Microsoft Unveils Windows Vista Beta 2

In Vista, Microsoft has changed the user authentication procedures so that users can add third-party alternatives--such as biometric devices--which can cause conflicts in Windows XP. Internet Explorer 7 in Vista sports an array of defenses, including the ability to divert efforts to change the Windows Registry or perform drive-by software installations to temporary folders.

Vista's firewall blocks inbound traffic except where users have specified exceptions; outbound traffic is permitted by default except where rules call for blocking. The OS wards off rootkits --spyware that evades usual means of detection such as showing up as a Windows process--with a feature called kernel patch protection. And the new Windows Defender anti-spyware software included in Vista can scan download for spyware, which standard users are allowed to delete.

Finally, the 64-bit version of Vista will not allow use of unsigned device drivers--drivers that Microsoft has not certified.

Allchin spoke at length of Windows XP's ongoing security problems, telling an anecdote involving Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer forcing him to personally fix a friend's PC that had been crippled by spyware. Of his expectations of how difficult it would be to make XP safer and how hard it turned out to be, he said, "I was naive?I was just humbled."

But he also seemed to maintain that Windows suffered from more successful security attacks than competitors principally because hackers focused their attention on it. "This isn't a Microsoft thing," he said. "Over a period of time, if something gets to a critical mass, it will get attacked."

Vista's sophisticated search capabilities include enough smarts to take context into account. For example, a search for "wallpaper" returns as a result an offer to help the user change the system's desktop wallpaper. If you navigate to a folder and perform a search, Vista will only return results from that folder.

Vista lets you search files based on attributes such as author, file type, or tags (created either manually or by the authoring application). These search parameters can be saved to what Microsoft now calls search folders (previously they were called virtual folders); when you open a search folder you'll see the updated results of the search.

Another feature that got a new name: Windows Collaboration is now Windows Meeting Space. This feature quickly creates an ad-hoc network between several Vista users who can then easily view a shared desktop and exchange documents.

Windows Meeting Space is one of several features for mobile users. Microsoft says that notebooks running Vista will more reliably go into suspend mode--because the OS will be able to shut down balky drivers--and will snap back to life in two seconds or less. And Tablet PC users will benefit from a more personalized handwriting recognition engine, the company says.

Vista will allow users to access some information on their PCs through the new Windows SideShow feature, which supports auxiliary displays with navigation controls--a small LCD built into the external case of a notebook or a Windows Mobile smartphone, for example. While SideShow demos generally involve accessing Outlook contact or calendar info, Microsoft officials note that third-party developers will be able to create SideShow-aware applications. Similarly, independent developers will be able to write Windows Gadgets, little desktop applications similar to Google's Gadgets or the Mac OS's Widgets.

Microsoft has introduced some performance-enhancing technologies in Vista, including a feature called Windows ReadyBoost, which supports use of a USB 2.0 thumb drive as memory cache (cheaper than adding RAM). The new SuperFetch feature is supposed to speed up data access by intelligent memory management based on your PC usage patterns.

Vista will have some less business-oriented goodies, too, including its own version of Windows Media Player 11 with the new Urge music service and the new Photo Gallery, which lets you build photo montages complete with music and effects.

"We have made some amazing progress," said Allchin, who will be leaving Microsoft at the end of the year. "But this is just the beginning. It's the beginning for security, it's the beginning for storage, it's the beginning for distributed computing."