Windows Vista Ultimate Features

Everything you need to work more easily and effectively

Windows Aero offers an elegant, more visually compelling desktop experience, giving you a greater ability to visualize and work with your information and a smoother, more stable desktop experience.

Instant Search helps you find whatever you need quickly and easily, whether it's on your PC, on your network, or on the Internet—or even within your e-mail.

With Complete PC Backup and Restore, you can not only back up your personal documents and files, you can also back up all of your operating system files and programs—everything on your hard disk drive. In the event of a catastrophic hardware failure, you can use Complete PC Backup and Restore to get your entire PC back to normal in one easy step.

You know you need backups. Now This essential maintenance step is much easier with the Backup and Restore Center.

Windows Vista Ultimate also enables you to easily recover previous versions of files and documents that have been accidentally changed. Shadow copy automatically archives previous versions of your files—should you accidentally save a change to a document, or should a document become corrupted, you can easily recover by restoring any previous version of that file.

With new self-healing technologies, Windows Vista Ultimate can automatically identify and fix problems as they occur—helping keep disruptions to a minimum.

Windows Vista Ultimate is available in 35 languages—simultaneously. If you have a multilingual household or are learning a new language, you can install as many languages as you want and even switch between them as easily as logging off and back on again. In addition, if your family shares a single PC, each family member can use his or her preferred language to interact with the PC.

Enhanced Windows Fax and Scan provides flexible, integrated faxing and scanning capabilities in one convenient location on your PC that make it easier to send and receive faxes, scan documents and images, and share those resources with other people. Windows Fax and Scan also helps you get more from your multifunction printing devices.

Create, send, and receive faxes, documents, and images from one spot.

Windows SuperFetch helps improve PC responsiveness and helps make system performance more consistent. Windows SuperFetch tracks which applications you use most often and when you use them—and then it preloads those applications into memory to ensure quick access.

For smaller home and business networks, use Network Center to visually check the connection status of PCs and devices, and to troubleshoot connection problems from a single interface and without additional IT support.

Take advantage of all the safety features available in Windows Vista

Windows Defender helps automatically safeguard your PC against pop-ups, slow performance, and security threats caused by spyware and other unwanted software.

Automatically avoid unwanted software with Windows Defender.

With Parental Controls, you can manage the rules for your children's computer use. You can set time limits for use and also manage their access to the web and to PC games.

With dynamic security protection, Internet Explorer 7 helps you achieve a higher level of security protection than ever before when browsing the web. Internet Explorer 7 includes anti-phishing technology that helps to protect you from fraudulent websites that attempt to steal your personal information.

Anti-phishing technology in Internet Explorer helps protect your personal information

Windows Vista Ultimate also enables you to easily recover previous versions of files and documents that have been accidentally changed. Shadow copy automatically archives previous versions of your files—should you accidentally save a change to a document, or should a document become corrupted, you can easily recover by restoring any previous version of that file.

If you have confidential and valuable information stored on your PC, BitLocker Drive Encryption helps ensure the integrity of that information by encrypting your entire hard drive. Only you have access to that information—even if your PC is lost, stolen, or decommissioned.

Using Standard user accounts, you can confidently allow your children to use your PC, and lessen the risk that they will install malicious software or make harmful changes to the PC.

Provide the critical first line of defense. A smarter, more easily configured, and automatically running Windows Firewall helps protect you against many types of malicious software.

Encrypting File System helps protect sensitive information and data from being shared outside of your company by enabling you to password-protect shared documents.

Windows Vista Ultimate includes support for joining a network domain—a standard business networking feature that enables improved security and manageability for business PCs. Windows Vista Ultimate also includes support for Group Policy. This helps system administrators save time and reduce security risks by configuring wireless network settings, removable storage devices, printers, Internet Explorer, and even power-management settings centrally and automatically. In addition, Windows Vista Ultimate includes the essential IT infrastructure found in Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Enterprise so that your PCs and IT infrastructure can grow as your business grows and thrives.

Everything you need for a more entertaining experience

Windows Vista Ultimate includes Windows Media Center so that you can enjoy your entire digital entertainment library on your PC or on your television. Use your Media Center remote control or your mouse to view your photos in a cinematic slide show, browse your music collection by cover art, easily play DVDs, or watch and record your favorite TV shows. Media Center even makes it easy to download movies and enjoy them whenever you want.

Enjoy all your digital entertainment with the simplicity of Windows Media Center.

Burn your photo slide shows and home movies to a professional-looking video DVD with Windows DVD Maker, and watch them on a standard DVD player or on the PC of your choice.

Take Windows Media Center to the next level and enjoy all of your digital entertainment on TVs throughout your home (not just in the room where your PC resides) with support for Xbox 360 and other consumer electronics connected to your home network.

Windows Photo Gallery, included in Windows Vista Ultimate, offers a better and more flexible way of acquiring, organizing, fixing, sharing, and printing your digital photos and home videos. You can take advantage of keyword "tags," a star rating system, and built-in Instant Search to manage and organize your photos and find them again quickly and easily. Windows Photo Gallery includes the most important photo-editing features, making it quick and easy to crop, fix red eye, and even adjust the exposure and color of your digital photos. Windows Photo Gallery also enables you to play slide shows of your photos and videos together on your PC, choosing from several themes and templates, setting them to music, or even watching them on your TV.

With Windows Vista Ultimate, you can play the latest high-performance PC games with stunning 3-D visuals. From the simple to the spectacular, there are Games for Windows for every age and ability, either on your PC or online. And with DirectX 10 included, only Windows Vista will be able to run the latest, most graphically advanced games in the market.

Windows Vista Ultimate includes updates to your favorite built-in Windows games, such as Solitaire, Spider Solitaire, and FreeCell. Windows Vista Ultimate also includes three new premium games: Mahjong Titans, Chess Titans, and InkBall.

Windows Vista Ultimate includes three premium games, including Chess Titans.

You can capture, edit, and publish your digital home movies in standard or high-definition format with the updated Windows Movie Maker.

Windows Media Player 11 includes new features that are designed to help you manage your library of digital music, photos, and videos that you have stored on your PC. And you can easily connect to a variety of portable players so that you can take your media collection with you wherever you go.

Take it all with you for the ideal mobile PC

Windows Mobility Center saves you time by enabling you to quickly access and set key mobile system settings from one easy-to-find location. For instance, you can quickly adjust your wireless networking, display, sound, Tablet PC, and presentation settings. You can even adjust power options to maximize your PC's battery life.

Find all your mobile system settings in one place: The Windows Mobility Center.

If you have confidential and valuable information stored on your mobile PC, Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption helps ensure the integrity of that information by encrypting your entire hard drive. Only you have access to that information—even if your mobile PC is lost or stolen.

Mobile users can connect to wireless networks in the workplace, at home, or in public hotspots—with more confidence, privacy, and ease—with improved wireless networking and support for the most up-to-date wireless security standards.

Windows Vista Ultimate makes using a PC with Windows Tablet and Touch Technology easier and more efficient than ever before with new and improved pen-and-ink functionality, improved navigation, and dramatically improved handwriting recognition. Windows Vista Ultimate even includes built-in support for touch screens.

Extensive technical improvements help you get more done, quickly, with a Tablet PC.

Using Remote Desktop, you can access and control your PC remotely. This feature of Windows Vista Ultimate makes it easier to more securely access documents and programs on your computer remotely. You can gain remote access from across your home network, work network, or across the Internet from another computer, enabling you to get work done wherever you have a network connection.

With Sync Center, you can keep other PCs, server shares, shared documents, digital media devices, Smartphones, Pocket PCs, and other devices synchronized with your PC easily and in one convenient place.

If there is a problem with your network connectivity, new Network Diagnostics is designed to help you identify and solve the problem quickly and easily. Most common problems are automatically fixed for you.

Windows Vista Ultimate includes Windows Meeting Space, which helps make face-to-face meetings more productive. Windows Meeting Space enables collaboration and sharing of documents among small groups of Windows Vista users, even when there is no network available.

Windows SideShow is a feature of Windows Vista Ultimate that supports secondary displays for portable computers, making it easier for you to view important information stored on your laptop or to access key controls on other devices, even when your laptop screen is closed or when your PC is turned off.