Vista Live Taskbar Thumbnail

Aero also enables dynamic window animations, so that when you minimize a window to
the taskbar, it subtly animates to show you exactly where it went. This kind of functionality
was actually first introduced in Windows 95, but it has been made more subtle and
fluid in Windows Vista. Additionally, Aero enables Live Taskbar Thumbnails: When you
mouse over buttons in the taskbar, a small thumbnail preview will pop up, letting you see
the window without having to actually activate it first, as shown below

Windows Vista Aero

Windows Vista Aero is the premium user experience in Windows Vista and the one most
users will want to access. It provides a number of unique features.
First, Vista Aero enables the new Aero Glass look and feel in which the Start Menu,
taskbar, and all onscreen windows and dialog boxes take on a new glass-like translucent
sheen. In Figure 4-5, you can see how overlapping objects translucently reveal what’s
underneath.

Windows Vista Classic Interface

Like Windows XP, Windows Vista includes a user experience called Windows Classic that
resembles the user interfaces that Microsoft shipped with Windows 95, 98, Me, and 2000
(it most closely resembles Windows 2000). This interface is available on all Windows Vista
product editions, including Starter edition. Classic is included in Windows Vista almost
solely for businesses that don’t want to undergo the expense of retraining their employees
to use the newer user experiences.

Even though Microsoft markets Windows Classic as being identical to the Windows
2000 look and feel, the truth is that there are numerous differences, so users will still
require some training when moving to Windows Vista and Classic mode. For example,
the Start Menu and Explorer windows still retain the layouts that debuted with
Windows Vista, and not the styles you might be used to in Windows 2000. However,
you can fix this somewhat. To use the old Start Menu, right-click the Start button and
choose Properties. Then, select the option titled Classic Start menu and then click OK.
It’s a bit more complicated to use a Windows Explorer look and feel that is closer to
that of Windows 2000. To do so, open Computer from the Start Menu and then press
the Alt key to display the Classic menu (which is disabled by default in Windows
Vista). Select Folder Options from the Tools menu to display the Folder Options dialog.
Then, select the option titled Use Windows classic folders and click OK. Voilà!
Your system should now look a bit more like Windows 2000, as Shown below

(Secret) 

If you work in the IT department of a business that is considering deploying
Windows Vista, you can actually roll out a feature called Classic Mode via Group
Policy (GP) that does, in fact, configure Windows Vista to look almost exactly like
Windows 2000. Classic Mode essentially combines the Classic user experience with
the secrets mentioned previously.

Microsoft’s Obscure Stash of Legacy Drivers

Even if the Vista Upgrade Advisor tells you that you need new drivers, and that they
aren’t known to be available, you still may have something that will work.
That something is called an XP driver. Yep, a driver that works fine under Windows XP
may also work fine under Vista, even though the Upgrade Advisor doesn’t say so.
Table 3-1 shows scores of drivers that Microsoft developers refer to as “XP drivers for
legacy devices which we believe to function well on Windows Vista.” These drivers, however,
won’t be included with Vista and the Upgrade Advisor may or may not say that
they’re compatible, in case your system already has one or more of them.
Sources within Microsoft report that, “For various reasons, these drivers will not be ‘in the
box’ for the final version of Vista.” If you’re having trouble getting Vista to work well with
a particular piece of hardware, and you can’t find a Vista-specific driver for it, you could
try locating and installing an XP driver as a last resort.
To install an XP driver, you’ll need to download it from a manufacturer’s site or have a
copy of the driver on a CD, a USB drive, or some other medium. You can then use Vista’s
Add Hardware control panel to try to write the new driver to your hard disk.
Be sure to copy the old driver to a safe location, such as a USB drive, in case the new
driver works worse than the old one did and you need to switch back.
The list in Table 3-1 includes drivers for a lot of Ethernet cards and Wi-Fi adapters, for
some reason. If your PC can’t connect to a wired network or can’t see your wireless router
after installing Vista, this list of XP drivers that Microsoft developers believe will work
under Vista could help you find software to correct the situation.
Our thanks to Wendy Stidmon of Microsoft for assembling the list of XP drivers that work
in Vista.

The list in Table 3-1 includes drivers for a lot of Ethernet cards and Wi-Fi adapters, for
some reason. If your PC can’t connect to a wired network or can’t see your wireless router
after installing Vista, this list of XP drivers that Microsoft developers believe will work
under Vista could help you find software to correct the situation.
Our thanks to Wendy Stidmon of Microsoft for assembling the list of XP drivers that work
in Vista.

Choosing the Whole Enchilada—Vista Ultimate

You can use Tables 1-2 through 1-5 to compare those features of the lesser Vista versions
that come together in Microsoft’s priciest product: Vista Ultimate. To get it, you’ll pay a list
price of $60 to $100 more than Vista Business or $100 to $160 more than Home Premium.
Without knowing what your specific needs may be, it’s impossible for us to say whether
you’ll want or need this enormous package.
As we stated previously, the only serious reason to pay extra to get Vista Ultimate is if you
absolutely must have two features, one of which exists only in Home Premium (such as
Windows Media Center) and the other of which can only be obtained in Business or
Enterprise (such as domain login).
At the time of this writing, Microsoft promises to release a number of add-ons called the
Windows Ultimate Extras. These weren’t well defined at all, however, when we went to
press. You’ll have to be the judge of whether these extras are worth anything to you or
your business.
Of course, you might purchase Vista Ultimate just because you want everything Microsoft
has to offer, and cost is no object. If so—enjoy!

Summary
Windows Vista certainly offers a lot of choice when it comes to picking a product version,
but with a little know-how, you will be able to make the right choice, one that matches
both your needs and your budget. We’ve given you what you need to know to match a
Vista version to your needs. Now, you just need to figure out how much the upgrade is
going to cost. Remember that it’s often much cheaper to acquire a new Windows version
with a new PC, so if you’re going to be buying a new PC, be sure to get the right Vista
version at that time. We’ll look this option in Chapter 2.