The long awaited successor to Windows XP has finally arrived… well, somewhat. Microsoft has christened its long-in-coming brainchild, code-named Longhorn, with the new commercial name Windows Vista. Currently, Vista is available only to a select few such as MSDN subscribers.

Vista is slated to be released to the general purchasing public in the first half of 2006. It has been almost four years since Microsoft has released a new desktop operating system. Microsoft guarantees that Vista will be as momentous an upgrade as Windows 95 was for Windows 3.1, even though Vista will be lacking several highly anticipated features that were originally announced to be included in Longhorn. I have previewed the Beta 1 release of Vista, and I am offering you my take on the operating system .

Windows Vista may be the panacea of operating systems that will finally unite PC, Mac and Linux users alike… who am I kidding? One’s operating system preference is as obstinate as one’s views on politics or religion. However, Vista does attempt to end belligerencies by including many of the beloved features from Mac OS X and open source platforms, such as Linux.

For example, Vista has revved up it graphical user interface with a new look-and-feel known as Aero. Aero still retains much of XP roots such as the Start menu and taskbar, but now includes features like semi-transparent windows (known as Aero glass which requires your system have a 3D accelerator card) and more enjoyable window fades and appears that still entrance Mac-lovers so much. Although the Beta 1 release’s User Interface is somewhat drab (most elements have black and white undertones), Microsoft promises that the final release will be much more visually stimulating.

Another example of Vista’s integration of non-Microsoft concepts is the new security model that Vista will take on. Microsoft has finally decided to make security a priority. Like Linux and UNIX, Vista will contain user accounts that still allow much functionality (unlike Windows XP’s limited user accounts) but will require Administrator privileges for certain operations (for you Linux types, that’s root access).

Even Administrator accounts will run at standard user privileges most of the time. This approach to user account will lessen the infiltration of malicious code onto one’s system.

Microsoft also plans to offer a comprehensive antivirus and antispyware package, but it will not be released with Vista; rather it will be offered in the form of a OneCare subscription. Vista also offers parental controls, which can restrict a user from playing games based on their ESRB rating, but I doubt many of you will care about that.

For you Firefox fans, Vista will offer Internet Explorer 7 with many of the same features and more. IE7 will offer the cherished tabbed browsing feature thatFirefox introduced, and vamped up security will also make IE7 safe from spyware and phishing.

For you Mac and Linux users who love to brag about your system’s inability to crash, Vista boasts a new device driver model that reduce system crashes (sorry, it cannot guarantee no crashes). The new model requires that drivers be written with user-mode code rather than kernel-mode code; therefore, errors with devices will not cause system level failures. Vista also has a self-diagnostic repair module to correct hardware and software problems.

Vista also has exciting mobility and connectivity features. Users can broadcast presentations to other users during a meeting. Vista has an advanced new synchronization manager for more capable synchronization between desktop and laptop (much like Outlook 2003’s Cached Exchange Mode if you’re familiar with Exchange Server 2003).

Vista also boasts a new improved sleep mode, sort of an amalgamation of standby mode and hibernation mode.

In conclusion, Vista offers an immense amount of exciting new features, many of which have yet to be revealed. It is crunch time for Microsoft, though, with an impending deadline.

Many features are being dropped or already have been dropped and changed to add-ons for the future. The “clear vision” that was Longhorn is not as clear in Vista as Microsoft projected. Nevertheless, Vista will be a tremendous addition to the PC users library.