Windows Vista September CTP

CNET editors' take

• Reviewed by: Robert Vamosi
• Edited by: Allen Fear
• Reviewed on: 09/28/2005

It was apparent from the moment we launched this build, released on September 16, 2005, to coincide with the Microsoft Professional Developer Conference, that graphics lay at its heart. In this version, Microsoft showed off its new Windows Presentation Foundation (formerly known as Avalon) and previewed some features of the new WinFS file system, although it wasn't the full file system update we were expecting.

Windows Presentation Foundation
Microsoft has greatly improved the look and feel of its Windows operating system. Formerly called Avalon, the Windows Presentation Foundation utilizes 3D capabilities, allowing applications to appear out of nowhere, then appear to fall back into the desktop when they are closed. There's also more standardization across the OS, with each app sporting new translucent window bars so that you can see what apps are open behind a current app, along with multicolored options in the upper-right corner of each window so that you can tell at a glance the difference between minimize, restore size, and close.

User Account Protection
With this build, Microsoft tackles the issue of providing greater security by separating administrator privileges from user privileges. In other words, you can log in with your set of preferences and extend guest accounts to others on your system. When it comes time to make changes to the system registry, however, you'll need a password to access the administrator account. This should significantly reduce the number of rogue apps that install without your permission.

WinFS
Although a full-blown version of a new Windows file system won't be ready for Windows Vista's release in late 2006 (instead it will ship with an unnamed version of a "Longhorn-based" server in 2007), a limited version of WinFS will be included with Vista and offers a look at what's to come. Basically, WinFS frees you from having to remember the arcane file structure on your hard drive. Now files can be linked dynamically by metatag content, such as author, content, and keyword. Thus, without physically moving a file on your hard drive, you can create virtual stacks of files.

See our build 5219 slide show for a more detailed look inside this release.

See more CNET content tagged:

WinFS,

Microsoft Windows Presentation Foundation,

file system,

app,

Microsoft Windows Vista

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