John Lamansky

SuperSite for Windows has posted a four-part review on the lastest Windows Vista preview release: December 2005 CTP, also known as Build 5270. The site has given the release a rating of 5 stars, compared to a 4 star rating given to both Windows XP and Mac OS X 10.4.

There are going to be a lot of cool new things in Vista: a calendar application, a digital photo management application, new Smart Fetch technology that lets you expand your computer’s RAM via USB, and lots more.

Here are the links to the different parts of the review:
Part 1: Setup and User Interface
Part 2: Bundled Applications
Part 3: New Features
Part 4: Wrapping Up

You heard that right. According to the Supersite for Windows in their article about the Vista December 2005 CTP release, Microsoft is planning an internal release of a feature-complete version of Windows Vista later this month!

To me, this is an almost shocking announcement, since, as you probably know, Microsoft is planning to release Vista about a year from now. What will they be doing with Vista this next year? Will they actually be spending almost an entire year fixing bugs and improving the quality of the OS? If so, we are going to have a really high-quality operating system when it ships in holiday season 2006. This is becoming quite exciting.

Oh yeah, be sure to take a look at the article’s showcase of Windows Vista wallpaper too. Subject to change, of course, since the wallpaper seems to change with every major Vista preview release.

The SuperSite for Windows has some interesting articles that compare Windows Vista Beta 1 with Mac OS X “Tiger.” The site has part 1 and part 2 of the review so far. I’m looking forward to the yet-unpublished part 3, where the author will “declare a winner, of sorts, at least until we have a more feature-complete version of Windows Vista to evaluate.”

And say hello to “Windows Mail,” to be included in Windows Vista.

Finally! Microsoft will be renaming the basic email program included with Windows and Internet Explorer. The name “Outlook Express” has caused much confusion because of its similarity to “Microsoft Outlook,” Microsoft’s personal information manager, which also includes email capabilities.

The truth is that “Outlook” and “Outlook Express” are two completely different programs, even though they both email. Outlook Express even has a cool feature not found in the hundred-dollar Outlook 2003 or the open-source Mozilla Thunderbird program - OE can edit the HTML source of an email message.

Windows Mail will also be using the standard “eml” format instead of the proprietary “dbx” format.

SuperSite for Windows recently published a review of the latest Windows Vista beta release: build 5219. And some of the new features made me say, “Oh, sweet.” To list all of the features and improvements would mean a humongous blog post, but one that’s really worth mentioning is the ability to increase your system’s available RAM by simply inserting a memory stick. That’s right: stick in a 1GB keychain memory stick and you get another gig of RAM and an instant speed boost; an “external RAM upgrade.” Sweet.

According to this SuperSite for Windows article, it’s possible that a podcast creation utility will be included in Windows Vista Ultimate Edition (see my article on Windows Vista Editions for more info about the different versions of Vista).

In the coming months we’ll see if this possible podcast creation utility turns out to be a competetive solution, a useless Windows accessory as primitive as Paint, or a non-existent feature.

The Supersite for Windows has managed to obtain information about the different editions of Windows Vista (previously known as “Longhorn”) that is due next year. The tentative list of editions and features is:

• Windows Vista Starter Edition - Aimed at developing countries, Starter Edition is a bare-bones version of Windows that only allows 3 programs to run at a time. Analogous to Windows XP Starter Edition.
• Windows Vista Home Basic Edition - Basic version of Vista upon which other editions will build on. Will not include new Aero interface. Roughly analogous to Windows XP Home Edition.
• Windows Vista Home N Edition - In order to comply with antitrust rulings in Europe, Microsoft has released the “N” versions of Windows. Vista Home N Edition will basically be Vista Home Basic Edition but without Windows Media Player and other media features. Like the Windows XP N Editions, the Vista N Editions will only be available in Europe.
• Windows Vista Home Premium Edition - Adds Windows XP Media Center Edition and Windows XP Tablet PC Edition functionality, plus numerous other features, to Home Basic Edition.
• Windows Vista Professional Edition - Business operating system which will include encryption, remote desktop, and other business features. Also includes Tablet PC functionality. Roughly analogous to Windows XP Professional Edition + Windows XP Tablet PC Edition.
• Windows Vista Professional N Edition - Vista Professional Edition without Windows Media Player, etc.
• Windows Vista Small Business Edition - Aimed at small businesses. Based on Professional Edition and adds small business features: fax, more backup features, and possibly a security suite based on Microsoft’s OneCare. Not analogous to any XP version.
• Windows Vista Enterprise Edition - Adds enterprise features to Professional Edition such as Virtual PC and advanced security and encryption technologies. Not analogous to any XP version.
• Windows Vista Ultimate Edition - “Has everything.” Includes features of both the Vista Home and Professional lines. Also adds features like a game performance tweaker. Microsoft is also considering adding Ultimate Edition features and benefits such as a podcast creation utility, deluxe games, custom themes, preferred customer support, Microsoft OneCare subscriptions, free music and movie downloads, and more. Not analogous to any XP version.

Although all of these editions could cause confusion for the average consumer, the choices could benefit more knowledgeable computer users by giving them more control over what features they want in their operating system. Personally, I’d go for Windows Vista Ultimate Edition (assuming it isn’t outrageously expensive), especially if it includes a good-quality podcast creation tool ;-).

For more information on this milestone Windows Vista development, visit this Supersite for Windows article, which includes a detailed description of each edition, plus a table showing which features will be included in each edition.

Microsoft seems to be on a roll - first they released Windows Vista Beta 1, and now shortly after they’ve released their first WinFS (Windows File System) Beta a year before schedule! (They were supposed to have a beta ready when the final version of Windows Vista was released.) WinFS won’t be part of Windows Vista when it’s released, but will available as an add-on sometime in 2007. For more information on the beta release and WinFS in general, visit this PCWorld article.

For those of you who love to drool over feature lists (like me ;-)), you’ll want to check out the first Windows Vista feature list (that I know of) posted on Microsoft.com. The Windows Vista Experiences page contains features divided into four categories: Productivity and Information Management, Mobile and Connected, Networking and Connectivity, and Assistance, Upgrading, and Backup.

One of the coolest new features (”new” meaning I had not heard of the feature until I read this webpage) is File Shadow Copies and is featured on the Assistance, Upgrading, and Backup page. The feature description is as follows:

Shadow Copies for Shared Files is a technology included in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 that allows you to recover prior versions of an accidentally overwritten or deleted file without backup. Windows Vista incorporates this technology to enable you to recover prior versions of files on the PC without needing a server.

Kind of like Microsoft Word’s “file versions” feature, but this is for every single file type.

Oooh… ahhh…

Who knew it would come so soon? Only about a week after Windows Vista Beta 1 was released, a virus appeared that exploited the Monad command shell included in the Windows Vista beta. Monad is similar to MS-DOS and allows powerful text-based commands to be executed. The virus doesn’t appear to be disruptive, but rather seems to be a proof-of-concept virus (viruses that allow the writer to test new methods of exploitation). For more information on the Danom virus family (”Danom” being “Monad” in reverse), check out this PCWorld article.