Windows
Vista
Windows
Vista
January 30, 2007;
5 years ago
Wikipedi - Windows Vista is an operating system released in
several variations by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home
and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs. Prior to its
announcement on July 22, 2005, Windows Vista was known by its codename
"Longhorn". Development was completed on November 8, 2006, and over
the following three months, it was released in stages to computer hardware and
software manufacturers, business customers and retail channels. On January 30,
2007, it was released worldwide and was made available for purchase and download from
Microsoft's website. The release of Windows Vista came more than five years
after the introduction of its predecessor, Windows XP, the longest time span
between successive releases of Microsoft Windows desktop operating systems. It
was succeeded by Windows 7, which was released to manufacturing on July 22,
2009 and released worldwide for retail on October 22, 2009.
New features of Windows Vista include an updated
graphical user interface and visual style dubbed Aero, a new search component
called Windows Search, redesigned networking, audio, print and display
sub-systems, and new multimedia tools including Windows DVD Maker. Vista aimed
to increase the level of communication between machines on a home network,
using peer-to-peer technology to simplify sharing files and media between
computers and devices. Windows Vista included version 3.0 of the .NET
Framework, allowing software developers to write applications without
traditional Windows APIs.
Microsoft's primary stated objective with Windows
Vista was to improve the state of security in the Windows operating system. One
common criticism of Windows XP and its predecessors was their commonly
exploited security vulnerabilities and overall susceptibility to malware,
viruses and buffer overflows. In light of this, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates
announced in early 2002 a company-wide "Trustworthy Computing
initiative," which aimed to incorporate security into every aspect of
software development at the company. Microsoft stated that it prioritized
improving the security of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 above finishing
Windows Vista, thus delaying its completion.
While these new features and security improvements
have garnered positive reviews, Vista has also been the target of much
criticism and negative press. Criticism of Windows Vista has targeted its high
system requirements, its more restrictive licensing terms, the inclusion of a
number of new digital rights management technologies aimed at restricting the
copying of protected digital media, lack of compatibility with some pre-Vista
hardware and software, and the number of authorization prompts for User Account
Control. As a result of these and other issues, Windows Vista had seen initial
adoption and satisfaction rates lower than Windows XP. However, with an
estimated 330 million Internet users as of January 2009, it had been announced
that Vista usage had surpassed Microsoft's pre-launch two-year-out expectations
of achieving 200 million users. At the release of Windows 7 (October 2009),
Windows Vista (with approximately 400 million Internet users) was the second
most widely used operating system on the Internet with an approximately 19%
market share, the most widely used being Windows XP with an approximately 63%
market share. As of May 2010, Windows Vista's market share had an estimated
range from 15% to 26%. As of November 2012, Vista market share was 7.54%. As of
October 22, 2010 Microsoft ceased Retail sales of Windows Vista and one year
after the OEM sales for Vista were also ceased.
Development of Vista
The
unofficial Windows Longhorn logo
Microsoft began work on Windows Vista, known at the
time by its codename Longhorn, in May 2001, five months before the release of
Windows XP. It was originally expected to ship sometime late in 2003 as a minor
step between Windows XP and Blackcomb, which was planned to be the company's
next major operating system release. Gradually, "Longhorn"
assimilated many of the important new features and technologies slated for
Blackcomb, resulting in the release date being pushed back several times. Many
of Microsoft's developers were also re-tasked to build updates to Windows XP
and Windows Server 2003 to strengthen security. Faced with ongoing delays and
concerns about feature creep, Microsoft announced on August 27, 2004, that it
had revised its plans. The original Longhorn, based on the Windows XP source
code, was scrapped, and Longhorn's development started anew, building on the
Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 codebase, and re-incorporating only the
features that would be intended for an actual operating system release. Some
previously announced features such as WinFS were dropped or postponed, and a
new software development methodology called the Security Development Lifecycle
was incorporated in an effort to address concerns with the security of the
Windows codebase, which is programmed in C, C++ and Assembly.
After Longhorn was named Windows Vista in July 2005,
an unprecedented beta-test program was started, involving hundreds of thousands
of volunteers and companies. In September of that year, Microsoft started
releasing regular Community Technology Previews (CTP) to beta testers. The
first of these was distributed at the 2005 Microsoft Professional Developers
Conference, and was subsequently released to beta testers and Microsoft
Developer Network subscribers. The builds that followed incorporated most of the
planned features for the final product, as well as a number of changes to the
user interface, based largely on feedback from beta testers. Windows Vista was
deemed feature-complete with the release of the "February CTP",
released on February 22, 2006, and much of the remainder of work between that
build and the final release of the product focused on stability, performance,
application and driver compatibility, and documentation. Beta 2, released in
late May, was the first build to be made available to the general public
through Microsoft's Customer Preview Program. It was downloaded by over five
million people. Two release candidates followed in September and October, both
of which were made available to a large number of users.
While Microsoft had originally hoped to have the
consumer versions of the operating system available worldwide in time for
Christmas 2006, it was announced in March 2006 that the release date would be
pushed back to January 2007, in order to give the company–and the hardware and
software companies that Microsoft depends on for providing device
drivers–additional time to prepare. Development of Windows Vista came to an end
when Microsoft announced that it had been finalized on November 8, 2006.
New or changed features
Windows Vista introduced several features and
functionalities not present in its predecessors.
End-user
Windows
Explorer in Windows Vista
- Windows
Aero: The
new graphical user interface is named Windows Aero, which Jim
Allchin stated is an acronym for Authentic, Energetic, Reflective, and
Open. Microsoft intended the new interface to be cleaner and more
aesthetically pleasing than those of previous Windows versions, featuring
new transparencies, live thumbnails, live icons, and animations, thus
providing a new level of eye candy. Laptop users report, however, that
enabling Aero shortens battery life.
- Windows
shell: The
new Windows shell offers a new range of organization, navigation, and
search capabilities: Task panes in Windows Explorer are removed,
integrating the relevant task options into the toolbar. A "Favorite
links" pane has been added, enabling one-click access to common
directories. A search box appears in every Explorer window. The address
bar has been replaced with a breadcrumb navigation bar. The preview pane
allows users to see thumbnails of various files and view the contents of
documents. The details pane shows information such as file size and type,
and allows viewing and editing of embedded tags in supported file formats.
The Start menu has changed as well; incorporating an instant search box,
and the All Programs list uses a horizontal scroll bar instead of
the cascading flyout menu seen in Windows XP. The word "Start"
itself has been removed in favor of a blue orb that bears the Windows
logo.
- Windows
Search: A new
search component of Windows Vista, it features instant search (also known
as search as you type), which is faster than the search features
found in previous versions of Windows and can search the contents of
recognized file types. Users can search for certain metadata such as name,
extension, size, date or attributes.
- Windows
Sidebar: A
transparent panel anchored to the side of the screen where a user can
place Desktop Gadgets, which are small applets designed for a specialized
purpose (such as displaying the weather or sports scores). Gadgets can
also be placed on the desktop.
- Windows
Internet Explorer 7: New user interface, tabbed browsing, RSS, a
search box, improved printing, Page Zoom, Quick Tabs (thumbnails of all
open tabs), Anti-Phishing filter, a number of new security protection
features, Internationalized Domain Name support (IDN), and improved web
standards support. IE7 in Windows Vista runs in isolation from other
applications in the operating system (protected mode); exploits and malicious
software are restricted from writing to any location beyond Temporary
Internet Files without explicit user consent.
Windows
Media Player 11
- Windows
Media Player 11, a
major revamp of Microsoft's program for playing and organizing music and
video. New features in this version include word wheeling (incremental
search or "search as you type"), a new GUI for the media
library, photo display and organization, the ability to share music
libraries over a network with other Windows Vista machines, Xbox 360
integration, and support for other Media Center Extenders.
- Windows
Defender An
antispyware program with several real-time protection agents. It includes
a software explorer feature, which provides access to startup programs,
and allows one to view currently running software, network connected
applications, and Winsock providers (Winsock LSPs).
- Backup
and Restore Center: Includes a backup and restore application that
gives users the ability to schedule periodic backups of files on their
computer, as well as recovery from previous backups. Backups are
incremental, storing only the changes made each time, minimizing disk usage.
It also features Complete PC Backup (available only in the Ultimate,
Business, and Enterprise versions), which backs up an entire computer as
an image onto a hard disk or DVD. Complete PC Backup can automatically
recreate a machine setup onto new hardware or hard disk in case of any
hardware failures. Complete PC Restore can be initiated from within
Windows Vista or from the Windows Vista installation CD in the event that
a PC is so corrupt that it cannot start normally from the hard disk.
- Windows
Mail: A
replacement for Outlook Express that includes a new mail store that
improves stability, and features integrated instant search. It has the
Phishing Filter like Internet Explorer 7 and Junk mail filtering that is
enhanced through regular updates via Windows Update.
- Windows
Calendar is a
new calendar and task application which integrates with Windows Contacts
and Windows Mail. It is compatible with various calendar file types, such
as the popular iCalendar.
- Windows
Photo Gallery, a
photo and movie library management application. It can import from digital
cameras, tag and rate individual items, adjust colors and exposure, create
and display slideshows (with pan and fade effects) through Direct3D and
burn slideshows to a DVD.
- Windows
DVD Maker, a
companion program to Windows Movie Maker that provides the ability to
create video DVDs based on a user's content. Users can design a DVD with
title, menus, video, soundtrack, pan and zoom motion effects on pictures
or slides.
- Windows
Media Center, which
was previously exclusively bundled in a separate version of Windows XP,
known as Windows XP Media Center Edition, has been incorporated into the
Home Premium and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista.
- Games: Most of the standard computer
games included in previous versions of Windows have been redesigned to
showcase Vista's new graphical capabilities. New games available in
Windows Vista are Chess Titans (3D Chess game), Mahjong Titans (3D Mahjong
game) and Purble Place (A small collection of games, oriented towards younger
children. Including: A matching game, a cake-creator game, and a dress-up
puzzle game).
- Games
Explorer: A new
special folder called "Games" exposes installed video games and
information to about them. These metadata may be updated from the
Internet.
Windows
Mobility Center
- Windows
Mobility Center is a
control panel that centralizes the most relevant information related to
mobile computing (brightness, sound, battery level / power scheme
selection, wireless network, screen orientation, presentation settings,
etc.).
- Windows
Fax and Scan Allows
computers with fax modems to send and receive fax documents, as well as
scan documents. It is not available in the Home versions of Windows Vista,
but is available in the Business, Enterprise and Ultimate editions.
- Windows
Meeting Space
replaces NetMeeting. Users can share applications (or their entire
desktop) with other users on the local network, or over the Internet using
peer-to-peer technology (higher versions than Starter and Home Basic can
take advantage of hosting capabilities, Starter and Home Basic editions
are limited to "join" mode only)
- Shadow
Copy
automatically creates daily backup copies of files and folders. Users can
also create "shadow copies" by setting a System Protection Point
using the System Protection tab in the System control panel. The user can
be presented multiple versions of a file throughout a limited history and
be allowed to restore, delete, or copy those versions. This feature is
available only in the Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions of
Windows Vista and is inherited from Windows Server 2003.
Windows
Update with Windows Ultimate Extras
- Windows
Update:
Software and security updates have been simplified, now operating solely
via a control panel instead of as a web application. Windows Mail's spam
filter and Windows Defender's definitions are updated automatically via
Windows Update. Users who choose the recommended setting for Automatic
Updates will have the latest drivers installed and available when they add
a new device.
- Parental
controls: Allows
administrators to monitor and restrict user activity, as well as control
which websites, programs and games each Standard user can use and install.
This feature is not included in the Business or Enterprise editions of
Vista.
- Windows
SideShow:
Enables the auxiliary displays on newer laptops or on supported Windows
Mobile devices. It is meant to be used to display device gadgets while the
computer is on or off.
- Speech
recognition is
integrated into Vista. It features a redesigned user interface and
configurable command-and-control commands. Unlike the Office 2003 version,
which works only in Office and WordPad, Speech Recognition in Windows
Vista works for any accessible application. In addition, it currently
supports several languages: British and American English, Spanish, French,
German, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified) and Japanese.
- New
fonts, including several designed for screen reading, and improved Chinese
(Yahei, JhengHei), Japanese (Meiryo), and Korean (Malgun) fonts. ClearType
has also been enhanced and enabled by default.
- Improved
audio controls allow the system-wide volume or volume of individual audio
devices and even individual applications to be controlled separately. New
audio functionalities such as Room Correction, Bass Management, Speaker
Fill and Headphone virtualization have also been incorporated.
- Problem
Reports and Solutions, a feature that allows users to check for
solutions to problems or view previously sent problems for any solutions
or additional information, if available.
- Windows
System Assessment Tool is a tool used to benchmark system performance.
Software such as games can retrieve this rating and modify its own
behavior at runtime to improve performance. The benchmark tests CPU, RAM,
2-D and 3-D graphics acceleration, graphics memory and hard disk space.
- Windows
Ultimate Extras: The
Ultimate edition of Windows Vista provides, via Windows Update, access to
some additional features. These are a collection of additional MUI
language packs, Texas Hold 'Em (a Poker game) and Microsoft
Tinker (a strategy game where the character is a robot), BitLocker and
EFS enhancements that allow users to back up their encryption key online
in a Digital Locker, and Windows Dreamscene, which enables the use of
videos in MPEG and WMV formats as the desktop background. On April 21,
2008, Microsoft launched two more Ultimate Extras; three new Windows sound
schemes, and a content pack for Dreamscene. Various DreamScene Content
Packs have been released since the final version of DreamScene was
released.
- Reliability
and Performance Monitor includes various tools for tuning and monitoring
system performance and resources activities of CPU, disks, network, memory
and other resources. It shows the operations on files, the opened
connections, etc.
- Disk
Management: The
Logical Disk Manager in Windows Vista supports shrinking and expanding
volumes on-the-fly.
- Windows
Anytime Upgrade: is a
program that allows a user to upgrade their computer running Vista to a
higher edition. For example, a computer running Windows Vista Home Basic
can be upgraded to Home Premium or better. The advantages of using Anytime
Upgrade are that your programs and data aren't erased, it just installs
the extra features of the edition you're upgrading to, and the price is
less to upgrade than to replace your installation of Windows with the
edition you wish to upgrade to. Anytime Upgrade is no longer available for
Vista.
Core
Windows Vista is intended to be a technology-based
release, to provide a base to include advanced technologies, many of which are
related to how the system functions and thus not readily visible to the user.
An example is the complete restructuring of the architecture of the audio,
print, display, and networking subsystems; although the results of this work
are visible to software developers, end-users will only see what appear to be
evolutionary changes in the user interface.
Vista includes technologies such as ReadyBoost and
ReadyDrive, which employ fast flash memory (located on USB drives and hybrid
hard disk drives) to improve system performance by caching commonly used
programs and data. This manifests itself in improved battery life on notebook
computers as well, since a hybrid drive can be spun down when not in use.
Another new technology called SuperFetch utilizes machine learning techniques
to analyze usage patterns to allow Windows Vista to make intelligent decisions
about what content should be present in system memory at any given time. It
uses almost all the extra RAM as disk cache. In conjunction with SuperFetch, an
automatic built-in Windows Disk Defragmenter makes sure that those applications
are strategically positioned on the hard disk where they can be loaded into
memory very quickly with the least amount of physical movement of the hard
disk's read-write heads.
As part of the redesign of the networking
architecture, IPv6 has been fully incorporated into the operating system and a
number of performance improvements have been introduced, such as TCP window
scaling. Earlier versions of Windows typically needed third-party wireless
networking software to work properly, but this is not the case with Vista,
which includes more comprehensive wireless networking support.
For graphics, Vista introduces a new Windows Display
Driver Model and a major revision to Direct3D. The new driver model facilitates
the new Desktop Window Manager, which provides the tearing-free desktop and
special effects that are the cornerstones of Windows Aero. Direct3D 10,
developed in conjunction with major graphics card manufacturers, is a new
architecture with more advanced shader support, and allows the graphics
processing unit to render more complex scenes without assistance from the CPU.
It features improved load balancing between CPU and GPU and also optimizes data
transfer between them. WDDM also provides video content playback that rivals
typical consumer electronics devices. It does this by making it easy to connect
to external monitors, providing for protected HD video playback and increasing
overall video playback quality. For the first time in Windows, graphics
processing unit (GPU) multitasking is possible, enabling users to run more than
one GPU-intensive application simultaneously.
At the core of the operating system, many improvements
have been made to the memory manager, process scheduler and I/O scheduler. The
Heap Manager implements additional features such as integrity checking in order
to improve robustness and defend against buffer overflow security exploits,
although this comes at the price of breaking backward compatibility with some
legacy applications. A Kernel Transaction Manager has been implemented that
enables applications to work with the file system and Registry using atomic
transaction operations.
Security-related
Improved security was a primary design goal for Vista.
Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing initiative, which aims to improve public
trust in its products, has had a direct effect on its development. This effort
has resulted in a number of new security and safety features.
User Account Control, or UAC is perhaps the most
significant and visible of these changes. UAC is a security technology that
makes it possible for users to use their computer with fewer privileges by
default, with a view to stopping malware from making unauthorized changes to
the system. This was often difficult in previous versions of Windows, as the
previous "limited" user accounts proved too restrictive and
incompatible with a large proportion of application software, and even
prevented some basic operations such as looking at the calendar from the
notification tray. In Windows Vista, when an action is performed that requires
administrative rights (such as installing/uninstalling software or making
system-wide configuration changes), the user is first prompted for an
administrator name and password; in cases where the user is already an
administrator, the user is still prompted to confirm the pending privileged
action. Regular use of the computer such as running programs, printing, or
surfing the Internet does not trigger UAC prompts. User Account Control asks
for credentials in a Secure Desktop mode, in which the entire screen is dimmed,
and only the authorization window is active and highlighted. The intent is to
stop a malicious program misleading the user by interfering with the
authorization window, and to hint to the user the importance of the prompt.
Testing by Symantec Corporation has proven the
effectiveness of UAC. Symantec used over 2,000 active malware samples,
consisting of backdoors, keyloggers, rootkits, mass mailers, trojan horses,
spyware, adware, and various other samples. Each was executed on a default
Windows Vista installation within a standard user account. UAC effectively
blocked over 50 percent of each threat, excluding rootkits. 5 percent or less
of the malware that evaded UAC survived a reboot.
Internet Explorer 7's new security and safety features
include a phishing filter, IDN with anti-spoofing capabilities, and integration
with system-wide parental controls. For added security, ActiveX controls are
disabled by default. Also, Internet Explorer operates in a protected mode,
which operates with lower permissions than the user and runs in isolation from
other applications in the operating system, preventing it from accessing or
modifying anything besides the Temporary Internet Files directory. Microsoft's
anti-spyware product, Windows Defender, has been incorporated into
Windows, providing 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.
Whereas prior releases of Windows supported per-file
encryption using Encrypting File System, the Enterprise and Ultimate editions
of Vista include BitLocker Drive Encryption, which can protect entire volumes,
notably the operating system volume. However, BitLocker requires approximately
a 1.5-gigabyte partition to be permanently not encrypted and to contain system
files in order for Windows to boot. In normal circumstances, the only time this
partition is accessed is when the computer is booting, or when there is a
Windows update that changes files in this area, which is a legitimate reason to
access this section of the drive. The area can be a potential security issue,
because a hexadecimal editor (such as dskprobe.exe), or malicious software
running with administrator and/or kernel level privileges would be able to
write to this "Ghost Partition" and allow a piece of malicious
software to compromise the system, or disable the encryption. BitLocker can
work in conjunction with a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) cryptoprocessor
(version 1.2) embedded in a computer's motherboard, or with a USB key. However,
as with other full disk encryption technologies, BitLocker is vulnerable to a
cold boot attack, especially where TPM is used as a key protector without a
boot PIN being required too.
A variety of other privilege-restriction techniques
are also built into Vista. An example is the concept of "integrity
levels" in user processes, whereby a process with a lower integrity level
cannot interact with processes of a higher integrity level and cannot perform
DLL–injection to a processes of a higher integrity level. The security
restrictions of Windows services are more fine-grained, so that services
(especially those listening on the network) have no ability to interact with
parts of the operating system they do not need to. Obfuscation techniques such
as address space layout randomization are used to increase the amount of effort
required of malware before successful infiltration of a system. Code Integrity
verifies that system binaries have not been tampered with by malicious code.
As part of the redesign of the network stack, Windows
Firewall has been upgraded, with new support for filtering both incoming and
outgoing traffic. Advanced packet filter rules can be created that can grant or
deny communications to specific services.
The 64-bit versions of Vista require that all device
drivers be digitally signed, so that the creator of the driver can be
identified.
System management
While much of the focus of Vista's new capabilities
highlighted the new user-interface, security technologies, and improvements to
the core operating system, Microsoft also adding new deployment and maintenance
features:
- The
Windows Imaging Format (WIM) provides the cornerstone of Microsoft's new
deployment and packaging system. WIM files, which contain a
HAL-independent image of Windows Vista, can be maintained and patched
without having to rebuild new images. Windows Images can be delivered via
Systems Management Server or Business Desktop Deployment
technologies. Images can be customized and configured with applications
then deployed to corporate client personal computers using little to no
touch by a system administrator. ImageX is the Microsoft tool used to
create and customize images.
- Windows
Deployment Services replaces Remote Installation Services for deploying
Vista and prior versions of Windows.
- Approximately
700 new Group Policy settings have been added, covering most aspects of
the new features in the operating system, as well as significantly
expanding the configurability of wireless networks, removable storage
devices, and user desktop experience. Vista also introduced an XML-based
format (ADMX) to display registry-based policy settings, making it easier
to manage networks that span geographic locations and different languages.
- Services
for UNIX, renamed as "Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications",
comes with the Enterprise and Ultimate editions of Vista. Network File
System (NFS) client support is also included.
- Multilingual
User Interface–Unlike previous versions of Windows (which required the
loading of language packs to provide local-language support), Windows
Vista Ultimate and Enterprise editions support the ability to dynamically
change languages based on the logged-on user's preference.
- Wireless
Projector support
Developer
Windows Vista includes a large number of new
application programming interfaces. Chief among them is the inclusion of
version 3.0 of the .NET Framework, which consists of a class library and Common
Language Runtime and OS/2 environment just like its NT predecessors. Version
3.0 includes four new major components:
- Windows
Presentation Foundation is a user interface subsystem and framework
based vector graphics, which makes use of 3D computer graphics hardware
and Direct3D technologies. It provides the foundation for building
applications and blending together application UI, documents, and media content.
It is the successor to Windows Forms.
- Windows
Communication Foundation is a service-oriented messaging subsystem that
enables applications and systems to interoperate locally or remotely using
Web services.
- Windows
Workflow Foundation provides task automation and integrated
transactions using workflows. It is the programming model, engine and
tools for building workflow-enabled applications on Windows.
- Windows
CardSpace is a
component that securely stores digital identities of a person, and provides
a unified interface for choosing the identity for a particular
transaction, such as logging into a website.
These technologies are also available for Windows XP
and Windows Server 2003 to facilitate their introduction to and usage by
developers and end users.
There are also significant new development APIs in the
core of the operating system, notably the completely re-designed audio,
networking, print, and video interfaces, major changes to the security
infrastructure, improvements to the deployment and installation of applications
("ClickOnce" and Windows Installer 4.0), new device driver
development model ("Windows Driver Foundation"), Transactional NTFS,
mobile computing API advancements (power management, Tablet PC Ink support,
SideShow) and major updates to (or complete replacements of) many core
subsystems such as Winlogon and CAPI.
There are some issues for software developers using
some of the graphics APIs in Vista. Games or programs built solely on the
Windows Vista-exclusive version of DirectX, version 10, cannot work on prior
versions of Windows, as DirectX 10 is not available for previous Windows
versions. Also, games that require the features of D3D9Ex, the updated
implementation of DirectX 9 in Windows Vista are also incompatible with
previous Windows versions. According to a Microsoft blog, there are three
choices for OpenGL implementation on Vista. An application can use the default
implementation, which translates OpenGL calls into the Direct3D API and is
frozen at OpenGL version 1.4, or an application can use an Installable Client
Driver (ICD), which comes in two flavors: legacy and Vista-compatible. A legacy
ICD disables the Desktop Window Manager, a Vista-compatible ICD takes advantage
of a new API, and is fully compatible with the Desktop Window Manager. At least
two primary vendors, ATI and NVIDIA provided full Vista-compatible ICDs.
However, hardware overlay is not supported, because it is considered as an
obsolete feature in Vista. ATI and NVIDIA strongly recommend using compositing
desktop/Framebuffer Objects for same functionality.
Installation
Windows Vista is the first Microsoft operating system
that can be installed only on an NTFS partition.
It is also the first Microsoft operating system that
provides support for loading drivers for SCSI/IDE/SATA/RAID controllers from
any source other than floppy disks prior to its installation.
Removed features
Some notable Windows XP features and components have
been replaced or removed in Windows Vista, including several shell and Windows
Explorer features, multimedia features, networking related functionality,
Windows Messenger, NTBackup, the network Windows Messenger service,
HyperTerminal, MSN Explorer, Active Desktop, and the replacement of NetMeeting
with Windows Meeting Space. Windows Vista also does not include the Windows XP
"Luna" visual theme, or most of the classic color schemes that have
been part of Windows since the Windows 3.x era. The "Hardware
profiles" startup feature has also been removed, along with support for
older motherboard technologies like the EISA bus, APM and Game port support
(though on the 32-bit version game port support can be enabled by applying an
older driver). IP over FireWire (TCP/IP over IEEE 1394) has been removed as
well. The IPX/SPX Protocol has also been removed, although it can be enabled by
a third-party plug-in.
Editions
Windows Vista ships in six different editions. These
are roughly divided into two target markets, consumer and business, with
editions varying to cater for specific sub-markets. For consumers, there are
four editions, with three available for economically more developed countries.
Windows Vista Starter edition is aimed for low powered computers with
availability only in emerging markets. Windows Vista Home Basic is intended for
budget users. Windows Vista Home Premium covers the majority of the consumer
market, and contains applications for creating and using multimedia. The home
editions cannot join a Windows Server domain. For businesses, there are three
editions. Windows Vista Business is specifically designed for small and
medium-sized businesses, while Windows Vista Enterprise is
only available to customers participating in Microsoft's Software Assurance
program. Windows Vista Ultimate contains the complete feature-set of both the
Home and Business (combination of both Home Premium and Enterprise) editions,
as well as a set of Windows Ultimate Extras, and is aimed at enthusiasts.
All editions except Windows Vista Starter support both
32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) processor architectures.
In the European Union, Home Basic N and Business N
versions are also available. These come without Windows Media Player, due to EU
sanctions brought against Microsoft for violating anti-trust laws. Similar
sanctions exist in South Korea.
Visual styles
A comparison
of the four visual styles included in Windows Vista.
Windows Vista has four distinct visual styles.
Windows Aero
Vista's premier visual style,
Windows Aero, is built on a new desktop composition engine called Desktop
Window Manager. Windows Aero introduces support for translucency effects
(Glass), live thumbnails, window animations, and other visual effects (for example
Windows Flip 3D), and is intended for mainstream and high-end video cards. To
enable these features, the contents of every open window are stored in video
memory to facilitate tearing-free movement of windows. As such, Windows Aero
has significantly higher hardware requirements than its predecessors. The
minimum requirement is for 128 MB of graphics memory, depending on
resolution used. Windows Aero (including Windows Flip 3D) is not included in
the Starter and Home Basic editions.
Windows
Vista Standard
This style is a variation of Windows
Aero without the glass effects, window animations, and other advanced graphical
effects such as Windows Flip 3D. Like Windows Aero, it uses the Desktop Window
Manager, and has generally the same video hardware requirements as Windows
Aero. This visual style is included with Home Basic edition only as a
"cheap" replacement of Windows Aero style.
Windows
Vista Basic
This style has aspects that are
similar to Windows XP's "Luna" visual style with the addition of
subtle animations such as those found on progress bars. It does not employ the
Desktop Window Manager, as such, it does not feature transparency or
translucency, window animation, Windows Flip 3D or any of the functions
provided by the DWM. The Basic mode does not require the new Windows Display
Driver Model (WDDM) for display drivers, and has similar video card
requirements to Windows XP. For computers with video cards that are not
powerful enough to support Windows Aero, this is the default graphics mode.
Prior to Service Pack 1, a machine that failed Windows Genuine Advantage
validation would also default to this visual style.
Windows
Standard
The Windows Standard (or Windows
Classic) visual style is similar to that of Windows 2000 and Microsoft's
Windows Server line of operating systems. It does not use the Desktop Window
Manager, and does not require a WDDM driver. As with previous versions of
Windows, this visual style supports color schemes, which are collections of
color settings. Windows Vista includes six color schemes: four high-contrast
color schemes and the default color schemes from Windows 95/Windows 98 (titled "Windows Classic") and Windows
2000/Windows Me (titled "Windows Standard").
Hardware requirements
Computers capable of running Windows Vista are
classified as Vista Capable and Vista Premium Ready. A Vista
Capable or equivalent PC is capable of running all editions of Windows
Vista although some of the special features and high-end graphics options may
require additional or more advanced hardware. A Vista Premium Ready PC
can take advantage of Vista's high-end features.
Windows Vista's Basic and Classic interfaces work with
virtually any graphics hardware that supports Windows XP or 2000; accordingly,
most discussion around Vista's graphics requirements centers on those for the
Windows Aero interface. As of Windows Vista Beta 2, the NVIDIA GeForce 6 series
and later, the ATI Radeon 9500 and later, Intel's GMA 950 and later integrated
graphics, and a handful of VIA chipsets and S3 Graphics discrete chips are
supported. Although originally supported, the GeForce FX 5 series has been
dropped from newer drivers from NVIDIA. The last driver from NVIDIA to support
the GeForce FX series on Vista was 96.85. Microsoft offers a tool called the Windows
Vista Upgrade Adviso to assist Windows XP and Vista users in determining
what versions of Windows their machine is capable of running. Although the
installation media included in retail packages is a 32-bit DVD, customers
needing a CD-ROM or customers who wish for a 64-bit install media are able to
acquire this media through the Windows Vista Alternate Media program. The
Ultimate edition includes both 32-bit and 64-bit media. The digitally
downloaded version of Ultimate includes only one version, either 32-bit or
64-bit, from Windows Marketplace.
|
Windows Vista system requirements
|
|
Vista Capable
|
Vista Premium Ready
|
|
Processor
|
800 MHz
|
1 GHz
|
|
Memory
|
512 MB
|
1 GB
|
|
Graphics card
|
DirectX 9.0 capable
|
DirectX 9.0 capable and WDDM 1.0 driver support
|
|
Graphics memory
|
64 MB
|
128 MB
|
|
HDD capacity
|
40 GB
|
80 GB
|
|
HDD free space
|
15 GB
|
|
Optical drives
|
DVD-ROM drive (Only to install from DVD-ROM media)
|
Physical memory limits
Maximum limits on physical memory (RAM) that Windows
Vista can address vary depending on the both the Windows version and between
32-bit and 64-bit versions. The following table specifies the maximum physical
memory limits supported:
|
Physical memory limits for Windows Vista versions
|
|
Version
|
Limit in 32-bit Windows
|
Limit in 64-bit Windows
|
|
Windows Vista Ultimate
|
4 GB
|
128 GB
|
|
Windows Vista Enterprise
|
|
Windows Vista Business
|
|
Windows Vista Home Premium
|
16GB
|
|
Windows Vista Home Basic
|
8GB
|
|
Windows Vista Starter
|
1 GB
|
N/A
|
Processor limits
The total maximum number of logical processors in a PC
that Windows Vista supports is: 32 for 32-bit; 64 for 64-bit.
The maximum number of physical processors in a PC that
Windows Vista supports is: 2 for Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate, and 1 for
Starter, Home Basic, and Home Premium.
Service packs
Microsoft occasionally releases service packs for its
Windows operating systems to fix bugs and add new features.
Service Pack 1
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) was released on
February 4, 2008, alongside Windows Server 2008 to OEM partners, after a
five-month beta test period. The initial deployment of the service pack caused
a number of machines to continually reboot, rendering the machines unusable.
This caused Microsoft to temporarily suspend automatic deployment of the
service pack until the problem was resolved. The synchronized release date of
the two operating systems reflected the merging of the workstation and server kernels
back into a single code base for the first time since Windows 2000. MSDN
subscribers were able to download SP1 on February 15, 2008. SP1 became
available to current Windows Vista users on Windows Update and the Download
Center on March 18, 2008. Initially, the service pack only supported 5
languages – English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese. Support for the
remaining 31 languages was released on April 14, 2008.
A whitepaper published by Microsoft near the end of
August 2007 outlined the scope and intent of the service pack, identifying
three major areas of improvement: reliability and performance, administration
experience, and support for newer hardware and standards.
One area of particular note is performance. Areas of
improvement include file copy operations, hibernation, logging off on
domain-joined machines, JavaScript parsing in Internet Explorer, network file
share browsing, Windows Explorer ZIP file handling, and Windows Disk
Defragmenter. The ability to choose individual drives to defragment is being
reintroduced as well.
Service Pack 1 introduced support for some new
hardware and software standards, notably the exFAT file system, 802.11n
wireless networking, IPv6 over VPN connections, and the Secure Socket Tunneling
Protocol.
Booting a system using Extensible Firmware Interface
on x64 systems was also introduced; this feature had originally been slated for
the initial release of Vista but was delayed due to a lack of compatible
hardware at the time. Booting from a GUID Partition Table–based hard drive
greater than 2.19 TB is supported (x64 only).
Two areas have seen changes in SP1 that have come as
the result of concerns from software vendors. One of these is desktop search;
users will be able to change the default desktop search program to one provided
by a third party instead of the Microsoft desktop search program that comes
with Windows Vista, and desktop search programs will be able to seamlessly tie
in their services into the operating system. These changes come in part due to
complaints from Google, whose Google Desktop Search application was hindered by
the presence of Vista's built-in desktop search. In June 2007, Google claimed
that the changes being introduced for SP1 "are a step in the right
direction, but they should be improved further to give consumers greater access
to alternate desktop search providers". The other area of note is a set of
new security APIs being introduced for the benefit of antivirus software that
currently relies on the unsupported practice of patching the kernel (see
Kernel Patch Protection).
An update to DirectX 10, named DirectX 10.1, marked
mandatory several features that were previously optional in Direct3D 10
hardware. Graphics cards will be required to support DirectX 10.1. SP1 includes
a kernel (6001.18000) that matches the version shipped with Windows Server
2008.
The Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) was
replaced by the Group Policy Object Editor. An updated downloadable version of
the Group Policy Management Console was released soon after the service pack.
SP1 enables support for hotpatching, a
reboot-reduction servicing technology designed to maximize uptime. It works by
allowing Windows components to be updated (or "patched") while they
are still in use by a running process. Hotpatch-enabled update packages are
installed via the same methods as traditional update packages, and will not
trigger a system reboot.
Service Pack 2
Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista was released to
manufacturing on April 28, 2009, and released to Microsoft Download Center and
Windows Update on May 26, 2009. In addition to a number of security and other
fixes, a number of new features have been added. However, it did not include
Internet Explorer 8: Windows Vista Service Pack 2 is build 6002.18005.090410-1830.
- Windows
Search 4.0 (currently available for SP1 systems as a standalone update)
- Feature
Pack for Wireless adds support for Bluetooth 2.1
- Windows
Feature Pack for Storage enables the data recording onto Blu-ray media
- Windows
Connect Now (WCN) to simplify Wi-Fi configuration
- Improved
support for resuming with active Wi-Fi connections
- Improved
support for eSATA drives
- The
limit of 10 half open, outgoing TCP connections introduced in Windows XP
SP2 was removed
- Enables
the exFAT file system to support UTC timestamps, which
allows correct file synchronization across time zones
- Support
for ICCD/CCID smart cards
- Support
for VIA 64-bit CPUs
- Improved
performance and responsiveness with the RSS feeds sidebar
- Improves
audio and video performance for streaming high-definition content
- Improves
Windows Media Center (WMC) in content protection for TV
- Provides
an improved power management policy that is up to 10% more efficient than
the original in some[clarification needed]
configurations[citation needed]
Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 share a single
service pack binary, reflecting the fact that their code bases were joined with
the release of Server 2008. Service Pack 2 is not a cumulative update meaning
that Service Pack 1 must be installed first.
Platform Update
The Platform Update for Windows Vista was
released on October 27, 2009. It includes major new components that shipped
with Windows 7, as well as updated runtime libraries. It requires Service Pack
2 of Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 and is listed on Windows Update as a Recommended
download.
The Platform Update allows application developers to
target both Windows Vista and Windows 7. It consists of the following
components:
- Windows
Graphics
runtime: Direct2D, DirectWrite, Direct3D 11, DXGI 1.1, and WARP;
- Updates
to Windows Imaging Component;
- Updates
to XPS Print API, XPS Document API and XPS Rasterization Service;
- Windows
Automation API
(updates to MSAA and UI Automation);
- Windows
Portable Devices Platform; (adds support for MTP over Bluetooth and MTP
Device Services)
- Windows
Ribbon API;
- Windows
Animation Manager library.
Some updates are available as separate releases for
both Windows XP and Windows Vista:
- Windows
Management Framework: Windows PowerShell 2.0, Windows Remote
Management 2.0, BITS 4.0
- Remote
Desktop Connection 7.0 (RDP7) client
Although extensive, the Platform Update does not bring
Windows Vista to the level of features and performance offered by Windows 7.
For example, even though Direct3D 11 runtime will be able to run on D3D9-class
hardware and WDDM drivers using "feature levels" first introduced in
Direct3D 10.1, Desktop Window Manager has not been updated to use Direct3D
10.1.
In July 2011, Microsoft released Platform Update
Supplement for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, which contains several
bug fixes and performance improvements.
Criticism
Windows Vista has received a number of negative
assessments. Criticism targets include protracted development time (5–6 years),
more restrictive licensing terms, the inclusion of a number of technologies
aimed at restricting the copying of protected digital media, and the usability
of the new User Account Control security technology. Moreover, some concerns
have been raised about many PCs meeting "Vista Premium Ready"
hardware requirements and Vista's pricing.
Hardware requirements
While Microsoft claimed "nearly all PCs on the
market today will run Windows Vista", the higher requirements of some of
the "premium" features, such as the Aero interface, have had an
impact on many upgraders. According to the UK newspaper The Times in May
2006, the full set of features "would be available to less than 5 percent
of Britain's PC market"; however, this prediction was made several months
before Vista was released. This continuing lack of clarity eventually led to a
class action against Microsoft as people found themselves with new computers
that were unable to use the new software to its full potential despite the
assurance of "Vista Capable" designations. The court case has made
public internal Microsoft communications that indicate that senior executives
have also had difficulty with this issue. For example, Mike Nash (Corporate
Vice President, Windows Product Management) commented "I now have a $2,100
e-mail machine" because his laptop's lack of an appropriate graphics chip
so hobbled Vista.
Licensing
Criticism of upgrade licenses pertaining to Windows
Vista Starter through Home Premium was expressed by Ars Technica's Ken Fisher,
who noted that the new requirement of having a prior operating system already
installed was going to cause irritation for users who reinstall Windows on a
regular basis. It has been revealed that an Upgrade copy of Windows Vista can
be installed clean without first installing a previous version of Windows. On
the first install, Windows will refuse to activate. The user must then
reinstall that same copy of Vista. Vista will then activate on the reinstall,
thus allowing a user to install an Upgrade of Windows Vista without owning a
previous operating system. As with Windows XP, separate rules still apply to
OEM versions of Vista installed on new PCs: Microsoft asserts that these
versions are not legally transferable (although whether this conflicts with the
right of first sale has yet to be clearly decided legally).
Cost
Initially, the cost of Windows Vista was also a source
of concern and commentary. A majority of users in a poll said that the prices
of various Windows Vista editions posted on the Microsoft Canada website in
August 2006 make the product too expensive. A BBC News report on the day of
Vista's release suggested that, "there may be a backlash from consumers
over its pricing plans—with the cost of Vista versions in the US roughly half
the price of equivalent versions in the UK." Since the release of Vista in
2006, Microsoft has reduced the retail, and upgrade price point of Vista.
Originally, Vista Ultimate was priced at $399, and Home Premium Vista at $239.
These prices have since been reduced to $319 and $199 respectively.
Digital rights management
Windows Vista supports additional forms of digital
rights management restrictions. One aspect of this is the Protected Video Path,
which is designed so that "premium content" from HD DVD or Blu-ray
Discs may mandate that the connections between PC components be encrypted.
Depending on what the content demands, the devices may not pass premium content
over non-encrypted outputs, or they must artificially degrade the quality of
the signal on such outputs or not display it at all. Drivers for such hardware
must be approved by Microsoft; a revocation mechanism is also included, which
allows Microsoft to disable drivers of devices in end-user PCs over the
Internet. Peter Gutmann, security researcher and author of the open source cryptlib library, claims that these mechanisms violate
fundamental rights of the user (such as fair use), unnecessarily increase the
cost of hardware, and make systems less reliable (the "tilt bit"
being a particular worry; if triggered, the entire graphic subsystem performs a
reset) and vulnerable to denial-of-service attacks. However despite several
requests for evidence supporting such claims Peter Gutmann has never supported
his claims with any researched evidence. Proponents have claimed that Microsoft
had no choice but to follow the demands of the movie studios, and that the
technology will not actually be enabled until after 2010; Microsoft also noted
that content protection mechanisms have existed in Windows as far back as
Windows Me, and that the new protections will not apply to any existing content
(only future content).
As of 2012, well over five years after the release of
Vista, this criticism has become moot. While some HD video programs implemented
3rd party controls restricting analog video out, the Windows-native Protected
Video Path has never been enabled, and this "issue" hasn't impacted a
single user. The HD-DVD consortium disbanded so no future enabling is possible
on that format. No studio has issued any announcement stating plans to enable
the feature on Blu-ray as of 2012.
User Account Control
Although User Account Control (UAC) is an important
part of Vista's security infrastructure, as it blocks software from silently
gaining administrator privileges without the user's knowledge, it has been widely
criticized for generating too many prompts. This has led many Vista UAC users
to consider it annoying and tiresome, with some consequently either turning the
feature off or putting it in auto-approval mode. Responding to this criticism,
Microsoft altered the implementation to reduce the number of prompts with SP1.
Though the changes have resulted in some improvement, it has not alleviated the
concerns completely.
