Tech News - June 2006

                      Windows Vista, Friend or Foe?

By Jeremy Robertson

Microsoft will release Windows Vista to manufacturing on or before October 25, 2006. It will then ship volume-licensed versions of the product to businesses starting in November 2006. Microsoft will make Windows Vista generally available to consumers, via retail packaging and PC bundles, in January 2007. So I thought I would touch base on some of my likes, dislikes, and concerns. One thing I like is Vista is based mainly on the Windows 2003 server, Future Windows versions will always be based on the most up-to-date Windows version at the time, and today that version is Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 (SP1). When Windows Vista development started two years ago, however, it was originally based on Windows XP. In mid-2004, Microsoft had to restart the core development of Windows Vista because it was too hard to go back and componentized the Windows Vista core code. So when it restarted Windows Vista development, Microsoft naturally used the Windows Server 2003 with SP1 code base instead of that of XP. Don't be confused by this: Windows Vista will still include all of the great features and compatibility from XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2). As Microsoft writes in its internal documentation, the company is simply taking the best features of both XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2) and Windows Server 2003 with SP1 to create Windows Vista.

 The Minimum Requirements (Vista-Capable PCs):

• 800 MHz Intel-compatible processor
• 512MB of RAM
• DirectX 9.0-Capable Graphics Processor
• 20GB HD

Even more threatening are the Recommended Requirements

• 1 GHz Intel-compatible processor
• 1GB RAM
• DirectX 9.0-Capable Graphics Processor, with 128MB graphics memory. (64MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor less than 1,310,720 pixels [no more than 1440x900]; 128MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor at resolutions from 1,310,720 to 2,304,000 pixels [no more than 1920x1200]; 256MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor at resolutions higher than 2,304,000 pixels [more than 1920x1200]).
• 40GB HD with at least 15GB "free space"

One thing you can bet this will do, Is force hardware venders to build even faster busses, and main boards, that hold much more ram and faster ram speeds

Virtually every Windows Vista edition (with the exception of Starter) will ship with both 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) versions on the same DVD. Microsoft expects the computer buying public to switch to x64 during Vista's lifetime. There will not be an Itanium version of Windows Vista.

Do I think you should put off buying a new computer just to have Vista? No! Most of the mainstream pc’s today will be able to support Vista; the only place they may lack would be in the video subsystem, it’s pretty simple generally to add a video card that will support Longhorn Display Driver Model (LDDM). If you come to us we can custom build a pc that is ready for the challenge. I for one however, think I will hold off on upgrading my system till I see just where the major bugs are. Also you have to ask yourself if all the devices you have now will work with Vista. I can’t say for sure, but it looks like since the core is Windows 2003 Server and XP that the drivers will be a basic copy of existing drivers if not the same driver’s altogether.

So I hope this article helps!!

Jeremy M. Robertson
Senior Technician
The Computer Generation Inc.