One of the first things you’ll notice about Windows Vista Business is how easy it is to navigate your open files and programs. The new look is both beautiful and efficient. You won’t have to open a window or file to see what’s in it because live taskbar thumbnails and Live Icons will show you. And you can conveniently arrange and manage all your open windows to find the one you need with Windows Flip and Flip 3D.

Windows Aero helps you quickly locate the window you need.

Spend less time looking

Everyone has had the experience of hunting—and hunting—for a particular document or e-mail message. Now, you can find virtually anything on your PC with a few keystrokes by using the search boxes. We call it Instant Search, and it should mean the end of your hunting days. For example, to quickly find the fifth draft of that budget report or the ninth draft of that grant proposal, just start typing in the Search box on the Start menu.

Instant Search displays results as soon as you start typing.

Plus, if there’s a search you do often, you can save it with the new Search Folders feature. Let’s say you frequently need to find all the information you have about a customer named Acme. Just save your search, and then run it later with a single click to get results from all the content on your PC that includes the word Acme.

Search Folders help you save search criteria to use again.

Cruise through your day

It can often take you longer than you thought it would to complete your job tasks, but at least you won’t have any trouble finding what you need to complete them. The improved Explorers in Windows Vista provide consistent, streamlined menus, toolbars, and preview panes to help you view and easily find information and resources such as documents, photos, devices, and Internet content.

When you can immediately sort and filter information based on file type, saved date, or the name of the file creator, it’s easy to find anything, no matter where you may have saved it. Watch this demo to see how Windows Vista helps you organize and find information.

More ways it’s easier:

• Share your work with coworkers using the Sharing command on the Explorer Command Bar. You can simply choose names of people on your network and they can access your files.

• Perform and manage all your faxing and scanning from one location with enhanced Windows Fax and Scan. Plus, support for multiple user accounts means no more generic faxes from your business because several employees sharing a single computer can log on to it and send their own faxes.

• Retrieve, view, and edit photos for your business or website with easy-to-use tools in Windows Photo Gallery—and possibly save the expense of hiring a special vendor.

Safer

Enjoy increased peace of mind with built-in security features

You’ve seen the news stories about online security threats such as phishing scams, hackers, viruses, and worms. No matter what size your business is, it’s crucial for you to protect your computer network and to protect your data from loss or theft. Windows Vista Business improves on prior versions of Windows to help you affordably safeguard your information, privacy, and PC security.

You probably don’t even want to imagine what it would be like to lose the information on your PCs. You know it’s essential to back up your data, but it can seem too complicated. The Windows Backup and Restore Center provides a comprehensive backup experience in one convenient place and gives you a choice between Automatic Backup and Complete PC Backup.

The Windows Backup and Restore Center makes protecting and recovering information easier.

We’ve all experienced a moment of panic when a document became corrupted or we’ve accidentally deleted a file we’re working on. Now you can quickly retrieve and restore a previous version. Shadow Copy automatically creates and archives copies of files as you work. Simply right-click a single file or a whole folder and select Restore. You can easily preview a read-only version of each file to determine the one you need.

If you’re concerned about sensitive information and data being shared outside of your company, you can use the Encrypting File System to password-protect shared documents.

With all the hackers and scammers out there, it’s good to know that you can stop malicious software before it has a chance to infiltrate your PCs. Your first line of defense in Windows Vista is Windows Firewall, which helps provide protection as soon as your computers are turned on.

Add further protection with Windows Defender, which not only detects, removes, and alerts you to suspicious software but also automatically updates its definitions of spyware to keep up with constantly evolving threats.

The automatic protection of Windows Defender helps you avoid unwanted software.

Not all threats to your PCs come from outside the company, however. Sometimes, people make mistakes that can be harmful. Now, you can lessen the risk that employees will install unauthorized software and make unapproved system changes. When you set up separate standard user accounts with User Account Control, the system will prompt users for the administrator account password if they attempt to make harmful changes to their PCs.

Online security threats change all the time, so you want to be able to know that your company has the most up-to-date security software and the strongest security settings. Windows Security Center helps you easily monitor security components such as your firewall, Automatic Updates, antivirus solutions, Internet security settings, and even security products from multiple companies.

Future ready

Ready to grow when you are

Windows Vista Business gives your small business PCs a good foundation for growth. Along with being easy for you to set up and manage, the computers can be easily moved onto a larger network if necessary.

And when you’re trying to grow, the last thing employees need to be doing is spending a lot of time setting up their new PCs. Watch how quickly they will be able to transfer data and settings from their old PCs to newly purchased PCs running Windows Vista with the help of Windows Easy Transfer.

Make the move to a new PC fast with Windows Easy Transfer.

You want to focus on your business, so you’ll appreciate new features that can help make networking easier, safer, and more reliable. And with the Network and Sharing Center, you have a central place to visually check the connection status of PCs and devices and troubleshoot connection problems without additional IT support.

Clearly, the less time you spend managing PCs the better. Now, you can simplify network administration tasks with User Account Control and enhanced Group Policy capabilities that make it easier for you to better protect, update, and maintain your company's PCs.

Windows Vista Business is ready to grow when you are, supporting connectivity with servers and domains in multiple PC environments.

Better connected

Your workplace unplugged

If your small business relies on mobile PCs, you’ll appreciate the many features that can help you conduct business when and where it's convenient. You can get the most out of your company’s laptops with less fuss trying to get connected and keep in sync.

Do you use one computer at the office and another on the road or at home? When you’re not in the office, you still need access to various company applications and resources. When you use Remote Desktop Connection, it’s much easier to access your PC remotely, whether across your company network or through the Internet from your home PC.

Along with a PC, are you constantly using a mobile phone or PDA? If you’re using more than one mobile device, it can be challenging to keep all your information in sync. Now you have a convenient central location, Sync Center, to help you manage synchronization between PCs, between PCs and servers, and between PCs and devices.

How about this scenario: you dashed out of the office without your power cord and you know your battery won’t last through the two-hour meeting. Now you can easily check battery status and manage other mobile settings in one place with Windows Mobility Center. You can quickly adjust wireless status, display and presentation settings, and power options for maximizing battery life.

Windows Mobility Center gives you a single place to adjust settings for your laptop and other mobile devices.

You know how important collaboration can be for your business, and you look for ways to make it easier for people to work together on projects. For example, it can be particularly difficult to share files without network access. Now you can use Windows Meeting Space to create ad hoc wireless networks when you're meeting with small groups of colleagues or customers who are Windows Vista users. Discovering and joining sessions is easy with the built-in Sessions Near Me feature.

Quickly, and wirelessly, work with other people using Windows Meeting Space.

Does the whole wireless thing seem complicated or confusing to you? You can use the Network and Sharing Center to recognize and automatically connect to wireless networks and network devices, such as displays and projectors.

If you use a Tablet PC for your mobile computing on the job, you’ll appreciate Tablet PC enhancements that improve pen navigation and the new touch screen experience that lets you control, navigate, and enter information with your fingers.

Learn more about how Windows Vista Business can help your small business.