Quite a lot has been written about Vista's security features, and it basically sums up to this: Vista is more secure than XP, but the security features are so annoying that you'll hate them instantly. So Microsoft still sucks and everyone should buy a Mac.

Allow me to elaborate a little:

It's become obvious to the folks at Microsoft that most of what has made Windows behave badly in the past (i.e., security breaches and/or the dreaded "Blue Screen of Death") has been poorly or maliciously written software running on Windows, and not the operating system itself. The complexity of the Windows architecture, while allowing great flexibility and control in most cases, makes it damn near impossible to plug every potential hole someone might stumble upon or intentionally exploit to do damage to a machine.

Vista represents a significant untangling of the architectural spaghetti, but the basic components (e.g., the registry) are still there, so the problems are not completely going away. The solution therefore, has become one of greater transparency to the end user. For the novice user, this works as a great safety net. For the more advanced user, it works as a CYA move for Microsoft, which will annoy some people.

Here's how it works: If you launch a regular application within Vista, the application runs with no questions asked. However, if you run an application which, in turn, wants to run another application, Vista tells you that's happening and asks for your permission. I call it the "Grey Screen of Fear." The entire screen goes dim, and a single message box appears which says, "Windows needs your permission to run the following application: <blah>. OK?" In my experience, this most often happens when a web page wants to run an ActiveX control, or some other non-visible component. Also, some of the more in-depth Control Panel functions cause it to happen (basically, anything that writes directly to the registry).

If you say yes and then Windows proceeds to crash, the perception is now that this particular application is a bad actor and has crashed your system, as opposed to the typical "F*^%(#ing Windows!" reaction that dominates many blogs and message boards.

My advice for the novice user would be to take the Nancy Reagan approach: Just Say No. Sure, they may miss out on some high-end web content, but if they're truly novices, that's probably worth the benefit of not watching their machine melt down when the content turns out to be some Adware package. That, or they've wandered into the control panel too deeply and probably shouldn't be there in the first place.

For the advanced user (and here I'm arrogantly lumping myself into this category), the whole thing hardly ever happens, unless you're working through a specific problem, in which case you might come across it over and over again as you debug something, or work through a tricky install. This is the only time I found it annoying. And while you can turn it off, I'll admit that despite my annoyance, I didn't bother. In the typical case, though, when I click a link on a web page and get the GSOF, I'm typically thankful for the heads up. And, in the true test of whether a warning is useful or not, I have actually said no in some cases.

So color me pleased with Vista security thus far. My system has not crashed since I have it (roughly 3 months) despite being on 24/7. The closest I've come to a problem was a memory leak after processing some long movie files with Acrobat Premiere Elements, and that was solved with a simple reboot.

One other quick thing about Vista security: the "Run as Administrator" function. In previous versions of Windows, a typical install created one account that had administrator rights on the system (basically, the right to do anything it wanted), and then other accounts could be created with more restrictive rights. In Vista, even the default account isn't truly an administrator. Some functions (in my experience, installs for software written before Vista was released), will give you an error message saying, "Administrator rights required for this action." In that case, all you need to do is right-click on the app, and choose "Run as Administrator." This enables whatever rights have been turned off by default, and provides a nice two-step process for high-security items that is both easy to remember and easy to do. Again, color me pleased.

The major implication for Vista security is often tied heavily to compatibility issues with software written for Windows XP or earlier. Since Vista is stricter about security than its predecessors, things that were allowed in Windows XP are now prohibited in Vista. In next week's Tech Guide installment, I'll discuss Vista's compatibility issues and how I solved (or didn't solve) the ones I encountered.

As we discussed last week, Windows Vista is not that big a change from Windows XP, other than a few "Wow"-inducing items and a couple of very useful enhancements. Even those enhancements, though, are typically just tweaks to existing Windows functions (like the breadcrumbs navigation technique that replaces the Windows Explorer tree or the Flip 3D function that enhances the existing Alt-Tab feature). Desktop search is an exception to this rule, though, and warrants its own entry in the ISBS Tech Guide.

First, let's review how desktop search worked in Windows XP. Basically, it worked like an application. You ran it (Start-->Search), typed in a query, clicked "Search" and received a result set. From there, you had basic interaction capability with the files, and when you were done, you closed the Search app and the results went away. It was like changing the channel on the TV, rather than reaching for the remote control. In other words, I hardly ever used it. Instead, I'd peruse my regular file folders to find a file, use the search within my mail application to find a particular e-mail, or click through the Start menu folders to find a rarely-used application. I'd use the search app only in the very rare case where I truly had no idea where I'd put something, but even then, it was typically unsuccessful at helping me find it.

In Windows Vista, search is a function of the operating system, not an application. It has gone from a tool of last resort to the easiest way to find just about anything on the PC. Here's how it works:

Let's say that before the season started, my friend sent me a Word document containing the New York Yankees' 2007 schedule, and that this morning, he e-mailed me that he's coming to New York and wants to catch a Yankee game.

The first thing I do is press the Start key (the one with the flag on it, next to the Alt key on most keyboards). This does the exact same thing as clicking on the Windows Logo in the bottom left corner of the screen, but note that you don't need the mouse to search in Vista. When the Start menu opens, focus defaults to it's search box. This is key, because again, I don't need to touch the mouse. So, after pressing the Start key, I begin to type "yankee schedule." As I type, the list of commonly used programs that is normally above the search box in the Start Menu disappears, and search results immediately start appearing in its place. With each successive character I type, Vista refines my search and shows me a shorter list of potential results.

The results are grouped and sorted intelligently. Applications are on top, followed by Files, followed by Communications (e-mails, saved IM's, etc.) In this case, after a six keystrokes (<Start>yanke), the first item on the list is the Word document I was looking for. I press Enter and the document opens. That's seven keystrokes from reading the e-mail to reviewing the schedule. As I said above, search has gone from a tool of last resort to the easiest way to find a file.

The next day, I need to pick my friend up at the airport. That e-mail he sent me had his flight number and arrival time in it. I sit down at my PC and once again type <Start>yanke. The word document is on top of the list, but just below it (under "Communications") is a list of e-mails containing the string "yanke," the second of which is the the e-mail from my friend. So, I press the down arrow twice and then Enter again. The e-mail opens and I have the information I need - this time, in eight keystrokes. (A small aside: note that Outlook does not launch to display my e-mail, just the individual message opens. This seems like a small detail, but in the past, launching an individual e-mail message would launch Outlook, which would display my entire Inbox, and kick off a Send/Receive transaction, which would download whatever mail I had residing on my POP3 server. Most of this would happen in the background, but it would all be wasted processing, given my task at hand).

Just to round out the example, say I now want to figure out how much my friend owes me for the tickets, so I need a calculator. I type <Start>calc, and the first item on the list is the Windows Calculator app. I press Enter and the calculator appears. Others may prefer to put a calculator icon on their desktop or toolbar, but I find these six keystrokes to be a faster way to work. At any rate, you have both options.

All of this would be fairly impressive on it's own, but the coolest feature of Windows Vista Search is the saved search result windows. Let's say my ticket exchange above is part of a larger service I provide, distributing Yankee tickets to friends throughout the year. In that case, I probably have lots of documents and e-mails that contain the phrase "yankee," so I'd have to be more specific in my search to find what I'm looking for. In that case, here's what I'd do: Type <Start>yankee to bring the list up. But then, instead of clicking on an item, click "See all search results" at the bottom of the list. This opens a standard Vista window, displaying everything that matches the search (including applications, files, e-mails, etc). I can sort/group any way I want (by file type, by name, by date, etc.). Then (and here's the cool part), I can save my search window as it's own folder. Now, whenever I open this folder (or refresh the window), I can see all files/e-mails on my PC that contain the term "yankee." To be clear: I'm not saving the result set from my recent search; I'm saving the query itself. So if I get ten more e-mails tomorrow regarding the Yankees, the same window will contain ten more items tomorrow. Also of note, given how Windows XP worked: the items in this window are the actual files themselves, not shortcuts or pointers to the files. I can open/edit/rename/delete/etc. the files right from this window, even if they actually live at the end of some complex folder tree in my Documents folder. The Vista architecture allows a file to be referenced natively from more than one location, which greatly enhances the usability of search (among other things).

Two other notes - one on indexing and one on the Mac search tool.

Regarding indexing: Vista Search comes complete with a small indexing application, which allows me to specify which folders are included in the search index and which are not. This covers Windows folders, but also folders within your Outlook inbox. So, for instance, since I'm such a pack rat and never empty my Deleted Mail folder, I set Search to ignore the Deleted Mail folder in my mail file. This eliminates clutter from my search results, but allows me to keep my poor man's e-mail archive. Also, the index management tool lets me include networked folders, so I can have the Search function on my laptop, for example, search the shared network drive and bring back files that I worked on from a different machine.

Regarding Mac Search: When Vista was in beta release, many compared the search function to OS X's Spotlight search tool. The biggest criticism of Vista's implementation (other than the persistent cries of "copycat!") was the fact that the search tool was not always visible on the screen (in OS X, it's always in the upper-right corner). I find that I actually prefer this choice, since the tool is always one keystroke away. Also, while some may prefer the mouse for common tasks, I'm very much a keyboard shortcut user. I don't know if you can bring Spotlight into focus with a single keystroke (although I'm sure someone will tell me in the comments. <clears throat>). If not, having to mouse to the upper right and click to execute a search would drastically reduce it's utility to me (especially with a wide screen monitor).

As it stands, I'm obviously a very big fan of Vista's search tool. I've already used it more in the first two months than I did in all my prior years of Windows usage.

Next week: What's the deal with Vista security?

By now, you've probably read several dozen reviews of Windows Vista. When I first started using it, I was tempted to join in as well, but I decided I should spend some time with it first and then offer my opinion. So here you go - a review of Windows Vista that's based on what it's like to use the OS on a day-to-day basis, not on the results of some laboratory diagnostic test:

It's Good.

It's not a buggy piece of crapware, and it's certainly not awesome, spectacular, or life-changing (anyone who describes an OS that way is either trying to sell you something, or is such an irrational fan of Steve Jobs that he/she would use the same words to describe the iBrick). Ironically, Microsoft's advertising campaign goes about as far as I would take it: "Wow." And even then, only "Wow" to a couple of things. In every other aspect, Vista basically does it's job and does it well.

The first "Wow" is the Windows Aero design. The edges of the windows are translucent, so when you drag one on top of the other, you can see a blurry image of the back window around the edges of the front window. To be sure, this is more cool looking than it is useful, but I must admit, it is extremely cool looking. If the WinXP windows looked like index cards scattered across the desktop, then these look like Shrinky Dinks, or, to use an even geekier reference, like Tom Cruise's Minority Report computers.

The second, and much more useful, "Wow" is the Flip 3D and Live Icon features. Flip 3D is that three-dimensional rolodex interface that you've seen in the advertisements. Rather than using Alt-Tab to cycle through the icons of open applications, Vista lets you use Start Key-Tab (that's the key with the flag on it - situated right near the Alt key on most keyboards) to see a 3D rolodex of the live content on each open window (including animation, video, moving status bars, etc.). When you recognize the one you want, you just release both keys and that window animates to the front.

All of the other icons in Vista are also improved. When you Alt-Tab, Vista shows you thumbnail versions of the live content, rather than those old, static app icons. If you mouse over the minimized applications on the task bar, you also see these live content thumbnails. IE7's Quick Tabs feature shows you the open web pages in live content thumbnails. And inside the windows themselves, the icons for unopened files reflect the first page of the document, a thumbnail of the picture, or the first frame of the video, depending on the file type.

I know this sounds like pure "Wow," but I found it a huge productivity boost in two ways. First, it's much, much easier to recognize a window's content than it's icon/title, which is all you had to go on in Windows XP, so choosing/switching applications is simpler and faster. Second, you can check the status of a long running process (e.g., a DVD burn, a backup, a large download) without having to switch applications and interrupt your train of thought. It's also noteworthy that these features only run on machines with high-powered graphics cards and fast CPU's. At lower resolution or slower speeds, these "preview" features would look chintzy and add almost no value, and so Vista disables them automatically.

Another very useful (although much less "Wow") feature is the breadcrumb functionality in each window's address bar. Rather than the traditional "tree" structure taking up real estate on the left side of the window, Vista shows you each node in the current path, and provides a navigation arrow for each one. So if you're currently in the Documents/Excel/Finance/2007/Budgets folder and you want to switch to the Documents/Word/Reports/ folder, all you have to do is click the arrow next to Documents in the address bar and select Word, then select Reports in the newly opened view.

Back on the "Wow" side of the spectrum is the Windows Sidebar. Current OS X users will find it a patent violation familiar, while long-time Windows users will enjoy the slick user interface and the wide array of available "Gadgets." Microsoft's Windows Live Gallery will let you browse a few thousand of them, and then download them directly into your Gadget inventory, ready for use. I also downloaded an application called Amnesty Generator, which allows me to convert (most) Google gadgets (intended for the Google Desktop) to Vista gadgets. Between these two libraries, you could easily fill up the sidebar on a portrait-shaped 24" monitor (more on that in a future Tech Guide post!)

I'm leaving out a bunch of things, of course, and I'm sure there are more surprises tucked away for me to eventually find. Two things in particular, Vista's search capabilities and its new security strategy, fall so squarely into the "Wow" + "useful" category that they warrant their own Tech Guide entries, so you'll have to come back to hear about those as well.

Bottom line: if you're in the market for a new PC, buy it with Vista pre-installed. Everything interesting that happens to Windows (and Windows software) in the coming decade will happen to Vista. If you buy something else now, you'll kick yourself later. If you're happy with your current PC, though, then wait a while. It'll be around when you're ready to upgrade. If you need some "Wow" before then, go rent Minority Report.

As I mentioned earlier, I recently moved my old PC into my older son's room, and bought myself two new computers to replace it - a desktop for the home office, and a laptop to take full advantage of the wireless network I was now able to setup in the house. It's been more than four years since I bought a new PC, and as you might imagine, quite a bit has changed in that time. Most notable, of course, was the introduction of Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system, which came pre-installed on both new machines.

The new machines, the new operating system, and a healthy dose of new software has made the last couple of months a constant learning experience. I've discovered what "just works," what requires configuring/tweaking, and what requires a proficiency with Google, the patience to read through user help forums and, occasionally, the right tech support phone number.

Given my crash course in all things new to harware and software, I've decided to start a weekly feature here at I Should Be Sleeping - the ISBS Tech Guide. Each weekend, I'll post an entry on a different technology topic that I've dealt with recently, and let you in on all the features, pitfalls, tricks, tips, etc. that I've come across in my travels.

I know from my site analytics that posts about technology attract a disproportionately high number of visitors, mainly due to the heavy search engine activity. Google has become Level 1 Tech Support for just about any technical problem, and anything I can do to contribute to the quantity of good information out there seems like a worthwile exercise. Also, I'd like to write down a lot of what I've learned in the last couple of months, and this blog seems like a good place to do it. So here's your guarantee: since I'll be referencing this guide as often as anyone else as time goes on, I have all the right incentives to make it accurate, complete, and easy to read. Also, it's free and you get what you pay for. So there you go...

Finally, the ISBS Tech Guide gives me the opportunity to use Blogger's new Category feature. As I've mentioned before, I'm not a big fan of Blog categories, since so many blogs have them and I've never really felt the need to use them. In this case, though, I'm hoping the category view provides a true "How To Guide" feel that can serve as a reference for someone who is interested in such things, but doesn't have a specific question.

So look for the ISBS Tech Guide each Monday morning, whydontcha? We'll pick up next weekend with our first technology topic: The Windows Vista Review.

Stay tuned...