Microsoft's Vista operating system
is expected to ship in late 2006.
It will include a variety of features and functionality, the
most significant of which are built around anti-spyware,
firewalls, and encryption.
Many Vista critics admit that the security features will be
its strongest selling point.
Microsoft is building into the new operating system a
Performance Rating tool that will rate a PC based on how well
it's running and on how many of Vista's features it can
utilize.
How effective will the Vista Operating System be on your
machine? |
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The Windows Performance Rating
will help average users understand their Windows Vista PC's
overall performance potential, and to help determine if
certain software applications will run properly, based on
their system components.
With earlier operating systems, computer performance deteriorates considerably as more software loads during
startup and as hard disks become fragmented. With Vista,
Microsoft has added several features that aim to keep the PC
from bogging down over time.
There's another tool, the Windows Upgrade Advisor, that will
look at a PC and make recommendations on improvements that
will allow Vista to run better. It will most likely recommend
more memory or an improved graphics card, or both.
According to recent sales data for February, 2006, a little
more than half of all notebook PC's were sold with 512 MB of
memory, and about 25 percent were shipped with 1GB of memory.
About half of all desktops sold with 1GB of memory; 35 percent
had 512MB RAM.
Microsoft Company has suggested that 512MB of memory, a
graphics card with a Vista-specific driver and a modern
processor will be required to run Vista. According to other
reports, for all but a basic Vista system, at least 1GB of
memory is probably a necessity.
Upgrading existing computers will probably be fairly
expensive, if actually possible. Even many recently acquired
machines will be limited in Vista operating performance. Older
computer owners will face the "scrap and replace" or "stick
with earlier Windows Operating Systems" decisions.
No doubt, the hassle and uncertainty about upgrading,
especially for the everyday non-technical computer user, will
result in a slow growth for the Vista Operating System.
The "Keep", "Upgrade", or "Replace" decision involves another
major consideration -
How difficult will it be for the older machine "Keepers" to
survive against the more sophisticated attacks the Hackers
will certainly launch in their attempts to defeat Vista?
The security situation for non-Vista users could well become
much more critical, especially as Microsoft progressively
discontinues support for the older Windows Operating Systems.
Diligence in maintaining firewalls and other security software
is just as important as it ever was - maybe even more
important.
... Richard rossbauer |