Datasheet

WHAT’S NEW IN WINDOWS VISTA?
15
Sync Center
At one time, people associated the Sync Center with mobile devices. However, in Vista it provides
a centralized location to sync anything with anything else. For example, you could edit a copy of a
file locally on your hard drive and then sync the finished version with a file on a network drive. You
can learn more about this technology in the “Using Sync Center” section of Chapter 8.
Mobility Center
Anyone who’s used a laptop for a while knows what it’s like to have to set up the laptop for different
environments. You use one setup at work where you have a docking station, another on the ride
home, and another at home where you have a network you need to protect from the kids. When you
go to a business meeting, none of these settings work, so you end up creating more. The laptop that
used to work efficiently is now a mass of conflicting settings. Mobility Center provides a centralized
location to manage all of your laptop settings so that you don’t have to remember to change settings
in each area. Using this application, you can adjust these settings and more.
◆
Display brightness
◆
External display settings
◆
Display orientation
◆
Speaker volume
◆
Power plan
◆
Wireless networking on or off
◆
Synchronization status
The bottom line is that Vista makes it considerably easier to move from one place to another. You
can read more about Mobility Center in the “Configuring Your System with Mobility Center” sec-
tion of Chapter 7.
Windows Defender (Antispyware)
Windows Defender is Microsoft’s upgraded (perhaps completely changed) version of Giant Soft-
ware Company’s antispyware product. Spyware is becoming an increasing difficult problem to con-
trol. The Vista version doesn’t actually bear much resemblance to the original product. Of course,
Microsoft has had to provide a means to keep definitions updated and Windows Defender will
check online for updates automatically. It also tells you when definitions are outdated.
However, the upgrade mechanism and automatic start feature that Vista provides isn’t the big
news. Most antispyware products must run in administrator mode to perform a complete check of
the hard drive. Unfortunately, the user isn’t running in administrator mode in Vista. Consequently,
Microsoft made Windows Defender a service that runs in the background using its own creden-
tials. So, while the user is protected from spyware, there isn’t any need to elevate user privileges to
get the job done. You can learn more about Windows Defender in the “Protecting Your System with
Windows Defender” section of Chapter 14.
Windows Experience Index
Microsoft’s controversial Windows Experience Index (the relaunched Windows System Perfor-
mance Tool) supposedly provides the user with a simple guide on what will and won’t run on a
46155book.book Page 15 Saturday, March 17, 2007 2:58 PM