Windows Vista Business Edition

Windows Vista Business does improve some features within Windows XP; fewer system crashes than Windows XP; and Windows Vista offers better built-in support options. Windows Vista Business does not put Search on the desktop (it's buried within applications, within the Start Menu); no new software yet written exclusively for Windows Vista; optimized only for the Microsoft Windows ecosystem (for example, RSS feeds from Internet Explorer 7 get preferential treatment); no Bit Locker drive encryption; no DVD Maker; and there are too many editions of Windows Vista. Windows Vista Business is essentially warmed-over Windows XP. If you're currently happy with Windows XP SP2, we see no compelling reason to upgrade. On the other hand, if you need a new computer right now, Windows Vista is stable enough for everyday use. One PC is given the license to use the windows.

Comparable to Windows XP Professional and Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, Windows Vista Business Edition targets the business-market. It includes all the features of Home Basic with the exception of Parental Controls and the Windows Vista Standard theme. It Includes the IIS web-server, fax support, Rights Management Services (RMS) client, file-system encryption, dual-processor (two sockets) support, system-image backup and recovery, off-line file support, a full version of Remote Desktop that supports incoming connections, ad-hoc P2P collaboration capabilities, the "Previous Versions" feature (Windows Shadow Copy), several other commercial features, the Windows Aero theme and support for tablet PCs. The Vista Business edition supports up to two physical CPUs. 64-bit Business supports 128+ GB of memory.

Windows Vista is Microsoft's first new operating system in more than five years and the successor to Windows XP. However, it is not worth rushing out to purchase. If you desperately need to buy a new PC (if your old one died or you've been waiting and waiting for Vista to be released), then by all means do so; there's nothing wrong with Windows Vista. But there's no one compelling feature within Windows Vista that cries out to switch over, neither the enhanced graphic capabilities (Aero) nor the improved system performance features (truthfully, our Windows XP doesn't crash). As for security, Microsoft's biggest improvements in Windows Vista are within the Enterprise or 64-bit editions, editions most home users will not be running. Windows Vista is not the Apple Mac OS X 10.4 killer one hoped for (or feared). Nor are there specific big-name software packages written exclusively for Windows Vista--most software available today is compatible with both Windows XP and Windows Vista. But the extensive tie-ins to Microsoft.com and Live.com, and the many, many interdependences upon Internet Explorer 7 left us desperately wanting more (and often best-of-breed) alternatives. Hard core Micro softies who live and breathe within the MSN, Live.com, and Microsoft desktop software ecosystem will rejoice with the release of Windows Vista, but for the rest of us who are product agnostic, who use Firefox, Google Desktop, Zone Alarm, G-Mail, and Corel WordPerfect, Windows XP SP2 will suffice nicely until some killer program necessitates that we all upgrade to Windows Vista.