Getting In The Game
For PC users who spend their days looking at Word documents and Excel spreadsheets, all this emphasis on super-high-fidelity graphics may seem like overkill -- but for Microsoft, it is probably a necessary step toward the future of computing. Graphic horsepower is at the center of what people will be using computers for, according to Microsoft, no matter which version of Vista you'll be using. Even the Home Basic version of Vista includes the ability to play DVDs and work with digital photographs, while Vista Ultimate includes some whizzy media center features for recording and streaming video between the PCs in your house.
The makers of graphics cards are, naturally, thrilled. "We're ecstatic because it's the first time the world's No. One application, Windows, has used these capabilities," said Andrew Fear, software product manager for Nvidia.
"With Vista requiring a dedicated graphics processor to exploit its full potential, this makes 3D graphics performance matter to every computer user," said Terry Makedon, group manager of software and video marketing for card and chipset maker ATI. "DirectX 9 was introduced in December, 2003. Aero requires a graphics card capable of running DirectX 9, so if you've got a graphics card more than two or three years old you won't be running Vista Aero."
What Will Your Desktop Look Like?
But that's not to say you won't be running Vista. The Vista graphical interface is scalable, and the install routine checks your system, then sets up the level of graphics it thinks is best suited to your hardware. This can be one of four levels:
Windows Aero. The full-on 3D graphics experience, with smoothly rounded transparent window borders and sidebar, shaded buttons and status bar.