WINDOWS XP AND VISTA SECURITY

Investigate and Evaluate Windows XP and Vista Security

Investigate and Evaluate Windows XP and Vista Security

Introduction

Today, Windows XP and vista security is an emerging problem for all of us. The beta version of Windows Vista has been in circulation for quite some time now and many people have noticed a big improvement but noticed many similarities to other operating systems. (Johnston 2007, 54) In fact there are many people claiming that Vista is nothing more than a poor duplication of the Mac's Operating System OSX. Vista will require a minimum of 513MB of RAM and a graphics processor compatible with the Vista Display Driver Model. These minimum requirements alone will turn away many users due to the fact that their computers will not meet these standards. Although, there are many impressive additions and modifications that Vista has added. I will go over the key differences that Vista holds over its predecessor XP as well as how I believe that Vista will hold up in our computer world today.

Microsoft unveiled its creation of their new innovation Windows Vista in the year 2005. This new Operating System was announced to have better features than its predecessors and be the biggest improvement to Windows since their upgrade to Windows 95. Windows Vista is still going to use the classic GUI-interface with user-friendly icons and many manual controls for the system that will make managing the system more straightforward. (Windows Vista Security: http://www.symantec.com/business/theme.jsp?themeid=vista_research)

Overview

Some of the new features available in Window's Vista include a wide variety of functions. Vista will add more security features that will allow the user to use the system freely without continuously supervising the system. New features like Windows Imaging, the application compatibility toolkit, and the pre-installation environment will make desktop deployment a great deal easier and faster. (Johnston 2007, 54) There will be a higher connectivity and synchronization rate with peripheral devices such as camera's, mobile devices, etc. The new Internet Explorer 7 will be available to all Vista users with the malware detection feature. Microsoft has also guaranteed the Internet Explorer 7 to come with socket layer protection and safety.

The management features in Vista have greatly improved with the task manager, which launches anytime its needed by the system. Surprisingly enough the web services have finally improved and scripts are easier to run from remote also. There is an enhance user interface that includes expanded explorer windows and the Virtual Folder. The New Sleep State mode is a mode that allows the two features of stand by and hibernation mode. These features allow for less power consumption when the computer is left on for long periods of time. The new quick start-up is said to have the quickest start-up time windows have seen yet, which will enable users to load their basic applications and operate much faster. Vista also has a networked projection feature, which allows computers with Vista loaded on it to detect others on the network and share files even on wireless ...