Windows Vista Named “Best of CES 2007”

Today, the Windows Vista™ operating system has been selected by the editors at CNET (http://www.cnet.com) as a winner of the “Best of CES 2007” award in the computers and hardware category at the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Windows Vista, scheduled to be broadly available on Jan. 30, 2007, was honored for enhancements and innovations that provide users with an experience that is easier, safer, more entertaining and better connected, at home or on the go. “It is a great honor to have Windows Vista declared one of the best products at this year’s CES,” said Mike Sievert, corporate vice president for Windows® Client Marketing at Microsoft Corp. “We are in outstanding company here at the show, and this award is an indication of what customers can expect when they are able to experience Windows Vista for themselves later this month.”

The development of Windows Vista is the result of an unprecedented collaboration between Microsoft and its customers and partners. The product was designed with the help of millions of testers worldwide, including 50 families from seven countries taking part in the Wife with Windows Vista program. The feedback gathered from this testing was invaluable to the product development, and Windows Vista is better because of it. In preparation for the Windows Vista launch, thousands of PC manufacturers and system builders across the globe are preparing to deliver new PCs designed to run the new operating system. By Jan. 30, more than 1.5 million devices will have the Works with Windows Vista logo and more than 2,000 products will be Certified for Windows Vista, helping make Internet and networking connections, home entertainment and business tasks faster, easier and more secure. Many of those products are on display at CES, including two Windows Vista-based PCs — the HP TouchSmart PC IQ770 and the ASUS W5Fe SideShow™ Notebook — that were the other two finalists for the Best of CES award in the computers and hardware category.

Vista helps to work with Office

The joint release Office 2007 and Windows Vista has become the first simultaneous release Office and Windows from times Windows 95. Probably, it not simple concurrence or marketing course. Chris Kapossela, the vice-president Microsoft, responsible for family of products Office, asserts, that Office 2007 receives some side benefits, when works on a platform Windows Vista, instead of Windows ХР.

• Built - in search: Office 2007 can use the built - in function Vista Instant Search. For example, by search of the documents Word, in which the certain name is mentioned, it is enough to enter this name into a field in the menu Start — And you receive the list of all necessary files. The similar opportunities are given by Windows Desktop Search 3.0 for Windows XP or other separate programs, such as Google Desktop.

• Safety: the function BitLocker Drive Encryption, present in editions Vista Ultimate and Enterprise, protects given in case of loss or theft notebook or PC. There is a set of the programs of enciphering for ХР, but in Vista this function is built - in.

• The channels RSS are good not only for news and blogs. They allow also to trace the documents, potential bargains, lists of forthcoming businesses, calendars and much another. In Vista there is a general storehouse of the data, where the appendices can address behind the information RSS, and also mechanism of loading of channels RSS. It allows, for example, to take the data from the diagram of the reports on web-site of a conference directly in a calendar Outlook.

Windows Vista tool targeted by virus writers

Virus writers have published what are thought to be the first examples of malicious code targeting an expected feature of Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system, around a week after the first beta of the next-generation operating system was released.

Five proof-of-concept viruses that target Monad, the next version of Microsoft's command prompt, were included in a recently published virus writing magazine, according to Mikko Hyppönen, the director of antivirus research at F-Secure.

Monad is a command line interface and scripting language that is similar to Unix shells such as BASH, but is based on object-oriented programming and the .Net framework. It was initially expected in Vista, but Microsoft hinted a couple of months ago that it may not be ready for initial versions of the Vista client or server. However, Microsoft has confirmed that Monad will be included in Exchange 12, the next version of the company's collaboration server due in the second half of 2006.

The proof-of-concept viruses, along with detailed explanations of how they work, were included in a magazine that was published on the Web over the last week. The viruses' only action is to infect other shell scripts on the host's operating system. They would cause little harm in the wild, but would be relatively easy to modify using the information from the article, said Hyppönen in a blog posting on Thursday.

He warned that if Microsoft ships Monad with Vista and it is enabled by default this could lead to an "outbreak of scripting viruses". Microsoft may choose to ship the tool as an add-on or disable it by default to reduce the risk, he added.

Even if Microsoft fixes this problem, virus writers are probably working hard to find other holes in the operating system itself, according to Hyppönen.

"There are always virus writers who want to be the first to write a virus for a new platform. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a virus targeting Vista itself soon," he said.


The Monad viruses were written by a virus writer who calls himself "Second Part To Hell" and is believed to live in Austria, according to Hyppönen.


The final version of Vista for the client is due to ship in Autumn 2006 with the server expected in 2007.


Microsoft was unable to comment in time for this article.

Microsoft Across America Launch Event - Developer Track.

The release of Windows Vista™ operating system and the 2007 Microsoft® Office system ushers in a new age of application platform development. Join us at the developer track, hosted by MSDN Events, as we explore the new capabilities and features that will let you create applications to help users communicate, collaborate, and present information in more powerful ways than ever before.

Session 1. Office and Vista: Better Together for Developers. Learn about the strength of the Windows Vista and Microsoft Office system platforms and discover the wide array of solutions that can be built for these groundbreaking products. We’ll showcase the key elements of each platform, and what makes them so compelling for solution development. We will also cover the broad tool set that is available across both platforms, allowing you to make the most efficient use of your development time.

Session 2. Building Differentiated User Experiences with Windows Vista. Windows Vista enables developers to create engaging, visually stunning, and highly differentiated user interfaces that make applications more usable and productive for end-users. You’ll see how you can use managed and native technologies, including Windows® Presentation Foundation, XAML, Direct X 10, Sidebar, and the new Aero interface to create these new experiences.

Session 3. Building Connected Applications with Windows Vista. Windows Vista provides the most comprehensive platform for building applications that allow users to visualize, share, and act on information. You’ll see the scenarios enabled by Windows Communication Foundation, built in peer-to-peer support, and RSS. We’ll also cover the new integrated search technologies and how they enable new ways of organizing and presenting information.

Session 4. Connecting and Extending Office 2007 Client Applications. The Office 2007 Client Applications provide a rich foundation for building critical business applications quickly and easily. Learn how the new technologies in the 2007 release give you a head start in solving your organization’s business challenges. We’ll also show how the client applications of the Microsoft Office system can be connected and extended with a minimum of effort for maximum results.

Session 5. Building key business applications on the Office 2007 Server Platform. The Office 2007 Servers form an exceptional platform for building and extending business applications that make enterprise data more accessible, and business processes more efficient. Discover how the various server technologies work together to help you create a wide variety of enterprise-grade business solutions, all from the same core platform.