MeisterPlanet

I’m trying out one of Microsoft Vista’s new performance features, ReadyBoost, courtesy of a SanDisk 2GB USB flash drive purchased for $29 at Best Buy.

ReadyBoost was designed by Microsoft as a way to add additional memory cache to the system in order to inexpensively speed up performance. Currently, my Windows Vista Ultimate install does feel slightly faster and there is seems to be improvement when playing a game like Battlefield 2142, but I haven’t run any benchmark tests to prove it’s anything other than merely a perceived increase.

That said, for $29 it’s a cheap enough experiment with the new operating system that I’m not regretting having done it.

Even though the operating system has been out for nearly two weeks already, let alone hyped for years, there’s still a number of questions out there about what exactly is new in Microsoft Windows Vista compared to Windows XP.

Fortunately, once again Wikipedia comes to the rescue.

Two of the two features of Microsoft Windows Vista that I believe will be a major improvement for the average user are Windows Mail and Microsoft Calendar.

Windows Mail feels much more like Outlook Lite than Outlook Express did, with many of the features the full version of Outlook included in this free program. Of particular interest for the average home user is the improved junk email filters, antiphishing protection and instant search features from within the operating system itself.

Windows Calendar, also included in Vista, makes a great tool for planning your time and reminding you of important events. The software includes the ability to share your calendar with others and even publish your schedule to any iCalendar ready application or online service.

While most professional and power users will continue to use Microsoft Office’s Outlook program, for the average home user this is a nice set of features included free with Vista.

Confused by which version of Microsoft Vista you should buy?

Let the Geek Squad Vista Configurator help.