Vista Update Already Set

Even before launch, Microsoft is compiling items for the first service pack.

On the verge of the release of Windows Vista, Microsoft is already accepting orders for features to go in the operating system's first service pack.

Compiling Wish List
Microsoft is taking feedback from testers who are part of its Technology Adoption Program (TAP), which lets certain partners evaluate prerelease software, a Microsoft spokesman in London said on Wednesday. Service packs typically consist of a mix of bug fixes and new features.

Microsoft is set to release Vista for consumers next Tuesday, although it has been available to volume-license customers since November 30.

The company doesn't mention future update plans for Vista on its service pack road map. The spokesperson said a release date for the first service pack was not yet available.

The company, however, will continue to push out "critical" fixes for Vista through Windows Update, Microsoft's automated patch rollout system, the spokesperson said.

Comparing XP's Schedule
With Windows XP, Microsoft released the first service pack in September 2002, 11 months after the initial release of the OS. XP's second service pack--which added a host of security features to combat increased hacking--was released in August 2004.

Microsoft has said another service pack will ship for Windows XP, but the company has pushed its release to 2008 and some customers are skeptical that Microsoft will continue to update the operating system once Vista ships.

Don't Discard Your Privacy Along With Old Drives

When disposing of old drives and discs, be sure to destroy the data they hold.
Andrew Brandt

Data thieves don't have to be programming wizards to get their hands on your personal information. They often find hard drives that contain financial and other sensitive data at flea markets, charity shops, the city dump, and even on eBay. These tips will help you render an old drive's files unreadable.

Reformatting a drive, or deleting its partition, doesn't truly erase its files. Putting files into Windows' Recycle Bin makes them unreadable by the operating system, but they're still viewable for anyone using data-recovery software (or Windows itself if you don't empty the bin). That's why a dedicated drive-erasing tool is a must.

I destroy my old data using what storage experts call a "block-erasure utility" such as DBAN (available for free). DBAN overwrites each block on a computer's hard drive several times--up to standard levels specified for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the U.S. Department of Defense.

DBAN can create either a bootable floppy disk or an ISO file that you burn to a CD. Once you boot from the startup disk (you may have to tweak settings in your system's startup program to boot from the floppy or CD), just a few keystrokes will begin blowing away your data.

The Secure Erase utility uses the Disk Drive Secure Erase command that's built into every modern hard drive's firmware. The wipe is incredibly fast: Secure Erase can do the whole job in about half the time that a block-erasure utility would take.

Bring Out the Sledge
Some government agencies use huge grinders like wood chippers for metal to shred their discarded drives into tiny bits. Some folks chop their old drives in half with an ax, or drive nails through them. You may not have to go to such extremes, however. A few whacks with a sledgehammer can do wonders for your peace of mind, and maybe even reduce a little stress in the bargain. (Obligatory disclaimer: Make sure you know how to safely use any such tools, and don safety glasses before going to work.)

Power-Efficient Chip Ships

Startup P.A. Semi releases dual-core 64-bit CPU based on IBM's Power Architecture.


A startup chip company is introducing a power-efficient processor it has been developing for three years, just as the market clamors for energy efficiency.

For Network Gear
P.A. Semi is offering a dual-core, 64-bit processor today that it claims uses only 5 watts to 13 watts of electricity running at 2GHz, making it 300 percent to 400 percent more power-efficient than comparable processors.

P.A. Semi is making its PA6T-1682M PWRficient processor available to companies that will test it for possible use as an embedded processor in networking equipment for telecommunications, military or aerospace customers, said Dan Dobberpuhl, co-founder and chief executive officer.

The chip is based on Power Architecture technology, which the company has licensed from IBM. P.A. Semi claims the new product has a better performance-per-watt rating than an IBM 670MP processor, an Athlon 64x2 processor from Advanced Micro Devices and the Core 2 Duo from Intel. But P.A. Semi won't be directly competing with AMD and Intel because it won't be selling into the server or personal computer markets with its initial product.

P.A. Semi's performance measures were not independently verified. The company unveiled the chip at In-Stat/MDR's Fall 2005 Processor Forum.

Power Management Plan
P.A. Semi has improved power efficiency through advanced dynamic power supply regulation, Dobberpuhl said. In older chip design, power coursed through the processor continuously. About ten years ago, chip designers introduced dynamic power supply regulation in the processor block to start and stop the flow as needed, a process also called "clock gating." But P.A. Semi gets more granular, clock gating not at the block level, but at the registry level within a block.

"That level of fine grain clock gating inside the block, no one else has really done," Dobberpuhl said. "In our chips we have more than 25,000 gated clocks; most chips that do [block level] clock gating have maybe a few hundred."

Although the 1682 is targeted only at networking equipment, the company has plans to later introduce other members of the PWRfficient family, including single-core processors that could find a wider market in blade servers and some portable devices.

But even just in networking equipment, the chips could be a big help in energy efficiency, said Richard Wawrzyniak, senior market analyst with Semico Research.

"For all the people who are concerned with their power budget, or they have run out of power budget, and they are trying to figure out some way to increase their performance, this makes a lot of sense," Wawrzyniak said.

Energy Interests
Dobberpuhl was previously a vice president at chip maker Broadcom, which acquired his company, SiByte, in 2000. He also spent 20 years at Digital Equipment developing microprocessor technology. Other cofounders and executives of P.A. Semi, based in Santa Clara, California and founded in July 2003, worked with Dobberpuhl at Broadcom, or SiByte.

Engineering samples of the 1682M sell for $700 apiece while an evaluation kit carries a price tag of $8500.

Power efficient operation of servers and other computers has become a top concern of data-center managers because of rising energy costs. It has long been a focus of P.A. Semi and its embedded processor development. "We were doing this before it was cool," Dobberpuhl said.

Windows Vista: 15 Reasons to Switch

The new Windows operating system is worth the upgrade. Here's why

Windows Vista is almost here. To anyone who has been sitting on the fence over whether to upgrade to Microsoft's new operating system, I'll say it loud and clear: It's time to make the jump. There are plenty of reasons to leave Windows XP and install Vista, and below are my top 15 favorites.

Not everyone agrees with me, however. For the opposing point of view, read "Wait! Don't Buy Windows Vista."

And to help you make up your own mind, here's a list of other informative PC World Windows Vista stories and video:

A video tour of Windows Vista's features with Senior Editor Yardena Arar.
Exclusive: First Vista PC Lab Tests
Windows Vista FAQ
But I'm sold on upgrading to Vista. Why? Well...

1. It's the Interface, Stupid
Perhaps the best thing about Windows Vista is the most obvious: its new interface. With transparent animated windows that swoosh into place, subtle and elegant colors, a new Start menu, and plenty of other changes, this is the most beautiful version of Windows you've seen. If you've ever had Mac envy, this is the Windows you want--it's the most Mac-like interface yet.

2. Flip Over Windows Flip 3D
Switching between open windows using Alt-Tab in previous versions of Windows was always a shot in the dark, as you never quite knew to which window you'd switch, or even which ones were open. That has all changed in Windows Vista. Press Alt-Tab, and Windows Flip 3D springs into action, displaying thumbnails of all your open windows in a gorgeous, 3D stack. You can then flip through them until you find the one you want.

3. Live Thumbnails
Do you run a lot of programs and visit a lot of Web sites simultaneously? If so, you'll appreciate Live Thumbnails. Hover your mouse over any window on the Taskbar, and a thumbnail of the window pops up, with the program and document name, or the Web site name, just above it. The thumbnails are truly "live," so if a video is playing in a window, you'll see the video playing in the thumbnail too.

4. Boost Performance With ReadyBoost
Windows Vista includes a quick way to enhance system performance: ReadyBoost. It preloads files and programs you often use into RAM so that they're there when you want them, and you don't have to wait for them to load from the hard disk. You can buy an inexpensive USB flash drive and use up to 4GB of cheap RAM to boost your system performance.

5. Cool Performance Tools
If you're the kind of person who tends to peek under the hood and tinker, you'll find a lot to like in Windows Vista, which contains plenty of applets and utilities. Probably the best of them all is the Reliability and Performance Monitor. It keeps tabs on every aspect of your PC in exquisite detail, including the CPU, hard disk, network usage, and RAM use, and it includes plenty of charts, reports, and logs for your inner geek. The Reliability Monitor module is particularly noteworthy, as it charts the reliability of your PC over time and shows you every single problem or failure in a calendar format.

6. Better Security
At every level of Windows Vista, you'll find improved security. The firewall is now two-way, including inbound as well as outbound protection. Windows Defender offers spyware protection, and Internet Explorer has an antiphishing filter to protect against Web scams. A slew of security holes have been plugged in Internet Explorer, and the browser now operates in what's called Protected Mode, which guards system files against external attacks. There's plenty more under the hood as well, including Windows Service Hardening, which protects vital files and settings. (Note: BitLocker's automatic drive encryption and other advanced Vista security options are available only in the Business and Ultimate versions.)

7. Find Anything Fast With Search
Can't remember where you put an important file? It's no longer a problem. Windows Vista integrates a new search technology throughout the operating system--on the Start menu, within Windows Explorer, and just about everywhere else you look. It uses indexing and is lightning fast, and it literally searches as you type. A powerful advanced search tool lets you narrow your search by date, file size, author, tags, and location. It also accepts Boolean searching. You can even save your searches for future reference.

8. Nifty Software Gadgets
If you're a software gadget fan, you'll love Vista. It includes a variety of software gadgets that live on the desktop and do little tasks such as delivering stock quotes, showing weather forecasts, displaying RSS feeds, monitoring the state of your computer, checking your e-mail inbox, and more. Vista ships with a gaggle of them, but you can find dozens more online--and they're all free.

9. Better Wireless Networking
Anyone who uses a wireless network at home, at work, or on the road will appreciate the way Windows Vista handles wireless networking. You can more easily find new wireless networks, and save them and manage them as permanent connections. Wireless security has also been improved: When you connect at a public hotspot, security precautions (such as the shutting off of file sharing) automatically lock into place.

10. Map Your Network
Want to see every single computer and device connected to your network--and get instant information about each, such as their IP addresses? The Network Map does that for you. It also lets you make instant connections to any device; double-click a PC, for example, and you'll connect to its shared folders.

11. Better Graphics With Windows Photo Gallery
Finally, with Windows Photo Gallery Microsoft has shipped a graphics utility that's worth using. It's a kind of jack-of-all-trades--you can view graphics and create slide shows, for example. But it also includes a surprisingly good set of simple-to-use image editing tools, including one for eliminating red-eye and another that cleans up photos with a single click.

12. Become a Director With Windows Movie Maker
Windows Vista comes with a new version of the much-maligned moviemaking tool Windows Movie Maker, and it's a big surprise--you'll actually want to use it. Importing video and music, creating transitions between scenes, and syncing music with video are easy. When you're done, you can burn your creation to DVD with Windows DVD Maker.

13. Better Notebook Support
In previous versions of Windows, the mobile-computing features seemed bolted on after the fact. That's not true with Windows Vista, as the Windows Mobility Center puts all the tools you need in one place.

You can turn your wireless adapter on or off, change your battery settings, and connect to an external display from a single location. And the new Presentation Settings feature is a big leap forward for anyone who often gives presentations with a notebook. You can customize settings--such as the resolution, mute, background, and so on--and then save them. Afterward you can switch from normal mode to presentation mode in a snap.

14. File Sharing and Syncing
With Windows XP it was possible to share files among PCs on your network--possible but often impossibly hard, it seemed. That changes with Windows Vista. The Network and Sharing Center lets you turn on and configure file sharing with single clicks. And the Synch Center lets you automatically synchronize files and folders among separate PCs. You won't have to do anything to keep them in sync; Windows Vista will do it for you.

15. Protect Your Kids With Parental Controls
Worried that your children may be exposed to inappropriate content online? Want to make sure they're not playing violent games? Parental Controls put you in the driver seat. Not only can you determine the kinds of sites they visit and games they play, but you can also enforce rules about when they'll be able to use the computer at all.

Vista goes on sale Tuesday, January 30; tech superstores across the United States will open at midnight to let you get a jump.

Preston Gralla, a frequent PC World contributor, is the author of Windows Vista in a Nutshell and 35 other books.

Exclusive: First Vista PC Tests

In our tests, the first desktops loaded with the new operating system prove to be solid performers, but some rough edges remain.

It's been a long wait, but Windows Vista PCs are here. We evaluated the first batch of desktop systems preloaded with Microsoft's new operating system--and the results of our exclusive benchmark performance tests show that even sub-$1000 systems can ably handle Vista. But some of the new OS's highly touted features aren't present in these first Vista desktop systems. (See our exclusive test results.)

Before going further, here are links to other informative PC World Windows Vista stories and video

Vista by Default?
If you're planning on buying a PC after January 30, you may be destined to get Vista on your machine whether you want it or not. Of the four vendors whose systems we tested, each is taking a different approach to integrating Vista. Once the new OS ships, Dell and Gateway are switching exclusively to Vista for consumer desktops and notebooks. These two companies will also continue to sell systems running Windows XP, but only through their respective business divisions. Meanwhile, CyberPower and Shuttle will continue to offer XP as an option on their consumer systems.

We found a similar schism among some other PC vendors that we've spoken with (but whose systems were not included in this story). Polywell will be sticking with XP as the default option, installing Vista only if the customer requests it. And even then, the company will install both Vista and XP, allowing the user to choose which OS they want to boot the system into. At this writing--before Vista's retail store launch, but after manufacturers had received the final version of the operating system--Polywell CEO Sam Chu claims that Vista is still having compatibility problems with many applications and drivers.

Chu is not the only vendor we talked to who expressed concern over the state of readiness--or lack thereof--of Vista's drivers. "Right now, we're seeing some issues on the R&D side," according to Marc Diana, product marketing manager for Alienware.

The issues, he says, are related to things like graphics card drivers (our test systems with both ATI and nVidia used beta drivers during testing for this story), and software, such as that used for Blu-ray Disc playback. "If this continues post-launch, we will give our customers the option of XP. Most likely, though, [these problems] will get sorted out before launch."

Barring ongoing driver issues, Alienware plans to offer only Vista Home Premium on its consumer desktops and notebooks. However, says Diana, "We will have XP available on our workstation line, because those customers are more sensitive to the idea of switching, and some of their applications may not work on Vista. We wanted to leave the option for them."

Hewlett-Packard, on the other hand, is taking a route similar to Dell's and Gateway's. In its online store for consumer systems, HP will switch to Vista at launch. At retail, the company will let existing stock run its course; Vista will be the OS thereafter. HP will continue to offer business desktop and laptop PCs with XP Professional and Vista as options, through the end of 2007. By early 2008, though, HP expects to offer only Vista on business PCs.

Velocity Micro will switch to Vista at launch, both at retail and via its online store.

What's Missing
As mentioned, these first-generation Vista desktops lack some of the components that take advantage of the interesting features in Windows Vista. For example, they don't include the ReadyDrive hybrid hard drives that will speed up disk access (see "Hard Drive Rivals Promote New Hybrid Technology" for more information); notebooks with these hybrid drives will be available first, and they're not arriving until about midyear, maybe sooner. Furthermore, the desktops we looked at also lack the secondary SideShow displays that can access and show you system information. These displays may be integrated into peripherals, such as a keyboard or a remote control, or potentially even the PC's chassis itself.

Microsoft: Don't Ask Us About Next OS

Microsoft wants everyone to focus on Vista and forget about whatever may come down the operating system pike.

Microsoft wants everyone to focus on Vista and forget about whatever may come down the operating system pike.

In a tightly-worded statement issued late yesterday and attributed to Kevin Kutz, the director of the Windows client group, the company said it "is focused on the value Windows Vista will bring to people today. We are not giving official guidance to the public yet about the next version of Windows, other than that we're working on it."

Kutz was replying to speculation that the next version of Windows -- with codenames ranging from "Vienna" to "Windows 7," depending on the pundit -- would be out before the end of 2009. The chatter was fueled by Ben Fathi, corporate vice president of development in Microsoft's Windows core operating system division, who spoke to reporters last week at the RSA conference.

At the time, Fathi said the follow-on to Vista would likely show up in 2009. "You can think roughly two, two and a half years is a reasonable time frame that our partners can depend on and can work with," he said. "That's a good time frame for refresh."

Yesterday's move was a clear effort by Microsoft to distance itself from Fathi's comments, said Michael Silver, an analyst with Gartner. But it was hardly unexpected.

""This is their pattern. They don't want to talk about what's coming, they want to talk about Vista," said Silver.

The last thing Microsoft wants, said Silver, is for users to hear that a new operating system will show up in a couple of years, then decide that they can wait it out, then simply skip Vista. "Vista is what they have to sell now."

In any case, Silver questioned the relatively short cycle that Fathi proposed. "I don't think enterprises can absorb [a new operating system] every two years."

Consumers, on the other hand, want a new and shiny operating system more frequently. "Maybe Microsoft should think about separating operating systems, one release for consumers, one for enterprises that just adds on capabilities."

In Silver's view, Microsoft has been forced to talk more about the post-Vista world because of the five years it took the company to create that just-released operating system. As early as last July, for example, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told financial analysts that "we will never repeat our experience with Windows Vista, we will never have a five-year gap between major releases of flagship products."

"Actually, they'd like to talk about [the next OS] as little as possible," said Silver.

Said Kutz: "When we are ready, we will provide updates