Windows Vista Team Blog

Bill Laing, a General Manager in the Microsoft Windows Server Division, has been quoted as saying that Windows Server 2008 will be the last 32-bit operating system.  Bill is a server guy and indeed Windows Server 2008 is the last 32-bit server operating system – all future operating systems for server hardware from Microsoft beyond Windows Server 2008 will be 64-bit.

A few folks took Bill’s comments on Windows Server and applied them to Windows Client deriving that Windows Vista would be the last 32-bit operating system. That is an incorrect extension.  While Windows Vista includes both 32-bit and 64-bit and there is a growing community of drivers for 64-bit Windows Vista we have not decided when Windows Client will follow Windows Server and become 64-bit only.

Long time, no post!  I just wanted to give you a quick headsup about the Vista Squad holding their second meeting at Microsoft HQ in Reading, UK on the 24th May kicking off at 5.30pm.

The Vista Squad is a user group for Windows Vista and they meet on a regular basis to discuss all things related to Windows Vista from product features to coding.  Besides the two presentations, given by experts from around the UK, there"s a great chance to network with other enthusiasts and enjoy some of the pizza laid on for the event.  This month, the agenda includes a talk on Bitlocker from Microsoft"s very own Stephen Lamb and an introduction to WPF from Ray Booysen - jedi coder from DotNet Solutions. 

For more information and to register for the event be sure to follow this link.

Should be a good event - so hope to see you there!

Today at WinHEC 2007 in Los Angeles, Bill Gates announced the final name for what was previously known only as Windows Server codename "Longhorn."  Windows Server 2008, which recently reached the Beta 3 milestone, is expected to ship before the end of the year.  Here"s video of the announcement from WinHEC earlier today:

 

[Go to the site to view embedded SoapBox video]

 

You can download the Windows Server 2008 fact sheet from Microsoft PressPass and visit the newly branded Windows Server 2008 website for details.  Also, check out the amusing "What’s in a name?" video too.  (No, that"s not exactly how our naming process usually works).

 

Senior Product Manager Ian Hameroff has also posted about the Windows Server 2008 announcement on the Windows Server Blog.  Ian also demoed some of Windows Server 2008"s new features earlier today during the WinHEC keynote.

Dwight Silverman, the tech reviewer at the Houston Chronicle, has written about the impact that the Aero theme has on battery life and performance (under the provocative title "Vista, Aero, battery life . . . and Doom" -- he"s referring to the game Doom3, BTW).  It"s a good post and I"d like to take a minute to expand on what Dwight has written.

First off, yes, as Dwight correctly points out, the Aero theme drives the GPU harder and therefore uses more power.  But in the big picture, it"s really not that much more.  For example, the display on most laptops will consume somewhere between 15-25% of your "power budget" when you are running on battery.  Nevertheless, in our testing we"ve seen that turning on Aero consumes only about 1-4% more of battery life.  In terms of making your battery last longer, turning off Aero will not go very far while at the same time costing you some of the cool features that make Windows Vista fun to use, such as Flip 3D, taskbar previews, window transparency and so on.

Further, as Dwight correctly points out, your mileage can vary widely depending on the workload the machine is running (he uses the example of playing Doom3.)  To use an Aero-specific example, you would use more power enabling transparent window borders and stacking a lot of windows upon a portion of the screen showing a video clip.  The GPU would be required to constantly re-render those parts of the screen that make up the transparent window edges, which in turn drives the GPU harder.

Now, we know there are times when you want to fully maximize battery life and every little bit helps.  It"s for this reason that we automatically turn off things like window transparency when the machine is put into a power-saving profile.  We don"t turn off Aero wholesale because in the end, doing so is not going to save you much more power.  So we turn off the transparency effects and maintain a smooth user experience.  We know that it results in a tradeoff, but we also think it"s a fair one to make.

P.S.  As an aside, I recently learned that testing the impact of software features on battery life is exceptionally tricky, even by benchmarking standards.  A huge number of variables must be controlled for.  In fact, something as simple as the way a battery is handled can introduce enough variability into testing to make it difficult to identify the true cause of any observed changes in performance or battery life.  This is because the charge a battery requires can vary considerably based on, among other things, the battery technology (Li-poly, Li-ion, Ni-MH, etc.), how recently the battery was power-cycled, how old the battery is, and even the temperature of the battery when it was charged.  Wow.

Last week we showed you how to make some interesting Search Folders on Windows Vista.  If you"re like me, you probably can"t get enough of them.  Today, I want to introduce you to new feature that"s a little geeky, but very useful for anyone that has to do a lot of team-based work.

The thing about Search Folders is that while they"re pretty handy for an individual, they"re not readily shareable.  If you actually open a Search Folder in notepad and look at the XML innards, you"ll see that Windows Vista automatically scopes the Search Folder to the user profile on the local PC.  This prevents me from, say, creating one and sending it to my team.

Introducing Windows Vista SearchMelts

A SearchMelt is a Windows Vista Search Folder that has been changed slightly to be generic and able to be shared.  It"s like Search + XML + Sharing -- it"s a whole bunch of melty goodness!

SearchMelts are easy to share because they are so small, usually on the order of a couple of kilobytes, but they are super-useful to people like me, and to people who need to collaborate on common documents on an on-going basis.

Follow the easy instructions below to create your own SearchMelts, and feel free to share your creations with co-workers or customers.

Creating a Windows Vista Search Folder

1. Go to the Search Explorer in Windows Vista.  TIP:  To make this easier to access, if it isn"t showing on your Start Menu, you can add Search by right-clicking the Start Orb / Properties / Tick the Start Menu radio button / Customize.  On the Customize Start Menu page, scroll down to Search and click the check box to enable it.  Click OK to back out.  Search will now appear as a menu item on the right side of your Start Menu.
2. Design a search
• Ex.:  All PowerPoint documents:
1. i. * = wildcard
2. ii. Document = only documents
3. iii. Filter control = All Office 2007, Office 97-2003 PowerPoints
3. Save as Search Folder

Turning Your Search Folder into a SearchMelt

Windows Vista does not save Search Folders in a way that is instantly shareable.  Normally, when you create a Search Folder, that search is "hard-coded," or scoped, to your PC.  So, you need to take an additional step to make them generic so they can be shared with friends, family, customers, anyone.

1. Copy the SearchMelt Creator to your Saved Searches folder.  Your Saved Searches folder can be found in the following way:
• Open the Start Menu
• Choose the user name, which is the right-hand, top-most entry.  This will open the user profile
2. Find and open the Searches folder.  To turn a Search Folder into a SearchMelt, just pick a Search Folder and drag and drop it on top of the SearchMelt Creator.
• The SearchMelt Creator is an .exe that will automatically change the scope from your PC to a generic set-up.

That"s it!

Note: not every SearchMelt will "just work."  If you have a search looking at specific places like an external hard drive on your PC or a private share, even the SearchMelt Creator won’t be able to fix those for you.  The best kind of SearchMelt is one that is made from a Search Folder that points to one PC, or to a networked PC or network share to which everyone has access.  The SearchMelt creator will only remove user-specific information contained in a Search Folder.

OK, more on searching today.  One of Windows Vista"s coolest features that I use every day is the Windows Vista Search Folder.  The concept is simple:  a Search Folder is just a saved search.  There"s a whole bunch that come with the system at installation; you can find them if you open the Start Menu, select your user name (top right-hand corner of the Start menu), and open the "Searches" folder -- it"s the folder with the magnifying glass icon.  The other way you can get to your Search Folders is from the navigation pane in any Explorer window.  When you have the "Favorite Links" view turned on in the navigation pane in Explorer (versus the "Folders" view), you"ll also see a "Searches Folder."

The system natively comes with a number of Search Folders to help get you started.  Things like "Files Shared by Me," "Recent Pictures and Videos," and "Recent Documents" are all pretty helpful as defaults.  However, I"ve found that the most useful Search Folders available are the ones that I"ve created myself.

One set of Search Folders that I cannot live without is my All Word docs, All PPTX, and All XLSX queries.  Here"s how I went about creating them:

1. Open the Search Explorer by hitting the Start button and selecting "Search"
2. Type a "*" in the Search field
3. Use the Type column to filter the resulting list, choosing all Word docs in both Office 2007 and all pre-Office 2007 formats
4. Select the option near the top of the window that says "Save Search" 

When you combine Search Folders with the Advanced Query Operators that we showed you yesterday, the sky"s the limit on getting the most out of Windows Vista"s built-in search technology.

A couple of weeks ago we showed you some of the more popular keyboard shortcuts in Windows Vista.  Now that you"ve had a chance to see how shortcuts can speed up your navigation, I thought it would be a good follow-up to show you how to not only speed up your searches, but also make them more relevant to what you"re looking for.

Over the next few days we"ll introduce you to some of the advanced search operators, show you how to create a Search Folder, and finally introduce you to a new Windows Vista-only search feature:  the "SearchMelt."

Here"s what you"ll see coming as part of our Windows Vista Search tips and tricks:

• Basic and Advanced Desktop Search Operators -- these actually work for both Windows Vista and Windows Desktop Search 3.01 on Windows XP.  (This list can also be found here, but we"ve replicated so you can search it using our blog"s search engine.)
• How to create a Windows Vista Search Folder
• How to create a Windows Vista SearchMelt

To start with, check out the latest article on putting search to work for you.

Today we"re publishing at the Microsoft Download Center a recommended final compatibility update for users of Windows Vista and the Apple iPod; this same update will be automatically available via Windows Update on Tuesday 22 May.  The release is for users worldwide and works with the latest version of Apple iTunes to correct an issue that caused some iPods to become corrupted when ejecting them using Windows Explorer or the "Safely Remove Hardware" function in the System Tray.

The long and short of it is this:  Apple and Windows have partnered together to ensure a great experience in using Windows Vista with iTunes and the iPod, and both companies recommend you download this update.

Starting today, the Live Team will begin rolling out a massive 36-language upgrade from MSN Hotmail to Windows Live Hotmail.  This is the biggest Hotmail update ever seen:  the new version of Hotmail improves safety, productivity and flexibility across clients on the web, desktop and mobile phones.

Today"s rollout begins at www.hotmail.com, where new user accounts will be created as Windows Live Hotmail accounts; existing MSN Hotmail users will be able to upgrade their accounts to Windows Live Hotmail by clicking the green Join Windows Live Hotmail button in their accounts after logging in.  The rollout is expected to occur gradually and continue throughout the next couple days.

Windows Live also announced a brand-new, free email client called Windows Live Mail, the successor to Outlook Express and Windows Mail on Windows Vista.  Also coming is a new Outlook Connector which will allow you to sync your Windows Live Hotmail account to an Outlook 2003 or 2007 client.

Read the Hotmail Team"s blog post on the launch, including a video of Hotmail"s evolution from 1996 to 2007.  Also, Kip Kniskern from LiveSide chatted with Windows Live Product Management Director Paul Major to find out a little bit more on the launch announcement.

I"m sure Brandon will soon have in-depth coverage of these announcements in the Windows Experience Blog, so keep your eyes peeled ...