Windows Vista

New or improved features of Windows Vista

� Windows Aero: The new hardware-based graphical user interface is named Windows Aero, which Jim Allchin has said is an acronym for Authentic, Energetic, Reflective, and Open.[13] The new interface is intended to be cleaner and more aesthetically pleasing than those of previous Windows versions, including new transparencies, live thumbnails, live icons, and animations, thus providing a new level of eye candy.
Laptop users report, however, that battery life is shortened with the feature enabled.[14][15]

� Windows Shell: The new Windows shell is significantly different from Windows XP, offering a new range of organization, navigation, and search capabilities. Windows Explorer's task pane has been removed, integrating the relevant task options into the toolbar. A "Favorite links" pane has been added, enabling one-click access to common directories. The address bar has been replaced with a breadcrumb navigation system. 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; it no longer uses ever-expanding boxes when navigating through Programs. The word "Start" itself has been removed in favor of a blue Windows Pearl.
� Instant Search (also known as search as you type) : Windows Vista features a new way of searching called Instant Search, which is significantly faster and more in-depth (content-based) than the search features found in any of the previous versions of Windows.[16]

� 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 other parts of the desktop.

� Windows Internet Explorer 7: New user interface, tabbed browsing, RSS, a search box, improved printing,[17] 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, a major revamp of Microsoft's program for playing and organizing music and video. New features in this version include word wheeling (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.

� 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 each time, minimizing disk usage. It also features Complete PC Backup (available only in 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 the PC is so corrupt that it cannot start up normally from the hard disk.
� Windows Mail: A replacement for Outlook Express that includes a new mail store that improves stability,[18] and features integrated Instant Search. It has the Phishing Filter like IE7 and Junk mail filtering that is enhanced through regular updates via Windows Update.[19]
� Windows Calendar is a new calendar and task application.

� 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) and burn slideshows to 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, menu, video, soundtrack, pan and zoom motion effects on pictures or slides.

� Windows Media Center, which was previously exclusively bundled as 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 and Games Explorer: Games included with Windows have been modified to showcase Vista's graphics capabilities. New games are Chess Titans, Mahjong Titans and Purble Place. A new Games Explorer special folder holds shortcuts and information to all games on the user's computer.

� 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 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: Software and security updates have been simplified,[21] 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 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.[22] 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.

� Problem Reports and Solutions, a control panel which allows users to view previously sent problems and any solutions or additional information that is available.

� 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.

� 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), BitLocker and EFS enhancements which allow users to backup 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; a new Windows sound scheme, and a content pack for Dreamscene.

� 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.

iYogi Announces Launch of Monitoring and Performance Tool For SMBs

iYogi � a leading provider of technical support services with horizons in the US, UK, Canada and Australia � today announced the launch of its exclusive server monitoring tool for small businesses. The new product offers integrated technology solutions to surmount the users� unique IT support requirements thereby enabling them to derive and share information, data, enable network performance analysis, and security trends critical to plan and manage their set of servers � 24x7.

Uday Challu, iYogi�s CEO commented, �Holding a significant niche for itself in the computer support industry, iYogi has always known to be on the forefront of adapting breakthrough technology to exceed customer service expectations. This time we have developed a tool offering value-add functionality which will help small business customers maximize the business outcomes of IT.�

iYogi�s monitoring tool provides real time observation and monitoring solutions to ensure more robust and reliable IT infrastructure for small buinesses. Small Business owners also get a comprehensive assesment of their IT environment to meet technology needs with the scalability for future growth and create preventative measures based on quick analysis of network device alerts, pre-failure indicators, performance benchmark and security issues.

The new Monitoring and performance tool will provide small businesses with the opportunity to test all technical and non-technical aspects of their servers and help them to strengthen overall IT infrastructure. The array of services will include: Patch Management, Security Auditing, Site Inventory, Real Time Alerting Script Based Management, and Remote Management for all critical server issues.

�Irrespective of the business being small or large, when the consumer chooses iYogi, he leverages the potential of an elite taskforce of Microsoft Certified System Engineers and Cisco Certified Network Associates, ready to service their critical assets, using the most advanced network asset tracking and Performance monitoring�, adds Challu.

Another factor where the Company aims to distinguish itself from its competitors is product pricing. Embracing the concept of service quality, iYogi offers competitively priced technical support services at no-haggle, low prices.

As for its small business support, the Company has integrated its exclusive Monitoring and Alerting Services under one price umbrella of just $480 annually. per server i.e. $49.99 per month. The price is certainly hard to find anywhere else.

For more information on iYogi Small Business Support, visit

http://www.iyogibusiness.com/

Contact Details:

Company Name: iYogi Technical Services Pvt Ltd
Address: iYogi Inc.
12 Desbrosses Street
3rd Floor
New York, NY 10013
Toll Free no:1-800-237-3901
Work Number: 1-212-229-0901
Fax Number: 1-888-867-2715
E-Mail: awadhesh.singh@iyogi.net

Windows Vista - Registry Backup and System Restore

There is a huge buzz going on now on whether windows vista will survive or not, as windows XP support will officially close by the end of June 2008. Since it is a fact now that Vista will stay, we have migrated a third of our operations on the Vista platform, and I happen to be around when a Registry backup and a windows restore was done on one of the newly vista HP laptops.

Just as in any windows the System Restore is a useful tool that Windows Vista users can use to rollback their computers to last known working condition, in case their system fails. Note here that, this is if your system meets certain required specification, System Restore is enabled by default on your Vista system. It is advisable you go through the provided tips and help features before you operate this function.

The tool works by taking a snapshot of various system files, configuration information, and the Registry. When you restore your system using the utility, all your system settings and the Registry are returned to the state when the snapshot was taken. However, using System Restore you can't back up a portion of the Registry, therefore, when you roll back, all changes made since the time the snapshot was taken are lost.

This function is also available in the Business, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions of Windows Vista. This is a very useful tool that can help you in recovering your Vista system from windows prone errors and challenging Registry situations. The process is very simple and easy with good side tips on how to maintain the Windows Vista Registry. Ensure that you perform Registry backups at regular intervals as advised in one of the prominent tips.

Using the Complete PC Backup and Restore feature you can make a complete backup of the Vista environment including the operating system, Registry, installed applications, user configuration, and data files. Therefore, you can use this tool also to maintain a backup of the Registry of your Vista computer. However, just like System Restore, you can only make a full backup of the Registry by using this feature.

source:ezinearticles.com

How Important Is Clean Registry For Windows Vista

Windows vista is the most modern version of the operating system. When you upgraded your PC for windows vista and stored in your operating system, you must be having a wonderful experience of computer with a fresh, modern and superior feature of your program. For Vista, Registry cleaners are important for the proper functioning. You must have ever considered the details that your old registry cleaner program is no longer well matched or well suited with your windows vista.

As, we all know that whenever we wish to install or uninstall any kind of program, we have to make changes in our hardware and modify the system setting. Similarly, in Window vista registry updated the records of our modification. Free registry cleaners not only provide us the registry entries in a most convenient way to keep us updated. However, it also helps our computer in proper and effective functioning.

According to some myths, some people believed that free registry cleaners does not take good care of windows vista or doesn�t have ability to make it run faster. However, it is not true! For windows vista, free registry cleaners program saves the data and makes the file structured and well maintained.

Vista registry cleaner is an ultimate solution to keep your registry to keep away from such treats. Window vista registry cleaner cleans all the unwanted and outdated entries and files from your system. In short free registry cleaner can also helps you to keep updated, clean and trim.

With the help of windows vista free registry cleaner program you can even do scheduling of your checks and restoring of your registry. This will not only be the finest way for computing but it also protects your PC from the hacking and mal practices. Free registry clean is the need of the today, as we are so much habitual of working on computer and if someday your system crashes, down what you will do. So better, you take caution and download vista registry cleaner free. Windows registry cleaners also store the important information of your hardware system as well as your software.

Just keep in mind, your computer registry will capture by large number of registry entries, if you don�t have any windows vista registry cleaner to keep your computer up-to-date, then you are at higher risk. To protect yourself and your important data lies in your computer download any free registry cleaner today, this especially developed for Windows Vista only.

For any help related to Windows Vista then contact us.

source:enzinearticles.com

How is The Registry Cleaner Beneficial For Windows Vista ?

Similar to the previous versions of Windows operating system, Windows Vistaalso maintains the Windows Registry for storing various types of information, such as hardware and software configurations, details of the network and system settings. Whenever you install or uninstall or make some changes to this information, a registry entry is created and maintained by Windows Vista. Thus, Windows Vista follows this process to keep track of and maintain the various registry entries for helping the operating system function smoothly. However, over a finite period of time, with the continuous use of your system, the registry entries accumulated in the system get out of bounds and this negatively affects the functioning of your system.

To avoid the occurrence of such type of situations, registry cleaners for Windows Vista comes handy, which helps in cleaning the Windows Registry entries on a regular basis. The registry cleaner, thereby, improves the performance of the system and enables you to enjoy the maximum output from Windows Vista. However, before using the registry cleaner, you need to ensure that the registry cleaner you are using is compatible with Windows Vista. Otherwise, it may lead to further registry-related problems in your system. Therefore, to get the optimum benefit from the registry cleaner for Windows Vista, you should make sure it�s the right version and is compatible.

The Windows Vista Registry Cleaner scans different registry sections of your system, which enables you to identify the errors and inconsistencies in the Windows Registry. Some of these sections include:

Start up programs

Installed fonts

File associations

Installed Help files

Invalid short cut to the programs

COM components

Shared program files

Installed system services

ActiveX components

The Vista Registry Cleaner, in other words, can clean your Windows Registry regarding the various registry entries. This helps in removing the registry inconsistencies in your system and thereby increasing the performance of your system. In doing so, the registry cleaner deletes various unnecessary registry entries for Windows Vista as well as deletes the various entries made by different spyware or adware programs. So, the registry cleaner for Windows Vista can up-to-date your system registry and enables you to schedule the checking, backing up and restoring the Windows Registry. This not only helps in obtaining the maximum performance from your system but also keeps your system safe from different types of adware or spyware attacks.

Finally, before, using the registry cleaner for Windows Vista in your system, it is recommended that you should be familiar with the following:

The best registry cleaner is the one that provides the most effective and efficient scanning.

Whenever the registry cleaner scans Windows Registry entries, it should offer registry backup before deletion of the entries.

It should allow you to restore the registry entries in the same way as they were before the use of the registry cleaner.

The vendor for the registry cleaner should provide up-to-the-mark back-up support for its product.
A Singh is admin and technical expert associated with development of Vista Registry Cleaner. With the release of the new operating system by Microsoft, Author has also upgraded its Registry Cleaner to support the versions of Windows Vista.

You can visit the PCMantra.com Home Page to read and download free trial of a range of security and performance enhancing software like
Windows Registry Cleaner

Anti Spyware and Anti Adware
Windows and Internet Cleaner
Anti Spam Filter for MS Outlook
Anti Spam Filter for Outlook Express

source:enzinearticles

Technical Tips to make Vista and XP run your way

Windows Vista and Windows XP, the most discussed operating systems form Microsoft are battling with each other on market charts.The issues with them are unending.

The operating system with security as its USP, ironically runs threats which are much greater in number than running on Windows 2000. Windows XP, as per users or vendors, the most successful operating system ever launched by Microsoft till date, is giving stiff competition to the latest. Statistics reveal the marker share for XP much larger than Vista.

Declared 30 June as the last day for XP created chaos in the market, result Microsoft granted lifeline till 2010. Leaving all these hassles un-discussed here, user faces one or other problem with these operating systems. The article will list those problems and fixes for them so that you can run XP and Vista your own way.

1. Cheesed off with Balloons and Icons: While using Vista, the appearance of balloons for tips and wizard asking for cleaning Desktop, drive the users crazy. The frequency of appearance takes away the patience of user.

Opposite to problem, the fixing is quite easy. If you are using XP and facing the same problem, you can disable the wizard with a VB Script by Kelly Theriot. For vanishing those balloon tips in XP run Doug Knox�s VB Script. For Vista, the solution is in operating system (no downloads needed). Right-click Desktop, select Properties � Desktop � Customize Desktop, and clear the Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard Every 60 Days check box.

To ditch balloon tips in Vista:

� Press Windows+R, enter gpedit.msc and hit enter. This opens the Group Policy Editor.
� User Configuration� Administrative Templates� Start Menu� Taskbar� Select Remove Balloon Tips.
� Right-click and choose properties from the context menu.
� Select Enable from the options and click ok.
� Close the Group Policy Editor.
� Reboot Windows Vista.

For Windows Vista Home and Home Premium, the steps are:

� Press Windows+R, type regedit and hit enter.
� Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Explorer / Advanced
� Create a new Dword and name it EnableBalloonTips
� Set value to 0
� Reboot Windows Vista

3. Disabling Customize Notifications: While using PC you are wondering what happened to customize option in Taskbar tab for system properties (as appearing grayed out), do not panic, and simply right click the taskbar and select properties. Now disable the option for �Hide Inactive Icons� that is by default checked.

4. To take copy of the files that you need in any mode for instance they are in use or they are in temp folder, you can use HoboCopy, a utility that uses Volume Shadow Service to copy files (and folders) that are in use.

These are some of the handy tips that you can use to make XP or Windows Vista run your way.

source:itvoir.com

Vista Registry Fix - Get the Maximum Efficiency Out of Your System

There are various symptoms of registry related problems, some of which may be identified as overall slow performance of your system, untimely error messages while working with your Windows Vista, or sudden crash of your system. In other words, registry problems make your system behave in such a way, which it should not or you do not want it to behave. The remedy for this problem is to go for fixing your Vista registry.

Now, for fixing the registry, the utmost important thing for your concern is to get a Vista registry cleaner. However, beforehand, you need to understand what exactly is the Windows Registry or simply Vista registry. The Windows Registry is a hierarchical database of settings that is used by Vista to store the information relevant to its configuration, application, hardware and software files. Whenever an application is opened in your system, the registry adds information to it and this process follows for every application that is opened in your system. With the prolonged use of Windows applications, the registry can get cluttered with information, which many a time may no longer be required or becomes irrelevant. Therefore, in such situations you need to perform an instant Vista registry fix, and for this you need to use a Vista registry cleaner.

The registry cleaner enables you to remove the various inconsistencies in the Windows Registry and thereby helps in enhancing the performance of your system. The primary function of the registry cleaner is to scan your Windows Vista efficiently and effectively, and delete the various unnecessary entries in the Windows Registry. A good registry cleaner always offers registry backups before deleting the unused registry entries so that whenever you need any particular registry entry in the near future, you can restore immediately. It also deletes the registry entries made by spyware and adware programs to provide network security to some extent. So, using the windows registry cleaner for vista, you can perform Vista registry fix to keep your Windows Registry up-to-date and also schedule, backup and restore the registry according to your convenience.

source:enzinearticles.com

Microsoft explains Vista's most misunderstood features

This story has been updated and rewritten, with new information added throughout the story. New information includes: the replacement of original paragraph four that said Microsoft did not respond with a new paragraph with comments from Microsoft about why the document was taken down from the Web site; and comments in the last three paragraphs from another Microsoft user that corroborates Microsoft's statements that UAC is misunderstood.

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In its continued attempt to convince business customers to adopt Vista, Microsoft has outlined and tried to explain some of what it calls the OS's most "misunderstood" features in a document posted to -- then mysteriously removed from -- its Web site last week.

In the document, "Five Misunderstood Features in Windows Vista," Microsoft listed what it believes are Vista features that "cause confusion" and "slow Windows Vista adoption" for most users. The company identified User Account Control, Image Management, Display Driver Model, Windows Search and 64-bit architecture as features that are flummoxing IT professionals when they install Vista across desktops on a network. It offered tips for how to deal with common problems.

The document was posted to the Web site Friday morning; however, by the afternoon, the link was no longer working. It still came up in a Live Search of the Microsoft Web site, but the link provided there also was inactive.

On Monday Microsoft said through its public relations firm that the company identified "inaccuracies" in the document once it was posted. Microsoft did not elaborate on what those inaccuracies were. The white paper has been taken down for further editing and will be reposted once that is complete, the company said.

Businesses have been slow to adopt Vista since its enterprise introduction in late November 2006, and by now users have identified the features listed in the document as some of their biggest pain points.

One that has been especially problematic -- and even spoofed in an Apple TV commercial -- is User Account Control (UAC). UAC prevents users without administrative privileges from making unauthorized changes to a PC. But because of its settings, it can prevent even authorized users on the network from being able to access applications and features they should normally have rights to. It does this through a series of screen prompts that ask the user to verify privileges, and it may require a user to type in a password to perform a task.

In its document, Microsoft said the feature has gotten a "bad rap" because it's a set of technologies dispersed throughout the OS and designed to protect the system in a variety of ways, not just one feature that can be controlled in an isolated way.

Microsoft also designed UAC to "help nudge ISVs towards designing applications that function in Standard User mode," one of two user privilege modes in UAC. The other is Local Administrator.

As it stands now, the prompts interrupt normal workflow, even in some mundane tasks, unless a user is set as Local Administrator. This is because the many third-party Windows applications that predate Vista weren't developed to work with UAC's "Standard User" designation, so they default to requiring Local Administrator rights, said Keith Brown, a network administrator for Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Gwinnett is a not-for-profit medical network serving more than 700 physicians around the Atlanta area.

If a Standard User asks an application to perform a task that touches a part of the OS that the software says "should not be meddled with," it will prompt the user and require a password to perform that task, he said. This is common, especially when someone tries to install software as a Standard User, Brown said.

"It's an annoyance," he said, which is why most IT administrators will turn off the feature when installing Vista across desktops, which defeats the purpose of Microsoft putting it in to protect the OS in the first place.

One way to get around UAC is to use third-party software, such as Privilege Manager from BeyondTrust, to set user privileges, Brown said. Microsoft even recommended BeyondTrust's product to customers when the company, based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, came out with Privilege Manager 3.5 last August. That was the first version of the product designed to work with UAC.

John Moyer, CEO of BeyondTrust, said Privilege Manager lets network administrators configure in advance which applications can run or be installed on Vista machines on a network. It assigns the appropriate elevated privileges to Standard Users so they are not prompted even if third-party software does not recognize them as an authorized user of a task. "There is no interruption to the workflow," he said.

Brown said that without Privilege Manager, UAC would probably be turned off for the 30 to 40 Vista desktops his company is testing in its information systems department. He said the incessant prompting from UAC can be turned off from within Vista, but it's extremely time-consuming for the IT department to do that for each user on the network.

Gwinnett Medical Center eventually is planning a broader Vista deployment, but that won't be this year, Brown added.

Despite Brown's problems with UAC, another Windows Vista user and software developer said prompts generated by the feature are not overly frequent.

Brian Randell, a senior consultant with MCW Technologies in Los Angeles, said UAC is "a long time coming" in providing security for Windows and that Microsoft's portrayal of it as misunderstood by many users is accurate.

"If people want a secure operating system, we need to move forward and not stand still," Randell said. "I find [UAC] rarely pops up once I've installed things."

source:itworld.com

Windows Vista more secure than XP, says security company

May 9, 2008 (Computerworld) Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Vista is 37% more secure than its Windows XP ancestor, a security vendor claimed today, a rate it hinted was disappointing.

Using different data collection techniques, Microsoft has recently asserted that Vista is 60% more secure than XP.

For every 1,000 machines running Vista, security company PC Tools counted 639 unique threats over a six-month period, said Michael Greene, the firm's vice president of product strategy, on Friday. "A threat is actually when [malicious code] has penetrated the machine," Greene said. "The malware has to be on the machine to be counted by our ThreatFire community."

Vista's number is lower than the one for Windows XP. Users of PC Tool's ThreatFire behavioral-based anti-malware software who run the nearly seven-year-old XP reported 1,021 unique threats per 1,000 machines in the same six-month period.

"We wanted to find out how bulletproof Vista was," said Greene, noting that Microsoft has claimed Vista is significantly more secure than its predecessors. "The answer is that it is more secure than XP, but not so secure that you can give up on antivirus and other security software."

Ironically, the even older Windows 2000 is much more secure, by PC Tools' statistics, than Windows XP or Vista. ThreatFire users reported just 586 unique incidents of penetrated PCs per 1,000 machines during the six-month span.

But Greene essentially dismissed that number, or at least direct comparisons with XP or Vista. "It's a matter of what people are using as desktop machines," he said, adding that since ThreatFire targets consumers and Windows 2000 is rarely run as a desktop client outside of businesses, the unique threat per 1,000 doesn't necessarily mean that the old operating system was more secure.

Overall, Greene was disappointed in the stats for Windows. "I didn't think the situation would be this bad in general," he said, adding that Microsoft's claims that Vista is substantially more secure than XP doesn't jibe with the ThreatFire numbers.

"I don't think Vista is really any more secure than XP," he said. "People still need to practice safe computing and need to have good security software, and keep their machines patched and up to date."

Microsoft, however, has recently claimed that Vista is more secure than XP, and by a greater margin than what Greene and PC Tools allege. According to data collected during cleansing operations of the Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT) -- software that Microsoft updates monthly and feeds automatically to most Windows users -- 60% fewer Vista machines were infected by a recognizable piece of malware than PCs running XP during the second half of 2007.

Microsoft summarized its MSRT data in a security report published about three weeks ago. The report's key findings, as well as the full report, can be downloaded from Microsoft's site.

souce:computerworld

Gateway ships retail PCs with 64-bit Windows Vista

Gateway has announced the availability of a flock of new and refreshed desktops -- including a Windows XP offering.

The new models range from affordable GT series offerings and mid-level DX442 systems starting at $550, to a midpriced FX7026 gaming system at $1,100, and high-end FX541 gaming systems ranging from $1,200 to $3,500. Gateway is shipping these systems with Windows Vista 32-bit, Vista 64-bit, or XP, depending on which model you buy.

The Gateway FX7026 gaming system is equipped with a Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 (running at a stock 2.5GHz), 4 Gbytes of DDR2 memory, 640 GB hard drive, and an overclocked nVidia GeForce 8800GT graphics card. According to Gateway, the FX7026 is available at leading retail outlets around the country and online. This system also comes with Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit, representing a shift in the system manufacturers toward 64-bit computing. It remains to be seen when game developers create games to take advantage of 64-bit computing, but it's been a chicken and the egg situation so far.

The GT Series is Gateway's mainstream system lineup, available in five models in retail stores (one exclusive to Costco ). The GT5670 ($549.99) is powered by a triple-core AMD Phenom 8400 CPU, and features a 320GB hard drive, 3GB of memory, integrated graphics, and 32-bit Vista Premium. The GT5674 ($649.99) includes a quad-core AMD Phenom 9500 CPU, a 500 GB hard drive, 3 GB of memory, integrated graphics, and also comes with 32-bit Vista.

The GT5676 ($749.99), GT5678 ($849.99), and GT5685E ($899.99) all have 64-bit Vista to fully utilize the included 4 GB of memory. The GT5676 and GT5678 have quad-core processors, from AMD and Intel, respectively, while the GT5685E has a dual core Intel Core 2 Duo. Hard-drive sizes for the latter three GT models range from 500GB to 750GB. The GT5678 has a discrete ATI Radeon HD 2400XT graphics card, while the others use integrated graphics. The GT5685E is a Costco exclusive that comes bundled with a 22-inch Widescreen HD LCD monitor. All of the GT series systems come with DVD burners in similar chassis with different trim.

The DX442 series, Gateway's multimedia-oriented mainstream desktops, with processors ranging from Intel Pentium Dual Core to Core 2 Quad processors. Both the DX442B ($549.99) and the DX442XP ($999.99) use integrated Intel GMA 3100 graphics off of their Intel G33-based motherboards. The DX442XP is notable because it is Gateway's single consumer model with Windows XP Pro support. Even the gaming models above and below, price- and performance-wise, ship with Vista installed.

At the high end, the FX541 models come with quad-core Intel Core 2 Quad and Core 2 Extreme processors, as well as motherboards that support nVidia SLI dual graphics card technology. The top of the line FX541XT comes with an overclocked processor and dual overclocked nVidia GeForce 8800 GT cards in a SLI configuration. The FX541s come with Vista's 32-bit flavor.

Check back soon for reviews of several of these systems.

source:pcmag