Similar to Windows XP, Windows Security Center is in charge of security management. It allows users to configure the firewall and anti-virus settings. This feature of Vista has been the source of many heated debates over third-party companies claiming Microsoft is attempting to take away their business.

Windows Security Center offers an expanded overview of the programs running to protect your system. Similar to Windows XP, in order to provide a quick overview of the state of protection, various states are color coded. Green means on, red means off, and yellow means not monitored.

User Access Control is the heart of Vista’s main security improvement. UAC allows specific rights to be assigned to users.

UAC is enabled by default in versions of Windows Vista. If users are not logged in as an administrator, they will be required to provide the system with administrator credentials before being allowed to perform anything that can alter or affect system security and stability.

Parental Control Settings are also an essential part of Windows Vista’s security features. The feature allows administrators to specify what other users can do on the system. Through Parental Control, it is possible to set up a filter on specific addresses and to set the number of hours the PC can be used.