In part three of my review on Windows Vista, I am going to look into some of the bundled applications including Windows Media Player and Windows Internet Explorer.
I personally am not very happy about some of the applications included, as a software developer I feel that I will lose out on potential customers because of the included programs such as Windows Photo Gallery, because users of Windows Vista will just use that rather than looking at applications on the internet.
All the same programs see a return in Vista, including good old Notepad, Paint and Sound Recorder. All applications have undergone a new look making it fit in with the rest of the OS.
Windows Media Player Version 11
This application is also available to Windows XP SP2 users. The new version is much more attractive and fits in perfectly with the new interface. You can change the tints of the interface as well to customise it to how you want it.
A much improved library makes it easier and quicker to find music. Album Art icons allow you to quickly find an album just like you would on a CD rack. There are plenty of viewing options such as Artist and Genre for better sorting.
A handy back button allows you to go back to the task you were previously doing and all controls are centred at the bottom of the window.
Windows Internet Explorer Version 7.0
Again, available to XP SP2 users as well, this new version of the highly popular Internet Explorer offers tabbed browsing, better (but annoying) security, RSS support, better CSS support, advanced printing and fantastic page zooming options.
The new browser claims fantastic security but it is very annoying, if you used IE 6 you may have noticed that annoying yellow bar at the top of the browsing frame, well it returns in full force in IE 7.
IE 6 was behind the times for a long time, this is when my favourite browser, Mozilla Firefox started to get a look in. 6 years later IE 7 was released and many of the features had been around for a number of years including tabbed browsing and RSS feed support.
Better CSS support make pages look much better and the zooming capabilities are much better than any that I have seen previously because IE enlarges everything including images and videos along with the text.
Windows Photo Gallery
Windows Photo Gallery is designed to be your main image viewer and has some small fix tools such as red eye removal, adjusting colours, exposures and cropping your images, that is about all you can do in editing, so you may want to buy a dedicated graphics package or take a look at Google Picasa.
Google Picasa is something that I am reminded by when I look at this application because there are parts which look very familiar hmmm…, Microsoft are moving to copy Google now.
You can build a movie using Windows Movie Maker by simply selecting your images and clicking Make a Movie. You can also print or email your images.
Images are sorted into playlists like in Windows Media Player which is what the looks of the application are based on.
The program is perfect for organising, printing, emailing and performing quick fixes on your images, for more advanced editing and organisation I suggest Google Picasa although the application is good enough for most users.
Windows Defender
Like Media Player and Internet Explorer, Windows Defender is available for both Windows XP SP2 and Vista. It is designed to protect against malicious and unwanted software (malware), it is not an anti virus software, so make sure that you install something like AVG to ensure maximum protection.
The application is simple to use and sticks close to the Windows Vista theme. You can perform a scan of your system which is quick and thorough, and there is also a handy software explorer so that you can see in depth details about currently running applications.
Accessories
All the main accessory programs like Paint, Notepad and Calculator return in Windows Vista, all sporting the new Vista interface, Paint seems to have gone through a nice upgrade with a move around of controls and much better zooming capabilities.
There are many more accessories included in Windows Vista, along with the sidebar there are better system tools like backing up facilities and the Welcome centre.
Conclusion
I have just looked at the main bundled programs in Windows Vista, there are more such as Windows Movie Maker and Windows Media Centre (available in higher end versions). I am glad to see that Paint has been improved as it is very popular for simple image tasks, it is little updates which make Windows Vista much better than previous versions.
Next Part
In the next part of my review of Windows Vista I am going to look into the shell of Windows Vista including the new file structure and Windows Explorer. So come back soon to read part four.
Simon North, 6th February 2007
