by Playfuls Staff |
27th March 2007
Today, Microsoft said it sold 20 million consumer copies of
its latest operating system, Windows Vista, during the first month since its
debut. The Redmond company said the pace of Vista adoption [more] is at more than twice the rate of its
predecessor, Windows XP, which had sold 17 million licenses after its first two
months of release, Reuters
reported.
"It's a stronger than expected start," Bill
Mannion, a director of product marketing for Windows, said in an interview for
AP. Still, Microsoft declined to break out the number of Vista copies sold at
retail or howw many Vista upgrades were
ordered in that time frame. Microsoft launched the business versions of Windows
Vista on November 30 2006 an the consumer versions were introduced in 30th
January 2007 and it was the first major upgrade of the Windows operating system
since Microsoft eleased Windows XP in October 2001.
The world's largest software company spent some 6 billion
dollars and 5 years to develop the programme, and is offering a smorgasbord of
different versions designed to fit everyone from the web-surfing granny who
needs just basic functionality to the media and gaming- obsessed geek who wants
his computer to do everything except pour his coffee. Prices range from 199
dollars for Vista Home Basic to 399 dollars for the Windows Vista Ultimate with
all the bells and whistles.
What does your PC need in order to run Windows Vista? At a minimum, says Microsoft, your PC should
have at least an 800 MHz processor, 512 megabytes (MB) of system memory (RAM),
and a graphics card with 128 MB of RAM. It's important to note that these specification
are indeed for a minimum configuration, one which will not allow you to take
advantage of all of Vista's performance
enhancments.
The preferred configuration would include at least a 1 GHz
processor and 1 gigabyte (GB) of system memory. Some computer makers, though,
including Dell, are wisely recommending that the amount of RAM for Vista be doubled - to 2 GB.
Windows Vista is superior to Windows XP from all points of
view. Vista users can actually expect several
thousand new functions, Microsoft claims. Most of them are hidden underneath
the hood, so to speak. One eye-catching element is the new graphical interface,
dubbed Aero. It is remarkable first for its semi- transparent windows. Open
several windows at once, and you can still see which other folders and
documents are open beneath them. This is not exactly trailblazing in the world
of operating systems, though. Transparent windows are also available in Apple's
Mac OS X and with various Linux versions.
Microsoft went one step further, however, with its Flip 3D
function. This positions all opened windows one behind another, slightly
offset. Switching between the individual windows is somewhat easier than with
XP, because the windows can be paged through using the scroll wheel, for
example.
The desktop search is certain to be a major convenience. It
finds objects not just based on folder or file names, but based on the contents
of a document itself. Typing "Lara" into the search filter, for
example, will pull up all e-mail messages and Word documents containing the
word "Lara." The searching is launched as soon as the first letter is
typed in.
The Windows Photo Gallery may bring joy to anyone with a
large collection of digital photos on the computer. The software imports photos
from a camera or scanner onto the PC, and also offers simple photo editing
tools. The Sidebar is intended to provide a quick overview. It is a collection
of little programs that - presuming an internet connection is available -
retrieve specific information in real time. That can be weather reports, stock
quotes or sports scores, for example. These programs, known as widgets, are
available for free download from Microsoft. Vista
comes with Internet Explorer 7, Windows Media Player 11 and the anti spyware
software Windows Defender.
But, according to Microsoft, the most important aspect of
Windows Vista is one that is not perceived at first glance: the security has
been greatly improved.
Microsoft says Windows Vista is the safest operating system
ever. The users’ login system management has been modified almost completely,
applications no longer have easy access to Windows’ basic components and these
are but few of the changes the Redmond
company has made.
Microsoft has wanted to lose its label of unsafe OS so
badly, acquired through Windows 95 and Windows 98, that it invested heavily in
security, purchasing companies and products and even starting a bit of a
conflict with established producers such as McAfee and Symantec.
Microsoft programmes currently run some 90 per cent of the
world's PC's and even though Apple is rapidly gaining market share, and tech
companies like Intel, HP and IBM are teaming up to support a rival Linux
operating system, computer makers will continue to ship the vast majority of
their machines with the latest copy of Windows pre-installed.
Previously to Windows Vista launch, research firm Gartner said
Windows Vista will be running on more than half of the world's consumer PCs by
late 2008, but it won't be the dominant operating system for corporate
computers until 2010.
