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Which PC Is A Windows Vista PC?: Page 4 of 5

  • Receiving and playing TV programs requires a TV tuner card and a remote control which complies with the Windows Vista Remote Control Specification. TV playing is supported in Vista Home Premium and Vista Ultimate.
  • BitLocker Drive Encryption, available in Vista Ultimate (and in Vista Enterprise, sold only to corporate volume licensees), requires an integrated Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 chip or USB 2.0 key.
  • Tablet PC support is available in Home Premium, Vista Ultimate, Vista Business, and Vista Enterprise, but the PC must meet the Tablet PC specification that includes an electromagnetic digitizer pen.

Vista isn't the first new version of Windows to push the technology envelope. But in the past, the primary determiners of whether a new version of Windows would run were memory and processor speed, both requirements that could be stated simply. (For Windows 95, for example, Microsoft recommended an Intel 80486 or compatible processor and 8Mb of RAM -- numbers that fit easily into a product description on a price tag.)

With Vista, things are more complicated. In particular, retailers are going to have to find new ways of describing graphics hardware that supports the advanced functions of Vista ("Aero-ready"?) and describes how system memory is divided up by the CPU and the graphics processor. And PC customers are going to have to learn some new questions to ask.

Vista Sticker Shock: What Do The Logos Mean?
Microsoft has tried -- with varying degrees of success -- to create programs that guide computer users toward the right version of Vista that they may want to upgrade to. These programs are also supposed to alert PC, software, and peripherals buyers as to which devices and packages will work with the version of Vista that offers the features they want to use.


Which PC Is A Vista PC?


•  Shopping For Vista PCs

•  Vista Capable Vs. Premium Ready

•  What Do The Stickers Mean?

The heart of the effort is a set of Vista logo stickers that are appearing on everything from PCs to keyboards to USB memory keys. However, the stickers themselves aren't very informative -- and in fact, they may make you even more confused than you were before. In order to decipher Microsoft's logo code, you've got to know what they mean and how relevant they are to what you're looking for.