An In-Depth Look at Vista, Part 2
Pages: 1, 2, 3, 4

Tips and Tricks

Getting Back the File Menu

Most windows in Windows Vista Beta 1 hide the familiar File menu. If you miss the File menu, you can press the Alt key to reveal the menu (see Figure 10).

Figure 10. Showing the familiar File menu

Creative Sound Cards

Windows Vista Beta 1 has known issues with some Creative sound cards (in particular the Audigy series). You can fix this issue with the drivers from the kX project.

Remote Desktop Connection

Remote Desktop in Windows Vista Beta 1 now sounds off a warning (see Figure 11) when you try to connect to a remote computer. While it still behaves like the old Remote Desktop, it is now taking security seriously, and it wants you to know exactly what you are doing.

Figure 11. Remote Desktop

User Account Protection

Another area that shows the improved security in Windows Vista Beta 1 is the new User Account Protection (UAP; formerly known as Least-Privileged User Account). Using the UAP, you can ensure that Windows will always prompt you for your permission before making changes that require administration rights to the system. This is much like Mac OS X, where you need to enter your administrator password in order to install new items into your system. To turn on (or off) UAP, go to Start->Programs->Turn UAP Settings On or Off (see Figure 12).

Figure 12. Turning UAP On or Off

Installing Windows Vista Beta 1 on a USB Drive

This is one area that I failed to successfully perform. I tried to install Windows Vista Beta 1 on a USB hard drive, hoping to externally boot from it. However, I only managed to get past the initial installation stage and, after a reboot, the familiar blue-screen-of-death appears. If you have managed to install it on an external USB drive, do share it with us at the Talkback link below.

Wei-Meng Lee (Microsoft MVP) http://weimenglee.blogspot.com is a technologist and founder of Developer Learning Solutions http://www.developerlearningsolutions.com, a technology company specializing in hands-on training on the latest Microsoft technologies.

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