Feature Articles

Windows Vista - How Secure is the New OS?

By Daniel Lim - 11 Jan 2007

Security and Family Safety in Microsoft's New OS

Security and Family Safety in Microsoft's New OS

When you buy a product (be it hardware or software), it is natural to assume that it will work perfectly out of the box. On the contrary, this isn't always true, especially for the software industry, where most companies release patches/updates to resolve problems discovered during the product's effective life cycle. Microsoft is no stranger to this concept and has been practicing this ever since the company existed. Security issues are particularly problematic to both personal and company's productivity and in the bigger picture, a corporation's well operand Microsoft is always on their toes to provide solutions for their customers so that they would be less prone to malware attacks and the likes. One such instance that we vividly recall was the annoying malware issue plaguing the early days of Windows XP with Service Pack 1 (SP1) which caused system slowdowns and forced shutdowns. The malware problems then were so chaotic that Microsoft followed up with SP2 to put an end to those security flaws.

Like it or not, security problems can't be wished away with a magic wand. Even till today, Microsoft along with other third parties like Trend Micro and McAfee are constantly tracking malware activities and providing solutions to their customers on a weekly basis. Statistics show that up to one billion people in the world are using computers and have networking capabilities. Out of which 30 percent are potential cyber-victims to security threats. In today's context, cyber-victims are not just victims of malware attacks that mess up their computer systems. A large portion of the online attacks happening today are in the area of online identity theft and fraud transactions resulting from visiting phishing sites. With so many security concerns hanging over our heads, Microsoft isn't taking things lightly with their upcoming operating system (OS). In fact, security is a major focus in the development of Windows Vista to ensure its users can work and play on the new OS confidently and securely. You can expect a lot of new changes in Windows Visa that stands out from the current Windows XP operating system.

On that note, you might ask us what differences exist between Windows XP and Windows Vista with regards to security. That's what this article is all about and we'll show you some of the security benefits that Windows Vista users will gain when they migrate from Windows XP.


The Real Security Center is on Vista

In Windows XP SP2, there is a feature known as the Security Center within the control panel that allows you to quickly view and manage basic security related options (such as your firewall, Internet options and automatic updates settings). This one-stop center in XP is very handy and it is only natural that it gets ported over to Windows Vista. The concept behind the 'one-stop center' will remain, but you can expect more flexibility and features on Windows Vista to thwart those nasty attacks off your system. You'll find several new options in the latest security center, so we'll be stepping through each of them one at a time. To start off, here's how the Security Centers differ of the old and new:-

The Security Center as it is in Windows XP.

This is how the new Security Center looks like in Windows Vista.

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