As of June 2008, Microsoft Photo Info is no longer available on Microsoft’s servers. An alternative program (also free), Microsoft Pro Photo Tools, offers some of the same capabilities–and much more. You can read about it here and download it here.

In mid-June, 2008, Microsoft removed the download from its servers (and simultaneously pulled the KB article that described it). According to a Microsoft employee in the public forums, WETC is not compatible with Vista SP1.

When WETC again becomes available, we’ll restore the redirect link…so try again periodically.

Beyond the obvious — 1440 pages vs. 1132 pages; $60 SRP vs. $50 (currently $37.79 vs. $31.49 at Amazon) — just about everything.

The Deluxe Edition has five additional chapters and three additional appendixes, which include coverage of the following topics:

• Using nontraditional input methods, including Tablet PC and speech recognition
• Synchronizing files using Sync Center, Robocopy, and Offline Files
• Accessing your computer from remote locations using Remote Desktop Connection or a VPN connection
• Encrypting sensitive files using Encrypting File System or BitLocker Drive Encryption
• Using Group Policy, including how to configure and use Multiple Local Group Policy Objects, a feature (new in Windows Vista) that lets you apply different GP settings to different users, even on computers that are not part of an Active Directory domain
• Changes included in Service Pack 1 (this appendix is based on the “notable changes in SP1″ document available from Microsoft, but we’ve organized the list in logical groups by function and feature — so you can easily find the fixes that are likely to affect you)

This latest edition, of course, includes complete coverage of SP1, including the handful of visible changes and the scores of under-the-hood differences. Perhaps most important, Deluxe Edition, most of which was written in the first part of 2008, includes the knowledge, wisdom, and hard knocks acquired while using Windows Vista in the first year following its release. I daresay there isn’t a page in the book that hasn’t changed in some way since the original edition — an updated screen shot, a newly discovered tip, a correction to an earlier error.

We also recaptured many of the screens with an eye toward making the relevant part larger. Screen captures in Vista are problematical because it uses muted colors and lots of empty space within dialog boxes and windows; this combination translates poorly to black-and-white, especially when it’s reduced to fit on a printed page. I’m pleased to say that Microsoft Press does a better job than anyone in presenting such screens, and we worked with them to make the screen images even better in this Deluxe Edition.

I haven’t yet seen a printed copy myself — but based on the proofs we reviewed, we’re happy with it. We hope you will be too!

4) Remove The Intrusive User-Account Controls Already.

What I wrote in August still holds true: Vista’s user-account controls are a joke. They’re faux security warnings, which protect computer users no better than the TSA’s confiscation of tiny liquid bottles wards off air terrorists.

Better to implement some intelligent protections, which assess whether an executable is from a signed (trusted) app, and pop up a dialog box only when that’s not the case.

First off, UAC does diffentiate trusted apps from others, but the distinction (a different colored warning box) is lost on most users, including myself. But he’s missing the point: In the wrong hands, good apps can do bad things. Suppose you managed to install some malware, and its purpose is to launch the Disk Management console (a signed, trusted app) and delete all your disk partitions. This malware runs silently in the background until UAC pops up to ask, in effect, “are you sure?” If you launched Disk Management yourself, you’d say yes. But if this UAC prompt comes up unexpectedly, you better a) say no, and b) figure out why it came up.

UAC brings other benefits as well (most significantly, running with a standard user token even when logged on as an administrator). I contend that the benefits of UAC outweigh the occasional inconvenience. In Windows Vista Inside Out (pp. 358-9), we detail some ways that make it easier to live with UAC.

Amazon.com Best Books of 2007, Top 10 Editors’ Picks: Computers & Internet

And check it out. Look who’s at number 7. Woo-hoo!

I haven’t tried installing the XP-vintage Tablet PC apps on my Vista tablet. Instead, I downloaded/installed the Microsoft Experience Pack for Windows Vista. It comprises four programs from the XP Experience Pack and Education Pack. I’ve identified them below with an asterisk, and included a few other notes about Vista availability:

Microsoft Experience Pack for Tablet PC
- Ink Desktop (available as separate download, Microsoft Ink Desktop for Windows Vista)
- Snipping Tool (included in all Vista editions)
- Ink Art
- Media Transfer *
- Ink Crossword *
- Energy Blue Theme Pack
Microsoft Education Pack for Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
- Equation Writer *
- GoBinder Lite by Agilix Labs, Inc.
- Hexic Deluxe for Tablet PC
- Ink Flash Cards *
- Send to Microsoft Office OneNote 2003

This isn’t exactly news; these two downloads became available shortly after the January release of Windows Vista. But if you’re just taking the Vista plunge, perhaps you’re unaware of these useful, fun, and free downloads.

Anyway, I just returned to this site for the first time in months and discovered that a dozen comments had been incorrectly held for moderation. I’ve approved them all and have changed the site so that comments will be posted instantly and we’ll get faster notice when a comment gets held up in the future.

We’ve also begun looking in the newsgroups for posts containing questions or feedback we can incorporate into the Deluxe Edition, which is due for release in early 2008. If you have questions or comments, post them right here. We’ll get to them as quickly as we can.

Meanwhile, you can click the Errata link in the header of this page to see a list of errors we’ve identified so far.

Our author copies have arrived, and Amazon is now shipping preordered copies. The first shipment to Amazon sold out immediately, so if you place an order via Amazon now you’ll have to wait until they get their next order in. 

Some brick-and-mortar shops have books in stock, or so we’re told.

If you’ve got your copy, post a comment here and tell us where you got it!