Microsoft released limited new version of Windows Vista and IE7,
Aimed primarily at developers, IT professionals and system builders, the beta period gives those audiences the opportunity to test the core OS technologies as well as provide Microsoft with feedback well in advance of the official release. Another, near feature-complete beta is currently being prepared.

While many new features will be put through their paces (virtual folders, search, Aero GUI, underlying XML to name a few), beta users will undoubtedly pay close attention to Vista’s security enhancements. According to Vista Web site, these include:

User Account Protection allows users to be productive and change common settings without requiring administrative privileges. This prevents users from making potentially dangerous changes to their computers, without limiting their ability to run applications.

Windows Vista’s anti-malware capabilities detect many types of potentially suspicious software and can prompt the user before allowing applications to make potentially malicious changes.

The new outbound filtering in the firewall provides administrative control over peer to peer sharing applications and other similar applications that businesses want to restrict.

Participants are also likely to take a particular interest in the state of security improvements within Internet Explorer 7 (IE7). The browser, which is integrated into the OS, has also been released as a standalone limited beta today for Windows XP SP2. IE7 upgrades include phishing and spoofing safeguards, a protected zone, as well as functional tweaks such as rendering engine refinements and support for newer Web standards and technologies.

Windows Vista is scheduled to ship in the latter part of 2006.

Posted by Dablu in Operating Systems