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Parental controls
With recent concerns about the effect of violence in games on children, it's not surprising that Microsoft would build parental controls into Windows Vista. Some of the features in December's CTP release allow parents to view reports of their children's computer usage, though of course it will be possible to use this feature to spy on spouses and employees, as well. You'll also be able to control the Web sites a user can visit and restrict access to games based on title and ratings issued by the Entertainment Software Rating Board, or ESRB.
Firewall filtering
In a rather surprising move, December's CTP release of Vista includes both inbound and outbound firewall filtering. We've long pointed out that the lack of outbound filtering in Windows XP's firewall gives users a false sense of security. Vista's new firewall may make it unnecessary for you to add a third-party firewall to your system. We'll let you know after we've had a chance to test the final version.
Single-button on and off control
As part of its effort to bridge the gap between PCs and TVs, Microsoft has built a single-button on and off control into its December CTP release of Windows Vista. The button will also be programmed for a new fast-off mode that will essentially cycle the computer through sleep and into hibernation automatically.
SuperFetch
SuperFetch is an algorithm that automatically loads your most commonly used programs into memory for a faster computing experience. In this December's TCP release of Windows Vista, SuperFetch has added the ability to reach into external storage devices as part of its memory cache.
Windows Media Center and Media Player 11
Microsoft has included a new version of Windows Media Center in the December CTP of Windows Vista, as well as a new version of Windows Media Player, but the company has chosen to shroud these topics in mystery, preferring instead to unveil the new operating system features and media-player functionality at CES during the first week of January.
It's easier to understand Vista's long development cycle when you look at the full range of change Microsoft targets. Let us not forget that Microsoft is also a dominant force in server software and is probably designing Vista to take full advantage of its server offerings, perhaps expanding browsing and messaging capabilities in ways we may not even see until well after Vista is officially launched in late 2006. With Microsoft's new push for hosted services, we expect the software giant's Live offerings, such as Microsoft Live Meeting and Windows Live Local, to grow substantially, both in number and in functionality, over the next few years. Vista will play a key role in bringing these services to your desktop, including entertainment-related services through Vista's incarnation of Microsoft's Media Center OS.
One of the questions the long development cycle of Vista raises is whether it's smart for an operating system to be, well, so smart. Given the fact that software applications already exist that can do most of what Microsoft is painstakingly building into Vista, might it make more sense for Microsoft to focus on the operating system portion of the operating system and not weigh the OS down with such a barrage of applications and utilities?
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