25 Selling Points For Vista

The first Windows Vista versions for businesses are out the door, and the mainstream versions are due to hit the market at the end of next month. That leaves VARs lots of work to do (if they haven't done some of it already) to get customers primed to upgrade to the next-gen Microsoft platform or at least thinking about doing so.

To help get the ball rolling for solution providers, the CRN Test Center put together a listing of 25 Vista selling points to take to customers.

1. Aero Glass Interface
Brings a clean look to the desktop.

2. Task Manager
Offers 3-D representation, or Thumbnails, of running applications.

3. BitLocker
Encrypts hard drives to protect data.

4. User Account Control
Provides improved control of user rights.

5. Mobility Center
Groups common mobility tasks together.

6. Windows Firewall
True software firewall offers advanced protection.

7. Group Policies
More than 500 added controls.

8. Ready Boost
Speed up systems by adding a USB drive.

9. RSS Feeds
Vista brings a built-in RSS reader for Internet Explorer 7.

10. Tabbed Browsing
IE7 enables users to open new content in tabbed windows.

11. Digital Sandbox
Activities in the browser are isolated from critical OS files.

12. Deployment Tools
Integrated imaging and management tools make deployments easier.

13. User Account Protection
Prevents the installation of unauthorized software.