Windows Vista

Features

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  Windows 7 RTM: Is it really better than Vista?

  With the appearance of Windows 7's Release to Manufacturing (RTM) build, Microsoft may be hoping that it can finally dismiss Windows Vista as an unsuccessful experiment that paved the way for something better.

• A year after Windows XP's death, users keep it alive

  A year ago today, Microsoft pulled the plug on Windows XP, no longer selling new copies in most venues. The June 30 kill date for XP followed a six-month outcry from users about Windows Vista, with demands that Microsoft keep XP available alongside Vista for the many users who were frustrated by ease-of-use, compatibility, and retraining issues.

• Windows 7 public previews slow Vista's growth, says metrics firm

  Windows Vista's market share growth has slowed since Microsoft released public versions of Vista's successor, Windows 7, according to data published today by Web metrics company Net Applications.

• Vista SP2: six things you need to know

  Windows Vista Service Pack 2 has been released as a public beta version.

• If Windows is a dead end, what's next?

  The writing is on the wall. Despite a major push to sell the much-maligned Windows Vista, customers aren't buying. Nearly two years after Vista's release, Windows XP remains the standard desktop OS in business, and Microsoft has extended its availability three times (currently to August 2009) due to customer demand. Microsoft itself forecasts just 2 percent growth in Vista sales in early 2009, after lackluster sales in 2008. And that's after forcing customers to buy Vista to get XP "downgrades."

• Managing in mixed environments

  A look at some of the tools that can help you manage mixed Linux/Windows environments

• The challenge of managing mixed virtualized Linux, Windows networks

  The sprawl of management consoles, the proliferation of data they provide and the rising use of virtualization are adding challenges to corporations looking to more effectively manage mixed Linux, Windows and cloud environments.

• Five outside-the-box ways to cut IT costs

  Every time the economy turns downward, IT shops take a hit.

• Worst Windows flaws of the past decade

  June 25, 1998, and June 30, 2008, marked two important milestones in Microsoft's evolution of the Windows OS -- the passing of the torch from Windows 95 to Windows 98, and the less seemly transition from XP to Vista.

• Twelve unnecessary Vista features to disable

  Vista, thy name is bloat!

• How to run a legal copy of Vista for 120 days without activation

  Microsoft's Windows Vista can be used for as long as 120 days without agreeing to its product activation antipiracy software, the company confirmed Friday. That's four times longer than the 30 days the company has widely used as the maximum time span the operating system can be used before it shuts down.