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| XP | Vista | Comments / notes |
| UI |
| Find windows | Alt+tab | Flip and Flip 3D | Alt-Tab Replacement / taskswitch provides window image preview for XP. Flip / Flip 3D not available in Home Basic or without Aero. |
| Icons | Static icons, image preview tool (limited document support) | Live Icons and taskbar thumbnails | Live Icons (scalable, document preview, etc.) not available in Home Basic or without Aero. |
| Search | Search (unindexed) | Instant Search, Search Folders | Search Folders: virtual folders containing files matching search criteria |
| Shell / window environment | Luna (XP) and Royale (MCE 2005) | Aero ("Glass") | Full Aero glass not available in Home Basic; may require graphics card upgrade. |
| Software |
| Backup | System Restore | Backup and Restore Center, Previous Versions / ShadowCopy | Previous Versions / ShadowCopy only available in Business, Enterprise, or Ultimate Edition. |
| Browser | Internet Explorer 7 | Internet Explorer 7 | IE7 must be downloaded separately for XP. |
| Calendar | Nope | Windows Calendar | To date, most calendaring in Windows is done in "full" Outlook. |
| Contacts | Outlook Express (no system contacts) | Windows Contacts | To date, most contact keeping in Windows is done in Outlook and/or on the domain. |
| Email | Outlook Express | Windows Mail |
|
| Explorer | The usual | Now with content organization | Not bad, but not incredibly useful, either. |
| Faxing and scanning | XP Scanner and Camera Wizard / fax services | Windows Fax and Scan | Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate only. |
| Speech recognition | Windows Speech Recognition | Windows Speech Recognition |
|
| Tablet and touchscreen | Only in Tablet PC edition | Yep | Not available in Home Basic. |
| Transfer | Files and Settings Transfer Wizard | Windows Easy Transfer | Basically the ame thing, but Windows Easy Transfer enables new methods of transfer, including Easy Transfer Cables ( i.e. USB to USB). |
| Widgets | Nope | Windows Sidebar and Gadgets | XP has two commonly used, free widgets environments available: Yahoo Widgets (aka Konfabulator), Google Desktop. |
| Networking and connectivity |
| Networking | Network Setup Wizard | Network Center (Network Explorer, Map, Setup, Awareness, Projector) | Hooray, lots of new superflous network utilities! |
| Network projector | Nope | Yep |
|
| Remote desktop (host) | Available in XP Pro, MCE 2005, Tablet | Available only in Business and Ultimate | The new targeted equivalent of MCE 2005, Home Premium, loses RDC! Bummer! |
| Wireless | WiFi with WPA 2 support | WiFi with WPA 2 support | Vista now has improved WiFi ad-hoc / connection sharing. |
| Media |
| Media Center interface | Only in Windows Media Center Edition | Only in Home Premium or Ultimate Edition |
|
| Media Center Extender | Only in MCE | Only in Home Premium or Ultimate Edition |
|
| NTSC and ATSC tuners | Only in MCE | Only in Home Premium or Ultimate Edition |
|
| CableCARD / DCT | Nope | Only in Home Premium or Ultimate Edition |
|
| Media software | Windows Media Player 11 | Windows Media Player 11 |
|
| DVD authoring | Nope | DVD Maker |
|
| Imaging | Windows Picture and Fax Viewer | Windows Photo Gallery |
|
| Video | Windows Movie Maker | Windows Movie Maker (with HD support) | Now only in Home Premium and Ultimate. Minus points for taking it out of Home Basic. |
| Security |
| Antivirus | Nope | Nope |
|
| Email filtering | None in Outlook Express | Junk and phishing filters in Windows Mail |
|
| Family settings | Basic user accounts | Windows Family Safety Settings (with ESRB game support) | Not available in Business, Enterprise. |
| Malware | Windows Defender and Malicious Software Removal Tool | Windows Defender and Malicious Software Removal Tool | Defender must be downloaded separately for XP. |
| Network access prevention | Nope | Network Access Protection |
|
| Network(ed) security | Windows Security Center | Windows Security Center | Provides firewall, automatic updates, and reminds users to install 3rd party antivirus software. |
| Windows Services | Admin / remote authentication | Windows Service Hardening |
|
| Gaming |
| DirectX 10 | Nope | Yep |
|
| Xbox Live Anywhere | Nope | Yep |
|
| Performance and hardware |
| Architecture | 32 and 64-bit support | 32 and 64-bit support |
|
| Auto-defrag | Nope | Yep | The new defrag util is dumbed down and doesn't show users what's what with their disk. Bad Microsoft, better defrag > auto defrag. |
| Auxiliary display | Nope | SideShow | Not available in Home Basic. |
| Drive encryption | Windows XP Encrypting File System | EFS and Vista BitLocker | BitLocker only available in Enterprise and Ultimate |
| USB cacheing | Nope | Windows ReadyBoost | Requires 512MB or greater USB drive. |
| Optimization | The usual multitasking | Windows SuperFetch and Windows ReadyDrive | Vista claims to improve efficiency of cached data in memory, as well as startup and spin time of hard drives. |
| Sync | ActiveSync | Windows Sync Center |
|
| Usage profiling | Basic battery / power profiles | Mobility Center (network profiles, sync, battery / power, etc.) | XP can handle some sync / profiling with Microsoft's SyncToy. |
| Business |
| Domain support | XP Pro, MCE 2005 | Vista Business, Enterprise, Ultimate only | MCE 2005 only by way of hack. |
| Integrated IIS | XP Pro, MCE 2005 | Vista Business, Enterprise, Ultimate |
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| Offline files and folders | XP Pro, MCE 2005 | Vista Business, Enterprise, Ultimate |
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| Presentation mode | Nope | Vista Business, Enterprise, Ultimate |
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| Other |
| Upgradeable | Not without reinstall | Windows Upgrade Anytime | Upgrade paths: Basic -> Home Premium or Ultimate; Home Premium and Business -> Ultimate |
