By Michael Cherry [bio]
Posted: Dec. 4, 2006                             Purchase a copy of this report

The following an excerpt of a Research Report published by Directions on Microsoft, an independent research firm focused exclusively on Microsoft strategy & technology. More samples of our content, as well as a list of upcoming articles and reports are also available.

Free! Executive Summary

This report outlines the key business advantages of Windows Vista, including improvements to security, manageability, mobility, and networking

Free! Introduction

To make Windows Vista attractive to business customers, Microsoft has focused on security, management, mobility, and networking, but selecting the correct edition and appropriate hardware requires careful consideration

User Account Control Limits Exploit Impact

Vista's User Account Control allows users to run with the least privileges required to perform a task, but application changes may also be necessary to improve Windows security

BitLocker Securely Encrypts Windows Volume

Windows Vista BitLocker Drive Encryption allows a user to fully encrypt an OS volume, but partitioning a drive into volumes is complex, and recovery keys must be stored and managed

Vista Setup Eases Deployment

Windows Vista uses image-based setup to make installation and upgrades faster and more reliable, but creating and managing images still requires considerable resources

Desktop Management Improved

Improvements to management tools such as Group Policy and the Event Viewer make it easier for administrators to manage Windows Vista centrally, but applying policy still requires careful planning

Product Activation Comes to Businesses

To stop pirates from using misappropriated volume license keys to circumvent Windows activation, all customers—including volume license customers—have to activate Windows Vista and Windows Server 'Longhorn.'

Windows Tuned for Mobile Computing

Improvements to mobile computing, combined with the new BitLocker Drive Encryption feature, may provide a compelling reason for organizations to move mobile users to Vista first

Windows Networking Reworked

Changes to the networking components of Windows Vista and Windows Server 'Longhorn' improves network performance, security, and manageability, but the new Network Map may be less useful

Conclusion

The new and improved Windows Vista features make it worth consideration by most businesses

Resources

A list of resources with more information on Vista-related topics