VistaJuice

A common thing I noticed everyone who likes Vista is doing, is writing about top 10 or 15 things about what they like. I do not know how many favorites I have, but I'll just start writing about things I found cool, useful or just plain pretty and let's see where it ends.

1. Windows Start Menu
   Start menu is something we're all used to. Since the old days it hasn't changed much, until now. Finally, it is easy to use and navigate through; it has a bunch of options, and a nicest thing of all – if you make a good use of it you'll have to see it only for less than a second when starting an application. The reason why this is possible is thanks to an integrated search right into it. Sure thing, before it was easy to just click a Windows button and R (Run command), and then run say "notepad" or "calc", but what if you want to run Photoshop, Dreamweaver, or any other application which does not lay in your system's path for easy find? Well that's where this search bar comes into place and if you make yourself use it to run applications instead of looking through the list of all programs you will be amazed! I just type "dream" and a Dreamweaver opens up. Productivity boost? You bet!
   
   

   Default Start Menu		Dynamic change while typing

   
   
2. Sidebar and Gadgets
   Sidebar in Vista is OK. It is really not as cool as widgets are done on Mac OS, but it's good enough I suppose. I really like a simple design it presents, and it's nice to have couple of widgets like weather, analog clock, system up-time and maybe battery monitor always at a glance. Check out my sidebar below.
   
   

   My Sidebar and Gadgets

   
   
3. User Folders
   You'll see that Microsoft finally changed the way things are stored and named in your personal User Folders. Namely, there is no more My Documents, My Pictures, etc. but rather, since it is logical that all of those are My folders, they followed common sense and named everything without that annoying "My" prefix.
   This helps in couple of ways, firstly if you have a lot of folders in your personal user folder, you can start typing the name and get to the folder in matter of milliseconds. On the other hand, your Pictures, Music and Videos do not reside in your Documents folder any more (thank God), but rather in the user folder itself. This way you can put all of your stuff in the user folder where it is easily found, and accessible. This makes backups of all of your files really easy easy as well since they all share a common place.
   
   

   User Folder (if you click on the left empty corner twice you can close the window ;)

   
   
4. Shadow Copy
   This is a really important and great feature. How many times it happened that you overwrite or make changes to a certain file (document, photo, etc.) and then you realize you wish there was a way to go back and undo the change, either immediately or couple of days later. With Vista, this is possible thanks to the Shadow Copy. You can go back in time and revert to any version of a file at your convenience. Thank you Microsoft! :)
   
   

   Shadow Copy - the Time Machine

   
   
5. Network Center
   Networking took a major overhaul and it is really user friendly. Everything is controlled through a Network and Sharing Center and all of the little but important options about your network preferences are right there in one window. Besides connection to other networks you may set Sharing and Discovery preferences and easily control (and always know who) has access to your files, printers, media, etc.
   A very cool thing is that you can specify the location type for any network connection, and Windows will automatically apply the correct settings for that location. For example, you can designate any network you connect to as Home, Work, or a Public location and Windows will do the rest.
   
   

   Network and Sharing Center

   Setting up Network Location

   
   
6. Backup
   Finally there is an simple way to backup files in Windows. Windows Backup existed for a long time but for a novice user it is definitely too much to set up. Now, with Backup and Restore Center at our fingertips it is easier than ever. Within two minutes you can have a daily backup scheduled and then you can simply forget about it. The interface could not be simpler, you choose what types of files you wish to backup, (Documents, Media, etc.), set the backup location (say your external HDD), and that's it. Vista will go through at the times specified and create an incremental backup of all files you desire. There is also an option which allows you to do a full system backup – which you can restore in case of a system failure, emergency, or whatever may come your way…
   
   

   Backup and Restore Center

   
   
7. Mobility Center
   For laptop users, this is a really cool gadget. You get a small control panel with an instant access to the volume controls, battery status, network status, external display configuration, sync center and presentation settings. The most important details for any laptop user all in one place. If you are about to give a presentation you can easily turn on the Presentation Mode, and your default settings for such task/event will be applied immediately. You can set special wallpaper, turn off the screen saver, access the external display and set the desired volume with one click of a button.
   
   

   Windows Mobility Center

   
   
8. Windows Defender
   With all kinds of Malware going around the internet, it's nice to have Windows Defender inside Vista by default. Besides protecting you against malicious software, it also comes with Software Explorer tool which gives you a nice view for managing important security-related areas of the computer such as: Startup Programs, Currently Running Programs, Network Connected Programs and WinSock Service Providers.
   
   

   Windows Defender - Software Explorer Tool

   
   
9. Reliability Monitor
   This tool is a great thing, especially for a geek like me. If you ever wonder what's going on inside your computer at any given time, open up the Reliability and Performance Monitor and check out anything, from what the CPU is working on, what applications are writing/reading from a hard drive, to what applications are using the network, as well as how much memory is being used by currently open programs. Really, just an amazing informative tool!
   It also lets you run System Diagnostic test which generates a beautiful Report on pretty much everything! It even gives you suggestions on how to improve system's performance if such action is needed.
   
   

   Reliability and Performance Monitor
   System Diagnostics
   System Diagnostics Report

   
   
10. Parental Controls
    I do not have kids yet but I find this feature to be really great. In the world we live in today, it really is important to protect your family in all ways possible. Parental Controls in Vista let you do just that, so you can rest assured that when your kid (or a friend) is On-Line, they can do everything within specifically preset limits. You can restrict certain websites, set log in time limits so you can make sure your kid is doing homework and not playing on-line, set game ratings you approve, and limit any specific applications from being run on the computer by that user. It also comes with Activity Reports which let you see at any time top 10 websites visited, logon times, applications ran, games played, etc.
    I use Parental Controls for a special Friend account, to set the applications friends who visit me can run, and what they can really see on my computer. There is a Guest account in Vista as well, but I prefer to do it this way since I have more control.
    
    

    Parental Controls

    
    
11. Clock
    Looking at a clock is such a trivial thing, but once you get some more options you realize what you've been missing on. In Vista you can set two more different times you'd like to keep an eye on, and with a simple click on a clock in the taskbar, you can pull up a widget with a calendar together with all of your time zones. Calendar is also integrated so effectively that getting to a date you desire can be accomplished with minimal effort.
    
    

    Ah, the Clock

    
    
12. Photo Gallery
    Not that I use the Photo Gallery much, but I just may start doing so. It is beautiful, useful, and with everything just a click away. You can touch-up photos, tag them, rate them, add captions, print, email, burn them to a CD or DVD, and make movies with them – all with a click of a button. Everything is accessible right from the Photo Gallery itself, so you will have no more excuses why your photos are not organized and why your friends are still waiting for a disk with photos from a New Year's party a month ago.
    
    

    The Photo Gallery

    
    
13. 3D Flip
    Yea, everyone brags about this as being a really cool thing. Flipping through the running applications as if they were slides in a 3D environment. I think it's nice, but I am not yet used to it that much. Mostly beacause I forget it exists, unless someone stops by and then I have to show off my Vista a little bit. Therefore, once I get into my head that it exists – I bet I'll use it more often. It's pretty!
    
    

    The 3D Flip (nice screenshot)

    
    
14. Power Options
    Finally some more power to the (mobile) users; we are now able to fine tune everything from hard drive running time, wireless adapter preferences, even PCI Express, USB and Processor Power Management. There's a lot more too, and I really love it since it really means a lot when I can set up my laptop to last 3 and a half rather than 2 and a half hours on battery!
    
    

    Advanced Power Options

    
    
15. Ready Boost, SuperFetch and Hybrid Drive Support
    Vista comes with couple of never before seen terms which all spell: performance and efficiency.
    There's never enough RAM on a computer, so if you are not really looking for a RAM upgrade, or you just can't fit more into your machine, Ready Boost comes in handy. Some of those super fast USB flash disks and hard drives can be used by this Vista feature and pretend like they are RAM – therefore – you get to work with more applications without need for Vista to bother too much with those slow swap files on the hard drive.
    SuperFetch is a memory –management technology built in right into Vista that keeps track of all applications you use most frequently and it preloads them into memory. Its algorithms are able to detect even which programs you most likely run on weekends, and load those into RAM for a faster access just before you're about to use it. Maybe this is why I am experiencing a really fast opening of both Dreamweaver and Adobe Photoshop. They are just snappy!
    Hybrid Drive technology is developed jointly between Microsoft and Samsung. Hybrid drives are those hard drives which come together with some amount of Flash Memory on board, besides the conventional hard drive space. They offer an extended battery life for laptop computers, faster application access times and faster resumes from the sleep mode. When the drive is not much in use it can turn off and use its energy-efficient flash memory for data storage until that buffer is filled up or new data is needed directly from the drive. It is a promising technology and definitely something I'd like to have – therefore it's in my faves. Vista supports it right out of the box.
    
    

    ReadyBoost

    
    
16. And for grandparents – BIG ICONS
    Vista icons have changed, and they can be rapidly resized and still stay very smooth. This makes it just awesome when my grandma is browsing the computer, since she does not have to wear glasses in order to look for a CD icon in My Computer, but rather see it immediately because it can almost be sized up to a real-life CD ROM. Check out the screen shot! I love it, and she loves it. Also, with a nice control over the fonts, I can easily size those up too, and then everything will be Crystal Clear for her.
    
    

    Nice Big Super Clear Icons YES, that really is an icon!

    
    
17. And last, attention to detail
    Even though many say Vista needs some more polishing done, and I agree to a certain extent, do note that developers at Microsoft did pay attention to those nice little details we all start appreciating once we experience it. When renaming a file, in most cases we do not want to rename the extension as well, so to make our life just a little bit easier and more productive, developers went a step further. When you click the file name, only the name is automatically selected so if you start typing - the extension will stay the same. Thanks!
    
    

    Sweet...

    
    

So, this has been my two cents why I will definitely NEVER ever go back to the Windows XP again. It just doesn't cut it!

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