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New features in windows vista

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Anandtech has done a performance review of Microsoft’s new operating system Windows Vista. While Vista’s new Aero User Interface has gained the most attention it has a number of new features under the hood. Some of its new features:

  • First up is the one I find most interesting. Its a feature called superfetch. Basically superfetch strives to maximize the use of system memory by loading your most frequently used programs into RAM. It works by tracking your usage patterns and anticipating your next actions so it works best for users that follow a common routine when using their PCs. By loading your most frequently accessed programs it fills up RAM almost completely. The advantage here is that it speeds up startup times for frequently accessed software. It also means that the more RAM you add to your computer the faster it will run. The downside is that windows Vista uses much more RAM than previous Windows versions and it takes longer to startup as superfetch loads data into RAM.
  • Vista can also make use of your usb flash drives to cache data and programs thereby speeding up your system. This feature is called ready boost.
  • A common criticism of Windows has been that searching for a file on your local hard drive is slower than doing a web search! Windows vista deals with this by indexing the files on your hard drive for near instantaneous search.
  • Parental controls have been integrated into Vista. It allows parents to monitor and filter children’s web surfing activities and set time limits on computer usage. A new games explorer allows users to view information about all the games installed on their system. Parents can use the rating feature of the games explorer to restrict access to games.
  • One annoying "feature" is aimed at improving security but actually makes common tasks much harder. Its called User Access Control and it requires users to supply their windows password when trying to make changes to their operating system. According to anandtech it makes the simple task of deleting a file permanently a four click process.

Despite including new performance enhancing features like SuperFetch Vista takes up more resources and is slower overall than Windows XP. Of course we will all have to upgrade eventually so the good news is that adding more RAM to our computers can boost Vista’s performance.

Windows vista hardware requirements

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Microsoft’s new operating system and the successor to Windows XP, Windows Vista is being released to bulk buyers soon but it will take until early 07 before it is available for retail consumers. Vista has some steep hardware requirements. Its much touted aero user interface will require a high end graphics card and loads of RAM. For starters you need a 1 Ghz cpu which shouldn’t be a problem for most users. You also need a 1GB of RAM! A whole Gig! I mean talk about being a pig. But the really surprising part is the 15GB hard disk space requirement. How many DVDs does it come on 😮 ? Of course everybody is complaining now but people will eventually upgrade. We have to there is no other option if you want the latest and greatest software to work with. Windows Vista is certainly a boon to Microsoft’s OEM "partners" ;).

The most important question though is whether you still have to restart your computer after installing every little thing? Its been 21 years since Windows was first released and you would think that by now MS would have learned to make a stable and reliable OS ;).