| Windows Vista
Aero Support |
| What
is Windows Aero? |
| Windows Aero is the premium
visual experience of Windows Vista. It features a transparent glass
design with subtle window animations and new window colors. Windows Flip
3D, which is a way to preview your open windows in 3D stacks, as well as taskbar
buttons with live, thumbnail-sized window previews all require having
the Aero interface activated. |
| The Aero Glass Effect |
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| Available window frame colors |
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|
| What
edition of Windows Vista do I need to run Aero? |
The following editions
include Aero:
- Windows Vista
Business
- Windows Vista
Enterprise
- Windows Vista
Home Premium
- Windows Vista
Ultimate
To find out which edition of Windows Vista
you have on your computer, do the following: Open Welcome Center by
clicking the Start button  ,
clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and
then clicking Welcome Center. The edition of Windows Vista
you're running is displayed with your computer details near the top of the
window.
|
| What
hardware is recommended to run Windows Aero? |
The minimum hardware
requirements are:
- 1-GHz 32-bit (x86) or
64-bit (x64) processor
- 1 Gigabyte (GB)
of RAM
- 128-MB graphics card (or
supported integrated video - see below)
Aero also requires a DirectX 9 class
graphics processor that supports a Windows Display Driver Model
Driver (WDDM), Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware, and 32 bits per
pixel.
For best results, you might also want to
follow these graphics processor recommendations:
- 128 MB of graphics memory to support a
single monitor with a resolution from 1,310,720 to 2,304,000 pixels
(for example, a 21.1–inch flat panel LCD monitor that has up to a
1600 × 1200 resolution)
- 256 MB of graphics memory to support a
single monitor with a resolution greater than 2,304,000 pixels (for
example, a 30–inch wide-screen flat panel LCD monitor that has up to
a 2560 × 1600 resolution)
|
| What
about Integrated Motherboard Graphics? |
|
All of the latest Intel Desktop Boards are
Windows Vista Ready. To
experience Windows Vista Premium versions
and the Windows
Aero graphical features, you
need to choose an Intel Desktop Board with an Intel
945, 946, 963, 965 or
975 Chipset.
Note: If
using a board with the 945, 946, 963 or 965 chipset and using
the onboard video with shared memory technology then, you
need to have at least 1GB of system memory installed to be Vista
Premium Ready.
|
| Why
doesn’t the Intel 915 Express chipset family support Windows Vista Aero? |
| The overall graphics
architecture and design of the 915 Express chipset family (with Intel®
Graphics Media Accelerator 900 graphics engine) was finalized prior to
Microsoft releasing details and specifications around the Windows Display
Driver Model (WDDM) driver and running the Aero interface. Given
this, there are hardware limitations in the 915 Express chipset
architecture that would limit graphics performance and memory capabilities
when attempting to run WDDM on Vista so Microsoft decided to not support
this chipset. |
| How
can the Windows Vista operating system run on Intel platforms that will
not have WDDM drivers? |
| There are two different driver
models that are available in the Windows Vista operating system, the
Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) and the XP Driver Model (XPDM). The
Windows Display Driver Model drivers provide the 3D graphical user
interface experience to users, while the XP driver model provides an
interface that visually resembles the Windows* XP/Windows 2000 User
Interface, but does not support the Windows Vista Aero desktop theme or
user interface. |
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