A Couple Vista Features

A couple of features stand out in my mind as great things in Windows Vista.

First is Windows Defender. While technically not a Vista-only feature since Microsoft has released versions for XP and Server 2003, it made it’s debut on Vista, and is included as a part of Vista. The versions for XP and Server 2003 are available as a free download.



Why Defender? Well, in the immortal words of Tony the Tiger, it’s great! Having this kind of security embedded into the OS is a good thing. The average user does not usually know when they are infecting themselves with some malicious software (malware). Sure, they’ve heard the term, but they probably aren’t savvy to the little tip-offs they encounter that should be warning signals. Instead, they end up clicking something that invites malware in to their PC. With Windows Defender, the OS will detect it and stop it, on the fly.

Windows Defender is peer-driven. That means that a large community of users is constantly contributing in some way to keep it up to date. The more eyes you have on a problem, the better equipped you are to solve it, so having users from every walk of life contributing their experiences to the project ensures comprehensive coverage.

For advanced users there is a “Software Explorer” in the Tools menu that allows you to view details about the software running on your system grouped by various categories. From the Software Explorer you can disable or enable programs, end processes and remove software.

Cnet called Defender "perhaps the best free antispyware application we looked at this year" when they reviewed it in December of 2007. It’s one of several great tools you should have in your anti-spyware/malware arsenal.

The other feature I really like about Vista is ReadyBoost. RAM is the component in a PC that most directly affects Windows performance. With ReadyBoost, the non-technical user can essentially dramatically expand the available RAM in their PC without taking covers off and messing with memory modules. All they need to do is pick up a cheap USB flash drive or an SD card and insert it into the computer. In the properties of the device there is a tab for ReadyBoost. Click the “Use this” option and you’re on your way to a perceptible improvement in system performance. You can never have too much RAM!

These two features are just a part of what makes Windows Vista a worthy operating system. The continuance of these feature into Windows 7 will make that OS even more truly impressive.

Debunking the Hype/Myth

Remember the PC vs. Mac commercial that had Mac say "Hi PC" and a third guy in a Secret Service suit said to PC "Mac issued a greeting; accept or reject?" It went on and on, every step of the dialogue filtered through the security thug.

It was a funny commercial, and it made a lot of sense if you were frustrated by that feature of windows.

But if you understand what's going on in Vista with that pop-up message, you might have more appreciation for it.

The Usser Account Control feature is what is responsible for those messages. When you start functions that could change your system, you are asked by the UAC if you are sure you want to do this.

A natural response is to get frustrated and huff "I clicked it! Of course I want to continue."

But everyone knows about "malware," right? It is the term to refer to malicious software written to take advantage of you and your system. And of course Spyware, which reports on your activities without your knowledge, and then there are viruses, trojan horses, etc.

Well these nefarious programs don't pop up a nice splash screen when they start with a title and a short description. You never see the "Welcome to the I LOVE YOU Trojan" screen. They just start up and run as quietly as possible, stealing your passwords, mailing screenshots of your bank account info back to the hacker who wrote it, taking part in Denial of Service attacks against other machines.

Enter the UAC. If one of these programs starts up and tries to do it's thing in Vista, the UAC will stop *everything* and ask you "Hey, this program is trying to run and change some of your system settings. Do you really want to allow that?"

Oh...that's what that's for. Doesn't seem like such a bad thing then, eh?

Yeah, it was marketing genius playing upon the ignorance of the common man. But once you understand, it looks a little different.