Technically, Windows Vista is just the latest in a long line of business-class operating systems that started with Windows NT more than a decade ago. Practically, the changes in this new member of the Windows family are equal parts evolution and revolution. | Home Basic Home Premium Business Enterprise Ultimate 1 CHAPTER 1 What s New in ndows Vista Introducing the Windows Vista The Windows Vista Interface Up Close and Personalized . 6 Searching Sharing and Other File Management Tasks. 8 Windows Vista Security at a Glance. 9 Digital Media Essentials . 11 Inside Internet Explorer 7. 14 Mail and Collaboration . 15 Performance and Reliability . 15 And Much Much More. 17 Technically Windows Vista is just the latest in a long line of business-class operating systems that started with Windows NT more than a decade ago. Practically the changes in this new member of the Windows family are equal parts evolution and revolution. In some ways that s not surprising. The gap between Windows XP and Windows Vista spanned more than five years. In operating system terms that s two generations. So it s not surprising that Windows Vista incorporates a broad swath of platform pieces and infrastructure including sweeping changes to networking and security support for new classes of hardware new capabilities for creating and playing digital media and a distinctive new interface. In this chapter we briefly introduce the new and notable features and capabilities in Windows Vista. What s in Your Edition Because Windows Vista has been sliced diced and packaged into at least five distinct editions it s possible that some of the features and capabilities we describe in this book will be unavailable on your computer. At the beginning of each chapter we ve included two elements to help you sort out where your edition fits in. A sidebar box like this one typically placed on the opening page summarizes the differences in each edition as they relate to the content of that chapter. The banner along the top of each chapter s opening page lists the five mainstream editions with a graphic representation of how each edition measures up with the features in that chapter. A filled-in circle means all features are available in your edition a half-filled
