Buy Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP3 OEM - $69

It’s time to say goodbye to an old friend. Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3), due in the second quarter of 2008, will be the final XP service pack , according to Microsoft. It can’t come a moment too soon: XP SP2 (see my review) shipped over three years ago at this writing, and the company has since shipped hundreds of hot-fixes for the OS, giving users a painful updating experience, with multiple reboots. XP SP3 will consolidate all of these fixes into a single package and, surprisingly, add a few new features, including some that–go figure–debuted first in XP’s successor, Windows Vista. Here’s what I know about Windows XP Service Pack 3.

Q: What is Service Pack 3?

A: Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) is the final Windows XP service pack, a collection of previously-released fixes and product enhancements, as well as a few new features that are unique to this release.

Q: Does SP3 include everything from SP1 and SP2 or do I need to install those first?

A: Though XP SP3 aggregates all of the previously-released XP fixes, Microsoft now says that you will need to install at least SP1 on XP before installing SP3. The company recommends installing SP2 first as well, though that is not required.

Q: What versions of Windows XP will work with SP3?

A: You can apply Service Pack 3 to Windows XP Home Edition, Professional Edition, Tablet PC Edition (any version), or Media Center Edition (any version).

Q: What about Windows XP Professional x64 Edition?

A: SP3 does not apply to the x64 version of Windows XP. Instead, that operating system is updated via service packs aimed at Windows Server 2003. The latest Windows 2003 service pack is SP2.

Q: Windows XP SP2 was released over three years ago. Why the delay on SP3?

A: While Microsoft is an enormous company with over 77,000 employees worldwide and over $50 billion in annual revenues, its organizational structure actually constrains which products are actively developed in some cases. For example, while a large team of developers, product managers, and program managers are involved during the ramp-up to any major OS release, Microsoft then pushes the product into its support organization for follow-up development in the form of hot-fixes, service packs, and so on. Other teams work on out-of-band updates that are typically shipped via the Web and, eventually, a new or existing team is constituted to work on the next major release and the entire process begins anew.

With Windows XP, however, Microsoft was forced to temporarily halt development on XP’s successor, Windows Vista, in order to complete XP SP2. That’s because this release, though provided to customers for free as a typical service pack, was in fact a major OS upgrade and was developed outside of the company’s support structure, a first for any service pack release. After XP SP2 was completed, the people involved with that project moved onto other things, typically Vista or Windows Server 2008.

In the case of Windows XP SP3, Microsoft simply dedicated every available employee it could to completing Windows Vista, which by that time was years behind schedule. So it’s only been since the beginning of this year that anyone turned their attention back to XP’s next and neglected service pack.

Q: What are these new features I keep hearing about?

A: Windows XP Service Pack 3 will not include any major new features, but it will include four minor new features that improve the system’s reliability and security. Contrary to reports, Microsoft has been very up-front about these functional additions for quite some time now.

These new features include:

Network Access Protection compatibility. Announced years ago, this feature allows Windows XP machines to interact with the NAP feature in Windows Server 2008. This functionality is built into the RTM version of Windows Vista as well.

Product Key-less install option. As with Windows Vista, new XP with SP3 installs can proceed without entering a product key during Setup.

Kernel Mode Cryptographics Module. A new kernel module that “encapsulates several different cryptographic algorithms,” according to Microsoft.

“Black hole” router detection algorithm. XP gains the ability to ignore network routers that incorrectly drop certain kinds of network packets. This, too, is a feature of Windows Vista.

And that’s about it. Nothing dramatic, as promised.

Q: That’s it? Is there anything else?

Nothing major. Some features have actually been removed, like the taskbar-based Address Bar option.

Q: Why is Microsoft even bothering to release this update? Isn’t everyone moving to Windows Vista?

A: Given the relative security, stability, and reliability of XP with SP2, and the subsequent release of Vista, XP SP3 may seem like a pointless update, but nothing could be further from the truth. Many businesses will roll out new XP-based PCs in the coming years, and as anyone who’s had to update an XP SP2 system can tell you, the 100+ updates that Microsoft has shipped since SP2 can be a nightmare to deploy. If you’re already running XP and have been regularly updating your systems all along, the release of XP SP3 will be a minor event. But if you have planned XP deployments in the future, look very carefully at this release and consider it the baseline for your next generation of PCs. Or, you could always consider Vista, which will of course be updated with genuine new features far longer than will XP.

Q: When will Microsoft ship XP SP3?

A: Microsoft finalized Windows XP Service Pack 3 on April 21, 2008 and released it publicly to the Web on April 29, 2008.

Here’s the complete Windows XP SP3 release schedule:

RTM (release to manufacturing): April 21
Windows Update (optional update): April 29
Microsoft Download Center: April 29
MSDN/TechNet download: May 2

Q: Is it possible to slipstream or integrate SP3 with Windows XP?

A: Yes! My complete Windows XP Service Pack 3 Slipstreaming Guide is now available.

Source

Buy Microsoft Works 9 - $19

Microsoft Works 9 gives you the basic home productivity tools you need to help make your everyday tasks easier from start to finish. Works can help you coordinate everything from little tasks to large projects. You can stay on top of your busy schedule, update your contact list, manage a household budget and keep up with your correspondence. Works gives you the basic tools you need to make your tasks easier from start to finish. Manage contact information for your friends and family and quickly send an e-mail with just a click in the Works Contacts list. Get things done easily with hundreds of pre-designed, customizable templates conveniently organized in categories like Cards and Crafts, Home & Money, and Sports & Fitness. Start finding the information you need with helpful quick links to suggested web sites on MSN® and Windows Live?. Get help and step-by-step guidance with the Works Quick Tour. Organize projects large or small with the help of Works Projects which brings together suggested task lists, templates, internet resources and scheduling tools..

Features:

• Get things done quickly and easily - Works can help you coordinate everything from little tasks to large projects. You can stay on top of your busy schedule, update your contact list, manage a household budget and keep up with your correspondence. Works gives you the basic tools you need to make your tasks easier from start to finish.
• Simplify household tasks - It’s easy to manage personal and household tasks with Works. You can quickly get started with the Works Task Launcher to easily access your calendar, contacts, Works programs, templates, and projects from one central place.

System Requirements:

• Pentium (or compatible) 1GHz or faster processor for Windows® XP; Pentium (or compatible) 1.6GHz or faster processor for Windows Vista®
• Windows XP Professional 64-bit Edition with Service Pack (SP) 1; Windows XP 32-bit Edition with SP2; or Windows Vista or later operating system
• 256MB of RAM or more for Windows XP; 1GB of RAM or more for Windows Vista Home Basic; 1.5GB of RAM or more for Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate
• 470MB of available hard-disk space for Windows XP; 860 MB of available hard-disk space for Windows Vista
• 4x or faster CD-ROM or DVD drive
• 1024 x 768 or higher-resolution monitor
• 14,400 bps or faster modem for cert

Buy Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 32 bit - $99

Buy Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit - $99.90

Windows Vista is Microsoft’s first new operating system in more than five years and the successor to Windows XP. However, it is not worth rushing out to purchase. If you desperately need to buy a new PC (if your old one died or you’ve been waiting and waiting for Vista to be released), then by all means do so; there’s nothing wrong with Windows Vista. But there’s no one compelling feature within Windows Vista that cries out to switch over, neither the enhanced graphic capabilities (Aero) nor the improved system performance features (truthfully, our Windows XP doesn’t crash). As for security, most of Microsoft’s improvements in Windows Vista are within the Enterprise or 64-bit editions, editions most home users will not be running. Windows Vista is not the Apple Mac OS X 10.4 killer one hoped for (or feared). Nor are there specific big-name software packages written exclusively for Windows Vista–most software available today is compatible with both Windows XP and Windows Vista. But the extensive tie-ins to Microsoft.com and Live.com, and the many, many interdependences upon Internet Explorer 7 left us desperately wanting more (and often best-of-breed) alternatives. Hard core Microsofties who live and breathe within the MSN, Live.com, and Microsoft desktop software ecosystem will rejoice with the release of Windows Vista, but for the rest of us who are product agnostic, who use Firefox, Google search, ZoneAlarm, GMail, and Corel WordPerfect, Windows XP SP2 will suffice nicely until some killer program necessitates that we all upgrade to Windows Vista.

There are six major editions of Windows Vista. Windows Vista Ultimate includes everything, and this is the edition getting the most promotion from Microsoft. It is not the edition most people will find packaged on their shiny new PCs or will end up with after an upgrade of existing hardware

Setup and installation

The Windows Vista DVD disc includes an ISO image of the entire code, so whether you buy the Basic edition or the Ultimate edition, the code remains the same; only the product key unlocks your specific set of features. This means users who opt for the lesser editions can always upgrade (assuming they have the proper hardware) by securing a new product key online. However, all features–even if you paid for them–are dependent on specific hardware configurations being present; if you don’t have the proper graphics hardware, for example, you’ll simply never see the Aero graphic effects on that old Dell computer in your basement.

Hardware requirements for Windows Vista should not be taken lightly. In a controversial move to garner positive reviews, Microsoft sent hundreds of bloggers (not including CNET) free copies of Windows Vista Ultimate; Microsoft did not send boxed copies, rather the software giant sent top-of-the-line Acer Ferrari laptops with the operating system preinstalled. So even Microsoft seems to admit that the best performance is only available on top-of-the-line machines manufactured within the last year or so.

That said, many people will still want to upgrade their current Windows XP SP2. This will keep all your current data and applications, importing them directly into the new operating system. Most people will find either Windows Vista Basic or Windows Vista Home Premium to be their best choice. While Windows Vista does make a backup of your previous operating system before installing, it is always recommended that you backup your current Windows XP system yourself, just in case.

Rather than upgrade, we recommend you perform a clean installation. With a clean installation, you keep all your current files on the Windows XP drive and install only the data and applications you want to run on Windows Vista. A clean install can be accomplished by buying a new PC with Windows Vista already installed, partitioning an existing Windows XP machine to dual-boot into Windows Vista, or adding a new hard drive to an existing Windows XP machine.

Our clean installations took anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, depending on the hardware in the system. It’s pretty much an automated process, with the installer first copying the ISO image onto the new hard drive or partition then expanding that image. Once again, we experienced an uncomfortably long plateau at “Expanding: 27 percent”; as with previous builds, we waited between two and five minutes before the expansion continued. About halfway through, the installer reboots and continues the installation in Windows Vista.

During the installation, Windows Vista will load the drivers included within the installation image, but it will also download additional drivers from a much larger database at Microsoft. This assumes, however, that one has an always-on Internet connection; dial-up users may find that upon completion of the installation process some drivers are missing.

Once fully installed, Windows Vista first asks for your country or region, then time and currency, and, finally, the desired keyboard layout. Next, you’ll choose a username, a user icon and a password. Then select your desktop wallpaper and security settings: Automatic, Install Important Updates Only, or Ask Me Later. After reviewing the computer’s time and date settings, there’s one more message: “Please wait while Windows checks your computer’s performance.” Here, Microsoft grades your computer on a five-point scale, with the overall rating based on your system’s lowest score (in our case, that was for the video card).

Windows Vista includes new musical tones written by veteran musican Robert Fripp. Compared to the familiar start-up tones of Windows XP, Windows Vista’s are lighter, almost spritely. The sounds for User Account Control and Log Off are also perkier than those found in similar security warnings within Windows XP.

New on the Windows Vista desktop is a Welcome Center which contains links to frequently asked questions such as, “How do you configure your printer?” and “How do you connect to your Internet service?” There is also room for some sales opportunities, either with manufacturer specials or online offers from Microsoft, such as the Windows Live OneCare service. Frankly, we think it is better for you to look beyond the Windows ecosystem for e-mail, Internet browsers, and security applications.

After closing the Welcome Center, you’ll notice to the far right there is a shaded sidebar populated with three example Gadgets (”widgets” to everyone else), tiny desktop applets that display content, such as RSS feeds. In one Gadget, a slide show of images from the sample photo library display; in the next, the current time; finally, there’s a Gadget for subscribed RSS feeds. We downloaded and installed Firefox 2, made Firefox our default browser, and quickly set up a few RSS feed subscriptions. Guess what? The Windows Vista Gadget was unresponsive to our efforts, displaying only the default MSN feeds from Microsoft. You have to use Internet Explorer 7 or choose a Firefox-friendly Gadget instead. By clicking the + symbol atop the sidebar, you’ll see a panel of available Gadgets, with a link out to the Web to find even more. The Gadgets are not fixed to the sidebar; they can be dragged across the desktop. And even the sidebar itself can be disabled to allow for a full desktop view. An icon located within the taskbar will restore the sidebar at any time.

The familiar Start menu features some cosmetic changes for Windows Vista. Aside from the distinctive rounded icon, the Start menu now includes a built-in search function. We would have preferred to have access to search directly from the desktop rather than digging down a level or two. The All Programs list now displays as an expandable/collapsible directory tree, something Windows should have offered years ago. The new Start menu is divided in half, with access to documents, pictures, music, games, recent items, My Computer, network, control panel, default programs and help along the right-hand side.

Also new within Start is an Instant Off button. This button caches all your open files and processes, allowing you to turn off your laptop or desktop quickly without all the “cleaning up files” messages you see in previous versions. We like the feature, but on our Acer Travelmate 8200, Instant Off and closing the lid to hibernate sometimes produced limbo states where the laptop simply wouldn’t wake up again, forcing us to reboot.

In Windows Vista, files become unmoored from the traditional directory tree structure–kind of. The more ambitious plan of including a whole new file system was scrapped early on; instead, Windows Vista relies on metatags, which are keywords linked to files to make them searchable. With metatags, you can create virtual file folders based on a variety of search terms. Say you’re doing a report on mountains, any file that is keyword-enabled to include “mountains” will be grouped into a virtual folder without physically dragging that file to a new location. The downside is that older files (say you upgraded your system from Windows XP or imported data from an earlier version of Windows) will have to be retroactively metataged in order to be searched. Also different is the file path displayed within Windows Explorer. Gone are the backslashes, replaced with arrows that offer drop-down menus of alternative folders. We liked this efficient feature.

Finally, there’s a compatibility wizard buried deep within Windows Vista. Most Windows XP applications we loaded performed just fine. Operating under the hood, Windows Vista convinces native Windows XP applications that they’re running on Windows XP. Should you need to run an older application, say from Windows 95, the compatibility wizard allows you to tweak the display resolution and emulate Windows 95 for that program. For example, we were able to run a Windows 95-optimised game demo on our Windows Vista test system.

Features

There are too many individual features within Windows Vista Ultimate Edition to call out–seriously. However, our gut feeling is that most of the significant bells and whistles are designed for the Enterprise-level customers, not the home user. Having a large number of features should not be confused with actually providing significant value to all users across the board. We would have preferred fewer features executed extremely well rather than an uneven mix of this and that, a one-size-fits-all operating system. And we disagree with Microsoft’s seemingly arbitrary division of features within individual editions.

Common to all editions of Windows Vista are ad hoc backup and recovery, instant search, Internet Explorer 7 browser, Windows Media Player 11, Windows Mail e-mail client, Windows Calendar, Windows Photo Gallery, performance tuning and self-diagnostics, Internet protocol IPv6 and IPv4 support, Windows ReadyDrive, a maximum of 4GB RAM support on 32-bit editions (up to 128GB RAM on some 64-bit editions), Windows Sync Center for mobile devices, Windows Mobility Center for presentations on the road, User Account Control security protection, Windows Security Center, Windows Defender antispyware, Windows Firewall, Windows Meeting Space for ad hoc wireless meetings, Remote Desktop for working from home, XPS document support for PDF-like files, improved peer-to-peer networking, improved VPN support, and improved power management. Included within certain editions (and thus also included within the Ultimate edition) are Windows Media Center, Windows Tablet PC, Windows Movie Maker, Windows DVD Maker, Parental Controls, Windows SideShow for remote gadgets, domain join for Windows Small Business Server, Group Policy support, Client-side file caching, Roaming User Profiles for remote server access, Windows Fax and Scan, Windows ShadowCopy to create file backups, Windows Rights Management Services to protect documents, Windows BitLocker hard drive encryption, integrated smart card management, and various Windows Ultimate Extras to be named later. To find out what’s in each edition, see our features chart. Despite many feature changes within Windows Vista, Microsoft has held onto its original marketing promise of providing users with Clear, Confident, and Connected solutions.

For Clear, Microsoft cites its new Aero graphics. Aero is part of the Windows Presentation Foundation, a subgroup of the .Net Foundation Framework, an underlying foundation for developers to build new applications. One applet is the New York Times Times Reader, the first of many products written exclusively for Windows Vista but hardly a compelling reason by itself to upgrade. Though video playback and, yes, even the tiny icons on Windows Vista are now crisp and colorful with Aero, unless you watch YouTube videos all day, you won’t really need Aero, nor will you miss the tiny preview windows enabled on your desktop display. Aero is necessary to create Microsoft’s new Adobe PDF-like file format called XPS (Extensible Page System); however, any Windows XP SP2 machine can view XPS-created pages with downloads of the .Net 3 Framework Foundation and the Internet Explorer 7 browser.

For Confident, Microsoft touts new security enhancements within Windows Vista. You shouldn’t encounter User Account Control (UAC) except when changing system configurations or installing new software, and even then, wouldn’t you–in this age of downloadable spyware–prefer to know when an executable file is about to run? While UAC notifies you of pending system changes, it doesn’t require a password. The Mac operating system does something similar but requires a password–that’s security. Microsoft’s more controversial method to lock down the system kernel is only available in the 64-bit editions of Windows Vista; most home users will not run these editions. Another celebrated security feature works only within Windows Mail, which most people are unlikely to use. And finally, the jury is still out on whether Internet Explorer 7 is more secure than, say, Firefox 2. Windows Vista also includes a built-in but limited two-way firewall and free Windows Defender antispyware, which ranked poor in competitive testing done by Download.com.

For Connected, Microsoft points to the new peer-to-peer possibilities, some of which are the result of its acquisition of Groove several years ago. From within Windows Explorer (there are separate Explorers within Windows Vista, one each for documents, photos, and music) you can move any file into a Public Folder and then mark the file or folder for sharing on a network. Within the Business and Ultimate editions you can further mark individual files for remote access.

Performance

Upon installation, Windows Vista rates each system’s overall hardware performance, with the final score reflecting your system’s lowest individual score. This is handy. For example, if you suspect that everything’s running a little slow, you might find that your hard drive is returning the lowest score. Windows Vista will then recommend a faster hard drive or a drive with larger compatibility. Mostly, though, the video card will be the sore spot for most users. There’s also an event log viewer to show, for example, after a specific software install your system performance started to degrade, and that uninstalling the software may restore your overall performance.

Under the hood, Microsoft has moved device drivers for DVD burners and printers out of the system kernel; Microsoft says that a majority of system crashes can be traced to improperly installed third-party device drivers. Thus Windows Vista hopes to vanquish the dreaded Blue Screen of Death common to earlier releases of Windows. Indeed, after testing several early builds, we found Windows Vista to be remarkably stable and robust.

Support

Along with the performance monitors, Microsoft has improved the Help section considerably. There is a static FAQ, but it also links to Microsoft online and allows outreach to other users for help, either via a forum or direct PC-to-PC help. Of these, we really like a feature available on some, not all, FAQs that allows you to automate the solution by executing a script. This method doesn’t teach you how to do it in the future, but it will accomplish the task at hand. For example, if you choose to update a device driver, Windows Vista will darken the desktop; highlight and open the Start menu, the Control Panel, and the Device Manager; then pause to ask you what device you want to update. It’s like having a technician at your desktop, walking you though the process. There’s an increasing reliance on user-generated support forums, which leads us to believe that Microsoft is shying away from its own live technical support. At press time, Microsoft’s final support policy was unavailable.

Conclusion

Perhaps we’re spoiled, but after more than five years of development, there’s a definite “Is that all?” feeling about Windows Vista. Like cramming an info-dump into a book report the night before it’s due, there certainly are a lot of individual features within the operating system, but the real value lies in their execution–how the user experiences (or doesn’t experience) these–and like the info-dump, we came away shaking our heads, disappointed. Compared with Mac OS X 10.4, Windows Vista feels clunky and not very intuitive, almost as though it’s still based on DOS (or at least the internal logic that made up DOS). Despite the addition of a system-wide, built-in search, and various efforts to break away from staidly old directory trees, you still need to drill down one level to even access the search. And there are far too many dependencies on Microsoft products; this is not a very objective operating system, as preference is always given to Microsoft products (of which there are many), from MSN search to RSS feeds only from Internet Explorer. But is Windows Vista a bad operating system? No. It’s just a disappointment for PC users who hoped that Microsoft would deliver something truly exciting to finally leapfrog ahead of Apple. They failed. But stick around; this is just Windows Vista 1.0. Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is due out sometime before the end of the year. Windows Vista SP1 promises to fix what’s known to be wrong within Windows Vista and should offer a few concrete reasons to switch..

Source

Buy Microsoft Windows Vista Business 32 bit - $89

Buy Microsoft Windows Vista Business 64 bit - $89.90

Windows Vista is Microsoft’s first new operating system in more than five years and the successor to Windows XP. However, it is not worth rushing out to purchase. If you desperately need to buy a new PC (if your old one died or you’ve been waiting and waiting for Vista to be released), then by all means do so: there’s nothing wrong with Windows Vista. But there’s no single compelling feature within Vista that cries out to switch over — neither the enhanced graphic capabilities (Aero) nor the improved system performance features (truthfully, our Windows XP doesn’t crash). As far as security is concerned, most of Microsoft’s improvements in Vista are within the Enterprise or 64-bit editions.

Windows Vista is not the Mac OS X 10.4 killer some hoped for (or feared). Nor are there any specific big-name software packages written exclusively for Windows Vista — most software available today is compatible with both XP and Vista. But the extensive tie-ins to Microsoft.com and Live.com, and the many, many interdependences upon Internet Explorer 7 left us desperately wanting more (and often best-of-breed) alternatives. Hard-core Microsoft fans who live and breathe within the MSN, Live.com and Microsoft desktop software ecosystem will rejoice with the release of Windows Vista, but for the rest of us who are product-agnostic (who use programs like Firefox, Google Desktop, ZoneAlarm, Google Mail and Corel WordPerfect), Windows XP SP2 will do nicely until some killer application encourages us all to upgrade to Vista.

There are six editions of Windows Vista, two of which are of limited availability: Windows Vista Enterprise is available only to volume licence customers, while Windows Vista Starter is available only in 119 ‘emerging markets’. Windows Vista Ultimate includes everything, and this is the edition getting the most promotion from Microsoft. However, it’s not the edition most people will find packaged on their shiny new PCs, or will end up with after an upgrade of existing hardware. The other editions are Windows Vista Business, reviewed here, Windows Vista Home Basic and Windows Vista Home Premium. See our feature comparison chart to discover which of these editions fits your specific needs.

Setup and installation

The Windows Vista DVD includes an ISO image of the entire code, so whatever edition you buy, the code remains the same — only the product key unlocks your specific set of features. This means that users who opt for the lesser editions can always upgrade (assuming they have the proper hardware) by securing a new product key online. However, all features — even if you paid for them — are dependent on specific hardware configurations being present: if you don’t have a suitable graphics subsystem, for example, you’ll simply never see the fancy Aero graphic effects.

Hardware requirements for Windows Vista should not be taken lightly. In a controversial move to garner positive reviews, Microsoft sent hundreds of bloggers (not including ZDNet) free copies of Windows Vista Ultimate; Microsoft did not send boxed copies, rather the software giant sent top-of-the-line Acer Ferrari notebooks with the operating system preinstalled. So even Microsoft seems to admit that the best performance is only available on high-spec systems manufactured within the last year or so.

That said, many people will still want to upgrade their current Windows XP SP2. This will keep all your current data and applications, importing them directly into the new operating system. To see which edition(s) of Windows Vista your current computer can handle, visit the CNET Vista Readiness Advisor to find specific hardware recommendations so you don’t buy the wrong edition. Although Windows Vista does make a backup of your previous OS before installing, it’s always recommended that you backup your current Windows XP system yourself, just in case.

Rather than upgrade, we recommend you perform a clean installation. With a clean installation, you keep all your current data on the Windows XP drive and install only the data and applications you want to run on Windows Vista. A clean install can be accomplished by buying a new PC with Windows Vista already installed, partitioning an existing Windows XP machine to dual-boot into Windows Vista, or adding a new hard drive to an existing Windows XP machine.

Our clean installations took anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, depending on the hardware in the system. It’s pretty much an automated process, with the installer first copying the ISO image onto the new hard drive or partition then expanding that image. Once again, we experienced an uncomfortably long plateau at ‘Expanding: 27 percent’; as with previous builds, we waited between two and five minutes before the expansion continued. About halfway through, the installer reboots and continues the installation in Windows Vista.

During the installation, Windows Vista will load the drivers included within the installation image, but it will also download additional drivers from a much larger database at Microsoft. This assumes, however, that you have an always-on Internet connection; dial-up users may find that upon completion of the installation process some drivers are missing.

Once fully installed, Windows Vista first asks for your country or region, then time and currency and, finally, the desired keyboard layout. Next, you’ll choose a username, a user icon and a password. Then select your desktop wallpaper and security settings: Automatic, Install Important Updates Only, or Ask Me Later. After reviewing the computer’s time and date settings, there’s one more message: ‘Please wait while Windows checks your computer’s performance’. Here, Microsoft grades your computer on a five-point scale, with the overall rating based on your system’s lowest score (in our case, that was for the video card).

Windows Vista includes new musical tones written by veteran musician Robert Fripp. Compared to the familiar start-up tones of Windows XP, Windows Vista’s are lighter, almost sprightly. The sounds for User Account Control and Log Off are also perkier than those found in similar security warnings within Windows XP.

New on the Windows Vista desktop is a Welcome Center containing links to frequently asked questions such as, ‘How do you configure your printer?’ and ‘How do you connect to your Internet service?’ There is also room for some sales opportunities, either with manufacturer specials or online offers from Microsoft, such as the Windows Live OneCare service. Frankly, we think you’re better advised to look beyond the Windows ecosystem for email, Internet browsers and security applications.

After closing the Welcome Center, you’ll notice to the far right there is a shaded sidebar populated with three example Gadgets (’widgets’ to everyone else) — tiny desktop applets that display content, such as RSS feeds. In one Gadget, a slide show of images from the sample photo library is displayed; the next shows the current time; finally, there’s a Gadget for subscribed RSS feeds. We downloaded and installed Firefox 2, made Firefox our default browser, and quickly set up a few RSS feed subscriptions. Guess what? The Windows Vista Gadget was unresponsive to our efforts, displaying only the default MSN feeds from Microsoft. You have to use Internet Explorer 7 or choose a Firefox-friendly Gadget instead. By clicking the + symbol atop the sidebar, you’ll see a panel of available Gadgets, with a link out to the Web to find even more. The Gadgets are not fixed to the sidebar; they can be dragged across the desktop. And even the sidebar itself can be disabled to allow for a full desktop view. An icon located within the taskbar will restore the sidebar at any time.

The familiar Start menu features some cosmetic changes for Windows Vista. Aside from the distinctive rounded icon, the Start menu now includes a built-in Search function. We would have preferred to have access to Search directly from the desktop rather than digging down a level or two. The All Programs list now displays as an expandable/collapsible directory tree — something Windows should have offered years ago. The new Start menu is divided in half, with access to documents, pictures, music, games, recent items, My Computer, network, Control Panel, default programs and Help along the right-hand side.

Also new within Start is an Instant Off button. This button caches all your open files and processes, allowing you to turn off your notebook or desktop quickly without all the ‘cleaning up files’ messages you see in previous versions. We like the feature, but on our Acer TravelMate 8200, Instant Off and closing the lid to hibernate sometimes produced limbo states where the system simply wouldn’t wake up again, forcing us to reboot.

In Windows Vista, files become unmoored from the traditional directory tree structure — kind of. The more ambitious plan of including a whole new file system, WinFS, was scrapped early on; instead, Windows Vista relies on metatags, which are keywords linked to files to make them searchable. With metatags, you can create virtual file folders based on a variety of search terms. Say you’re doing a report on mountains: any file that is keyword-enabled to include ‘mountains’ will be grouped into a virtual folder without physically dragging that file to a new location. The downside is that older files (say you upgraded your system from Windows XP or imported data from an earlier version of Windows) will have to be retroactively metatagged in order to be searched. Also different is the file path displayed within Windows Explorer. Gone are the backslashes, replaced with arrows that offer drop-down menus of alternative folders. We liked this efficient feature.

Finally, there’s a compatibility wizard buried deep within Windows Vista. Most Windows XP applications we loaded performed just fine. Operating under the surface, Windows Vista convinces native Windows XP applications that they’re running on Windows XP. Should you need to run an older application, say from Windows 95, the compatibility wizard allows you to tweak the display resolution and emulate Windows 95 for that program. For example, we were able to run a Windows 95-optimised game demo on our Windows Vista test system.

Features

Our gut feeling is that most of the significant bells and whistles are designed for the enterprise-level customer, rather than the business user. Having a large number of features should not be confused with actually providing significant value to all users across the board. We would have preferred fewer features executed extremely well rather than an uneven mix of this and that — a one-size-fits-all operating system. And we disagree with Microsoft’s seemingly arbitrary division of features within individual editions (see our feature comparison table).

Common to all editions of Windows Vista are ad hoc backup and recovery, instant Search, Internet Explorer 7 browser, Windows Media Player 11, Windows Mail email client, Windows Calendar, Windows Photo Gallery, performance tuning and self-diagnostics, Internet protocol IPv6 and IPv4 support, Windows ReadyDrive, a maximum of 4GB RAM support on 32-bit editions (up to 128GB RAM on some 64-bit editions), Windows Sync Center for mobile devices, Windows Mobility Center for presentations on the road, User Account Control security protection, Windows Security Center, Windows Defender anti-spyware, Windows Firewall, Windows Meeting Space for ad hoc wireless meetings, Remote Desktop for working from home, XPS document support for PDF-like files, improved peer-to-peer networking, improved VPN support and improved power management.

Included within the Business edition (and thus also within the Ultimate edition) are Windows Tablet PC, Windows SideShow for remote gadgets, domain join for Windows Small Business Server, Group Policy support, Client-side file caching, roaming user profiles for remote server access, Windows Fax and Scan, and Windows ShadowCopy to create file backups.

Aero, which is included in all editions except Home Basic, is part of the Windows Presentation Foundation, a subgroup of the .NET Foundation Framework, an underlying foundation for developers to build new applications. One applet is the New York Times Times Reader, the first of many products written exclusively for Windows Vista but hardly a compelling reason to upgrade. Although video playback, and even the tiny icons on Windows Vista, are now crisp and colourful with Aero, unless you watch YouTube videos all day, you won’t really need Aero, nor will you miss the tiny preview windows enabled on your desktop display. Aero is also necessary to create Microsoft’s new, Adobe PDF-like file format called XPS (eXtensible Page System).

As for the controversial User Account Control (UAC), you shouldn’t encounter UAC except when changing system configurations or installing new software, and even then, wouldn’t you — in this age of downloadable spyware — prefer to know when an executable file is about to run? Although UAC notifies you of pending system changes, it doesn’t require a password. The Mac operating system does something similar but requires a password — that’s security. Microsoft’s more controversial method to lock down the system kernel is only available in the 64-bit editions of Windows Vista; most users will not run these editions. Another celebrated security feature works only within Windows Mail, which most people are unlikely to use. And finally, the jury is still out on whether Internet Explorer 7 is more secure than, say, Firefox 2. Windows Vista also includes a built-in but limited two-way firewall and free Windows Defender anti-spyware, which ranked poorly in competitive testing done by Download.com.

Microsoft has added new peer-to-peer possibilities, some of which are the result of its acquisition of Groove several years ago. From within Windows Explorer (there are separate Explorers within Windows Vista, one each for documents, photos and music) you can move any file into a Public Folder and then mark the file or folder for sharing on a network. Within the Business and Ultimate editions you can further mark individual files for remote access.

Missing from the Business Edition is BitLocker, the widely advertised method of encrypting your entire hard drive against, say, notebook theft. BitLocker is only available in the Enterprise and Ultimate editions. We think BitLocker would be useful for small business users as well. We also think the omission of DVD Maker from the Business edition is curious; small business customers might like to burn a video presentation for a client or perhaps burn a sample copy of new software. The omission of Windows Movie Maker we understand.

Performance

Upon installation, Windows Vista rates each system’s overall hardware performance, with the final score reflecting your system’s lowest individual score. This is handy. For example, if you suspect that everything’s running a little slow, you might find that your hard drive is returning the lowest score. Windows Vista will then recommend a faster hard drive or a drive with larger compatibility. Mostly, though, the video card will be the bottleneck for most users. There’s also an event log viewer to show, for example, that your system performance started to degrade after a specific software install, so that uninstalling the software may restore your overall performance.

Under the surface, Microsoft has moved device drivers for DVD burners and printers out of the system kernel; Microsoft says that a majority of system crashes can be traced to improperly installed third-party device drivers. Thus Windows Vista hopes to vanquish the dreaded Blue Screen of Death common to earlier releases of Windows. Indeed, after testing several early builds, we found Windows Vista to be remarkably stable and robust.

Support

Along with the diagnostic and performance monitors, Microsoft has improved the Help section considerably. There is a static FAQ, but it also links to Microsoft online and allows outreach to other users for help, either via a forum or direct PC-to-PC help. Of these, we really like a feature available on some, not all, FAQs that allows you to automate the solution by executing a script. This method doesn’t teach you how to do it in the future, but it will accomplish the task at hand. For example, if you choose to update a device driver, Windows Vista will darken the desktop; highlight and open the Start menu, the Control Panel, and the Device Manager; then pause to ask you what device you want to update. It’s like having a technician at your desktop, walking you though the process.

There’s an increasing reliance on user-generated support forums, which leads us to believe that Microsoft is shying away from its own live technical support. At press time, Microsoft’s final support policy was not available.

Conclusion

Perhaps we’re spoiled, but after more than five years of development, there’s a definite ‘Is that all?’ feeling about Windows Vista. There are certainly are a lot of individual features within the operating system, but the real value lies in their execution — how the user experiences (or doesn’t experience) these. On this count, Windows Vista disappoints.

Compared with Mac OS X 10.4, Windows Vista feels clunky and not very intuitive, almost as though it’s still based on DOS (or at least the internal logic that made up DOS). Despite the addition of a system-wide, built-in Search, and various efforts to break away from staid old directory trees, you still need to drill down one level to even access Search.

There are also far too many dependencies on Microsoft products — this is not a very objective operating system, as preference is always given to Microsoft products (of which there are many), from MSN search to RSS feeds only from Internet Explorer.

But is Windows Vista a bad operating system? No. It’s just a disappointment for PC users who hoped that Microsoft would deliver something truly exciting to finally leapfrog ahead of Apple. It failed. But stick around; this is just Windows Vista 1.0. Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) is due out sometime before the end of the year: Vista SP1 promises to fix what’s known to be wrong within Windows Vista, and should offer a few concrete reasons to switch.

Source

Buy Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional - $99

Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 (VS08) is the current incarnation of the company’s long line of IDEs. It’s the premier IDE for developing applications with the Microsoft .Net Framework and, at least, a contender for the best Windows-hosted C/C++ IDE. Of course, Visual Studio 2008 isn’t limited to developing desktop applications; it is also good for developing Web, SOA, and device applications. This release introduces support for .Net Framework 3.5, and it supports other versions of the .Net Framework as well. It also introduces Language-Integrated Query, a generic way to query all kinds of data in C# and Visual Basic, and full support for Windows Vista, Silverlight, and Windows Presentation Foundation.

VS08 comes in a range of editions, from the free Express Editions to the $10,000 does-everything Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Suite. Basically, the Express editions are for beginner, student, and hobbyist developers; Standard Edition is for individual developers; Professional Edition is for advanced developers and those who work in small teams.

Team System is primarily for larger teams. There are Team System clients for developers, architects, DBAs, and testers, as well as a combined client for all roles called Team Suite. The server for Team System is Team Foundation Server (TFS), which combines a team portal, version control, work item tracking, build management, process guidance, and business intelligence.

In this review, I’ll concentrate on the features of VS08 Professional Edition, and touch on a few of the highlights of Team Suite. I won’t try to discuss Team Foundation Server as such, although it has received numerous enhancements, such as a new team build system and Web access, since we last reviewed it (see Tom Yager’s May 2004 preview of Visual Studio 2005).

Installation and testing
For review purposes, I used three installations of VS08: Professional Edition installed on a Windows Vista for x64 laptop along with Expression Web and Expression Blend; Team Suite installed on a Windows XP desktop along with Visual Studio 2005 (VS05), without access to TFS; and Team Suite installed in a Windows Server 2003 Virtual PC along with TFS. Ninety-day trial versions of all of these versions are available from Microsoft’s Web site.

Microsoft Streets and Trips 2009 - $29

Microsoft Streets & Trips makes trip planning easy, so you can relax and drive with confidence. Get accurate driving directions to just about anywhere in the United States and Canada. Streets & Trips requires no Internet connection and includes more than 1.5 million points of interest to choose from–plus additional listings that you can view when you’re connected to the Web. With updated maps and extensive trip planning features, Streets & Trips will help you plan your trip, your way.

New and Enhanced Features

• New–Updated street maps for the United States and Canada.
• New–Entertainment online’s FREE trial subscription for special savings at restaurants, hotels, and special events.
• New–Experience an even more intuitive look and feel.
• New–Send location info to your mobile device.
• Customizable trip-planning options remember your preferences and allow you to plan stops, scenic detours, and fuel stops; add multiple destinations; and quickly alter your route.
• Optimize your trip by calculating mileage, time, and expenses in advance.
• Identify one-way streets at a glance.
• Avoid potential delays with free construction updates from the Web.
• Info on 1.5 million locations–no Internet connection is required.
• Find additional listings when you’re online and send location info to your mobile device.

Plan your trip your way. Then, relax and enjoy the ride!
Streets & Trips 2009 takes the hassle out of trip planning, while it takes the stress out of driving. Whether your next trip will be coast to coast or just across town, you’ll drive with confidence with Streets & Trips by your side.

Plan your trips to match your driving style.
Do you prefer scenic roads or Interstate highways? How often do you like to stop to rest? Streets & Trips can remember your driving preferences and suggest routes and rest stops that will help make your trip more enjoyable.

Calculate your mileage, trip costs and arrival time before you leave.
This is a great planning tool, especially for comparing different routes you’re considering.

More than 1.5 million ideas for stops along the way!
Looking for an Italian restaurant in Des Moines? A hotel in Vancouver? Streets & Trips comes with detailed information on over 1.5 million locations Ð ATMs, hotels, restaurants, gas stations and other points of interest. No Internet connection required.*

Get even more information with online search.
Whenever you’re connected to the Internet, you can search online to download more locations and recent updates to your maps.

Access street-level maps and personalized directions.
Updated street-level maps and turn-by-turn directions make it easy to stay on track. You can also add personal notes to your maps. With addresses, phone numbers and other notes alongside your planned stops, you’ll have all the information you need in one handy place.

Track your position and progress with a GPS receiver.*
If you already own a GPS device, you can use Streets & Trips to track your position and progress on the road. With a GPS receiver connected to your laptop, Streets & Trips can display your speed, location, direction, altitude and position.

Spoken street names and automatic re-routing.
With a GPS receiver, Street & Trips can provide spoken directions and street names as you drive. It can also put you back on track if you make a wrong turn!****

Buy Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 - $89

Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 provides you with tools to automate your business processes, build efficient applications on top of the Microsoft SharePoint platform, and tailor your SharePoint site to your needs, all in an IT-managed environment.

• Build solutions faster to enhance team productivity - Use Office SharePoint Designer 2007 to create and deploy interactive solutions on the SharePoint platform, without having to write code.
• Design SharePoint sites tailored to your needs - Office SharePoint Designer 2007 provides the professional-quality design tools you need to create great-looking SharePoint pages that are compatible with a wide range of browsers.
• Maintain control of your sites - Site administrators and IT managers can control exactly how Office SharePoint Designer 2007 is used to help ensure information workers have a managed and controlled experience.

Buy Microsoft Office Visio Professional 2007 - $119

Office Visio Professional 2007 includes all of the business diagramming tools included in Office Visio Standard 2007, plus additional comprehensive technical solutions and advanced functionality. Use Office Visio Professional 2007 to create high-value diagrams by using features, templates, and solutions.

Features:

• Brainstorm ideas - Export brainstorming diagrams to Microsoft Office Word documents in outline form to easily organize and communicate ideas generated in meetings.
• Chart your organization - Insert pictures and dotted-line relationships into organization charts to show employee pictures and important reporting structures.
• Schedule activities - Generate calendars by importing Outlook calendar data into Office Visio 2007 for easy viewing and reference.
• Track project progress - Split activities among multiple timelines and synchronize them for clearer illustrations.
• Visualize your business processes - Use specific tools and diagram types to support any business process documentation effort.
• PivotDiagram template - Visualize and explore your business data in hierarchical form showing data groups and subtotals.
• Value Stream Map template - Create diagrams based on Lean Methodology and visualize manufacturing processes to facilitate efficiency gains.
• Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) template - Diagram IT service processes that conform to ITIL standards.
• Network diagram templates - Diagram logical and physical network diagrams, including rack diagrams.
• Web development templates - Create site maps of existing Web sites using templates and predefined shapes.
• Software development templates - Diagram custom software solutions using the Microsoft Windows XP User Interface template, Unified Modeling Language (UML) template, and more.

Buy Microsoft Office Visio Professional 2003 - $49

Visio 2003 is a diagramming program that can help you create business and technical diagrams that document and organize complex ideas, processes, and systems. Diagrams created in Visio 2003 enable you to visualize and communicate information clearly, concisely, and effectively in ways that text and numbers cannot. Visio 2003 also automates data visualization by synchronizing directly with data sources to provide up-to-date diagrams, and it can be customized to meet the needs of your organization. Use Visio to easily create business and technical diagrams to think through, organize, and better understand complex ideas, processes, and systems. Easily assemble diagrams by dragging predefined Microsoft SmartShapes symbols. Use tools designed for specific professional disciplines for business and technical diagramming requirements throughout your organization. Generate common diagram types from existing data. Access context-sensitive Help and task-specific templates that are updated regularly from the Web. Visualize and communicate ideas, information, and systems. Create visually rich diagrams for maximum impact on your audience. Share diagrams in workspace files on your team’s Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services site. Annotate diagrams more naturally using digital ink on the Tablet PC. Track reviewers’ comments and changes to shapes and digital ink using the new review mode. Publish and share your diagrams with improved Save as Web Page functionality. Import and export diagrams in Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format, a new Extensible Markup Language (XML) standard for Web graphics. Do more sophisticated work, improve comprehension, and increase productivity to make an impact on your business. Integrate business processes and systems by extracting data from your Visio diagrams and importing it to Microsoft Office Access 2003, Microsoft Office Excel 2003, Microsoft Office Word 2003, Microsoft SQL Server, XML, and other formats. Incorporate Visio 2003 into powerful Microsoft .NET-connected software to address specific business needs. Embed Visio drawing controls in line-of-business applications built using .NET-connected software or the Microsoft Windows operating system. Visio 2003 provides updated Network templates and shapes. Basic Network drawings can be used in presentations, proposals, and conceptual layouts. Meanwhile, Detailed Network drawings can be used for creating more complex, elaborate diagrams, including actual network configurations. The new Rack Diagram drawing provides rack and cabinet shapes, as well as rack component and Room shapes, for drawing accurate representations of network server room configurations. Rack components snap to industry-specific sizes, and snap to the rack and cabinet shapes for easy creation of rack diagrams. The three directory services templates can be used to design new directories, create alternative designs for existing directories, or create plans for updating or migrating a current network’s directory service. Visio Professional 2003 edition gives IT professionals, engineers, and developers comprehensive technical diagramming and drawing tools to create and share information.

Buy Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007 - $129

Office Project Professional 2007 delivers robust project management tools with the right blend of usability, power and flexibility — allowing people can manage projects more efficiently and effectively. Customers will be able to more effectively manage project work, schedules and finances. Keep project teams aligned and be more productive, through tools integrated with familiar Microsoft Office system programs, powerful reports, guided planning and flexible tools. For more advanced project management and collaboration needs, Office Project Professional 2007 can connect with Project Server 2007 and will include all the stand-alone functions offered in Office Project Standard 2007. Custom metrics help you track data relevant to your project - Percent complete, budget versus actual, earned value and more Track project performance over the project lifespan by saving project snapshots in up to 11 baselines Tailor the Software to meet your needs - Choose custom display fields; modify toolbars, formulas, graphical indicators and reports; leverage XML, Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), and Component Object Model (COM) add-ins to facilitate data sharing and creation of custom solutions Get assistance when you need it - Project Standard 2007 provides a robust Help search engine, smart tags, and wizards to aid novice and experienced users