Which protocol, SMB 1.0 or 2.0, is used is decided during the negotiation phase between the client and server when the client advertises to the server that it can understand the new SMB 2.0 protocol. "If the server understands the new SMB 2.0 protocol, it is selected, otherwise it falls back to SMB 1.0, preserving Vista's compatibility with down level machines though they loose the benefits of SMB 2.0," Virk says.

Hybrid drives speed I/O, save batteries

Another storage feature that Vista adds is its native support of H-HDDs, which will provide users short- and long-term benefits. Using flash cache and traditional platter space in their construction, Vista recognizes a hybrid drive by sending an ATA command to the H-HDD that lets Vista know whether or not it is an H-HDD.

Mobile users will see some immediate benefit using this feature. "An initial benefit that mobile users will realize is a performance boost as H-HDDs allow some random I/O to be serviced by flash rather than the spinning HDD platter, which can be up to 10 times faster for small pieces of data", say Matt Ayers, program manager on the Windows client team.

Microsoft also expects that H-HDDs will extend the lives of batteries and disk drive. Known as Windows ReadyDrive, H-HDDs cache disk reads and writes without needing to spin the disk drive. According to Hiroshi Sakakibara, product manager on the Windows client team, this saves battery power on the machine and can also prevent disk failures when using laptops while on the go. "Windows ReadyDrive makes your laptop more rugged since it is less likely the disk will be spinning and susceptible to damage as one is running from meeting to meeting", say Sakakibara.