Technology Simplified

Microsoft has constantly evolved its Operating Systems to tackle the security risk in evergrowing internet and computing environment. Eversince Blaster virus hit Windows XP, security has become a key concern for Microsoft. With Windows 7, Microsoft has integrated state of the art tools that allow users & administrators to manage their computers more effectively, preventing data/identity theft. They have added features and enhanced some existing features to achieve this. Following is a list of some very interesting capabilities that Microsoft has bundled with Windows 7:

1. APPLOCKER

This is an application control policy that allows administrators to specify exactly what can be used on the computer. Till now, we had only “Content Advisor” in Internet Explorer to prevent kids from getting access to content that they are not meant to see. But imagine locking down the computer to a level where kids can only access ceratain applications that you specify. For a corporate environment, IT admins can specify what their users/employees can or cannot do. This takes security to a new dimension in domestic and corporate computing environment.

2. Bitlocker & Bitlocker to Go

Though Bitlocker was an active feature in Windows Vista, Bitlocker to Go is a new feature that extends security for removable media such as external hard drives and USB disks. With Bitlocker to Go, adminstrators can enforce setting up this feature on any removable media before any data is saved/copied to such devices. In a domain setup, policies have been introduced for password recovery, etc, making this very user friendly. Bitlocker is now easier to enforce through Windows 7 by just a right click.