Windows Vista
Windows Vista is becoming increasingly common amongst learners as it is supplied as the bundled operating system on the majority of new PCs and laptops. Devon ACL intends to move progressively towards the use of Vista on PC's used for teaching. The following sections are intended to help tutors to find out more about Vista. If you would like to recommend any other resources about Vista to add to this page, please email ralph.cullimore@devon.gov.uk
A. Free web-based resources
These can be used at any time and can be useful to gain some familiarity even if you don't have ready access to a PC with Vista on it.
1) vista4beginners
This is at www.vista4beginners.com and has sections on Tutorials, Tips&Tricks, Vista Tools, Keyboard Shortcuts etc (via links across the top of the page) and a search facility. Useful when you have a particular problem, and also for when you just want to browse around. There is a 'login' section but you can use the site for most things without needing to register or login. (With thanks to Russel Robshaw)
2) Wikipedia
As you might expect, Wikipedia has a very detailed entry about Vista - which you can find by typing 'windows vista' into the search box or by clicking here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Vista
You can either scroll through the whole entry stopping at things that catch your interest, or use the Contents table near the top of the entry to jump to the relevant section. Note that a number of sections appear to be very short (eg 'Removed features') because they actually contain a link to a separate entry which covers the topic in much greater depth.
Note that there are a range of links at the bottom of the main article which take you to related sites that may be of interest.
3) Microsoft website
There a a number of different sections which cover Vista. As you would expect, this site goes in for selling the benefits rather than giving a totally balanced coverage - but can be very useful nonetheless.
A good place for an overview of the different features and editions is at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/default.aspx - look for the links saying 'Discover Windows Vista', 'Learn about the features' and 'Choose and edition'.
You can also go to www.microsoft.com and type 'vista' into the search box. This should bring up a number of links to choose from.
B. Built-in Help
Vista itself also includes built in help files, of course. To access these, click on the Start button then click 'Help and Support'.
There should be one or more topics with the word 'Vista' in them. Alternatively you can type something in to the search box near the top, or look for a Table of Contents or a Browse icon.