What's new in Windows Vista Ultimate
In this articleExplore new features for searching, staying connected, networking, syncing devices, and managing files on your computer. Find things fast, get down to business, and focus on what matters to you.
Searching and organizing
In
every folder in Windows, the Search box appears in the upper right corner. When you type in the Search box, Windows filters the view based on what you’re typing. Windows looks for words in the file name, tags that you’ve applied to the file, or other file properties. To find a file in a folder, type any part of a file name in the Search box to find what you're looking for. You can also use Search folders when you don’t know where a file is located or when you want to do an advanced search using more than just a single file name or property.
Security
Features such as Windows Firewall and Windows Defender can help keep your computer more secure. Windows Security Center has links for checking your computer's firewall, antivirus software, and update status. User Account Control (UAC) can help prevent unauthorized changes to your computer by requiring permission before performing actions that could potentially affect your computer's operation or that change settings that affect other users.
Internet Explorer
Web feeds, tabbed browsing, and always-available search are just a few of the new features available in Internet Explorer.
Web feeds provide frequently updated content published by a website that you can subscribe to for automatic delivery to your web browser. With a feed, you can get content such as breaking news or updates to a blog without having to go to the website.
Tabbed browsing allows you to open multiple websites in a single browser window. You can open webpages or links on new tabs and then switch among them by clicking the tabs.
Windows Aero
Windows Aero is the premium visual experience of Windows. It features a translucent glass design with subtle window animations and new window colors. Part of the Windows Aero experience is Windows Flip 3D, which is a way to preview your open windows in three-dimensional stacks, as well as taskbar buttons with live, thumbnail-sized window previews.
Sync and sharing
Sync with other devices such as portable music players and Windows Mobile devices. With Sync Center, you can keep devices in sync, manage how your devices sync, start a manual sync, see the status of current sync activities, and check for conflicts.
You can also share files and folders with people on your network, even if they use a computer that's not running Windows. When you share files and folders, other people can open and view the files and folders just as if they were stored on their own computer. And they can make changes, if you allow that.
Windows Easy Transfer
Windows Easy Transfer is the best way to transfer your files and settings from your old computer. You can do this using an Easy Transfer Cable, CDs or DVDs, a USB flash drive, a network folder, or an external hard disk. You can transfer: user accounts, files and folders, program settings, Internet settings and favorites, e-mail settings, contacts, and messages.
| • | Open Windows Easy Transfer by clicking the Start button  , clicking All Programs, clicking Accessories, clicking System Tools, and then clicking Windows Easy Transfer. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. |
| • | Transferring files and settings: frequently asked questions |
Ease of Access Center
The new Ease of Access Center replaces Accessibility Options in earlier versions of Windows. The Ease of Access Center comes with several improvements and new features, including centralized access to accessibility settings and a new questionnaire that you can use to get suggestions for accessibility features that you might find useful.
Parental Controls
If your computer is connected to a domain, Parental Controls are not available.
Parental Controls makes it easy for parents to designate which games their children are allowed to play. Parents can allow or restrict specific game titles, limit their children's play to games that are rated at or below a certain age level, or block games with certain types of content that they don't want their children to see or hear.
Backup and Restore Center
The Backup and Restore Center makes it easier to back up your settings, files, and programs when and where you choose, with the convenience of automated scheduling. You can back up to a CD or DVD, an external hard disk, another hard disk on your computer, a USB flash drive, or to another computer or server connected to your network.
| • | Open Backup and Restore Center by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking Backup and Restore Center. |
| • | Methods for backing up your files |
Networking
Use the Network File and Sharing Center to get real-time network status and links to customized activities. Set up a more secure wireless network, connect more securely to public networks in hotspots, and help monitor your network security. Access files and shared network devices, such as printers, more easily and use interactive diagnostics to identify and fix network problems.
| • | Open Network and Sharing Center by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking Network and Internet, and then clicking Network and Sharing Center. |
Windows Meeting Space
Collaborate with and distribute documents to other people online. Share your desktop or any program with other session participants, distribute and co-edit documents, and pass notes to others. Windows Meeting Space works in a meeting room, a favorite hotspot, or where no network exists.
| • | Open Windows Meeting Space by clicking the Start button , clicking All Programs, and then clicking Windows Meeting Space. |
Windows Media Center
Enjoy all your favorite digital entertainment—including live and recorded TV, movies, music, and pictures—in one place with the Windows Media Center menu system and remote control. Windows Media Center in Windows Vista includes enhancements for expanded support of digital and high-definition cable TV, an improved menu system, and the ability to create a consumer-electronics-quality living-room experience, as well as new options for multi-room access to your entertainment through Media Center Extenders, including Microsoft Xbox 360.
Pictures
The Pictures folder and Windows Photo Gallery make it easy to view, organize, edit, share, and print digital pictures.
When you plug your digital camera into your computer you can automatically transfer your photos to the Pictures folder. From there, you can use Windows Photo Gallery to crop photos, remove red eye, and make color and exposure corrections.
| • | Open Windows Photo Gallery by clicking the Start button , clicking All Programs, and then clicking Windows Photo Gallery. |
| • | Working with digital pictures |
Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption
Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption can help protect the information on your computer, even if your computer is lost or stolen. BitLocker encrypts the entire system drive, including files needed for startup and logon, which can improve security by preventing hackers from accessing important system files.
Mobile PC features
Use the Mobility Center to adjust settings you regularly change when you move from place to place (such as volume and screen brightness) and to check your connectivity status. Use a secondary, or auxiliary, display to check for your next meeting, read e‑mail, listen to music, or scan news without opening your mobile PC. You can also have an auxiliary display on a device, such as a cell phone or TV.
| • | Open Windows Mobility Center by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking Mobile PC, and then clicking Windows Mobility Center. |
| • | Using Windows Mobility Center |
Tablet PC features
Improve handwriting recognition by personalizing the handwriting recognizer. Use flicks to navigate and perform shortcuts with your pen. See pen actions more clearly with optimized cursors. Use the Input Panel to handwrite, or use the soft keyboard anywhere on your screen. Use the touch screen to perform actions with your finger (the touch screen is only available if you have a touch-enabled Tablet PC).
Taskbar
The area of the desktop that contains the Start button and buttons for all open programs. By default, the taskbar is located at the bottom of the desktop, but you can move it.
Server
A computer that provides shared resources, such as files or printers, to network users.
Stack
A collection of related files, depicted visually as a pile. Stacks are organized by common file properties. For example, you can stack files by author or tag.
File
A collection of information that is stored on a computer under a single name. A file can be a text document, a picture, a program, and so on. Files typically have a three-letter file name extension that helps to indicate the type (for example, picture files are often saved in JPEG format and have the file name extension .jpg).
Update
Additions to software that can prevent or fix problems, enhance the security of a computer, or improve a computer's performance.
Device
Any piece of equipment that can be attached to a network or computer, for example, printers, keyboards, external disk drives, or other peripheral equipment. These devices require special software (device drivers) to work with Windows.
Sync
The process of reconciling the differences between a file stored in one location and a copy of the same file stored in another location.
Hard disk
The primary storage device located inside a computer. Also called a hard drive or hard disk drive, it is where your files and programs are typically stored.
Hotspot
A public place (such as a coffee shop, airport, or hotel) with a wireless network that you can use to connect to the Internet.
Firewall
Software or hardware that can help protect a computer from hackers or malicious software. A firewall helps prevent malicious software (such as worms) from gaining access to a computer through a network or over the Internet, and helps prevent a computer from sending malicious software to other computers.
USB flash drive
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USB flash drive
A small device used to store information. USB flash drives plug into computer USB ports so you can copy information to or from them, making it easy to share and transport information.
Help and How-to
