1. Task Manager
It’s been spruced up to offer new options and views to processes and tasks. The response is a bit faster also. A new tab for services (with full access to stop/start/etc), a new Resource Monitor launch button (perfmon on roids).

2. Event Viewer
Significantly improved with new grouping views, more detail, and better export features. Also incorporates EventTriggers capabilities to fire custom actions when specific events occur.
More detail and options to export in XML also. The new MMC 3.0 console sports a new right-hand panel with common options based upon contextual selection/highlighting.

3. User Access Control
50/50. Nice try, but falls short of Linux implementations. Not that it doesn’t work as well as those, but it tends to be more obtrusive and cumbersome to deal with. It simply pops up too often. They should take a careful look at how it works in Gnome Linux distros. Many users will simply turn UAC off as soon as they learn it’s possible (and how).

4. Start Menu
Finally! They made it work like it should’ve in XP. Cascading program selection, clear recent items via right-click. Nifty. Again. Long overdue.
I didn’t think anything could be done to make the clunky XP default start menu useful. I was wrong. I can’t say it’ll be appealing to everyone (probably not), but it’s definitely better than we have in XP/2003. Give it a try before switching to classic mode at least.

5. Windows Imaging System
Well, it will be nice when we can actually play with it. Right now, the WDS is part of 2003-SP2 and AIK (which is a restricted download right now). Can’t really leverage it until 2003-SP2 (or Longhorn) arrives on the scene. Combines the flexibility of RIS with the portability of file-based imaging (i.e. Ghost, PowerCast) and allows for ISO-like mounting and updating without having to deploy and recapture. I can’t wait.

6. Backup and Restore
Improved. I’ll leave it at that.

7. Recovery Console
Overhauled to be more user-friendly and flexible. Long overdue.

8. Fast Shutdown/Startup
Using a combined hibernation/sleep rollup capture process, it quickly starts back up with much more reliable behavior than with XP. Someday when solid-state drives are commonplace, this won’t be necessary. “Instant ON” will be a hardware feature then. Until then, we have the snapshot/reload method used by Vista and Apple OSX.

9. IE7 Sandbox Control
Not quite as secure as a VM appliance approach, but still, vastly superior to XP+IE.

10. Group Policy Enhancements
More than 100 new features and settings. Enough to give a sys-admin a woodie.

11. Disk Tools
You can resize partitions now! And it works! Woo-hoo! Also, automatic disk defrag is DEFAULT and scheduled for weekly off-hours. Overdue, but nice.