Understanding the Windows Vista User Experience

When the first PC hit the streets over 20 years ago, users were saddled with an unfriendly,nonintuitive user interface based on the MS-DOS command line and its ubiquitous C:\ prompt. Since then, computer user interfaces have come a long way, first with the advent of the mouse-driven graphical user interface (GUI) on the Macintosh and later in Windows, and then with the proliferation of Internet connectivity in the late 1990s, which blurred the line between local and remote content.

Over the years, Microsoft has done much to evolve the state of the art of computer GUIs for the masses. Windows 95 introduced the notion of right-clicking on objects to discover context-sensitive options. Windows 98 introduced a shell, Explorer, that was based on the same code found in Internet Explorer. And Windows XP began a trend toward task oriented user interfaces, with folder views that changed based on the content you were viewing or selected.

In Windows Vista, the Windows user interface, or as Microsoft likes to call it, the Windows user experience, has evolved yet again. Assuming you are running the proper Vista product edition (Windows Vista Home Basic and Starter editions need not apply) and have the right kind of display hardware, you’ll be presented with a translucent, glass-like interface that takes the Windows user interface metaphor to its logical conclusion. That’s right: In Windows Vista, windows actually appear to be made of glass just like real windows.

At a higher level, however, it may be comforting to understand that much in Windows Vista has not changed. That is, you still press a Start button to launch the Start Menu, from where you can perform tasks such as launching applications, accessing the Control Panel, networking features, and other related functionality, and turn off the system. A taskbar still runs along the bottom of the Windows Vista desktop, containing buttons for each open window and application. A system tray still sits in the lower-right corner of the screen, full of notification icons and the system clock. The desktop still contains icons and shortcuts. Windows still appear to float above this desktop, and all of your familiar applications and documents will still work.