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Microsoft's Allchin talks up Vista's GUI, security

27.01.2006
With Windows and the rest of its successful stable of software, Microsoft Corp. has long been accused of being a non-innovator, preferring instead to refine others' efforts -- and conquer. But with its upcoming Windows Vista operating system, Microsoft may find itself called an unfamiliar name: trailblazer.

Due out by year's end, Vista will include a number of new features, especially in its graphical user interface (GUI), that are not yet completely realized in competing operating systems such as Apple Computer Inc.'s Mac OS X or the open-source Linux OS. Those features include 3-D views of windows, built-in handwriting recognition, easy real-time wireless collaboration and online file sharing, automatic alerts about phishing and other fraudulent Web sites, and even support for a "slideshow" feature that allows notebook PCs to display regularly-accessed information on a 2-inch screen mounted on the outside of the closed notebook case.

"We are pushing ahead as fast as we can for all audiences, whether for the business user, the child, or the digital music enthusiast," Jim Allchin, co-president of Microsoft's platform products and services division -- which includes Windows and MSN -- said in an interview Thursday.

Microsoft plans to release a Community Technical Preview (CTP) of Vista by the end of March to companies participating in its Technology Adoption Program (TAP). Allchin says the technical preview, which follows a December release aimed at PC makers, is already "feature complete," and the goal now is to gain feedback from users regarding compatibility with applications and hardware, as well as the ease of deploying Vista.

"We're trying to be more transparent," Allchin said. He admitted getting complaints from beta testers whose machines either were not powerful enough or lacked the right graphics drivers for the advanced user interface features in Vista.

On the positive side, Allchin said that CTP testers have praised improvements in stability and security. One is a change that will make it harder for malware or hackers to gain administrator level access -- even if they can crash Vista systems, he said, a feature that already exists in Unix and Linux. Another is the ability to run Internet Explorer 7.0, which will come bundled with Vista or can be separately downloaded, in a "protected mode" that prevents trojans or hackers from surreptitiously installing spyware or other malicious programs automatically.