Easier
Get things done more easily and intuitively
The first thing you'll notice about Windows Vista Home Premium is that
your desktop experience has never looked better. But behind the
translucent good looks, the Windows Aero experience is all about making it easier to focus on your content and to find and keep track of what you're doing.
You won't have to open a window to see what's in it because live taskbar thumbnails and Live Icons will show you. And when you have a lot of programs open, you can quickly locate and select the one you want using Windows Flip and Windows Flip 3D.
Windows Flip 3D shows the beauty and functionality Aero provides.
Find what you need in less time
Your
life probably moves at warp speed, so you can't afford to spend a lot
of time searching on your computer for the things you need.
Now, virtually anything on your PC is never more than a few keystrokes away with Instant Search.
To quickly find the holiday letter you're working on, that Halloween
photo of your youngest child, or the e-mail invitation to your friend's
barbecue, you can simply start typing in the Search box on the Start
menu.
As soon as you start typing, Instant Search begins showing results containing the letters you've entered.
It's easier and faster to find anything, no matter where you may have
saved it, with the consistent, streamlined menus, toolbars, and preview
panes in the improved Explorers
in Windows Vista. Explorers include Search boxes too, so you can search
within a particular type of information, such as all your documents.
You can organize your files any way that you want and immediately sort
and filter information based on file type, saved date, or the name of
the file creator. Watch this demo to see how Windows Vista helps you find and organize information.
Explorers include Search boxes so you can find what you need fast.
When you're surfing the web, you can end up with a lot of open browser
windows. Now you can see all your open windows on one page and use tabbed browsing to easily flip through them. Plus, web search from the toolbar in Windows Internet Explorer 7 makes it easier than ever to find what you're looking for.
Navigate numerous sites easily with tabbed browsing in Internet Explorer 7.
Some days you can feel like you're overloaded with information and
spending a lot of your time opening browsers and applications to find
what you need. It seems like there should be an easier way for you to
keep track of airfares, traffic maps, news updates, and other
information you care about. Now you can with Windows Sidebar and gadgets.
Windows Sidebar and gadgets put handy tools right at hand on your desktop.
Enjoy easier setup and hands-off maintenance
Windows Vista Home Premium makes it easier than ever to set up and maintain your new PC. Get up and running fast using Windows Easy Transfer to automatically copy your files, photos, music, e-mail, and settings from your old PC to your new Windows Vista–based PC.
After your computer is set up, you will appreciate how Windows Vista
works in the background to take care of itself and reduce the amount of
technical maintenance you need to do. New performance technologies can help improve the responsiveness of your most-used applications and decrease the time it takes you to download files.
System disruptions are kept to a minimum with little or no effort required from you. New self-healing technology automatically identifies and fixes problems, and built-in diagnostics
alert you to disk failure, defective memory, and other potential issues
so they can be resolved before affecting your everyday tasks.
Safer
Benefit from advanced security features
It's likely that safety is one of your top concerns. We worked very
hard on this area in the years since we developed Windows XP, and the
result of that work is the most secure version of Windows yet.
There are thousands of advertisers and scammers out there, so it's good
to know that you can take steps to prevent malicious software from
infiltrating your PC. Your first line of defense in Windows Vista is Windows Firewall, which helps provide protection as soon as you turn on your computer. And Windows Defender can help you reduce the number of pop-ups and lessen the security threats posed by spyware and other unwanted software.
The automatic protection of Windows Defender helps you avoid unwanted software.
Surf more safely
After
hearing the news stories about phishing scams, hackers, viruses, and
worms, you may have the feeling that your PC is a constant target. But
you can help decrease these online security threats by using Internet
Explorer 7 and taking advantage of new capabilities in it that provide:
Help protect your family and your PC
If you share your PC with your family, you probably have concerns that
your kids could accidentally install malicious software or change
something important, such as deleting all your favorites. With User Account Control,
you can set up a user account for each family member, so a child will
be prompted for a password when attempting to change system settings,
install any additional software, or to use certain websites or games.
And each family member can have their own set of favorites and desktop
layouts.
Wouldn't you love to be able to supervise what
your kids are doing on their computer without feeling like you're the
PC police? With Parental Controls,
you can manage your children's computer use by setting time limits and
rules for accessing the web and PC games. And you can tailor the
controls to suit the age level and personal interests of each child.
Use Parental Controls to easily oversee your children's computer use.
Lastly, even though you know it's essential to back up all your
priceless digital photos, music, movies, and documents, have you
actually done it? If you're like many people, you may think it will be
a lot of trouble and take a lot of time. But you won't even have to
think about it when you set up a scheduled backup.
More entertaining
Enjoy home entertainment in a whole new way
Having
fun shouldn't be hard work. Now, you can easily make your PC the center
of a complete home entertainment experience with Windows Vista Home
Premium.
Explore the options your entire digital entertainment library can offer with the easy-to-navigate Windows Media Center.
For instance, you only need a cable TV connection and a TV tuner card
to record TV shows and watch them whenever you like with no monthly
fee. You can easily play DVDs, download movies, and even try something
different like viewing your photos in a cinematic slide show or
browsing your music collection by cover art.
Enjoy all your digital entertainment with Windows Media Center.
Best of all, you don't have to stay in one room with your PC. You can
take Windows Media Center to the next level and stream all of your
digital entertainment on TVs throughout your home with support for Xbox 360 and other consumer electronics connected to your home network.
Get creative with your digital images, and then share them
You
love your digital camera and you've probably taken hundreds of digital
photos representing just as many memories. Maybe you've even downloaded
most of them to your PC. But have you looked at them much since you did
that? Would it be easy to find the ones from the London trip with your
best friend two years ago?
There are many ways to get more enjoyment out of your photos with Windows Photo Gallery.
First, you can organize them with tags, dates, and ratings so they are
easier to find. You can crop them, correct red-eye effects, and adjust
exposure and color with easy-to-use tools. And you can have fun
creating slide shows with themes, cool transitions, and video as well
as still photos.
Download, find, and share photos easily with Windows Photo Gallery.
You've been remembering scenes from the great vacation you just had
with your two sisters who live far away. You took some beautiful
pictures and even shot a little video. You can share some of the photos
with Cindy through e-mail, but Nancy doesn't want to receive personal
e-mail at work and doesn't have e-mail at home. Luckily, they each own
a DVD player. So you can easily make a slide show for both of them and
burn it to professional-looking video DVDs with Windows DVD Maker. What a great way to stay close.
Easily create professional-looking DVDs.
Your dad is going to turn 80 in a few months and there is going to be a
small family party. He is adamant about no gifts, but it doesn't seem
right not to somehow mark such a milestone. Over the years you've
amassed an awesome collection of photos and videos of him with your
kids. You can easily edit and publish a digital home movie in standard
or high-definition format with the updated Windows Movie Maker. Can you think of a more delightful way to celebrate?
Play your heart out
You never used to understand people's obsession with computer games.
But lately you've been bonding with your son over his favorite game, LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures. And though you won't admit it to many people, you've taken to playing Spider Solitaire on your lunch breaks. Welcome to habitual fun and to improved gaming support in Windows Vista Home Premium.
For one thing, you and your son will be impressed with the
hyper-realistic visuals and incredible performance. For another, you'll
be able to fully explore next generation gaming options: with a DirectX 10
graphics card and the technology built into the operating system, only
Windows Vista can run the latest, most graphically advanced PC games in
the market.
Eye-popping graphics in Microsoft Flight Simulator X.
A seemingly limitless choice of games compatible with Windows is great,
but it could sometimes be challenging to find and launch them. Now, you
can conveniently access all of your games, and information about them,
in a single location on your PC using the Games Explorer.
Gain easy access to games—and detailed game info—with the Games Explorer.
Look for Games for Windows
branded titles—from the simple to the spectacular—for every age and
ability. Plus, have more fun with old favorites on your PC such as Spider Solitaire and Minesweeper, as well as three new premium games: Mahjong Titans, Chess Titans, and InkBall.
Better connected
Stay productive and entertained with your mobile PC
If
you want a PC that can keep up with you while you're on the go, then
you'll appreciate how Windows Vista Home Premium helps you get the most
from your mobile PC.
You'll especially appreciate not worrying about battery life. With Fast Sleep and Resume,
you can go for weeks without fully shutting down your laptop. Simply
press the power button to pause and then resume your computer session
in just seconds while conserving your battery life in sleep mode.
Putting your PC to sleep can save time and power and protect your documents.
Does wireless networking seem complicated or even unsafe to you? Using the Network and Sharing Center
can help make it easier for you to connect more securely to wireless
networks when you're away from home and to set up a more secure
wireless network at home.
It can often feel like you spend some
days—especially weekends—running all over town. For your mobile devices
to be useful, they may need to be in sync with your PC at home. You can
use Sync Center to keep your supported mobile devices up to date with your calendar. And you can save time by using one location, the Windows Mobility Center, to quickly access and set your key mobile preferences.
Windows Mobility Center provides one place where you can adjust all your PC settings.
You and your best friend are on your city's parks committee and are
managing a volunteer rebuilding project. If you both have Windows
Vista, you can collaborate face to face using Windows Meeting Space
to share plans, schedules, and pictures of the project over a wired
network, a wireless local area network, or an ad hoc wireless network.
Perhaps you often handwrite your shopping list on your Tablet PC
or make funny sketches for your kids while you're watching their dance
lesson or ballgame. You'll find improvements that make the pen feel
more natural and help you scroll down webpages more easily. And you
won't have to write out URLs and e-mail addresses you've used before
because AutoComplete lists possible matches from previous letters or
series of letters.