performance, and
security threats caused by spyware and other unwanted
software, often defined as malware. By leveraging superior
platform enhancements in Windows Vista, which include
improved caching technology for faster scans and removal
technologies, using up-to-date spyware definitions created
by Microsoft, Windows Defender provides an always-on
protection that monitors key system locations, watching for
changes that signal the presence of spyware. The "Scan on
execute" functionality provides an added layer of Protection
by scanning downloaded files before they are saved and
executed, reducing the chance that spyware
might be installed by accident.
3
BitLocker
BitLocker Drive Encryption protects the information stored
on your computer from hackers or thieves who might obtain
access to your machine. It is a full disk encryption feature
included with Microsoft's Windows Vista designed to protect
data by providing encryption for entire volumes. By
encrypting the entire Windows system volume, data is better
protected. Ideally a v1.2 Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip
is the preferred method of encryption key storage. BitLocker
Drive Encryption is tightly integrated into Windows Vista and
provides a seamless, secure, and manageable data
protection solution for you.
4
Automated Backup
The new backup and restore functionality in Windows Vista
makes it easier to keep your data and computer safe from
user error, hardware failure, and any other issue that could
result in data loss. The Windows Backup and Restore Center
gives you one place to manage all backup and restore
features. Two particularly useful Automatic Backup features
are the ability to do a scheduled backup and the ability to
back up your files to an external hard drive, secondary hard
drive, writable CD or DVD, or to a network location.
Search & Organize
5
Instant Search
Looking for specific applications, Web sites, and e-mails is
faster than ever with the streamlined Windows Vista Start
Menu. To find a specific application or file, click the Windows
key on the keyboard (or open the Start menu) and enter the
file name in the Instant Search field. As you type, Windows
Vista dynamically searches filenames, metadata, and the full
text of all files and displays the choices by file type. For
example, to find the Calculator application, simply type “cal”
in the Instant Search field, and Windows Vista would display
a shortcut to all applications that start with “cal”. Calculator
will be the top option.
6
Integrated Search
Every explorer window in Windows Vista contains an
integrated Instant Search field in which you can enter a word,
part of a word, or a phrase. Try filtering by type using the
Search Pane and selecting “Documents.” Next choose to see
your files in another way, via the new Stack view. Select the
author column header control drop down menu, and choose
the option to “Stack by author”. Explore all the documents by
a particular author by double clicking on an author’s stack.
Now, save that search as a new Search Folder. Choose the
option “Save Search” found on the top Command Bar and
name and save your Search Folder. In the future, to re-run it,
simply select the “Searches” folder link on the left side
Navigation Pane, and double click on your Search Folder.
7
Aero
Windows Aero offers you a premium user experience. The
glass windows create an open, energizing environment, and
enable you to better focus on your content, rather than on
the surrounding interface. If your PC supports the Windows
Aero user experience, open multiple files and see how easy it
is to locate the right open window using the breakthrough
Windows Flip (simply ALT+TAB) or Flip 3D (Windows
key+TAB).
Mobility & Collaboration
8
Mobility
Windows Vista has multiple tools and features to help you be
productive when you’re on-the-go. It provides a centralized
location to access all of the relevant information you will
need within the Mobility Center. You no longer need to go to
various menus and folders. This tool provides options for
handling your wireless connection and synching your
devices, along with various choices needed for presenting.
9
Meeting Space
Windows Meeting Space enables face-to-face collaboration
among small groups of Windows Vista users—virtually
anytime, anywhere. Useful for both business and personal
purposes, this tool enables you to share work on computerbased
projects with other people more easily and comfortably.
With Windows Meeting Space, you can collaborate
with one person or as many as nine others over a wired
network, a wireless local area network (WLAN), or an ad hoc
(PC-to-PC) wireless network.
10
XPS
XPS Documents are a new archiving format perfect for
preserving content and for securely sharing information in an
application independent way. To create an XPS Document,
open any document in virtually any application, and select
the print option. In the printer selection menu, choose
“Microsoft XPS Document Writer” and save the file. Double
click on the file, which should open it in the XPS Viewer,
which is hosted by Internet Explorer 7. The XPS Document is
a pixel perfect rendition of the original source material.
Other Windows Vista Tips
Share a folder or file directly from your PC.
Windows Vista improves on the Windows network folder
sharing experience first introduced with Windows XP by
giving you more flexibility in what you can share with
other people and improving the setup process. With
Windows Vista you can now share folders and individual
files with any other user on the same corporate network.
From any Explorer, select a file or folder and on the
Command Bar choose the option to Share. Enter the
name of another user on the same network, and give
them appropriate rights of access – reader, co-owner, etc.
PC Performance
SP1 will contain changes focused on addressing specific
reliability and performance issues, supporting new types of
hardware, and adding support for several emerging
standards. SP1 also continues to improve upon the IT
administration experience.
