Management features new to Windows Vista
Windows Vista contains a range of new technologies and features that are intended to help network administrators and power users better manage their systems.
Notable changes include a complete replacement of both the Windows Setup and the Windows startup processes, completely rewritten deployment mechanisms, new diagnostic and health monitoring tools such as random access memory diagnostic program, support for per-application Remote Desktop sessions, a completely new Task Scheduler, and a range of new Group Policy settings covering many of the features new to Windows Vista.
[1] Windows XP only supported loading storage drivers from floppy diskettes during initialization of the setup process; Windows Vista supports loading drivers for SATA, SCSI, and RAID controllers from any external source in addition to floppy diskettes prior to its installation.
The new Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) detects and repairs various operating system problems; it presents a set of options dedicated to diagnostics including Startup Repair, System Restore, Backup and Restore, Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool, Command Prompt, and options specific to original equipment manufacturers.
Other system specific software, such as device drivers and other applications, are installed and configured afterwards.
Corporations can author their own image files (using the WIM format) which might include all the applications that the organization wants to deploy.
This ability is used by Microsoft to include all editions of Windows Vista on the same disc,[10] and install the proper version based on the provided product key.
It can also be used to generate an image from a running installation, including all data and applications, for backup purposes.
The ActiveX Installer Service is an optional component included with the Business, Enterprise and Ultimate editions that provides a method for network administrators in a domain to authorize the installation and upgrade of specific ActiveX controls while operating as a standard user.
ActiveX components that have been listed in Group Policy can be installed without a User Account Control consent dialog being displayed.
[12] Windows Vista includes a number of self-diagnostic features which help identify various problems and, if possible, suggest corrective actions.
Such categorizing and advanced filtering allows viewing logs related only to a certain subsystem or an issue with only a certain component.
Most importantly a new set of public APIs have been created for reporting failures other than application crashes and hangs.
The architecture of Windows Error Reporting has been revamped with a focus on reliability and user experience.
In Windows XP, the process terminated silently without generating an error report in these conditions.
It is a Control Panel applet that keeps a record of all system and application errors and issues, as well as presents probable solutions to problems.
Remote Assistance is configurable using Group Policy and supports command-line switches so that custom shortcuts can be deployed.
Windows Vista includes Microsoft Management Console 3.0 (MMC), which introduced several enhancements, including support for writing .NET snap-ins using Windows Forms and running multiple tasks in parallel.
The new MMC interface includes support for better graphics and as well as featuring a task pane that shows actions available for a snap-in, when it is selected.
[31] A new XML based policy definition file format, known as ADMX has been introduced.
ADMX files contain the configuration settings for individual Group Policy Objects (GPO).
[32] Up to Windows XP, only the Application Data, Desktop, My Documents, My Pictures, and Start Menu folders can be redirected to a file server.
Services for UNIX has been renamed Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications, and is included with the Enterprise and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista.
Also, WMI classes expose all controllable features of the operating system, and can be accessed from scripting languages.
