The Network and Sharing Center

Windows Vista comes with a brand new Network and Sharing Center. The new user interface has been significantly changed from previous versions of Windows.

The new user interface allows users to view all network connections and adjust network configurations. Windows XP’s “My Network Places” has been replaced with a new “Network Explorer”. The Center also has a “Network Map” which graphically shows the method in which devices are connected over a network. Vista also comes with a new feature known as Network Profiles. Each Network Profile stores the IP address, DNS server, Proxy server and other characteristics which are specific to a network. Windows automatically chooses Network Profiles based on the network being used.

Windows Mail and Windows Calendar

E-mail has by now become an essential activity of pretty much all computer users. For previous versions of Windows, Microsoft opted upon installing Outlook Express as the default mail client. For Windows Vista, however, Outlook has been replaced with “Windows Mail.” The new mail client offers improved functionality and security and has also resolved many of the file management issues Outlook Express suffered from. “Windows Mail” also comes with enhanced search functions and includes spam filtering.

Vista also comes with a new calendar application. The program natively supports the iCalendar format and allows users subscribe and publish to web-based calendars using HTTP or WebDAV.

The Photo Gallery

Unlike Windows XP, Windows Vista places a lot of focus on digital photographs and their organization. The new utility that comes with Vista known as Windows Photo Gallery is a complete photo and video management application. The application allows users to rate their photos on a scale of 1 to 5 and provides tools for basic editing including color adjustments, resizing, cropping, and red-eye reduction. The application also allows users to burn picture CDs or DVDs.