Features

Windows Vista is finally ready for public consumption. By the time you read this, all new PCs and notebooks will be arriving with Windows Vista pre-installed. Vista contains a number of improvements over XP, from the nuts and bolts of the operating system to the way users interact with it.

Windows Vista comes in a staggering five versions: Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate. Vista Starter is available only in developing countries, and you shouldn't see it on computers in the UK. Vista Business lacks the photo, entertainment and Windows Media Center options you get with Home Premium, but it has backup, networking and Remote Desktop features not found in the Home versions. Ultimate has every Vista feature. Here we've focused on Vista Home Premium, noting whether a feature will work in Basic or not. You'll also find quick tips for use in Premium, Business and Ultimate.

Trying to understand the huge number of new features in Vista is a daunting task. But fear not, over the next eight pages we take you through all the new capabilities of the operating system, showing you exactly what you can do with Vista and how to achieve the results you want.

Start menu makeover

Version Home Basic and Premium

The launch of Windows XP meant we all had to get used

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to a new-style Start menu. With Vista's arrival, Microsoft has moved things around again. At first glance it's not that different to XP. On the left you'll find a list of recently used applications and on the right some handy shortcuts to frequently used items such as your documents or the Control Panel.

However, hover the mouse pointer over the All Programs button at the bottom of the Start menu and you're in for a completely different experience. Gone is the large, sprawling menu that could sometimes stretch three panels deep across your desktop. Instead it has been replaced with a tidy, collapsible menu that fills the left-hand pane of the Start menu.

To browse for the application you're looking for, click on the folder it's in. For example, click on the Microsoft Office folder to find Word, or Accessories to find the calculator. The folder expands to show its contents, in a similar way to expanding a folder in Windows Explorer.

Better still, abandon the old, XP way of opening an application. If you're still plodding your way around hierarchical menu structures, you're not using Vista to its fullest. Vista knows you have a lot of things, scattered higgledy-piggledy across your computer, and it's designed to help you sort them out. Tucked down at the bottom left-hand corner of the Start menu is a search box. However, this is no ordinary search box. It won't slowly plough through the contents of your overstuffed hard disk while you twiddle your thumbs. Instead, it provides near-instant access to your applications.

Try this out. Type the letter m in the Search box. The Start menu changes instantly to show all the applications starting with m. If you are looking for the Media Player you'll find it in the list. In addition to programs, the search box also finds documents and internet favourites that match what you type in, so you can quickly locate things without leaving the Start menu.