Windows Vista will be available later this year for business use. It is, without doubt, one of the most challenging OS launches Microsoft have faced and the marketing machine is in full operation to get people onboard with it.

Given the cost and complexity of rolling out any new OS in an existing organisation, the key questions is why should we either upgrade or even allow Vista on new workstations. This page provides some answers to this question, without the intention to take sides in the debate.

1. Interface

The new Vista interface is clearly an improvement over XP, but close enough that the learning curve is minimal. The Start menu features integrated desktop search through a new feature called Instant Search which can help you find and launch almost anything on your PC. Just type in a word, a name, or a phrase, and Instant Search can find the right file for you. But more than that, the new start menu makes it very easy for you to navigate across all of the installed applications on your PC. Eliminating the slow performing, cascading "All Programs" view, the new start menu can help you get something started more quickly than ever. We think search is a vital tool and it's ironic that, until now, you have been able to search teh web and (hopefully) you corporate network more easily than the desktop.

2. Security and protection

Windows Vista contains a number of new security features that, taken together, are designed to make Windows Vista-based PCs more secure and your online experiences safer.

• Better built in protection from viruses, worms, spyware, and other potentially unwanted software
• User Account Control which allows users to change common settings without requiring administrative privileges. Standard users are prevented from making potentially dangerous changes to their computers, and can run most applications.
• Windows Service Hardening restricts critical Windows services from making unauthorized changes in the file system, registry, network, or other resources that could be used to allow malware to install itself or to attack other computers.
• Internet Explorer 7 includes a protected mode that helps protect user data and configuration settings from being deleted or changed by malicious websites or malware.
• Firewall and IPSec GP management integration provides administrative control over peer-to-peer sharing applications and other similar applications that businesses want to restrict by using outbound filtering in the firewall. In addition, the firewall and IPSec have been integrated to make administration easier.
• Network Access Protection is used by administrators to prevent clients that do not meet internal system health policies from connecting to an internal network and potentially spreading malware to other PCs.

Simplified remote access

With the Remote Desktop Connection feature in Windows Vista, your workforce can have easier remote access to resources and applications. For example, if a salesperson needs remote access to a financial application or a customer relationship management (CRM) application on your network, with Windows Vista your corporate IT manager can place an icon for that application on the salesperson's desktop. When the salesperson clicks the icon, an automatic Terminal Services Remote Program connection is made to the company over the Internet and to the Terminal Server in Windows Server Longhorn—all without the use of a VPN.

Windows BitLocker™ Drive Encryption

BitLocker Drive Encryption is a hardware-enabled data protection feature that addresses the growing concern that corporate and customer data could be accessed from lost or stolen computers. By encrypting the entire Windows system volume, data is better protected, which prevents unauthorized users from compromising Windows file and system protection on any lost or stolen PCs. Using BitLocker also helps your organization comply with data privacy regulations and reduces concerns about repurposing equipment. Available with Windows Vista Enterprise or Windows Vista Ultimate, BitLocker is simple to deploy and use, and makes recovery easy when the need arises.

Encrypting File System

Encrypting File System (EFS) is useful for user-level file and folder encryption. For example, if two people share a computer running Windows Vista, EFS can be used to encrypt each person's data so that it is not available to the other user of the computer. Windows Vista enhances the administrator's ability to manage EFS on a network by supporting storage of EFS keys on smart cards. This way, the rights assigned to each individual's smart card determine what content he or she has access to on a computer and across the network.

Control over device installation

Windows Vista also includes the ability to restrict the use of Universal Serial Bus (USB) keys and other removable storage devices with a corporate computer. Adding this layer of security to your IT environment will help prevent your company's valuable intellectual property from walking out the door.

Search

A Search Folder is simply a search that you save. Opening a Search Folder instantly runs that saved search, displaying up-to-date results immediately.

Network Center

• Network Center informs users about the network the computer is connected to and verifies whether it can successfully reach the Internet, presenting this information in a summary in the Network Map so they can immediately see the connectivity to the network and Internet.
• Network settings can also be saved to a portable USB flash drive to make adding PCs and devices to the network a quick and easy process. Simply insert the USB flash drive into a PC or device and it will automatically read the data and ready itself to join the network.
• Network Explorer
  Network Explorer is significantly faster and more reliable than My Network Places in Windows XP.
• Wireless Networking
  Windows Vista improves the wireless network experience in a number of ways. The new Network Awareness feature in Windows Vista keeps applications aware of and optimized for the network's changing capabilities. Data is more secure with enhanced support for the latest wireless security protocols, including WPA2. Vista helps avoid connecting to fraudulent wireless networks which seem like legitimate hotspots..
• Network Awareness
  Network Awareness provides the ability to report changes in network connectivity to applications For example, when you switch from the corporate to a home network (for remote workers) network, firewall settings can be configured to open the ports needed to allow the use of IT management tools. Group Policy will detect the reconnection to the corporate network and automatically begin processing policy changes instead of waiting for the next detection cycle.
• Network Diagnostics
  Network Diagnostics are greatly improved

Diagnostics

Built-in Diagnostics provides automatic diagnosis and correction for common error conditions, and helps to protect data when failures occur. For example, the Built-in Diagnostics feature in Windows Vista will warn of impending hard drive failures In the worst case, if the computer will not start up, new Startup Repair technology provides step-by-step diagnostics help recovery and minimize data loss.

Microsoft have some interesting information here