Vista Guidelines For Enterprise Security Unveiled

The "Windows Vista Security Guide," available online as well as in a download package, walks administrators through two different baseline security configurations. The first, dubbed "Enterprise Client," is the standard most companies will use; the "Specialized Security -- Limited Functionality," meanwhile, targets organizations such as financial businesses and government agencies where security concerns outweigh functionality.

"Based on your feedback and extensive experience from other customers, government agencies, and Microsoft security experts, the Windows Vista Security Guide is designed to provide comprehensive vulnerability, risk, and mitigation analyses to help you understand the tradeoffs between security and functionality," wrote Kelly Hengesteg, senior program manager for Microsoft's security and compliance group, on the Vista security blog.

Windows Vista, which moved out of development this week when it hit its RTM (Release To Manufacturing) milestone, will reach enterprise customers before the end of November. It's scheduled to launch in the retail channel on Jan. 30.

From its inception five years ago, Vista has been touted as the most secure Windows operating system ever. As recently as Wednesday, Jim Allchin, co-president of the company's Windows division, bragged about Vista's security prowess, saying: "It is the most secure system that's available, and it's certainly the most secure system that we've shipped. I feel very confident that customers are far better off by using Windows Vista than they are with anything that we've released before."

The security guide can be downloaded from here.