After being in the R&D phase for more than five years, Microsoft has finally released their new Windows Vista Operating System.
Microsoft has spent more than $6 Billion and used the labor of about 8,000 developers in the making of the operating system. The OS was planned for a midnight release in New Zealand that is ahead of the rest of the world, thanks to the time zone of the country.

What’s new in Vista?

Microsoft has always publicized Vista as the best operating system that has been ever offered by the company. Vista boasts the following enhancements over other Operating systems:

• Better Graphics:

Windows Vista boasts of an Aero Glass Interface. This new interface enables high-quality 3D animation, and transparencies. These translucent icons look great and also add a feeling of depth and context to the interface.

• Better Security:

Microsoft has always been a heaven for hackers. They continually patched several of the many loopholes that Windows XP had. Now the company has taken Vista to an all new level. The company claims that Vista is its most secure Operating System. Instead of administrator and Limited accounts as in Windows XP, Vista allows you to completely control the access to the OS. Moreover Vista makes Web-Filtering possible; you can also allow certain content types only, block file downloads and set time restrictions. Microsoft is so confident about the Parental controls and the Address Space Layout Randomization of the OS that they also commented that of these features are turned on then the OS does not require any third-party Anti-Virus.

• Better Audio:

Since Vista sounds are coded at 1411kbps, they deliver four times the quality that users got on Windows XP whose sounds were coded at just 352kbps.

• Better Updates:

Vista does not rely on Internet Explorer to search for the updates instead the OS has a new application to handle the chore of keeping your system patched and up-to-date.

Minimum Hardware Requirements for Windows Vista:

Vista is a high-end offering of the company and it also demands some great computing power. The minimum requirements for the OS are:

• 1 GHz Processor
• 1 GB RAM
• 40 GB Disk Space
• DirectX 9 Compatible Video Card with at least 128 MB of Memory

These are the minimum requirements and will only be able to ‘Just Run’ the OS. If you want a great computing experience from the OS then it would be better if you just double each specification.

Shortcomings of Windows Vista:

Microsoft comments that this is the best Operating System that has ever been developed. But still the OS has several problem areas which the users should consider before upgrading to Windows Vista:

• Not Many Third-Party Applications:

Microsoft was a bit reluctant to give away the kernel code of the OS to some other third party application developers. They were so confident on the security of the OS that they only released the Kernel code to security firms such as Symantec and McAfee and that too after these security firms filed a suit against Microsoft. This means that till now there are not many software developers who are offering products that are Vista capable. So users will have to wait for Windows Vista SP1 if they find some loopholes in the OS.

• Windows Vista already Hacked:

Microsoft was boasting the security features of the OS and also stated that it cannot be pirated as users have to go through a strenuous WGA check procedure without which the OS will return to a Low-Functionality mode after thirty days of first install. Then also just before Vista was released for Businesses we found out that several pirated copies of the OS were already available on the internet bearing names as Windows Vista BillGates and Windows Vista Melinda.

• Vista’s DRM Protection already cracked by Security Researcher:

A security researcher has claimed that he has successfully bypassed the much discussed DRM protection in the OS called Protected Media Path or simply PMP. This DRM protection mechanism degrades the playback quality of any video or audio running on systems with hardware components that are not approved by Microsoft.

• Vista Demands Extreme Computing Power:

Though the minimum specifications of the OS are not much to ask but still these minimum requirements are just for the minimum performance of the OS and users will have to spend more on upgrading the hardware of their systems.

• Microsoft not satisfied with the first final version of Windows Vista:

Microsoft itself is not satisfied with the first final version of the OS and the company has already boosted the development process of Windows Vista SP1. The move which makes many think that the company is aware of some problem areas in the OS.

Windows Vista compared to Windows XP:

• Graphics:

Graphics in Windows Vista are powered by the new Aero Glass Interface, which by every means are offering a better computing experience in Windows Vista than Windows XP.

• System Performance:

Windows Vista can make your systems run at a snails pace until you have an extreme computing machine. On the other hand Windows XP was touted as the fastest OS ever built by Microsoft and it will still be the choice of many users.

• Security:

Windows XP relied mainly on third party software providers for security applications. On the other hand Windows Vista boasts of better parental controls and its new Address Space Layout Randomization tool for making the OS more stable and secure.

• Gaming:

Till now we don’t have many games that can run on Windows Vista. And the games which did install on Vista didn’t provide us with a better gaming experience that we already get on Windows XP. For gamers Windows XP is still a much better machine.

Is Vista derived from Mac OS X?

Though this latest OS from Microsoft is one of the best Operating Systems that has ever been made by the company still many experts say that there are just too many similarities between Windows Vista and Mac OS X. These similarities include:

• Gadgets:

Gadgets are small single-purpose programs that are similar to Widgets in Mac OS X.

• 3-D Application Switcher:

Windows Vista has a feature that opens every window that is in use on your screen, a feature that is similar to the Expose feature in Mac OS X.

• Global Fast Fetcher:

Vista has a better search feature that allows you to find words in any of your files more efficiently. This is similar to the Spotlight feature of Mac OS X. The difference is that Apple has integrated the feature at the top right corner in OS X and Microsoft has integrated it at the Bottom Left corner.

• Photo Organization:

Vista has an integrated photo editing tool built into the photo browser and Mac OS X has a similar tool called iPhoto which allows users to edit photos.

What are others saying?

Gizmodo: Alex lonescu claims he’s hacked Vista’s Protected Media Path, a DRM that’s designed to degrade the playback quality of HD video when running it on non-HDCP outputs and other hardware components that haven’t been approved by Microsoft.

Silicon Valley Sleuth: Vista’s media capabilities won’t be of much use until we see some appealing hardware devices that are designed for the living room, or that allow consumers to easily access their data through a media adapter.

Life Hacker: Planning on formatting your hard drive to lay down a nice, clean install of Vista Ultimate Home Premium where you had XP? Well then you had better plan on spending $80 more than you originally intended.

Sec Guru: Windows Vista may be hailed as Microsoft’s most secure operating system to date, but the platform contains weaknesses in its default anti-malware capabilities.

Tom Coyote: I predict Home Premium will prove to be far and away the best seller (for home users). Home Basic has too many features stripped out, it may become just as maligned as Windows ME. Ultimate is too expensive, unless you have the need to connect to a domain.