Microsoft Virtualization Secrets

Key Features Introduced in Windows Vista and Windows 7

When considering a move to a 64-bit client OS, make sure that 64-bit drivers are available for all hardware and any software that uses drivers, such as antivirus. Any 32-bit applications should run fine on a 64-bit OS.

Windows Vista, code-named Longhorn, was talked about and tested for a long time before finally being released to manufacturing in November 2006, a five-year gap since the initial release of Windows XP. Windows Vista included a huge number of new features and a large number of security improvements. Many of the great Windows 7 features people often talk about were actually introduced in Windows Vista. Figure 2-7 is one of the slides I have used when talking about Windows Vista and even Windows 7. It gives you an idea of the sheer scale of changes made in Windows Vista. The server version of Longhorn, Windows Server 2008, was released in February 2008, more than a year past the Windows Vista release, and it included Service Pack 1 because Windows Server 2008 shares the same codebase as Windows Vista, and SP1 for Windows Vista had already been released. Both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 were released to support the shift to 64-bit-capable processors and systems.

Figure 2-7: Some of the major Windows Vista features

In the autumn of 2009, Microsoft released Windows 7 and Windows ...