Find out whether your PC will run Microsoft's forthcoming Vista operating system

Rumours that hardware requirements will be excessive for Microsoft’s new Vista operating system have swept through websites and blogs, causing alarm among PC users. Figures such as a minimum spec being a 4GHz dual-core processor, 2GB of Ram and a 1TB hard disk abounded.

But there’s really no need to panic. The new operating system will run even if you don’t have a dual-core CPU and high-end graphics card. Practically all new computers are quite capable of running Vista.

However, unlike earlier versions of Windows, the new operating system can scale with the hardware’s capabilities.

For example, if you have a high-performance 3D graphics card you will be offered more advanced graphical interface features than if you’re running Vista on a laptop with an older integrated graphics adapter.

Direct3D for the desktop
Many Windows users look enviously at the transparency and transition effects in Apple’s Mac OSX.

You can get effects like these under Windows XP, but only by using special add-on programs such as Windows Blinds or WindowFX from Stardock. However, these effects have nowhere near the same fluid and elegant visual impact as those on the Mac.

Windows Vista is supposed to change this with its vector-based graphics engine, codenamed Aero. It takes care of translucent frames and shadow effects around windows, and animated transitions when minimising or maximising windows (see screen 1); it even has a 3D-effect clock speed adjuster.

There are two flavours of Aero: Aero Glass is the fully featured interface with all transparency effects, while Aero Express has a similar theme but doesn’t use the demanding 3D effects and is designed for use on older systems.

To make use of Aero Glass, your graphics card must support DirectX 9 and the Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM), and it should have at least 64MB of memory. If these requirements are not met, Vista will use Aero Express. You’ll also be able to use the ‘Classic’ Windows 2000 theme if you really want to.

Benchmarking built in
To enable Windows Vista to adjust itself to the hardware in the computer, the developers have integrated a sort of benchmarking tool, the Windows System Assessment Tool (Winsat). This program is run automatically during Vista installation and every time hardware is added or changed.

Vista uses the information to work out whether the PC’s graphics card is up to running the Aero Glass interface, what the PC’s 3D capabilities are and whether HD (high-definition) videos will play smoothly.

The resulting data, which includes information about the processor, Ram and hard-disk performance, is stored in an XML file and is available to other applications. So a game could read the data obtained by Winsat and set the numbers of AI (artificial intelligence) opponents or the level of graphics detail accordingly.

Further diagnostic functions are supposed, above all, to increase stability. For example, defective regions on memory modules can be recognised and excluded from use, to avoid system crashes.

Vista is also reputed to be able to detect imminent failures on hard drives, a feature that obviously uses the industry-standard Smart (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) information built in to most hard drives. Under Windows XP, you need third-party software to do this.

Changes to the Windows core
There are few changes in Vista’s processor support. The main new feature is that all variants of Vista except the Starter Edition will be available in 64bit versions. There are improvements in power management: a new standby mode combines Suspend to Disk and Suspend to Ram, to make resumes much quicker.

Superfetch technology uses improved memory management to start frequently used applications more quickly.

Windows XP device drivers will only be of very limited use under Vista. The reason for this is that the new driver model moves substantial parts of the drivers from the kernel to User Mode, which is supposed to deliver more stability.

Mini-computer in a notebook lid
For notebooks, Vista will support a completely new class of device, known as Auxiliary Displays. These are effectively mini-computers with their own small display integrated into a notebook lid.

They can also be used to interactively display information when the notebook is turned off. Current notebooks will also benefit from Vista, as Microsoft has refined the power-management features and made them easier to use than those in Windows XP.

Support for HD DVDs
New features for multimedia PCs include making a reworked version of the Media Center software an integral part of most Vista versions for home use.

Microsoft is also working on a module to allow reception of subscription TV services; and Vista will support the new high-resolution HD-DVD format.

A wide-reaching system for Digital Rights Management (DRM) when playing videos or audio files is under development too, but this technology is not likely to be popular with many users.

Is the change to Vista worth it?
Spectacular graphics are only one aspect of Microsoft’s new operating system. Even if your computer’s graphics card isn’t powerful enough to support the new visual effects, the change is worth considering.

The new driver architecture makes Vista more stable than XP and provides more functions for notebooks and Media Center PCs.

In addition, it’s more secure than any previous version of Windows, as large parts of the program code have been written from scratch, taking into account potential exploits such as buffer over-runs.

It’s easier to use Vista without running as an Administrator than it was under Windows 2000 and XP. If you start Internet Explorer 7 under Vista, it defaults to using drastically reduced access rights for more secure surfing. The advanced search functions and virtual folders make working with files much easier.

The heart of Vista
Not as obvious as Vista’s chic graphics, but nonetheless important, are the changes in the way Vista interacts with the computer’s system components.

Vista is based on the NT kernel, now at version 6. This means there’s not much change to the interface between the operating system and the processor.

However, in comparison with XP, support for 64bit processors is much better; apart from the cut-down Starter Edition, all versions will be available with 64bit CPU support. This practically forces hardware manufacturers to make 64bit drivers available for all current peripheral devices.

To make use of the virtualisation hardware in the new Intel and AMD processors, Microsoft has come up with the Hypervisor. However, this won’t arrive until Vista Server is released in 2007.

Vista and EFI
Vista is the first consumer desktop operating system from Microsoft that fully supports the replacement for the Bios: the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI). As EFI no longer switches the processor to Real Mode, motherboards using the Bios replacement can boot faster.

In addition, hard disk partitions can, in theory, be up to 18 Exabytes in size, with up to 128 primary partitions per hard disk. Pre-boot applications replace the customary Dos system tools. These could include diagnostic tools, partitioning programs or software for auto-installing a hard disk image.

The first motherboards with EFI support will be on the market soon.

Windows XP makes use of Prefetch to keep frequently required program code ready for use in memory, so the corresponding programs can start more quickly.

For Vista, Microsoft’s programmers have extended and refined this mechanism.

Unlike Prefetch, Vista’s Superfetch does not just load the ‘usual suspects’ when it comes to frequently required programming code; it also makes a step-by-step analysis of program use, thus learning the applications you use most often and what to store in its cache.

More stable drivers
Windows XP moved parts of the drivers for USB devices and printers from the kernel into the user space. This prevents system crashes if the drivers are faulty. Microsoft Vista extends this technique to graphics card and audio hardware drivers.

In Windows NT4, Microsoft integrated the graphics drivers into the kernel in order to get better performance, but at the expense of lower stability. Vista’s Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) represents a partial reversal of this step, as it drastically reduces the proportion of the code that is running in the kernel.

This not only makes the whole system more stable, but also allows a new graphics driver to be installed without a reboot.

Individual volume controls
The audio subsystem also runs largely in user mode and can no longer impact negatively on kernel performance. One new feature is that you can now set the volume level individually for each application (see screen 2).

The majority of USB or Firewire audio devices no longer need drivers from the manufacturer, but can use Vista’s own drivers.

With Vista, unlike Windows XP, users without administrator rights can install device drivers, as long as the administrator has given them the necessary rights and the drivers are digitally signed.

Graphics effects
Until now, even with powerful graphics cards and 2D applications, Windows has seemed a bit dull in terms of its graphics. With Vista, that’s about to change: DirectX 9 cards will deliver cool graphical effects.

Many users are expecting a futuristic 3D desktop from Microsoft’s new Aero graphics system, because the full implementation of Aero (Aero Glass) requires a DirectX 9 graphics chip.

In reality, Vista just uses the graphics system’s 3D functions to generate 2D graphics (see figure 1). The advantage of this is that the strain is taken off the CPU, and the graphics chip’s power is used rather than being idle as it is at present.

For example, under Windows XP, a dual-display setup with a resolution of 1,600 x 1,200 requires just 7.4MB of memory on the graphics card.

As modern graphics cards have a large amount of memory for storing textures – at least 128MB is normal these days – this remains mostly unused with 2D applications under XP.

Work for the graphics card
Microsoft has finally moved away from the ancient Graphical Device Interface (GDI and GDI+) used in its existing operating systems, to a desktop compositing engine, the Desktop Window Manager, that is based on DirectX.

A GDI compatibility layer is built into the new engine, though, to allow older applications to run. It’s worth noting that Vista uses the graphics memory as an off-screen buffer, so elements of the user interface are built up in the background and only put on the screen as they are required.

Using this technique, the operating system can move complex windows over the screen without any jerkiness.

A further advantage is that the graphics card looks after the scaling and transformation of windows or other user interface elements.

Therefore the processor does not have to be concerned about optical effects such as the tra nsition when maximising or minimising windows, moving previews in the Windows Taskbar or 3D previews in the task switcher replacement known as Flip3D (see screen 4).

Applications such as 3D games can no longer take over control of the graphics chip under Vista. They only get control over the display from the Desktop Window Manager, which is responsible for drawing the windows.

The advantage of this is that the screen redraw is more fluid when switching between a game and the desktop than under Windows XP.

At least 256MB of memory
The technical foundation for the Aero Glass graphics are the WDDM and the overlying Desktop Window Manager. The WDDM uses the graphics chip in a similar way to the processor by generating a virtual address space for the graphics hardware and allocating processing time on the graphics chip to each application.

Vista uses virtual graphics memory consisting of the memory on the card and areas of main system memory. For optimal performance the memory on the graphics card should be at least 256MB.

Vista is able to take full advantage of PCI Express graphics cards as data transfer can take place in full duplex mode at 3.73Gbytes/sec. AGP, on the other hand, is limited to 1.99Gbytes/sec and cannot transport data in both directions simultaneously.

A completely new 3D API
Until now, Windows game developers have had the choice of two 3D application programming interfaces (APIs): Direct3D and OpenGL.

OpenGL will remain in Vista. As previously, full support for OpenGL requires installable client drivers supplied by the graphics chip manufacturer. If required, you can use XP drivers, but for best performance you will need WDDM drivers.

Vista will have two Direct3D versions installed simultaneously. Existing games make use of Direct3D 9, which is also used by games written for older versions of DirectX.

In addition to this, Vista will have a completely new version of Direct3D, which is not backwards compatible: DirectX 10 (now officially known as Windows Graphics Foundation 2) will only run on Vista.

New in DirectX 10 is Shader version 4, which adds the geometry shader to the existing vertex and pixel shaders.

These are programs written in special high-level languages that can be used to directly program the geometry and rendering parts of the graphics chip. For DirectX 10, you will need a new type of graphics chip, because of the new shader model.

At the time of writing, graphics manufacturers had not officially announced when these new chips will be available.

Vista on notebooks
2006 will probably be the first year when more notebooks are sold than desktop PCs, which is a good reason for Microsoft to make sure Vista is fully prepared for life on the road.

Windows XP already works pretty well when used with notebooks. It supports power-saving modes and ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) functions such as Suspend to Ram.

Vista builds on this, and introduces a power-saving mode, Hybrid Sleep, which combines the speed of Suspend to Ram with the security and power saving of Suspend to Disk (hibernate).

If you send your notebook to sleep, the contents of Ram are saved to the hard disk before the drive and processor turn off.

The Ram is, however, still supplied with power, and when the notebook is woken it is ready for instant use – with all the programs that were loaded when it went to sleep.

And if you want to remove the battery while the computer is asleep, a backup copy of the Ram contents is loaded from the hard disk.

Microsoft has made some changes to the power-management system. A new power manager in the kernel now controls the energy-saving functions. For example, if the battery level is low, the notebook can switch automatically from the power-hungry Aero graphics mode to a simpler display mode that uses less power.

Mobility Center
Under Windows XP, the various notebook-related settings are strewn between different control panel applets or left to the manufacturers’ own utility programs.

Obviously this is inconvenient for users and, in Vista, the frequently used items have been brought together in the Mobility Center: power-saving settings, battery charge level indicator, settings for the TFT display and external monitors, wireless networks and synchronisation with other devices.

Extra displays in the lid
Auxiliary displays are a particularly interesting innovation. At the Winhec 2005 developers’ conference, Microsoft showed an Asus Notebook with an auxiliary display in the lid. This was not just an additional mini-display but also a small standalone computer, communicating with Vista via an internal USB connection.

If the notebook is running you can, for example, control the Media Player via the auxiliary display or read incoming emails in Outlook. If the notebook is switched off, the extra display can show information such as the battery charge level.

In addition, when the notebook is running, some data, such as calendar entries, emails, navigation or weather information can be copied over and remain available when the computer is turned off. The display is controlled by cursor keys, and you can install extra mini-applications called Gadgets.

Auxiliary displays everywhere
Notebooks are not the only devices that could use auxiliary displays; they could be installed in Media Center PCs or even keyboards. As well as small LCD screens, small LCD panels could be used to display just a line or two of text on the front panel of a notebook.

In principle, as an alternative to a fixed, embedded device, a smartphone or PDA with the matching software could act as an auxiliary display, using Blueto oth rather than USB to communicate with the notebook.

Support for Tablet PCs
Microsoft is not planning a special edition of Vista for the business-oriented Tablet PCs. Instead of this, Tablet PC support with handwriting recognition and Tablet applications is built into all business-oriented Pro Editions.

Vista Home Premium will probably also feature Tablet PC support. Vista’s handwriting recognition no longer just relies on the samples in its database, but will also learn the user’s writing. This means that you can specifically train it to recognise letters or words which are persistently misrecognised.

It’s also possible to teach it whole sentences. As input devices, Vista supports not only pen-controlled digitisers, but also classic touchscreens.

Multimedia in chains?
According to some, copy protection and DRM infringe civil liberties, whereas others believe they’re a nuisance but a necessary way of protecting intellectual property. So what’s the score with Vista?

If you talk to people about Vista, the theme of copy protection will come up sooner or later. Speculation includes the claim that Vista won’t allow unlicensed music or video files to be played back.

These fears are not entirely unfounded. Vista has a whole set of functions for DRM. It will play mp3 files or backup copies of video DVDs without complaining, just like previous versions of Windows, as there is no DRM information present in files of that sort. Consequently, Vista’s copy protection can’t kick in.

It’s a different matter with the new generation of digital videos and music files. The major movie studios and recording companies have simply said that without copy protection there will be no high-resolution movies or CD-quality music. As a result, Microsoft has extended and improved upon the existing DRM in Windows XP.

The software giant has used this to open up the possibility of co-operation with the entertainment industry. There are two very important copy-protection mechanisms: PVP-OPM (Protected Video Path – Output Protection Management) for movies (see figure 2), and Puma (Protected User Mode Audio) for music.

Copy protection for HD movies
In order to prevent the copying of movies, PVP-OPM intervenes at two points. First, it creates a secure processing environment and authenticates the hardware. This prevents, for example, users copying a movie to the hard disk or reading it directly from Ram.

Second, the mechanism controls any TV interfaces as well as the computer’s DVI (Digital Video Interface) and VGA outputs, putting a barrier in the way of making high-quality 1:1 copies.

Hardware authentication is carried out in several stages: the graphics driver checks whether the card has been modified, and that it is allowed to output the content. Then the operating system checks whether the original graphics driver is being used.

The Input Trust Authority (ITA) module on the video DVD checks whether the operating system has a copy-protection mechanism. Only when all the links in the chain are complete will the computer play the movie. If a modification is detected, PVP-OPM will stop playback.

New graphics cards required
To play back DRM-protected high-definition (HD) movies, you will need to have suitable graphics cards and displays. Without them, PVP-OPM will make sure that you see, at best, a degraded resolution version. To get the best quality, the graphics card and monitor need to have DVI or HDMI

(High-Definition Multimedia Interface) connectors, as they are the only types capable of handling data encrypted using HDCP (High Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) (see screen 5).

Tough luck if you try to get round the copy protection by switching to analogue outputs – Vista’s copy protection also covers outputs such as Scart, TV-out and S-video.

While monitors and TVs with the HD-Ready logo already support HDCP, the choice of graphic cards is currently zero; even though some graphics chips claim to ‘support’ HDCP, none of the cards on sale with these chips have the necessary HDCP licence keys built in, and it’s not possible to retroactively add these keys. HDCP-enabled cards are slated for launch during the course of the year.

Puma shows its claws
The audio DRM system works in a similar way to PVP-OPM: Puma stops any alteration or modification of those program components that are responsible for playback.

In some circumstances, digital audio outputs without copy protection might even be turned off. Directives embedded in the music files lay down what you may or may not do with the content.

Specs to optimise performance
The majority of PCs made in the past two or three years are powerful enough to run Windows Vista, but just being able to run it doesn’t guarantee that it will be an enjoyable experience. For the best performance, particularly in the graphics area, your computer should meet the following requirements.

Processor: Any current mid-range AMD or Intel CPU will do for Vista. Dual-core processors are better because, when running under Vista, Superfetch and Indexing services run in the background all the time. Vista will have many more 64bit drivers than the current 64bit edition of Windows XP Professional.

Chipset: If your motherboard has graphics integrated into its chipset, only boards based on the Intel 945G, ATI Radeon Xpress 200 or Nforce 410/430 chipsets will support the Aero Glass graphics interface. The main requirements are 64MB of dedicated graphics memory and the use of dual-channel memory.

Memory: 512MB of Ram is enough for Vista, but 1GB or even 2GB is better as this will allow the operating system to use more memory for the Superfetch feature.
Graphics card: Aero Glass needs DirectX 9 compatible cards with at least 64MB of memory.

For higher resolutions the card should have 256MB of memory or more. HD (high-definition) videos can only be played back on systems with a graphics card that has HDCP-capable DVI or HDMI connectors.

Hard disk: In principle, Vista can be installed on any hard disk larger than 10GB (Vista itself occupies 6GB). Microsoft recommends, for best performance with several applications in a multitasking environment, Serial ATA (Sata) disks with at least an 8MB buffer and support for Native Command Queuing.

Optical drives: As Vista is only supplied on DVD, a DVD-Rom drive is a requirement for all PCs where installation won’t be carried out via a network. The burning function in Vista now supports most common DVD formats.

The six Vistas
Microsoft announced that there will be no fewer than six versions of Vista released at the same time. Targeting low-end home users will be the very limited Home Basic version for basic home computing needs, the Home Premium version, which adds the Aero interface and tablet PC capabilities and the Ultimate version.

This version will incorporate all the capabilities of the Home Premium and Business versions.

For ‘emerging markets’ there will be a stripped-down Starter version.

For business customers, there will be a Business and an Enterprise version of Vista. All versions of Vista will be available in 32 and 64bit flavours.

There won’t be a separate Media Center Edition (MCE) of Vista, according to Microsoft. Instead, the functions of the Media Center software will be incorporated in the Home Premium and Ultimate versions.

Vista and the TPM
TPM stands for Trusted Platform Module, and describes a small chip that is currently a source of heated discussion. Many users fear they will only be allowed to use certified applications. The chip is one of the central elements in Vista’s planned Next Generation Secure Computing Base (NGSCB).

It creates protected areas in the system for working with sensitive data, makes encrypted storage possible, and allows content to be digitally signed.

Currently, TPM is only used to encrypt the system partition and check the system status (Secure Startup). A TPM is not a requirement for using Vista, nor is it used in DRM for audio or video files.

ACPI support only
Vista means the end of the line for old notebooks without ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) support. Windows Vista no longer supports the old, outdated APM (Advanced Power Management).

Microsoft has also disposed of the burden of supporting older notebook processors: the energy-saving function drivers for the AMD K6-2 and the mobile Pentium III are no longer included. Notebooks using these processors would not really be suitable for Vista anyway.

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