Today's News

10/18/05

Microsoft Releases Vista Preview: Microsoft has released a new version of its beta Windows Vista, to reveal the latest updates the company has made to its Windows Operating System.

The October Community Technology Preview (CTP) offers an early look at some of the significant advances in the operating system's collaboration, desktop management and mobility features, as well as advancements to Internet Explorer.

The October CTP will be distributed to beta testers via the Windows Vista Technical Beta Program, as well as to subscribers of the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) and Microsoft TechNet - more than half a million users overall.

As with Windows Vista Beta 1 and the September CTP, the October CTP is intended for the use of developers, IT professionals and the technical community. End users interested in testing pre-release versions of Windows Vista, should continue to wait until the availability of Beta 2.

Windows Vista provides built-in diagnostics collections of instrumentation, trouble-shooting and resolution logic that resolve problems affecting the performance and reliability of the PC.

Windows Memory Diagnostics can automatically detect and resolve problems caused by defective physical memory, it can also avoid using the affected portion of physical memory, enabling the operating system to start and avoid application crashes. It can eliminate much of the impact of a disk failure by detecting disk problems pro-actively, before a failure occurs.

The October CTP includes improvements, that offer a significant increase in the reliability of transitions in and out of Sleep, Shut-Down and On power states.

Internet Explorer for Windows Vista in the October CTP includes many new features like Internet Explorer Phishing Filter, Internet Explorer ActiveX Opt-in, Quick Tabs,
Tab Groups, Page Zoom and Advanced Printing.

Many of the features included in the October CTP are still being developed, and do not yet represent their final functionality or design. Some of the features in the October CTP that will undergo significant changes before the final version of Windows Vista ships, include the new Migration Wizard, Power Management Center and settings, Windows AntiSpyware, Windows Calendar, and Windows Media Player 11.