Microsoft Reveals More Vista, IE 7.0 Beta 1 Features

Mary Jo Foley has the scoop over at Microsoft Watch on some of the new features in Windows Longhorn...eh, Windows Vista. The name will probably stick despite the threat of a lawsuit or Robert Scoble's brother Alex hating it.

Several of the new features sound interesting. I'm wondering especially about the P2P service being introduced for collaboration. Vista may have the effect of legitimizing the technology when it has been so beaten up (indirectly) by the courts. We'll soon see how Microsoft has built this into the OS with the Beta 1 release. Will they throttle or manage the bandwidth efficiently? Will they provide effective security mechanisms for the unexperienced? Wait and see.

I'm hoping it allows for a more effective means of sharing pictures and video between families and friends...handling the growing size of files. Users setting up unsecured, unencrypted ftp sites for personal data exchange has always been too risky an idea for getting access to content. Perhaps this new service will bring an end to this practice.