Should you upgrade your hardware for Windows Vista? By Michael Thieroff
September 9, 2006
Michael Thieroff
Is it coming or not? The talk is of Microsoft's new Windows Vista operating system. It's long been announced, but Microsoft is clearly having problems with the new system. New release dates have been provided again and again, meaning that the only thing that appears certain right now is that Vista will not be in stores anytime this year.
Yet the delays have left computer users who want or need to purchase a new computer uncertain about which computer and components are compatible with the new system.
Microsoft has not made recommendations about whether a computer should be purchased now or whether it is wiser to wait. The system requirements have already been announced, they emphasize.
For new packaged systems, Microsoft has started a new version of the Windows Logo Program (WLP). For end users, the categories "Capable" and "Premium Ready" are of importance. To qualify for the "Capable" logo, "the computer must have at least an 800 megahertz processor, 512 megabytes of RAM, a DirectX 9 compatible graphics card, and at least 20 gigabytes of hard drive space," says Irene Nadler, press spokesman for the Windows division of Microsoft.
A "Premium Ready" PC must be equipped with an x86 or x64 processor with at least a gigahertz of processing power. The computer must also possess at least 1 gigabyte of RAM, at least 40 gigabytes of storage space and a Windows Aero-ready graphics processor. The latter involves graphics cards with at least 128 megabytes of video RAM, so that PC users can use the snazziest features of the new user interface for Vista, dubbed Aero.
"Vista-capable PCs have been available for four years now," says Christof Windeck from the German computer magazine c't. The WLP is applied only to new computers, however. "Anyone looking to buy a PC that should be Vista ready should pay attention to the logo," says Christoph Windeck. Whether the PC can use all Vista functions fluidly - the software is currently in beta testing - is another question.
Microsoft itself notes that many brand-name hardware makers are making heavy use of WLP. Dell, for example, is already selling hardware with the Vista logo. Markus Schutz of Dell sees no reason to wait to purchase a computer: "All Vista logos ensure that Vista will be able to run on a given computer," Windeck says. Anyone interested in the entire Vista package of functions like Aero should look for the Premium logo. Computers in this category tend to be more expensive on account of the better hardware setup.
Aero in particular is responsible for a fair amount of uncertainty. In particular the demands on new graphics cards remain vague. "For self-serving reasons, hardware makers and Microsoft are pushing the DirectX 9 compatibility to the foreground," says Windeck from c't.
That is only necessary if the user also wants Aero. "Aero isn't even included in all versions of Vista," Windeck says. The interface is missing from the "Vista Home Basic" version, for example. Without Aero, Vista will also run on systems with simpler graphic chips.
Aero is so demanding on hardware because the interface is graphics intensive. Windows opened in Aero can be made transparent, for example. Switching between programs and windows as before using Alt+Tab now shows small preview images instead of program symbols.
Microsoft and the hardware instruments may be flashing the green light for computer purchases, but anyone who doesn't urgently need a new PC should wait until the new operating system is released, the experts indicate. That allows consumers to gauge just how resource- hungry the new system is, as well as take advantage of the new and improved machines that will surely be developed at that point.
Source: http://rawstory.com/news/2006/Should_you_upgrade_your_hardware_fo_09092006.html
Windows Vista Release Candidate 1 Review, Part 1
As I noted in my review of Windows Vista build 5536 (see my review), Windows Vista has suddenly turned a corner. Gone are the egregious and annoying bugs. Gone is User Account Control's most painful and frustrating behavior. Most application and hardware incompatibilities? Gone. Performance problems? Gone. What we're left with is a highly usable upgrade to Windows Vista with tremendous security and deployment advantages. And now anyone can get it, literally: Microsoft plans to ship RC1 to millions of people around the world beginning next week. If you want in with Windows Vista, your time has come.
As a backgrounder, I've been writing about Windows Vista for several years. During that time, my opinion of the product has bobbed and weaved dramatically, based on the events of the day and quality of the latest beta release. There were good times (PDC 2003) and bad (a year long layover between public builds), good builds (5536) and bad (Beta 1, Beta 2). There was good news (many features back-ported to XP) and bad (innumerable delays, dropped features, broken promises). And now, none of it matters. Now we have RC1, and it can stand or fall on its own merits. All around the Web, as you read this, geeky geeks are downloading, installing, and evaluating Windows Vista RC1. And if I had to guess, I'd say that most of those people are going to be quite happy indeed. In other words, this is the Windows Vista you were promised three years ago. This is the anti-Beta 2.
It will take a bit of time to tally my application and compatibility results, determine how well Vista RC1 installs on the several hardware setups to which I will install it, and put Vista through various performance tests. While all that's going on, I figured I could start this review with an overview of what's changed since Beta 2 (see my review), which is the last major release that was made generally available to millions of people. (You might also want to check out my Windows Vista Build 5456 Overview, Vista build 5472 Overview, and Vista build 5536 review, all of which explain, incrementally, how Vista has evolved in the months since Beta 2's release.
So let's start with some basics. Read full article...
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