Windows Vista features an improved Start menu that allows for faster launching of applications and integrated desktop search. The new Windows Sidebar provides instant access to customizable mini-applications called gadgets that give quick access to information and tools. Internet Explorer 7 introduces RSS feed support, allowing automatic updates from subscribed websites without visiting individual sites. Windows Vista also offers improved backup and restore functionality through the Windows Backup and Restore Center to protect users from data loss.

1. Shae Carter

2. User Experience When you start using Windows Vista, you will recognize familiar elements such as the Start menu, which is now faster, more streamlined, and more helpful than in previous versions of Windows. The Start menu features integrated desktop search through a new feature called Instant Search which can help you find and launch almost anything on your PC. Just type in a word, a name, or a phrase, and Instant Search can find the right file for you. But more than that, the new start menu makes it very easy for you to navigate across all of the installed applications on your PC. Eliminating the slow performing, cascading "All Programs" view, the new start menu can help you get something started more quickly than ever.

3. Windows Sidebar and Gadgets As you use your computer to access more information, perform more tasks, and interact with more software applications, you increasingly face information overload. You open a web browser just to check the weather, open an application to view your calendar, and open a calculator program to simply add numbers. You need simple, specialized, and lightweight mini-applications that put information and tasks at your fingertips—no matter what you're doing. Windows Sidebar boosts your personal productivity by providing instant access to gadgets—a wide variety of engaging, easy-to-use, and customizable mini-applications that offer information at a glance and provide easy access to frequently used tools.

4. Internet 7 Internet Explorer 7 also provides new tools to give you direct access to information you want, with built-in support for web feeds known as Really Simple Syndication (RSS). RSS is a technology you can use to have information sent to you, so you don't have to look for it. Through RSS subscriptions, you can automatically receive feeds (lists) of headlines from Internet sites. Internet Explorer 7 discovers these feeds on sites and allows you to preview and subscribe to them. Once you subscribe, Internet Explorer 7 systematically consolidates headlines from each feed into one list. This lets you quickly browse new information from various sites without having to visit each site separately.

5. Windows Back up Windows Vista provides valuable new innovations to help ensure you never lose information that is important to you. Windows Vista offers multiple layers of backup and restore protection from hardware failure, user error, or other issues. These innovations include system restore enhancements, a new feature called Windows Backup, and a related feature: Previous Versions, based on the Volume Shadow Copy technology which was first introduced with the Windows Server product family. These features are presented in a single, unified Windows Backup and Restore Center.

6. Windows Update Windows Update keeps your computer up to date and more secure by automatically providing software updates to Microsoft Windows Vista. Updates can include upgrades to Windows Vista features, updates that improve reliability and performance, and updates that provide new security protections against malware and other potentially unwanted software. Windows Update makes updating easy and minimizes disruption to your work. It's easy to start updating—when you set up Windows Vista, you can set options that enable Windows Update to automatically download and install updates for you—so you can "set it and forget it."