New Vista preview comes out to play

Microsoft on Monday released another preview version of Windows Vista, adding a number of security features, as well as performance and user interface functions.

Monday's release is the expected third Community Technology Preview (CTP) version of Vista, the successor to Windows XP due by the end of 2006. The preview releases allow Microsoft to gather feedback on the new operating system more quickly than it could using only a traditional beta program, the company said.

Shanen Boettcher, senior director in Microsoft's Windows Client group, said: "We're getting more frequent and better feedback than we have ever gotten before in any previous release of Windows, and it is making the product much better."

The latest test version is being made available to about half a million people, including a pool of technical testers in addition to members of Microsoft's MSDN and TechNet developer programmes.

Testers will see a number of new features in the update, several of which are on the security front:

• Windows Defender, an update to Windows AntiSpyware, is designed to protect Windows PCs against spyware, rootkits and other threats. Windows Defender has improved detection and removal capabilities as well as a new user interface which, according to Microsoft, is simpler and fits better with Windows Vista.

• BitLocker Drive Encryption is meant to protect data on computers when lost or stolen. The full disk encryption feature is designed to work with a chip called the Trusted Platform Module, or TPM, which offers protected storage of encryption keys, passwords and digital certificates.

• Tighter control over removable storage devices lets system administrators centrally block the installation of, for example, USB flash drives and external hard drives. This feature is designed to help prevent corporate intellectual property or sensitive data from being compromised or stolen.

• Parental controls designed to let parents limit and monitor computer usage, including setting time limits, restricting websites that can be visited and generating reports on computer usage.

Other security related updates include an enhanced firewall and added security in Internet Explorer to protect against misuse of domain names with international characters in phishing scams.

Other than security, the new Vista preview release promises enhancements in performance. For example, USB flash memory drives can be used as additional memory for Windows SuperFetch, a new feature in Vista that caches often-used information, making it accessible faster, according to Microsoft.

Microsoft has also updated the Vista user interface, adding transparent windows, smoother transitions and a redesigned start menu, the company said.

The new preview release also includes an update to Windows Media Player and gives a peek at the successor to Windows XP Media Center Edition with the new Windows Media Center. Microsoft will share more details of Vista's media features at January's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the company said.

The latest Vista preview doesn't include all of the features that Microsoft has planned for the Windows XP successor, Boettcher said.

He said: "We're on a path to be code complete by the end of 2005, so we will see that likely in the next release of the CTP." Microsoft anticipates the next preview release will be early next year, he added.

Boettcher would not detail which features Microsoft has yet to add to Vista.

Along with the updated preview of Windows Vista, Microsoft on Monday sent out an updated version of its next major Windows Server release to testers. The updated Windows Server Longhorn code is available only to participants in a private beta test program and not available via MSDN or TechNet, Microsoft said. To date, the first and only public build of the server operating system was distributed in September at Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference.

Joris Evers writes for CNET News.com