Windows Vista Features
Posted on March 15, 2006
Filed Under Business Computing, Software, Windows |
Windows Vista is the next generation of Microsoft’s Windows operating system and was once referred to as Longhorn. While there is no official release date, Vista appears to be slated for release in November of this year.
I last wrote about Vista in September 2005. At the time, Vista was to ship in seven different versions. Today Vista is said to be released in five versions; two for business and three for home computing.
Of most interest though are some of the new features Vista will sport. There are new and improved features that promise to make computing life easier and more efficient.
Here’s a shortlist of some of the more impressive features that have caught my attention.
Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) – Currently only available on servers, VSS takes periodic ‘snapshots’ of your files. Using VSS, previous versions of files can be easily recovered should the current version be deleted, become corrupted, etc.
Vista will bring VSS to the desktop computer — even to computers not connected to a network. VSS is incredibly useful in its current server version and will be a real boon on the desktop.
SuperFetch – Vista will have the ability to learn what programs you use most and will preload them to improve performance. It will also prioritize what programs you use and when so that opening and using those programs will be quicker and more responsive.
External Memory Devices – Windows loves memory and the more of it you have the faster Windows runs. Upgrading memory can be a real pain though and often requires a guru to do the upgrade.
Vista will be able to use USB flash drives to extend system memory. Now, you can get a performance boost without even having to open the case. Simply plug a USB drive in and enjoy the ride.
Hybrid Hard Drives – Today’s hard drives always spin and therefore always consume power. The Hybrid Hard Drive will have a solid state buffer installed onboard and the drive itself will only spin up when the buffer becomes full. This could translate into a 10% – 20% increase in battery life on a notebook computer.
Hybrid Hard Drives will also allow the computer to boot up and resume from Sleep much faster.
Sleep – A cross between ‘Hibernate’ and ‘Standby’, Sleep will allow you to put your computer into a power saving mode rather than shutting it down completely. Like Standby, Sleep will store your current session in memory for quick recovery, but will also store it on the hard drive like Hibernate in case of a power outage.
Sleep will let you resume using your computer quickly by bypassing the slow boot process and can be used effectively on both notebooks and desktops.
These are just a few of the features Vista promises. In all, Vista looks to have serious potential to eclipse previous versions of Windows in both usability and management. I for one can’t wait.
For more information on Windows Vista please visit http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/
[…] Back in March we touched on Windows Vista features in this column (http://www.bowesit.com/blog/2006/03/15/windows-vista-features/) and with the official release on the horizon, it’s worth having another look at Vista. […]