Windows Vista is a line of
operating systems
developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and
business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs. Prior to its
announcement on July 22, 2005, Windows Vista was known by its codename
"Longhorn." Development was completed on November 8, 2006; over the following
three months it was released in stages to computer hardware and software
manufacturers, business customers, and retail channels. On January 30, 2007, it
was released worldwide, and was made available for purchase and download from
Microsoft's website. The release of Windows Vista came more than five years
after the introduction of its predecessor, Windows XP, the longest time span
between successive releases of Microsoft Windows desktop operating systems. It
was succeeded by Windows 7 which was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009
and is scheduled for a general availability on October 22, 2009.
Windows Vista contains many changes and new features,
including an updated graphical user interface and visual style dubbed Windows
Aero, a redesigned search function, multimedia tools including Windows DVD
Maker, and redesigned networking, audio, print, and display sub-systems. Vista
aims to increase the level of communication between machines on a home network,
using peer-to-peer technology to simplify sharing files and digital media
between computers and devices. Windows Vista includes version 3.0 of the .NET
Framework, allowing software developers to write applications without
traditional Windows APIs.
Microsoft's primary stated objective with Windows Vista has
been to improve the state of security in the Windows operating system. One
common criticism of Windows XP and its predecessors is their commonly exploited
security vulnerabilities and overall susceptibility to malware, viruses and
buffer overflows. In light of this, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates announced in
early 2002 a company-wide "Trustworthy Computing initiative" which aims to
incorporate security work into every aspect of software development at the
company. Microsoft stated that it prioritized improving the security of Windows
XP and Windows Server 2003 above finishing Windows Vista, thus delaying its
completion.
While these new features and security improvements have
garnered positive reviews, Vista has also been the target of much criticism and
negative press. Criticism of Windows Vista has targeted its high system
requirements, its more restrictive licensing terms, the inclusion of a number of
new digital rights management technologies aimed at restricting the copying of
protected digital media, lack of compatibility with some pre-Vista hardware and
software, and the number of authorization prompts for User Account Control. As a
result of these and other issues, Windows Vista had seen initial adoption and
satisfaction rates lower than Windows XP. However, with an estimated 330 million
internet users as of January 2009, it has been announced that Vista usage had
surpassed Microsoft’s pre-launch two-year-out expectations of achieving 200
million users. As of the end of August 2009, Windows Vista (with approximately
380 million internet users) is the second most widely used operating system on
the internet with an approx. 23% market share, the most widely used being
Windows XP with an approx. 69% market share.
