New features?

Unfortunately there isn't much in the way of new or revolutionary features. The largest and most hyped new feature in this upgrade was inclusion of movie-making software featuring Microsoft's new .WMV video format. The WMV format actually offers incredible compression to quality ratios; think of it much like the MP3 of the music world (though don't expect feature length movies anytime soon). Movie Maker also has built in support for popular DV formats including USB and FireWire.

Microsoft also included a somewhat simple system restore function for those of us who like to tweak our computers until they break. This feature allows you to use a number of restore point set by either you or windows, and in a sense "go back" to that working version of windows. This feature is especially good for those of us who are prone to executing viruses, though it only backs up critical system files so if you, or a malicious program deletes your personal files you're pretty much screwed.

Behind the scenes I must say, Microsoft did an exceptional job. First, they ported over the faster and more powerful Windows 2000 TCP/IP code, allowing for slightly faster more secure connections. Microsoft also took out much of the real-mode DOS support that plagued earlier versions, as well as throw in a ton of driver updates and such into the mix. Microsoft also included a huge (and actually helpful) help database that certainly helps somebody new to Windows.

The interface has also been lightly tweaked to look and act much more like Windows 2000. The crash dialogue boxes no longer display "illegal operation" but a much friendlier message suggesting you to restart your computer. It's apparent that Microsoft is trying to make this version of Windows the user-friendliest yet.

Next >>

<< Previous