Vista's new security features

As of this post, Microsoft's Windows is the most widely used and distributed operating
system in the world. Making up roughly 92% of the desktop OS worldwide market share,
Microsoft Windows is the 600 pound gorilla. The misconception that many people (especially
the every-day, non-technical user) have; is that because Windows is the biggest, it must
be the best. This simply is not the case. While Windows is for the most part a great
operating system, there are many other choices on the market that match or outshine
Windows. The most recent version of Windows, Vista, was released worldwide in 2007; nearly
5 years after its predecessor: Windows XP. While Microsoft's latest operating system has
generated much negative criticism and negative press, many praise its visual appeal and
enhanced security. Microsoft stated that its primary objective with Windows Vista has been
to improve security. One of these improvements has been with the user account control. In
Windows Vista, when an action requiring administrative rights is performed, the user is
prompted for an administrator name and password. When User Account Control asks for
credentials, it is done so in a secure desktop mode, where the entire screen is blacked
out. The intention behind this is to stop a malicious program misleading the user by
interfering with the authorization window. The new security features of Internet Explorer
7 include a phishing filter, IDN with anti-spoofing capabilities, and of course system-wide
parental controls. While these are definitely great security features for a web-browser to
have, many users with Vista prefer to download Mozilla's Firefox browser. Firefox is
generally more user friendly and twice as fast.