42 MAXIMUMPC JANUARY 2007
What We Like About Vista
There’s a lot to like about Windows Vista. Here’s the quick rundown of everything we dig about Microsoft’s new OS
INTEGRATED APPLICATIONS
Vista comes with more new applications
than any previous version of Windows,
ever. In addition to updated versions of
old standbys like Windows Media Player ,
Windows Movie Maker, and Internet
Explorer, Vista ships with apps that handle
photo management, disc burning, and even
spyware protection. These applications
provide a decent base level of functionality
for everyone—giving every user the tools to
use their PC to edit photos, listen to music,
make and watch movies, and share their
content with pals.
Basic functionality is great for the tech-
nically disinclined, but power users need
more. Some of the included apps truly
kick ass. The simplicity and power of the
Windows Calendar program takes all the
right cues from Apple’s iCal program. It’s
easy to use, but powerful enough to help
you categorize and keep track of all your
day-to-day appointments and activities.
In an unusual move for Microsoft, it even
works with open standards, so you can
publish your calendar online in non-propri-
etary formats.Vista also includes improvements to
tired old ponies, such as Windows Media
Player , Internet Explorer , and Outlook
Express (now called Windows Mail ). Media
Player’s new stripped-down interface is
a welcome change. Instead of removing
functionality willy-nilly, menus have been
consolidated and the entire interface was
redesigned from the ground up. While we
have a few minor gripes with Windows Mail
(why don’t fi lters work on IMAP accounts?),
overall the new app is a welcome improve-
ment over Outlook Express. Heck, even
Internet Explorer 7 is signifi cantly better
than the previous version. Granted, we
won’t be dropping Firefox anytime soon, but
for IE diehards, 7 is a major advance.
There are defi nitely some low points
as well. The Photo Gallery app omits
basic features—such as resizing images—
and the disc-burning app is woefully inad-
equate for anything more advanced than
burning pictures to a disc. But getting
even a couple of decent apps with the OS
is a welcome surprise.SECURITY ENHANCEMENTS
One of Microsoft’s main goals with Vista
was to staunch the never-ending tide
of security problems that have plagued
Windows XP. Part of the problem with
XP is that crucial code was carried over
from now-ancient versions of Windows.
Microsoft completely rewrote the most
vulnerable parts of the operating system,
primarily to reduce the problems that lead
to the most common types of attacks in
XP, such as buffer overruns. We won’t really
know for several months or even years,
however, whether the measures Microsoft
has put in place—including several human
and automated checks on every line of
code—are adequate.
Microsoft also completely revamped
the way permissions work in Vista. Unlike
Windows XP, where virtually every user
outside of a corporate environment ran
as an Administrator, in Vista you should
run as a limited user most of the time, and
only run as an admin when an application
needs to install or update itself. By locking
down the permissions for the system fold-
ers, such as Program Files and Windows,ANATOMY OF THE VISTA DESKTOP
Some features have to be seen to be believed. Here are a few of the most visually splenderific
features in VistaSEARCH: Vista’s
integrated desktop
search engine has
entry windows almost
everywhere (our only
complaint is that
there isn’t a search
box readily available
on the desktop). We
frequently found our-
selves typing an app
name or control panel
function because it
was faster to search
than browse.SIDEBAR: While the
sidebar is the default
home for Vista’s Wid-
get-like Gadgets, you
can drag and drop
them anywhere on
your desktop as well.
WINDOWS: Every
window on a Vista
machine is a transpar-
ent work of art, and
because it’s rendered
using your 3D card’s
muscle, you’ll never
see any weird “hall of
mirrors” redraw errors
on Vista, even when
you’re playing video or
using 3D applications.START MENU: The
newly redesigned start
menu puts all your ap-
plications in one “con-
venient” menu, instead
of the nested pop-ups
used in XP. It’s still
a pain in the ass to
navigate, however,
once you’ve installed
15 or so apps.