Windows Vista upgrade guide, part 1: software
Although we expect many of you already have a Vista build running somewhere in your home's bowels (or have at least fooled around with it), we don't necessarily expect everyone's going to run out and buy a new box just to run the latest version of Windows. What's more, we recently asked a Windows PM who they thought their biggest competition was, and not surprisingly the answer was "XP." (Aside, from an install-base view that's totally true, although we'd argue not so technologically speaking.) So we figured we'd help you along in your big decision as to whether or not Vista is for you with a disgustingly comprehensive feature comparison. Tomorrow we'll give you the hardware angle if you think Vista's where you want to be; click on for the good stuff!
Ok, so here's how this thing works. We'll compare XP and Vista on a feature-by-feature basis; we're not going to judge the merit of these features or whether they'll be more useful to you and your pals, nor are we going to get into the nitty gritty about what they do -- there are just too many -- but we will tell you whether or not we think there's anything better going on in Vista than there was before in XP. So...
Green indicates something about this has improved
Red indicates something sucks more than it did in XP.
White indicates either nothing much has changed, or the features are roughly equivalent.
Notes help out with a little background, where appropriate, and where available, recommend free software for XP that effectively augments the feature in question.
Many of the features shown here can be found in our comprehensive Vista gallery.
P.S. -Mac nerds need not apply (today); we'll pit Vista and OS X when Leopard's all wrapped up, and not a moment later.
XP | Vista | Comments / notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
Find windows | Alt+tab | Flip and Flip 3D | Alt-Tab Replacement / taskswitch provides window image preview for XP. Flip / Flip 3D not available in Home Basic or without Aero. |
Icons | Static icons, image preview tool (limited document support) | Live Icons and taskbar thumbnails | Live Icons (scalable, document preview, etc.) not available in Home Basic or without Aero. |
Search | Search (unindexed) | Instant Search, Search Folders | Search Folders: virtual folders containing files matching search criteria |
Shell / window environment | Luna (XP) and Royale (MCE 2005) | Aero ("Glass") | Full Aero glass not available in Home Basic; may require graphics card upgrade. |
Backup | System Restore | Backup and Restore Center, Previous Versions / ShadowCopy | Previous Versions / ShadowCopy only available in Business, Enterprise, or Ultimate Edition. |
Browser | Internet Explorer 7 | Internet Explorer 7 | IE7 must be downloaded separately for XP. |
Calendar | Nope | Windows Calendar | To date, most calendaring in Windows is done in "full" Outlook. |
Contacts | Outlook Express (no system contacts) | Windows Contacts | To date, most contact keeping in Windows is done in Outlook and/or on the domain. |
Email | Outlook Express | Windows Mail | |
Explorer | The usual | Now with content organization | Not bad, but not incredibly useful, either. |
Faxing and scanning | XP Scanner and Camera Wizard / fax services | Windows Fax and Scan | Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate only. |
Speech recognition | Windows Speech Recognition | Windows Speech Recognition | |
Tablet and touchscreen | Only in Tablet PC edition | Yep | Not available in Home Basic. |
Transfer | Files and Settings Transfer Wizard | Windows Easy Transfer | Basically the ame thing, but Windows Easy Transfer enables new methods of transfer, including Easy Transfer Cables (i.e. USB to USB). |
Widgets | Nope | Windows Sidebar and Gadgets | XP has two commonly used, free widgets environments available: Yahoo Widgets (aka Konfabulator), Google Desktop. |
Networking | Network Setup Wizard | Network Center (Network Explorer, Map, Setup, Awareness, Projector) | Hooray, lots of new superflous network utilities! |
Network projector | Nope | Yep | |
Remote desktop (host) | Available in XP Pro, MCE 2005, Tablet | Available only in Business and Ultimate | The new targeted equivalent of MCE 2005, Home Premium, loses RDC! Bummer! |
Wireless | WiFi with WPA 2 support | WiFi with WPA 2 support | Vista now has improved WiFi ad-hoc / connection sharing. |
Media Center interface | Only in Windows Media Center Edition | Only in Home Premium or Ultimate Edition | |
Media Center Extender | Only in MCE | Only in Home Premium or Ultimate Edition | |
NTSC and ATSC tuners | Only in MCE | Only in Home Premium or Ultimate Edition | |
CableCARD / DCT | Nope | Only in Home Premium or Ultimate Edition | |
Media software | Windows Media Player 11 | Windows Media Player 11 | |
DVD authoring | Nope | DVD Maker | |
Imaging | Windows Picture and Fax Viewer | Windows Photo Gallery | |
Video | Windows Movie Maker | Windows Movie Maker (with HD support) | Now only in Home Premium and Ultimate. Minus points for taking it out of Home Basic. |
Antivirus | Nope | Nope | |
Email filtering | None in Outlook Express | Junk and phishing filters in Windows Mail | |
Family settings | Basic user accounts | Windows Family Safety Settings (with ESRB game support) | Not available in Business, Enterprise. |
Malware | Windows Defender and Malicious Software Removal Tool | Windows Defender and Malicious Software Removal Tool | Defender must be downloaded separately for XP. |
Network access prevention | Nope | Network Access Protection | |
Network(ed) security | Windows Security Center | Windows Security Center | Provides firewall, automatic updates, and reminds users to install 3rd party antivirus software. |
Windows Services | Admin / remote authentication | Windows Service Hardening | |
DirectX 10 | Nope | Yep | |
Xbox Live Anywhere | Nope | Yep | |
Architecture | 32 and 64-bit support | 32 and 64-bit support | |
Auto-defrag | Nope | Yep | The new defrag util is dumbed down and doesn't show users what's what with their disk. Bad Microsoft, better defrag > auto defrag. |
Auxiliary display | Nope | SideShow | Not available in Home Basic. |
Drive encryption | Windows XP Encrypting File System | EFS and Vista BitLocker | BitLocker only available in Enterprise and Ultimate |
USB cacheing | Nope | Windows ReadyBoost | Requires 512MB or greater USB drive. |
Optimization | The usual multitasking | Windows SuperFetch and Windows ReadyDrive | Vista claims to improve efficiency of cached data in memory, as well as startup and spin time of hard drives. |
Sync | ActiveSync | Windows Sync Center | |
Usage profiling | Basic battery / power profiles | Mobility Center (network profiles, sync, battery / power, etc.) | XP can handle some sync / profiling with Microsoft's SyncToy. |
Domain support | XP Pro, MCE 2005 | Vista Business, Enterprise, Ultimate only | MCE 2005 only by way of hack. |
Integrated IIS | XP Pro, MCE 2005 | Vista Business, Enterprise, Ultimate | |
Offline files and folders | XP Pro, MCE 2005 | Vista Business, Enterprise, Ultimate | |
Presentation mode | Nope | Vista Business, Enterprise, Ultimate | |
Upgradeable | Not without reinstall | Windows Upgrade Anytime | Upgrade paths: Basic -> Home Premium or Ultimate; Home Premium and Business -> Ultimate |
So, did we forget anything?
