Vista Tips

It really bugs me sometimes that Microsoft imposes artificial limitations on Windows versions because they think features are out of scope. Case in point is Windows Server 2008. Now, there is no earthly reason why WS2008 can’t support Bluetooth right out of the box. An yet, because someone on the Server team decided that servers don’t use Bluetooth, if you’re one of the thousands of people who use WS2008 as a workstation, you’re SOL. Think just installing your Bluetooth drivers, or enabling the “Wireless LAN Services” feature will do it? Think again.

In previous installments of this series, I discussed the virtues of a clean Vista install, some useful User Account Control workarounds, top tools for troubleshooting, and the wisdom of shutting off Windows system services. Today’s fifth and final installment is a little different from its predecessors, in that it focuses not so much on fixing what might be broken, but rather on taking advantage of a feature in Windows Vista that has the potential to transform the way you work.

I've had a number of discussions over the past week over customer support and downgrade rights to Windows XP from Windows Vista, so here are a few points that may help clear things up.

One session, says the current list, will focus on battery life -- presumably batteries in notebooks first of all, but also for other mobile devices Microsoft hopes to get Windows 7 into."Windows 7 provides advances for building energy-efficient applications," says the write-up. "In this session we will discuss how to leverage new Windows infrastructure to reduce application power consumption and efficiently schedule background tasks and services.

Alex Eckelberry of Sunbelt Software vents, intelligently, about Windows Vista’s UAC conundrum:

UAC could certainly have been handled better. It does something the security industry has been well aware of for a long time — it creates the “cry wolf” problem of popup fatigue (people turn off or ignore the popups after awhile). Vista is more secure than XP, despite what others might say, but it still gets infected. Since over 80% of all infections are based on social engineering, the popups should focus on that weak point. If UAC targeted the key areas where people run into trouble (as opposed to harassing the user on inane actions), it would be far more helpful and potentially make a really significant impact on infection rates.

We've been talking with a lot of organizations about what they need most from an optimized desktop experience, and we've been making great progress in delivering against those needs. I want to take this opportunity to share details on the Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios and highlight some news. If you've been reading this blog regularly, you will have seen updates on the work we're doing with the Optimized Desktop.

Network Access Protection (NAP) is one of the few features that were actually added to Windows XP SP3. However, the management of the policy enforcement platform present by default in both Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 is not as streamlined on XP SP3 as it is in the latest server and client operating systems. In Vista for example all that end users need to do is start the service through the NAP Client Configuration MMC (napclcfg.msc).

Last week, I blogged about installing Windows XP SP3 and how it affects different versions of Internet Explorer (See my earlier blog post here). Today I will be discussing installing branded/custom versions of IE7 on machines with Windows XP SP3 installed. This post is primarily aimed towards folks who use the Internet Explorer Administration Kit 7 (IEAK7) to create custom IE7 packages, like Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and web developers. If you ever installed the IEAK7, built a custom version of IE7 or distributed a version of IE7 to others, this post is for you.

For most people using a computer means using Windows and over the years Microsoft’s operating system has become easier to use.However, there is always room for improvement, so in this feature we have compiled 50 of the finest tips for Windows XP and Vista. These can help to make Windows even better, easier to use and faster. Most don’t even require you to install any extra software, so if you want to make your copy of XP or Vista better, it’s possible to get started immediately.

Windows Vista brings us Windows Dreamscene,which pulls us out of the idea that desktop background can only be pictures.  Never had a OS made our computer so beautiful. However,Windows Dreamscene is not so good because it only support WMV and MPEG.As a result, if there is a RMVB or AVI video, we need to convert it into WMV or MPEG. What a pity?