Guide Note

Microsoft Windows Vista is an Operating System that debuted on January 30, 2007 and developed by Microsoft. The final development was finished in late 2006, but the operating system did not get distributed until later in 2007 when the existing OEM's such as Gateway and Hewlett-Packard could adapt.

Fast Facts

1. July 22, 2005: Announced
2. January 30, 2007: Released
3. February 2008: Price cut
4. Service Pack 1 was released on February 4, 2008
5. Some companies have offered down-grades for people not wanting Vista
6. Visual Styles: Windows Aero, Windows Classic, Windows Vista Basic, and Windows Vista Standard

Windows Vista features many new features including an updated graphical user interface. The updated GUI features a new visual style named Aero. Aero can only run on Windows Vista Home Premium and above since it takes such high computer resources to run this style. Also new to Windows Vista is user account control, which like Unix-based operating systems prompts the user when they are about to make a big change to their computer. Also new is Windows Sidebar, which puts a widget-like bar at the side of the desktop which a user can fully customize.

Development on Windows Vista first began in 2001 and was code-named "Longhorn", which was a few months after the release of Microsoft Windows XP. Vista was intended to be a minor Apple-like update to Windows XP which was set to be released sometime in 2003. However, this never happened and eventually Microsoft began development to have it as the next major operating system. Longhorn was renamed Windows Vista in 2005, and at the same time a beta test was launched. After several push-backs of the release date Microsoft finally released Windows Vista to the general public in 2007.

Windows Vista was quickly surrounded by criticism for the extra amounts of hardware that were required to run the new features such as Aero. User account control also annoyed people because of the insecurity of just clicking the "Allow" button instead of having to type a physical password or some other credential. Vista was also docked for the amount of Digital Rights Management on the operating system.

1. Windows Vista Home Basic
2. Windows Vista Home Premium
3. Windows Vista Business
4. Windows Vista Enterprise
5. Windows Vista Ultimate

Before choosing a version of Windows Vista, it is recommended that you run Microsoft's Upgrade Advisor.

1. 1GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
2. 1GB of RAM (512MB for Home Basic)
3. 40GB hard drive (20GB for Home Basic)
4. Support for DirectX 9 Graphics
5. DVD-ROM drive
6. Internet Access
7. Sound Card