Maximum PC Microsoft Windows Vista Exposed: An Insider's Guide to Supercharging Windows Vista

Description

Maximum PC Windows Vista Exposed

Is Windows XP making you feel like a 98-pound weakling? Is the bevy of security holes, patches, and networking gotchas making you want to reach for a revolver? If so, then you’re like millions of others who are ready to install Windows Vista–the sorely needed revision to the world’s most popular operating system. Maximum PC shows you how to get the most out of this dramatic improvement to Windows. Far from being a mere cosmetic makeover of Windows XP, Windows Vista has been reengineered from the ground up to provide a solid foundation for business, home, education, gaming, and multimedia users. We take the guesswork out of getting up to speed with Vista, and we do it without making you want to put your fist through the screen. Chock full of real world, hands-on solutions, Maximum PC Windows Vista Exposed will have you up and running in no time flat.

Here’s what you’ll find inside…

·         Coverage of Vista’s all-new Aero interface

·         The skinny on Vista’s new menu system

·         Deep coverage of new apps within Vista, including Windows Media Player 11, Windows Movie Maker 6, Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Media Center, and Windows DVD Maker

·         How to secure your PC with Vista’s vastly improved security and user management features

·         Advice for protecting yourself from hackers, spammers, spies, and phishers

·         Details on new parental controls designed to help you protect your family

·         Coverage of a heavily revamped Internet Explorer, as well as the new, built-in email application, Windows Mail.

·         Steps for setting up your own home network (wired or wireless) with Vista’s much improved networking capabilities

 

Mark Edward Soper has taught computer troubleshooting and other technical subjects to thousands of students from Maine to Hawaii since 1992. Mark is the author of eight books, most recently Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Home Automation, and co-author of nine books, most recently Upgrading and Repairing Networks, Fifth Edition. He is a longtime contributor to Upgrading and Repairing PCs, working on the eleventh through seventeenth editions. He has contributed chapters to Upgrading and Repairing Networks Second Edition, Special Edition Using Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition, Special Edition Using Microsoft Windows XP (all editions) and Special Edition Using Microsoft Windows Vista. Mark is currently writing Windows Vista Media Center Unleashed and Upgrading and Repairing PCs: A+ Certification Study Guide. He is a regular contributor to Maximum PC magazine, and has contributed chapters to Maximum PC Guide to Building a Dream PC and Maximum PC Ultimate PC Performance Guide.

 

Introduction 1

Part I:        Introducing Windows Vista    3

1        Welcome to Windows Vista       5

2        The Many Editions of Windows Vista    23

Part II:       Getting to Work with Vista     35

3        Installing Windows Vista   37

4        Mastering the Vista User Interface       73

5        Vista Tools for Faster and Better File Organization   97

6        Mastering Your Hardware and Environment with Vista       121

7        Managing Your Contacts with Vista      151

Part III:     Windows Vista at Play: Entertainment, Internet, and Networking          173

8        Mastering Windows Media Player 11    175

9        Windows Media Center the Vista Way  219

10      Gaming with Windows Vista       247

11      Internet the Windows Vista Way          267

12      Building a Home Network the Windows Vista Way   289

Part IV:      Keeping Windows Vista Safe with Backup and Troubleshooting Tools    309

13      Burn, Baby, Burn! Backup Inferno        311

14      Protecting Windows Vista 327

15      Troubleshooting and Maintaining Windows Vista       353

Index 385