Internet Explorer 9 or IE9 (officially Windows Internet Explorer 9) is the ninth version of the Internet Explorerweb browser from Microsoft. It was released to the public on March 14, 2011.[5] Microsoft released Internet Explorer 9 as a major out-of-band version that was not tied to the release schedule of any particular version of Windows, unlike previous versions. It is the first version since Internet Explorer 2 not to be bundled with a Windows operating system, although some OEMs have installed it with Windows 7 on their PCs, as well as new Windows 7 laptops.[6]
The system requirements for Internet Explorer 9 are Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista Service Pack 2 or Windows Server 2008 SP2 with the Platform Update.[7]Windows XP and earlier are not supported. Internet Explorer 9 is the last version of Internet Explorer to be supported on Windows Vista.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Both IA-32 and x64 builds are available.
âInternet Explorer 9 with Vistaâ. Internet Explorer 9 / Windows Vista; Answer Vijay Korupolu M Replied on December 7, 2012 Hi HenkVooijs, Welcome to Microsoft Community. I understand that you are having an issues opening documents in Internet Explorer. I will be happy to help you with this issue.
Internet Explorer 9 supports ECMAScript 5 (ES5) several CSS 3 properties,[15] embedded ICC v2 or v4 color profiles support via Windows Color System, and has improved JavaScript performance. It is the last of the five major web browsers to implement support for Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG).[16][17] It also features hardware-accelerated graphics rendering using Direct2D, hardware-accelerated text rendering using DirectWrite, hardware-accelerated video rendering using Media Foundation, imaging support provided by Windows Imaging Component, and high fidelity printing powered by the XML Paper Specification (XPS) print pipeline.[18]Internet Explorer 9 also supports the HTML5 video and audio tags and the Web Open Font Format.[19]
Release history[edit]
Development[edit]
Internet Explorer 9 displaying Acid3, having achieved all 100 possible points
Development of Internet Explorer 9 began shortly after Internet Explorer 8 was released. Microsoft began taking features suggestions through Microsoft Connect soon after Internet Explorer 8 was released.[34] The Internet Explorer team focused on improving support and performance for HTML5, CSS3, SVG, XHTML, JavaScript, hardware acceleration, and the user interface featuring agility and 'a clean new design'.[35]
Microsoft first announced Internet Explorer 9 at PDC 2009 and spoke mainly about how it takes advantage of hardware acceleration in DirectX to improve the performance of web applications and improve the quality of web typography.
Later, Microsoft announced that they had joined the W3C's SVG Working Group, which sparked speculation that Internet Explorer 9 will support the SVG W3C recommendation.[36] This was proven to be true at MIX 10, where they demonstrated support for basic SVG markup and improved support for HTML5. They also announced that they would increase the support greatly by the time the first Internet Explorer 9 Beta was released. The Internet Explorer team also introduced the new JavaScript engine for 32-bit Internet Explorer 9, codenamed Chakra, which uses Just-in-time compilation to execute JavaScript as native code.[37][38][39] In mid-September 2011, the Acid3 test was revised to remove a few 'antiquated and unusual' tests and as a result IE9 now passes the test with a score of 100/100[33]
At MIX 10, the first Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview was released, which featured support for CSS3 and SVG, a new JavaScript engine called Chakra, and a score of 55/100 on the Acid3 test, up from 20/100 for Internet Explorer 8. On May 5, 2010, the second Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview was released, which featured a score of 68/100 on the Acid3 test and faster performance on the WebKit SunSpider JavaScript benchmark than the first Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview. On June 23, 2010, the third Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview was released, which featured a score of 83/100 on the Acid3 test and a faster JavaScript engine than the second Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview. The third Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview also includes support for HTML5 audio, video, and canvas tags, and WOFF. On August 4, 2010, the fourth Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview was released, which features a score of 95/100 on the Acid3 test and a faster JavaScript engine than the third Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview. On September 15, 2010, the Internet Explorer 9 Public Beta was released alongside Platform Preview 5, featuring a new user interface. In contrast to the previews, the Beta replaces any previously installed version of Internet Explorer. The sixth Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview was released on October 28, 2010, and includes support for CSS3 2D transforms and HTML5 semantic elements.[15] The seventh Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview was released on November 17, 2010, and features better JavaScript performance.[40]
These previews were not full builds of Internet Explorer 9, as they were for testing the latest version of the Trident layout engine. They were for web developers to send feedback on the improvements made, functioned in parallel with any other installed browsers, and were previews of the renderer technology only, containing minimalistic user interfaces and lacking traditional interface elements such as an address bar and navigation buttons.[41] Microsoft updated these previews approximately every eight weeks.
On November 23, 2010, two updates for the Internet Explorer 9 Public Beta were released. KB2448827 brings improvements to reliability and fixes stability issues from the previous beta release. There are not much details of resolved issues disclosed by Microsoft. Moreover, KB2452648 resolves the in-built feedback issue with Internet Explorer 9 and the latest version of Windows Live Sign-in Assistant.[42] These updates can be fetched from Windows Update or the Microsoft Download Center website.[43][44] On the same day, Internet Explorer build 9.0.8027.6000 based on Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview 7 was leaked.[45] On February 10, 2011, the Internet Explorer 9 Release Candidate and Platform Preview 8 were released. The Release Candidate version featured improved performance, a Tracking Protection feature, a refined UI, support for more web standards, and other improvements.[46]
The final version of Internet Explorer 9 was publicly released during the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive conference in Austin, Texas, on March 14, 2011.[5]
Changes from previous versions[edit]User Interface[edit]
Internet Explorer 9 includes significant alterations to its user interface when compared with previous versions. These include:
Scripting[edit]JavaScript engine[edit]
Internet Explorer 9 (32-bit) features a faster JavaScript engine than Internet Explorer 8's, internally known as Chakra. Chakra has a separate background thread for compiling JavaScript. Windows runs that thread in parallel on a separate core when one is available. Compiling in the background enables users to keep interacting with webpages while Internet Explorer 9 generates even faster code. By running separately in the background, this process can take advantage of modern multi-core machines.[50]
In Microsoft's preliminary SunSpider benchmarks for the third 32-bit Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview, it outperformed the Internet Explorer 8 engine by a factor of 10 and also outperformed the newest Firefox 4.0 pre-release.[51] Microsoft provided information that its new javascript engine uses dead code elimination optimization for faster performance, which included a small section of code in the SunSpider test as dead code.[52] Robert Sayre, a Mozilla developer investigated this further, showing that Internet Explorer 9's preview 3 dead code elimination had bugs, providing test cases exposing these bugs resulting in wrong compilation.[53]
After its final release, 32-bit Internet Explorer 9 has been tested to be the leading mainstream browser in the Sunspider performance test.[54]
The engine significantly improves support for ECMA-262: ECMAScript Language Specification standard, including features new to the recently finalized Fifth Edition of ECMA-262 (often abbreviated ES5).[55] The Internet Explorer 9 browser release scored only 3 faults[original research?] from 10440 tests in the Test262 Ecmascript conformance test (Ver. 0.6.2 5-Apr-2011) created by Ecma International.
The 64-bit version of Internet Explorer 9, which is not the default browser even on 64-bit systems, does not have the JIT compiler[37][56] and performs up to 4 times slower.[57]
DOM[edit]
DOM improvements include:
CSS[edit]
Internet Explorer 9 has improved Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) support. The Internet Explorer 9 implementation report, which was created using Internet Explorer 9 Beta, shows Internet Explorer 9 passing 97.7% of all tests on the W3C CSS 2.1 test suite.[58] This is the highest pass rate amongst CSS 2.1 implementation reports submitted to W3C.[59]
CSS3 improvements include support for the following modules:
HTML5[edit]HTML5 Media[edit]
Internet Explorer 9 includes support for the HTML5 video and audio tags.
The audio tag will include native support for the MP3 and AAC codecs, while the video tag will natively support H.264/MPEG-4 AVC.[68] Support for other video formats, such as WebM, will require third-party plugins.[68]
HTML5 Canvas[edit]
Internet Explorer 9 includes support for the HTML5 canvas element.[69]
HTML5 Inline SVG support[edit]
The first Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview has support for:[70]
SVG elements that are supported in the Platform Preview are fully implemented. Elements that exist in the Platform Preview have corresponding SVGDOM support and can be styled with CSS/presentation attributes.
The final build of Internet Explorer 9 also supports:
Web typography[edit]
Internet Explorer was the first browser to support web fonts through the
@font-face rule, but only supported the Embedded OpenType (EOT) format, and lacked support for parts of the CSS3 fonts module.[72] Internet Explorer 9 completed support for the CSS3 fonts module and added WOFF support. It is the first version of Internet Explorer to support TTF fonts, but will only use them if none of their embedding permission bits are set.[73]Navigation Timings[edit]
Internet Explorer 9 implements the new W3C Navigation Timings format. Microsoft has been a part of creating this format during the development of Internet Explorer 9.
Tracking Protection[edit]
Internet Explorer 9 includes a Tracking Protection feature which improves upon Internet Explorer 8's InPrivate Filtering. Internet Explorer 8's InPrivate Filtering blocked third-party content using an XML list which had to be imported or automatically built a list by observing third-party servers that users kept interacting with as they browsed the web, and once a server showed up more than a set number of times, InPrivate Filtering would block future connections to it[74]
Internet Explorer 9 supports two methods of tracking protection. The primary method is through the use of Tracking Protection Lists (TPL)[75] which are now supplied by internet privacy-related organizations or companies. Tracking Protection by default remains on once enabled, unlike InPrivate Filtering which had to be enabled each time Internet Explorer 8 started. When a TPL is selected, Internet Explorer 9 blocks or allows third-party URI downloads based on rules in the TPL. Users can create their personal TPL's or select a TPL supplied by a third party.
The other method is the use of a Do Not Track header and DOM property.[76] Browser requests from Internet Explorer 9 include this header whenever a TPL is selected. Websites that follow this header should not deliver tracking mechanisms in their websites. At the moment following this header is a voluntary code of conduct but this method could in future be enforced by government legislation.
These tracking protection methods were submitted to W3C for standardization.[76]
Malware protection[edit]
Internet Explorer 9 uses layered protection against malware. It uses technical measures to protect its memory like the DEP/NSX protection, Safe Exception handlers (SafeSEH) and ASLR protection used in Internet Explorer 8.
In addition to those existing forms of memory protection, Internet Explorer 9 now opts-in to SEHOP (Structured Exception Handler Overwrite Protection) which works by validating the integrity of the exception handling chain before dispatching exceptions. This helps ensure that structured exception handling cannot be used as an exploit vector, even when running outdated browser add-ons that have not been recompiled to take advantage of SafeSEH.[77]
In addition, Internet Explorer 9 is compiled with the new C++ compiler provided with Visual Studio 2010. This compiler includes a feature known as Enhanced GS, also known as Stack Buffer Overrun Detection, which helps prevent stack buffer overruns by detecting stack corruption and avoiding execution if such corruption is encountered.[77]
Internet Explorer 8 used SmartScreen technology, which, according to Microsoft, was successful against phishing or other malicious sites and in blocking of socially engineered malware.[78] In Internet Explorer 9, the protection against malware downloads is extended with SmartScreen Application Reputation.[79] This warns downloaders if they are downloading an application without a safe reputation from a site that does not have a safe reputation.
In late 2010, the results of browser malware testing undertaken by NSS labs were published.[80] The study looked at the browser's capability to prevent users following socially engineered links of a malicious nature and downloading malicious software. It did not test the browser's ability to block malicious web pages or code.
According to NSS, Internet Explorer 9 blocked 99% of malware downloads compared to 90% for Internet Explorer 8 that does not have SmartScreen Application Reputation feature.In early 2010, similar tests gave Internet Explorer 8 an 85% passing grade, the 5% improvement being attributed to 'continued investments in improved data intelligence'.[81] By comparison, the same research showed that Chrome 6, Firefox 3.6 and Safari 5, which all rely on Google's Safe Browsing Service, scored 6%, 19% and 11%, respectively. Opera 10 scored 0%, failing to 'detect any of the socially engineered malware samples'.[82]
Manufacturers of other browsers criticized the test, focusing upon the lack of transparency of URLs tested and the lack of consideration of layered security additional to the browser, with Google commenting that 'The report itself clearly states that it does not evaluate browser security related to vulnerabilities in plug-ins or the browsers themselves',[83] and Opera commenting that the results appeared 'odd that they received no results from our data providers' and that 'social malware protection is not an indicator of overall browser security'.[84]
Internet Explorer 9's dual-pronged approach to blocking access to malicious URLsâSmartScreen Filter to block bad URLs, and Application Reputation to detect untrustworthy executablesâprovides the best socially engineered malware blocking of any stable browser version. Internet Explorer 9 blocked 92 percent of malware with its URL-based filtering, and 100 percent with Application-based filtering enabled. Internet Explorer 8, in second place, blocked 90 percent of malware. Tied for third place were Safari 5, Chrome 10, and Firefox 4, each blocking just 13 percent. Bringing up the rear was Opera 11, blocking just 5 percent of malware.[85][86]
User agent string[edit]
Due to technical improvements of the browser, the Internet Explorer developer team decided to change the user agent (UA) string. The
Mozilla/4.0 token was changed to Mozilla/5.0 to match the user agent strings of other recent browsers and to indicate that Internet Explorer 9 is more interoperable than previous versions. The Trident/4.0 token was likewise changed to Trident/5.0 . Because long, extended UA strings cause compatibility issues, Internet Explorer 9's default UA string does not include .NET identifiers or other 'pre-platform' and 'post-platform' tokens that were sent by previous versions of the browser. The extended string is still available to websites via the browser's .userAgent property, and is sent when a web page is displayed in compatibility mode.[87]
Extensibility[edit]
In Internet Explorer 9, the extensibility mechanisms for Browser Helper Objects (BHOs) and toolbars remain the same. Not loading BHOs or toolbars improves startup time, but limits the ability of developers to augment the user experience through these extensibility mechanisms.
Removed features[edit]
Reception[edit]Release candidate[edit]
A release candidate was launched on February 10, 2011 in San Francisco. New features since the last beta version were tracking protection and use of hardware accelerated graphics, and improvements included faster performance and more support for emerging HTML5 standards.[91]
Noting that according to Net Applications, Internet Explorer's share fell to 56% in January 2011,[92] the BBC quoted Microsoft's claims that Internet Explorer 9 is 'playing catch up, but it leapfrogs everything' and 'you are seeing innovation after innovation that other folks are catching up to.'[93]
In The Register, Tim Anderson said Internet Explorer 9 was Microsoft's answer to the fall in Internet Explorer's market share (from 68.5% in July 2008 to 46% in January 2011, according to StatCounter). He felt it was 'fast and polished', a 'remarkable improvement' over version 8, noting 'superb' development tools and 'real and significant' support for HTML5, though 'not as comprehensive as the company's publicity implies.' However, configuration options are 'strewn all over the user interface', and the 'distinctive and excellent' ActiveX filtering and Tracking Protection features might be 'perplexing for less technical users.' Having reached release candidate status eleven months after it was originally announced at the March 2010 MIX conference, 'Microsoft's development process is too slow.' The new version is 'a good modern browser' but 'the competition is moving faster.'[94]
Computing observed that 'the feature set has piled up' since development began, with recent changes including 'a completely rejigged JavaScript engine, and far better web standards support.' It reported that Internet Explorer 9 RC ranked above Firefox, slightly above Safari, and below Chrome and Opera on Futuremark's Peacekeeper browser benchmark. Internet Explorer 9 scored 95% on the unofficial Acid3 standards test.[95]
Michael Muchmore's first impressions in PC Magazine were broadly positive, praising features of the InPrivate mode (which 'I'm surprised other browser makers haven't included') and concluding that Internet Explorer 9's tracking protection was 'more flexible and comprehensive' than Mozilla's. The review reported that Internet Explorer 9 'now wins the SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark' and had achieved 'a hefty improvement' on Google's JavaScript benchmark â though it was still far behind Chrome 9. However 'in normal browsing, I was hard pressed to see a [performance] difference between Chrome and Internet Explorer.' The release candidate was also 'perfectly' compatible with far more sites than the beta, but there are still issues with some sites because their developers are not yet testing with the new browser. The RC scores 4 out of 5 ('very good') for now.[96]
Final release[edit]
On its first day of commercial availability, Internet Explorer 9 was downloaded over 2.35 million times.[99]
Blogging his March 2011 performance tests for ZDNet, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes concluded that Chrome 10, Internet Explorer 9 (32-bit) Final Release, Opera 11.01 and Firefox 4's Release candidate were 'pretty evenly matched.... Microsoft has worked hard on IE, taking it from being the slowest in the pack to one of the fastest. Bottom line, I really donât think that JavaScript performance is an issue any more, and certainly in real-world testing itâs hard to see a difference between the browsers.'[57]
On 31 October 2011, PC World ranked Internet Explorer 9 as #19 on its 100 Best Products of 2011. The other web browser listed was Maxthon 3.1, a hybrid browser based on Google Chrome and Internet Explorer.[100] A review of IE9 beta in PC World noted a performance improvement over IE8.[101]
Mobile version[edit]
At the February 2011 Mobile World Congress, Steve Ballmer announced a major update to Windows Phone due towards the end of 2011,[1] which will include a mobile version of Internet Explorer 9 that supports the same web standards (e.g. HTML5) and hardware accelerated graphics as the PC version.[102] Microsoft demonstrated hardware-accelerated performance of a fish-tank demo using a development build of mobile Internet Explorer 9 compared with slow performance on the November 2010 iOS 4.2.1 RTM of Safari on iPhone 4.[1]
See also[edit]References[edit]
Further reading[edit]
External links[edit]
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Internet_Explorer_9&oldid=917197432'
Windows Vista is an operating system that was produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs and media center PCs. Development was completed on November 8, 2006,[2] and 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[3] and was made available for purchase and download from the Windows Marketplace; it is the first release of Windows to be made available through a digital distribution platform.[7] 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.
New features of Windows Vista include an updated graphical user interface and visual style dubbed Aero, a new search component called Windows Search, redesigned networking, audio, print and display sub-systems, and new multimedia tools such as Windows DVD Maker. Vista aimed to increase the level of communication between machines on a home network, using peer-to-peer technology to simplify sharing files and media between computers and devices. Windows Vista included 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 was to improve the state of security in the Windows operating system.[8] One common criticism of Windows XP and its predecessors was 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 aimed to incorporate security into every aspect of software development at the company.[9] Microsoft stated that it prioritized improving the security of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 above finishing Windows Vista, thus delaying its completion.[10][11]
While these new features and security improvements garnered positive reviews, Vista was also the target of much criticism and negative press. Criticism of Windows Vista targeted its high system requirements, its more restrictive licensing terms, the inclusion of a number of then-new DRM technologies aimed at restricting the copying of protected digital media, lack of compatibility with some pre-Vista hardware and software, longer boot time, and the number of authorization prompts for User Account Control. As a result of these and other issues, Windows Vista saw initial adoption and satisfaction rates lower than Windows XP.[12] However, Vista usage had surpassed Microsoft's pre-launch two-year-out expectations of achieving 200 million users, with an estimated 330 million Internet users in January 2009.[13][14]
At the release of Windows 7 (October 2009), Windows Vista (with approximately 400 million Internet users) was the second most widely used operating system on the Internet with an approximately 19% market share, the most widely used being Windows XP with an approximately 63% market share.[15] In May 2010, Windows Vista's market share had an estimated range from 15% to 26%.[16][17] On October 22, 2010, Microsoft ceased sales of retail copies of Windows Vista, and the OEM sales for Vista ceased a year later.[18] As of September 2019, Vista's market share has declined to 0.3% of Windows' total market share.[19]
Development[edit]Windows 9 DownloadAs Longhorn[edit]
Desktop screenshot of Microsoft Windows Code Name Longhorn build 6.0.4074 (Milestone 7), showing Start menu, early version of Windows Desktop Sidebar, My Computer window, and Slate visual style theme
Microsoft began work on Windows Vista, known at the time by its codename Longhorn, in May 2001,[20] five months before the release of Windows XP. It was originally expected to ship sometime late in 2003 as a minor step between Windows XP and Blackcomb, which was planned to be the company's next major operating system release. Gradually, 'Longhorn' assimilated many of the important new features and technologies slated for Blackcomb, resulting in the release date being pushed back several times in 3 years. In some builds of Longhorn, their license agreement said 'For the Microsoft product codenamed 'Whistler'. Many of Microsoft's developers were also re-tasked to build updates to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 to strengthen security. Faced with ongoing delays and concerns about feature creep, Microsoft announced on August 27, 2004, that it had revised its plans. For this reason, Longhorn was reset to start work on componentizing the Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 codebase, and over time re-incorporating the features that would be intended for an actual operating system release. However, some previously announced features such as WinFS were dropped or postponed, and a new software development methodology called the Security Development Lifecycle was incorporated in an effort to address concerns with the security of the Windows codebase, which is programmed in C, C++ and assembly. Longhorn became known as Vista in 2005.[21][22]
The early development stages of Longhorn were generally characterized by incremental improvements and updates to Windows XP. During this period, Microsoft was fairly quiet about what was being worked on, as their marketing and public relations focus was more strongly focused on Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003, which was released in April 2003. Occasional builds of Longhorn were leaked onto popular file sharing networks such as IRC, BitTorrent, eDonkey and various newsgroups, and so most of what is known about builds prior to the first sanctioned development release of Longhorn in May 2003, is derived from these builds.
After several months of relatively little news or activity from Microsoft with Longhorn, Microsoft released Build 4008, which had made an appearance on the Internet around February 28, 2003.[23] It was also privately handed out to a select group of software developers. As an evolutionary release over build 3683, it contained a number of small improvements, including a modified blue 'Plex' theme and a new, simplified Windows Image-based installer that operates in graphical mode from the outset, and completed an install of the operating system in approximately one third the time of Windows XP on the same hardware. An optional 'new taskbar' was introduced that was thinner than the previous build and displayed the time differently.
The most notable visual and functional difference, however, came with Windows Explorer. The incorporation of the Plex theme made blue the dominant color of the entire application. The Windows XP-style task pane was almost completely replaced with a large horizontal pane that appeared under the toolbars. A new search interface allowed for filtering of results, searching of Windows help, and natural-language queries that would be used to integrate with WinFS. The animated search characters were also removed. The 'view modes' were also replaced with a single slider that would resize the icons in real-time, in list, thumbnail, or details mode, depending on where the slider was. File metadata was also made more visible and more easily editable, with more active encouragement to fill out missing pieces of information. Also of note was the conversion of Windows Explorer to being a .NET application.
Most builds of Longhorn and Vista were identified by a label that was always displayed in the bottom-right corner of the desktop. A typical build label would look like 'Longhorn Build 3663.Lab06_N.020728-1728'. Higher build numbers did not automatically mean that the latest features from every development team at Microsoft was included. Typically, a team working on a certain feature or subsystem would generate their own working builds which developers would test with, and when the code was deemed stable, all the changes would be incorporated back into the main development tree at once. At Microsoft, a number of 'Build labs' exist where the compilation of the entirety of Windows can be performed by a team. The name of the lab in which any given build originated is shown as part of the build label, and the date and time of the build follows that. Some builds (such as Beta 1 and Beta 2) only display the build label in the version information dialog (Winver). The icons used in these builds are from Windows XP.
At the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in May 2003, Microsoft gave their first public demonstrations of the new Desktop Window Manager and Aero. The demonstrations were done on a revised build 4015 which was never released. A number of sessions for developers and hardware engineers at the conference focused on these new features, as well as the Next-Generation Secure Computing Base (previously known as 'Palladium'), which at the time was Microsoft's proposed solution for creating a secure computing environment whereby any given component of the system could be deemed 'trusted'. Also at this conference, Microsoft reiterated their roadmap for delivering Longhorn, pointing to an 'early 2005' release date.[24]
Development reset[edit]
By 2004, it had become obvious to the Windows team at Microsoft that they were losing sight of what needed to be done to complete the next version of Windows and ship it to customers. Internally, some Microsoft employees were describing the Longhorn project as 'another Cairo' or 'Cairo.NET', referring to the Cairo development project that the company embarked on through the first half of the 1990s, which never resulted in a shipping operating system (though nearly all the technologies developed in that time did end up in Windows 95 and Windows NT[25]). Microsoft was shocked in 2005 by Apple's release of Mac OS X Tiger. It offered only a limited subset of features planned for Longhorn, in particular fast file searching and integrated graphics and sound processing, but appeared to have impressive reliability and performance compared to contemporary Longhorn builds.[26] Most Longhorn builds had major Explorer.exe system leaks which prevented the OS from performing well, and added more confusion to the development teams in later builds with more and more code being developed which failed to reach stability.
In a September 23, 2005 front-page article in The Wall Street Journal,[27] Microsoft co-president Jim Allchin, who had overall responsibility for the development and delivery of Windows, explained how development of Longhorn had been 'crashing into the ground' due in large part to the haphazard methods by which features were introduced and integrated into the core of the operating system, without a clear focus on an end-product. Allchin went on to explain how in December 2003, he enlisted the help of two other senior executives, Brian Valentine and Amitabh Srivastava, the former being experienced with shipping software at Microsoft, most notably Windows Server 2003,[28] and the latter having spent his career at Microsoft researching and developing methods of producing high-quality testing systems.[29] Srivastava employed a team of core architects to visually map out the entirety of the Windows operating system, and to proactively work towards a development process that would enforce high levels of code quality, reduce interdependencies between components, and in general, 'not make things worse with Vista'.[30] Since Microsoft decided that Longhorn needed to be further componentized, work started on the Omega-13 series builds where they would componentize existing Windows Server 2003 source code, and over time add back functionality as development progressed. Future Longhorn builds would start from Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 and continue from there.
This change, announced internally to Microsoft employees on August 26, 2004, began in earnest in September, though it would take several more months before the new development process and build methodology would be used by all of the development teams. A number of complaints came from individual developers, and Bill Gates himself, that the new development process was going to be prohibitively difficult to work within.
As Windows Vista[edit]
By approximately November 2004, the company had considered several names for the final release, ranging from simple to fanciful and inventive. In the end, Microsoft chose Windows Vista as confirmed on July 22, 2005, believing it to be a 'wonderful intersection of what the product really does, what Windows stands for, and what resonates with customers, and their needs'. Group Project Manager Greg Sullivan told Paul Thurrott 'You want the PC to adapt to you and help you cut through the clutter to focus on what's important to you. That's what Windows Vista is all about: 'bringing clarity to your world' (a reference to the three marketing points of VistaâClear, Connected, Confident), so you can focus on what matters to you'.[31] Microsoft co-president Jim Allchin also loved the name, saying that 'Vista' creates the right imagery for the new product capabilities and inspires the imagination with all the possibilities of what can be done with Windowsâmaking people's passions come alive.'[32]
After Longhorn was named Windows Vista in November 2004, an unprecedented beta-test program was started, involving hundreds of thousands of volunteers and companies. In September of that year, Microsoft started releasing regular Community Technology Previews (CTP) to beta testers from July 2005 to February 2006. The first of these was distributed at the 2005 Microsoft Professional Developers Conference, and was subsequently released to beta testers and Microsoft Developer Network subscribers. The builds that followed incorporated most of the planned features for the final product, as well as a number of changes to the user interface, based largely on feedback from beta testers. Windows Vista was deemed feature-complete with the release of the 'February CTP,' released on February 22, 2006, and much of the remainder of the work between that build and the final release of the product focused on stability, performance, application and driver compatibility, and documentation. Beta 2, released in late May, was the first build to be made available to the general public through Microsoft's Customer Preview Program. It was downloaded by over five million people. Two release candidates followed in September and October, both of which were made available to a large number of users.[33]
At the Intel Developer Forum on March 9, 2006, Microsoft announced a change in their plans to support EFI in Windows Vista. The UEFI 2.0 specification (which replaced EFI 1.10) was not completed until early 2006, and at the time of Microsoft's announcement, no firmware manufacturers had completed a production implementation which could be used for testing. As a result, the decision was made to postpone the introduction of UEFI support to Windows; support for UEFI on 64-bit platforms was postponed until Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008 and 32-bit UEFI would not be supported, as Microsoft did not expect many such systems to be built because the market was quickly moving to 64-bit processors.[34][35]
While Microsoft had originally hoped to have the consumer versions of the operating system available worldwide in time for the 2006 holiday shopping season, it announced in March 2006 that the release date would be pushed back to January 2007 in order to give the companyâand the hardware and software companies that Microsoft depends on for providing device driversâadditional time to prepare. Because a release to manufacturing (RTM) build is the final version of code shipped to retailers and other distributors, the purpose of a pre-RTM build is to eliminate any last 'show-stopper' bugs that may prevent the code from responsibly being shipped to customers, as well as anything else that consumers may find annoying. Thus, it is unlikely that any major new features would be introduced; instead, work would focus on Vista's fit and finish. In just a few days, developers had managed to drop Vista's bug count from over 2470 on September 22 to just over 1400 by the time RC2 shipped in early October. However, they still had a way to go before Vista was ready to RTM. Microsoft's internal processes required Vista's bug count to drop to 500 or fewer before the product could go into escrow for RTM.[36] For most of the pre-RTM builds, those 32-bit editions are only released.
On June 14, 2006, Windows developer Philip Su posted a blog entry which decried the development process of Windows Vista, stating that 'The code is way too complicated, and that the pace of coding has been tremendously slowed down by overbearing process.'[37] The same post also described Windows Vista as having approximately 50 million lines of code, with about 2,000 developers working on the product. During a demonstration of the speech recognition feature new to Windows Vista at Microsoft's Financial Analyst Meeting on July 27, 2006, the software recognized the phrase 'Dear mom' as 'Dear aunt'. After several failed attempts to correct the error, the sentence eventually became 'Dear aunt, let's set so double the killer delete select all'.[38] A developer with Vista's speech recognition team later explained that there was a bug with the build of Vista that was causing the microphone gain level to be set very high, resulting in the audio being received by the speech recognition software being 'incredibly distorted'.[39]
Windows Vista build 5824 (October 17, 2006) was supposed to be the RTM release, but a bug, which destroyed any system that was upgraded from Windows XP, prevented this, damaging development and lowering the chance that it would hit its January 2007 deadline.[40]
Development of Windows Vista came to an end when Microsoft announced that it had been finalized on November 8, 2006, and was concluded by co-president of Windows development, Jim Allchin.[41] The RTM's build number had also jumped to 6000 to reflect Vista's internal version number, NT 6.0.[42] Jumping RTM build numbers is common practice among consumer-oriented Windows versions, like Windows 98 (build 1998), Windows 98 SE (build 2222), Windows Me (build 3000) or Windows XP (build 2600), as compared to the business-oriented versions like Windows 2000 (build 2195) or Server 2003 (build 3790). On November 16, 2006, Microsoft made the final build available to MSDN and Technet Plus subscribers.[43] A business-oriented Enterprise edition was made available to volume license customers on November 30.[44] Windows Vista was launched for general customer availability on January 30, 2007.
New or changed features[edit]
Windows Vista introduced several features and functionality not present in its predecessors.
End-user[edit]
Core[edit]
Vista includes technologies such as ReadyBoost[68] and ReadyDrive, which employ fast flash memory (located on USB flash drives and hybrid hard disk drives) to improve system performance by caching commonly used programs and data. This manifests itself in improved battery life on notebook computers as well, since a hybrid drive can be spun down when not in use.[69] Another new technology called SuperFetch utilizes machine learning techniques to analyze usage patterns to allow Windows Vista to make intelligent decisions about what content should be present in system memory at any given time. It uses almost all the extra RAM as disk cache.[70] In conjunction with SuperFetch, an automatic built-in Windows Disk Defragmenter makes sure that those applications are strategically positioned on the hard disk where they can be loaded into memory very quickly with the least amount of physical movement of the hard disk's read-write heads.[71]
As part of the redesign of the networking architecture, IPv6 has been fully incorporated into the operating system[72] and a number of performance improvements have been introduced, such as TCP window scaling.[73] Earlier versions of Windows typically needed third-party wireless networking software to work properly, but this is not the case with Vista, which includes more comprehensive wireless networking support.[74]
For graphics, Vista introduces a new Windows Display Driver Model[75] and a major revision to Direct3D. The new driver model facilitates the new Desktop Window Manager, which provides the tearing-free desktop and special effects that are the cornerstones of Windows Aero. Direct3D 10, developed in conjunction with major graphics card manufacturers, is a new architecture with more advanced shader support, and allows the graphics processing unit to render more complex scenes without assistance from the CPU. It features improved load balancing between CPU and GPU and also optimizes data transfer between them.[76] WDDM also provides video content playback that rivals typical consumer electronics devices. It does this by making it easy to connect to external monitors, providing for protected HD video playback and increasing overall video playback quality. For the first time in Windows, graphics processing unit (GPU) multitasking is possible, enabling users to run more than one GPU-intensive application simultaneously.[77]
At the core of the operating system, many improvements have been made to the memory manager, process scheduler and I/O scheduler. The Heap Manager implements additional features such as integrity checking in order to improve robustness and defend against buffer overflow security exploits, although this comes at the price of breaking backward compatibility with some legacy applications.[78] A Kernel Transaction Manager has been implemented that enables applications to work with the file system and Registry using atomic transaction operations.[79]
Security-related[edit]
Improved security was a primary design goal for Vista.[8] Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing initiative, which aims to improve public trust in its products, has had a direct effect on its development. This effort has resulted in a number of new security and safety features and an Evaluation Assurance Level rating of 4+.[80][81]
User Account Control, or UAC is perhaps the most significant and visible of these changes. UAC is a security technology that makes it possible for users to use their computer with fewer privileges by default, with a view to stopping malware from making unauthorized changes to the system. This was often difficult in previous versions of Windows, as the previous 'limited' user accounts proved too restrictive and incompatible with a large proportion of application software, and even prevented some basic operations such as looking at the calendar from the notification tray. In Windows Vista, when an action is performed that requires administrative rights (such as installing/uninstalling software or making system-wide configuration changes), the user is first prompted for an administrator name and password; in cases where the user is already an administrator, the user is still prompted to confirm the pending privileged action. Regular use of the computer such as running programs, printing, or surfing the Internet does not trigger UAC prompts. User Account Control asks for credentials in a Secure Desktop mode, in which the entire screen is dimmed, and only the authorization window is active and highlighted. The intent is to stop a malicious program misleading the user by interfering with the authorization window, and to hint to the user the importance of the prompt.[82]
Testing by Symantec Corporation has proven the effectiveness of UAC. Symantec used over 2,000 active malware samples, consisting of backdoors, keyloggers, rootkits, mass mailers, trojan horses, spyware, adware, and various other samples. Each was executed on a default Windows Vista installation within a standard user account. UAC effectively blocked over 50 percent of each threat, excluding rootkits. 5 percent or less of the malware that evaded UAC survived a reboot.[83][84]
Internet Explorer 7's new security and safety features include a phishing filter, IDN with anti-spoofing capabilities, and integration with system-wide parental controls. For added security, ActiveX controls are disabled by default. Also, Internet Explorer operates in a protected mode, which operates with lower permissions than the user and runs in isolation from other applications in the operating system, preventing it from accessing or modifying anything besides the Temporary Internet Files directory.[85] Microsoft's anti-spyware product, Windows Defender, has been incorporated into Windows, providing protection against malware and other threats. Changes to various system configuration settings (such as new auto-starting applications) are blocked unless the user gives consent.
Whereas prior releases of Windows supported per-file encryption using Encrypting File System, the Enterprise and Ultimate editions of Vista include BitLocker Drive Encryption, which can protect entire volumes, notably the operating system volume. However, BitLocker requires approximately a 1.5-gigabyte partition to be permanently not encrypted and to contain system files in order for Windows to boot. In normal circumstances, the only time this partition is accessed is when the computer is booting, or when there is a Windows update that changes files in this area, which is a legitimate reason to access this section of the drive. The area can be a potential security issue, because a hexadecimal editor (such as dskprobe.exe), or malicious software running with administrator and/or kernel level privileges would be able to write to this 'Ghost Partition' and allow a piece of malicious software to compromise the system, or disable the encryption. BitLocker can work in conjunction with a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) cryptoprocessor (version 1.2) embedded in a computer's motherboard, or with a USB key.[86] However, as with other full disk encryption technologies, BitLocker is vulnerable to a cold boot attack, especially where TPM is used as a key protector without a boot PIN being required too.[87]
A variety of other privilege-restriction techniques are also built into Vista. An example is the concept of 'integrity levels' in user processes, whereby a process with a lower integrity level cannot interact with processes of a higher integrity level and cannot perform DLLâinjection to a processes of a higher integrity level. The security restrictions of Windows services are more fine-grained, so that services (especially those listening on the network) have no ability to interact with parts of the operating system they do not need to. Obfuscation techniques such as address space layout randomization are used to increase the amount of effort required of malware before successful infiltration of a system. Code integrity verifies that system binaries have not been tampered with by malicious code.
As part of the redesign of the network stack, Windows Firewall has been upgraded, with new support for filtering both incoming and outgoing traffic. Advanced packet filter rules can be created that can grant or deny communications to specific services.
The 64-bit versions of Vista require that all device drivers be digitally signed, so that the creator of the driver can be identified.[88]
System management[edit]
While much of the focus of Vista's new capabilities highlighted the new user-interface,[89] security technologies, and improvements to the core operating system, Microsoft also adding new deployment and maintenance features:
Developer[edit]
Windows Vista includes a large number of new application programming interfaces. Chief among them is the inclusion of version 3.0 of the .NET Framework, which consists of a class library and Common Language Runtime and OS/2 environment just like its NT predecessors. Version 3.0 includes four new major components:[91]
These technologies are also available for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 to facilitate their introduction to and usage by developers and end users.
There are also significant new development APIs in the core of the operating system, notably the completely re-designed audio, networking, print, and video interfaces, major changes to the security infrastructure, improvements to the deployment and installation of applications ('ClickOnce' and Windows Installer 4.0), new device driver development model ('Windows Driver Foundation'), Transactional NTFS, mobile computing API advancements (power management, Tablet PC Ink support, SideShow) and major updates to (or complete replacements of) many core subsystems such as Winlogon and CAPI.
There are some issues for software developers using some of the graphics APIs in Vista. Games or programs built solely on the Windows Vista-exclusive version of DirectX, version 10, cannot work on prior versions of Windows, as DirectX 10 is not available for previous Windows versions. Also, games that require the features of D3D9Ex, the updated implementation of DirectX 9 in Windows Vista are also incompatible with previous Windows versions.[93] According to a Microsoft blog, there are three choices for OpenGL implementation on Vista. An application can use the default implementation, which translates OpenGL calls into the Direct3D API and is frozen at OpenGL version 1.4, or an application can use an Installable Client Driver (ICD), which comes in two flavors: legacy and Vista-compatible. A legacy ICD disables the Desktop Window Manager, a Vista-compatible ICD takes advantage of a new API, and is fully compatible with the Desktop Window Manager.[94] At least two primary vendors, ATI and NVIDIA provided full Vista-compatible ICDs.[95] However, hardware overlay is not supported, because it is considered as an obsolete feature in Vista. ATI and NVIDIA strongly recommend using compositing desktop/Framebuffer Objects for same functionality.[96]
Installation[edit]
Windows Vista is the first Microsoft operating system:
Removed features[edit]
Some notable Windows XP features and components have been replaced or removed in Windows Vista, including several shell and Windows Explorer features, multimedia features, networking related functionality, Windows Messenger, NTBackup, the network Windows Messenger service, HyperTerminal, MSN Explorer, Active Desktop, and the replacement of NetMeeting with Windows Meeting Space. Windows Vista also does not include the Windows XP 'Luna' visual theme, or most of the classic color schemes that have been part of Windows since the Windows 3.x era. The 'Hardware profiles' startup feature has also been removed, along with support for older motherboard technologies like the EISA bus, APM and game port support (though on the 32-bit version game port support can be enabled by applying an older driver).[100] IP over FireWire (TCP/IP over IEEE 1394) has been removed as well.[101] The IPX/SPX protocol has also been removed, although it can be enabled by a third-party plug-in.[102]
Editions[edit]
Windows Vista shipped in six different editions.[103] These are roughly divided into two target markets, consumer and business, with editions varying to cater for specific sub-markets. For consumers, there are three editions, with two available for economically more developed countries. Windows Vista Starter edition is aimed for low powered computers with availability only in emerging markets. Windows Vista Home Basic is intended for budget users. Windows Vista Home Premium covers the majority of the consumer market, and contains applications for creating and using multimedia. The home editions cannot join a Windows Server domain. For businesses, there are three editions as well. Windows Vista Business is specifically designed for small and medium-sized enterprises,[104] while Windows Vista Enterprise[105] is only available to customers participating in Microsoft's Software Assurance program. Windows Vista Ultimate contains the complete feature-set of both the Home and Business (combination of both Home Premium and Enterprise) editions, as well as a set of Windows Ultimate Extras, and is aimed at enthusiasts.
All editions except Windows Vista Starter support both 32-bit (x32) and 64-bit (x64) processor architectures.
In the European Union, Home Basic N and Business N versions are also available. These come without Windows Media Player, due to EU sanctions brought against Microsoft for violating anti-trust laws. Similar sanctions exist in South Korea.
Visual styles[edit]
A comparison of the four visual styles included in Windows Vista
Windows Vista has four distinct visual styles.[106][107]
Hardware requirements[edit]
Computers capable of running Windows Vista are classified as Vista Capable and Vista Premium Ready.[111] A Vista Capable or equivalent PC is capable of running all editions of Windows Vista although some of the special features and high-end graphics options may require additional or more advanced hardware. A Vista Premium Ready PC can take advantage of Vista's high-end features.[112]
Windows Vista's Basic and Classic interfaces work with virtually any graphics hardware that supports Windows XP or 2000; accordingly, most discussion around Vista's graphics requirements centers on those for the Windows Aero interface. As of Windows Vista Beta 2, the NVIDIA GeForce 6 series and later, the ATI Radeon 9500 and later, Intel's GMA 950 and later integrated graphics, and a handful of VIA chipsets and S3 Graphics discrete chips are supported. Although originally supported, the GeForce FX 5 series has been dropped from newer drivers from NVIDIA. The last driver from NVIDIA to support the GeForce FX series on Vista was 96.85.[113][114] Microsoft offered a tool called the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor[112] to assist Windows XP and Vista users in determining what versions of Windows their machine is capable of running. The required server connections for this utility are no longer available. Although the installation media included in retail packages is a 32-bit DVD, customers needing a CD-ROM or customers who wish for a 64-bit install media are able to acquire this media through the Windows Vista Alternate Media program.[115] The Ultimate edition includes both 32-bit and 64-bit media.[116] The digitally downloaded version of Ultimate includes only one version, either 32-bit or 64-bit, from Windows Marketplace.
Physical memory limits[edit]
The maximum amount of RAM that Windows Vista can support varies, depending on both its edition and its processor architecture, as shown in the table.[119]
Processor limits[edit]
The maximum number of logical processors[120] in a PC that Windows Vista supports is: 32[121] for 32-bit; 64[122] for 64-bit.[123]
The maximum number of physical processors in a PC that Windows Vista supports is: 2 for Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate, and 1 for Starter, Home Basic, and Home Premium.[124]
Updates[edit]
Microsoft occasionally releases updates such as service packs for its Windows operating systems to fix bugs, improve performance and add new features.
Service Pack 1[edit]
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) was released on February 4, 2008, alongside Windows Server 2008 to OEM partners, after a five-month beta test period. The initial deployment of the service pack caused a number of machines to continually reboot, rendering the machines unusable.[125] This temporarily caused Microsoft to suspend automatic deployment of the service pack until the problem was resolved. The synchronized release date of the two operating systems reflected the merging of the workstation and server kernels back into a single code base for the first time since Windows 2000. MSDN subscribers were able to download SP1 on February 15, 2008. SP1 became available to current Windows Vista users on Windows Update and the Download Center on March 18, 2008.[126][127][128] Initially, the service pack only supported five languages â English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese. Support for the remaining 31 languages was released on April 14, 2008.[129]
A white paper, published by Microsoft on August 29, 2007, outlined the scope and intent of the service pack, identifying three major areas of improvement: reliability and performance, administration experience, and support for newer hardware and standards.[130]
One area of particular note is performance. Areas of improvement include file copy operations, hibernation, logging off on domain-joined machines, JavaScript parsing in Internet Explorer, network file share browsing,[127] Windows Explorer ZIP file handling,[131] and Windows Disk Defragmenter.[132] The ability to choose individual drives to defragment is being reintroduced as well.[127]
Service Pack 1 introduced support for some new hardware and software standards, notably the exFAT file system,[127]802.11n wireless networking, IPv6 over VPN connections, and the Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol.[133]
Booting a system using Extensible Firmware Interface on x64 systems was also introduced;[127] this feature had originally been slated for the initial release of Vista but was delayed due to a lack of compatible hardware at the time. Booting from a GUID Partition Tableâbased hard drive greater than 2.19 TB is supported (x64 only).[134][135]
Two areas have seen changes in SP1 that have come as the result of concerns from software vendors. One of these is desktop search; users will be able to change the default desktop search program to one provided by a third party instead of the Microsoft desktop search program that comes with Windows Vista, and desktop search programs will be able to seamlessly tie in their services into the operating system.[128] These changes come in part due to complaints from Google, whose Google Desktop Search application was hindered by the presence of Vista's built-in desktop search. In June 2007, Google claimed that the changes being introduced for SP1 'are a step in the right direction, but they should be improved further to give consumers greater access to alternate desktop search providers'.[136] The other area of note is a set of new security APIs being introduced for the benefit of antivirus software that currently relies on the unsupported practice of patching the kernel (see Kernel Patch Protection).[137][138]
An update to DirectX 10, named DirectX 10.1,[127] marked mandatory several features that were previously optional in Direct3D 10 hardware. Graphics cards will be required to support DirectX 10.1.[139] SP1 includes a kernel (6001.18000) that matches the version shipped with Windows Server 2008.[140]
The Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) was replaced by the Group Policy Object Editor. An updated downloadable version of the Group Policy Management Console was released soon after the service pack.
SP1 enables support for hotpatching, a reboot-reduction servicing technology designed to maximize uptime. It works by allowing Windows components to be updated (or 'patched') while they are still in use by a running process. Hotpatch-enabled update packages are installed via the same methods as traditional update packages, and will not trigger a system reboot.[141]
Service Pack 2[edit]
Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista was released to manufacturing on April 28, 2009,[142] and released to Microsoft Download Center and Windows Update on May 26, 2009.[5] In addition to a number of security and other fixes, a number of new features have been added. However, it did not include Internet Explorer 8.[143][144] Windows Vista Service Pack 2 build number is 6002.18005.090410-1830.[4]
Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 share a single service pack binary, reflecting the fact that their code bases were joined with the release of Server 2008.[143] Service Pack 2 is not a cumulative update meaning that Service Pack 1 must be installed first.
Platform Update[edit]
The Platform Update for Windows Vista was released on October 27, 2009. It includes major new components that shipped with Windows 7, as well as updated runtime libraries.[147][148] It requires Service Pack 2 of Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 and is listed on Windows Update as a Recommended download.
The Platform Update allows application developers to target both Windows Vista and Windows 7. It consists of the following components:
Some updates are available as separate releases for both Windows XP and Windows Vista:
Although extensive, the Platform Update does not bring Windows Vista to the level of features and performance offered by Windows 7.[149] For example, even though Direct3D 11 runtime will be able to run on D3D9-class hardware and WDDM drivers using 'feature levels' first introduced in Direct3D 10.1, Desktop Window Manager has not been updated to use Direct3D 10.1.[149]
In July 2011, Microsoft released the Platform Update Supplement for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, which contains several bug fixes and performance improvements.[150]
Bluekeep security fix[edit]
The BlueKeepsecurity vulnerability, CVE-2019-0708, that potentially affects older unpatched Microsoft Windows versions via the program's Remote Desktop Protocol, allowing for the possibility of remote code execution has a manual update available.[151]
Related flaws, CVE-2019-1181, CVE-2019-1182, CVE-2019-1222 and CVE-2019-1226 were later discovered by Microsoft and dubbed DejaBlue by other researchers.[152] Patches available to correct the flaw do not include one for Vista.
In addition, CVE-2019-1162, based on legacy code involving Microsoft CTF and ctfmon (ctfmon.exe), affects all Windows versions from the older Windows XP version to the most recent Windows 10 versions,[153] but patches available to correct the flaw do not include one for Vista.[154]
Marketing campaign[edit]The Mojave Experiment[edit]
In July 2008, Microsoft introduced a web-based advertising campaign called the 'Mojave Experiment', that depicts a group of people who are asked to evaluate the newest operating system from Microsoft, calling it Windows 'Mojave'. Participants are first asked about Vista, if they have used it, and their overall satisfaction with Vista on a scale of 1 to 10. They are then shown a demo of some of the new operating system's features, and asked their opinion and satisfaction with it on the same 1 to 10 scale. After respondents rate 'Mojave', they are then told that they were really shown a demo of Windows Vista. The object was to test 'A theory: If people could see Windows Vista firsthand, they would like it.' According to Microsoft, the initial sample of respondents rated Vista an average of 4.4 out of 10, and Mojave received an average of 8.5, with no respondents rating Mojave lower than they originally rated Windows Vista before the demo.[155][156] The 'experiment' has been criticized for deliberate selection of positive statements and not addressing all aspects of Vista.[157]
Reception[edit]
Amid the negative reviews and reception, there were also positive reviews of Vista, most notably among PC gamers and the advantages brought about with DirectX 10, which allowed for better gaming performance and more realistic graphics, as well as support for many new capabilities brought about in new video cards and GPUs.[158] However, many DirectX 9 games initially showed a drop in frame rate compared to that experienced in Windows XP.In mid-2008, benchmarks suggested that Vista SP1 was on par with (or better than) Windows XP in terms of game performance.[159] Peter Bright of Ars Technica wrote that, in spite of its delays and feature cuts, Windows Vista is 'a huge evolution in the history of the NT platform [...] The fundamental changes to the platform are of a scale not seen since the release of NT.'[160] In a continuation of his previous assessment, Bright would go on to state that 'Vista is not simply XP with a new skin; core parts of the OS have been radically overhauled, and virtually every area has seen significant refinement. In terms of the magnitude and extent of these changes, Vista represents probably the biggest leap that the NT platform has ever seen. Never before have significant subsystems been gutted and replaced in the way they are in Vista.'[161]
Windows Vista received the 'Best of CES' award at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2007.[162][163]
In its first year of availability, PC World rated it as the biggest tech disappointment of 2007,[164] and it was rated by InfoWorld as No. 2 of Tech's all-time 25 flops.[165] Microsoft's then much smaller competitor Apple noted that, despite Vista's far greater sales, its own did not seem to have suffered after its release, and would later invest in advertising mocking Vista's unpopularity with users.[166]
Computer manufacturers such as Dell, Lenovo, and Hewlett-Packard released their newest computers with Windows Vista pre-installed; however, after the negative reception of the operating system, they also began selling their computers with Windows XP CDs included because of a drop in sales.[167]
Sales[edit]
A Gartner research report predicted that Vista business adoption in 2008 would overtake that of XP during the same time frame (21.3% vs. 16.9%)[168] while IDC had indicated that the launch of Windows Server 2008 served as a catalyst for the stronger adoption rates.[169][170] As of January 2009, Forrester Research had indicated that almost one third of North American and European corporations had started deploying Vista.[171] At a May 2009 conference, a Microsoft Vice President said 'Adoption and deployment of Windows Vista has been slightly ahead of where we had been with XP' for big businesses.[172][173]
Within its first month, 20 million copies of Vista were sold, double the amount of Windows XP sales within its first month in October 2001, five years earlier.[174] Shortly after however, due to Vista's relatively low adoption rates and continued demand for Windows XP, Microsoft decided to sell Windows XP until June 30, 2008, instead of the previously planned date of January 31, 2008.[175] There were reports of Vista users 'downgrading' their operating systems, as well as reports of businesses planning to skip Vista.[176] A study conducted by ChangeWave in March 2008 showed that the percentage of corporate users who were 'very satisfied' with Vista was dramatically lower than other operating systems, with Vista at 8%, compared to the 40% who said they were 'very satisfied' with Windows XP.[12]
The internet-usage market share for Windows Vista after two years of availability, in January 2009, was 20.61%. This figure combined with World Internet Users and Population Stats yielded a user base of roughly 330 million,[14] which exceeded Microsoft's two-year post launch expectations by 130 million.[13] The internet user base reached before the release of its successor (Windows 7) was roughly 400 million according to the same statistical sources.[citation needed]
Criticism[edit]
Windows Vista has received a number of negative assessments. Criticism targets include protracted development time (5â6 years), more restrictive licensing terms, the inclusion of a number of technologies aimed at restricting the copying of protected digital media,[177] and the usability of the new User Account Control security technology. Moreover, some concerns have been raised about many PCs meeting 'Vista Premium Ready' hardware requirements and Vista's pricing.
Hardware requirements[edit]
While in 2005 Microsoft claimed 'nearly all PCs on the market today will run Windows Vista',[178] the higher requirements of some of the 'premium' features, such as the Aero interface, affected many upgraders. According to the UK newspaper The Times in May 2006, the full set of features 'would be available to less than 5 percent of Britain's PC market'; however, this prediction was made several months before Vista was released.[179] This continuing lack of clarity eventually led to a class action against Microsoft as people found themselves with new computers that were unable to use the new software to its full potential despite the assurance of 'Vista Capable' designations.[180] The court case has made public internal Microsoft communications that indicate that senior executives have also had difficulty with this issue. For example, Mike Nash (Corporate Vice President, Windows Product Management) commented, 'I now have a $2,100 e-mail machine' because his laptop's lack of an appropriate graphics chip so hobbled Vista.[181]
Licensing[edit]
Criticism of upgrade licenses pertaining to Windows Vista Starter through Home Premium was expressed by Ars Technica's Ken Fisher, who noted that the new requirement of having a prior operating system already installed was going to cause irritation for users who reinstall Windows on a regular basis.[182]It has been revealed that an Upgrade copy of Windows Vista can be installed clean without first installing a previous version of Windows. On the first install, Windows will refuse to activate. The user must then reinstall that same copy of Vista. Vista will then activate on the reinstall, thus allowing a user to install an Upgrade of Windows Vista without owning a previous operating system.[183] As with Windows XP, separate rules still apply to OEM versions of Vista installed on new PCs: Microsoft asserts that these versions are not legally transferable (although whether this conflicts with the right of first sale has yet to be clearly decided legally).[184]
Cost[edit]
Initially, the cost of Windows Vista was also a source of concern and commentary. A majority of users in a poll said that the prices of various Windows Vista editions posted on the Microsoft Canada website in August 2006 make the product too expensive.[185] A BBC News report on the day of Vista's release suggested that, 'there may be a backlash from consumers over its pricing plansâwith the cost of Vista versions in the US roughly half the price of equivalent versions in the UK.'[186]Since the release of Vista in 2006, Microsoft has reduced the retail, and upgrade price point of Vista. Originally, Vista Ultimate was priced at $399, and Home Premium Vista at $239. These prices have since been reduced to $319 and $199 respectively.[187]
Digital Rights Management[edit]
Windows Vista supports additional forms of DRM restrictions. One aspect of this is the Protected Video Path, which is designed so that 'premium content' from HD DVD or Blu-ray Discs may mandate that the connections between PC components be encrypted. Depending on what the content demands, the devices may not pass premium content over non-encrypted outputs, or they must artificially degrade the quality of the signal on such outputs or not display it at all. Drivers for such hardware must be approved by Microsoft; a revocation mechanism is also included, which allows Microsoft to disable drivers of devices in end-user PCs over the Internet.[188]Peter Gutmann, security researcher and author of the open sourcecryptlib library, claims that these mechanisms violate fundamental rights of the user (such as fair use), unnecessarily increase the cost of hardware, and make systems less reliable (the 'tilt bit' being a particular worry; if triggered, the entire graphic subsystem performs a reset) and vulnerable to denial-of-service attacks.[189] However, despite several requests[190] for evidence supporting such claims Peter Gutmann has never supported his claims with any researched evidence. Proponents have claimed that Microsoft had no choice but to follow the demands of the movie studios, and that the technology will not actually be enabled until after 2010;[191][192] Microsoft also noted that content protection mechanisms have existed in Windows as far back as Windows ME, and that the new protections will not apply to any existing content (only future content).[193]
User Account Control[edit]
Although User Account Control (UAC) is an important part of Vista's security infrastructure, as it blocks software from silently gaining administrator privileges without the user's knowledge, it has been widely criticized for generating too many prompts.[194] This has led many Vista UAC users to consider it troublesome, with some consequently either turning the feature off or (for Windows Vista Enterprise or Windows Vista Ultimate users) putting it in auto-approval mode.[195]Responding to this criticism, Microsoft altered the implementation to reduce the number of prompts with SP1.[141] Though the changes have resulted in some improvement, it has not alleviated the concerns completely.[196]
Downgrade rights[edit]
For Windows 8 licenses acquired through an OEM, a user may downgrade to the equivalent edition of Windows Vista. Customers licensed for use of Windows 8 Enterprise are generally licensed for Windows 8 Pro, which may be downgraded to Windows Vista Business. End users of licenses of Windows 7 acquired through OEM or volume licensing may downgrade to the equivalent edition of Windows Vista. Downgrade rights are not offered for Starter, Home Basic or Home Premium editions of Windows 7.[197]
Windows Ie 9 VistaSee also[edit]References[edit]
External links[edit]
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Windows_Vista&oldid=916475483'
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