Transfer data files to a new PC

Moving all of your old files and templates from one PC to another—not to mention duplicating all of the settings and preferences that you spent hours perfecting in your old copy of Windows—has been a royal pain for years.
Microsoft provides a better solution to this problem with its Easy Transfer utility in Vista. The program accepts files and preferences from Windows 2000 and Windows XP machines, as well as machines running Vista.
You can select just data files to transfer to the new PC or transfer entire clumps of e-mail messages and contacts, Internet settings, and complete user accounts as well (see Figure). No information is deleted from the old PC, so you have plenty of time to confirm that the data has been transferred correctly before erasing anything on your obsolete system.
The transfer requires that you install an Easy Transfer program from Vista to the older computer. Also, both the new system and the old one must be capable of exchanging data through one of the following methods:

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  A local area network

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  A USB Flash drive or external hard drive

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  Recordable CDs or DVDs

Microsoft is also promoting the use of a USB Easy Transfer Cable. This procedure, like the other methods just listed, also involves installing to the old computer the Easy Transfer program, which can be found on a CD that’s included with the cable. You then plug the provided cable into both machines and start the transfer from the new machine.

Encrypt sensitive data folders and entire drives

Various third-party solutions have long been available to encrypt sensitive data folders and entire hard drives. With Vista, Microsoft now enters this market with BitLocker Drive Encryption.
BitLocker has some advantages over competing encryption products because, integrated as it is into Windows, it can check the integrity of a computer system before the Windows user interface is ever loaded. BitLocker can tell when a hard drive has been moved to a different computer—as would be the case if a drive had been stolen—and can defend against brute-force attacks.
BitLocker also integrates with Microsoft’s Active Directory domain service scheme. The remote storage of digital keys that can unlock or restore data if a user forgets a password is a difficult and labor-intensive chore for IT administratrors. BitLocker handles this by using Active Directory to escrow the keys securely, while still being able to help an authorized (but forgetful) user access crucial data that’s stored in a password-protected drive.
BitLocker is available only in Vista Ultimate Edition, which can be purchased separately or upgraded to from the Home and Business Editions, and Vista Enterprise Edition, which can be purchased separately or upgraded to from the Business Edition.

Computing at the rate of 1$ per hour

Why shouldn't computer power be like water or electricity—a utility you turn on and off and purchase only as needed? That is the concept behind the newly launched Sun Grid. Companies and universities can run processor-intensive projects over the Internet on Sun's grid of 10,000 computer nodes and pay only for the processor time and storage space they use. Most projects require multiple CPUs (mostly 2.4GHz Opterons) working cooperatively, but you are charged at a rate of $1 per CPU hour in the same way the electric company charges kilowatt hours. Many experts believe that in the next decade home computing, too, will follow this model and move from standalone PCs to low-power workstations that tap into a grid of on-demand CPU power and storage.