Windows Vista to Ship with Four Themes

Thursday, Nov. 17 2005 | Author: Griffith

The buzz of the week seems to be which hardware will be necessary to run Windows Vista. So, in response to that question Microsoft has announced that Vista will ship with 4 themes, from the Classic Windows XP to the eye-candy Aero Glass. They have also announced the following will be needed in order to run Windows Vista with the Aero Glass theme.

DirectX 9 framework

Windows Display Driver Model

32 bits per pixel depth with 64MB of graphics RAM

2.4GHz processor

512MB RAM

Graphics card capable of handling
Windows
Presentation Foundation

Microsoft also recommends that when you purchase a PC to make sure it has an extra AGP or PCI-Express slot.

Read onwards for my personal opinion.

Pardon the language, but to all this I say WTF?

As if releasing Windows Vista in more than a dozen versions wasn’t enough they also bring out the OS with 4 themes in order to appeal the consumers to upgrade their PCs in order to use the most fancy one.

Let me guess, during the installation of Vista we’ll have the usual “this is the fastest version of Windows ever!*”

in which the * demands a whooping graphics card (or two), 512 RAM which they say is minimum, although you’ll probably need 1 GB of it in order to get a decent performance with more than two programs running and 2.4Ghz PC just to render the UI!

If a Mac Mini can (somewhat) handle Tiger which is probably as advanced as Longhorn will be, how come Longhorn will require so much more power?

Share and Enjoy

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21 Responses for "Windows Vista to Ship with Four Themes"

ScottyWH

November 17th, 2005 at 6:06 am
1

Kind of sounds like an anti-Microsoft rant Griffith…
Griffith

November 17th, 2005 at 7:29 am
2

From “Pardon the language” onwards it is. I am upset over the specifications they’re asking for just to render a system’s UI.

I’ll move that part of the article for the readers who want to read more, thanks for the heads up.
Kent

November 17th, 2005 at 9:15 am
3

Looking at the specs of the worst Mac Mini, it actually pretty comparable.

32meg graphics card, 512 RAM etc…

It might be a bit optimisitic to say a 1.25ghz G4 = a 2.4ghz Pentium, but I wouldn’t put it past Apple ;>
Griffith

November 17th, 2005 at 9:24 am
4

I bet with anyone here that if you put a Minimum Spec Mac Mini and a Mininum Spec Vista (for the most demanding theme: Aero Glass) that the Mini will perform faster.

Can anyone give an estimate of price versus the price of the Mini?
Aidan

November 17th, 2005 at 9:38 am
5

well i think that whatever windows minimum spec is , if the above is true , them its just too much. im going to switch to linux ,i dont need a fancy UI to send my email and to write programs , If windows wants more PC power i can only see more people having problems with the OS because they can only reach the min spec.
No way am i getting a hole new PC cause Bill Gates has the cash to make fancy eye-candy Aero Glass theme , what a joke!
daryl

November 17th, 2005 at 10:21 am
6

Most people getting Vista will be getting with a new computer anyway. Only geeks like us would go buy the OS. My concern is how much of my resources will be tied up by the OS? Will make a good PC crawl.
cliche

November 17th, 2005 at 11:11 am
7

Stop flaiming. Vista’s spec requirements are nothing. That’s right. By the time Vista actually releases, we’ll be riding flying cars on Mars and running our personal Crays with zettabytes of RAM.

I hate MS bashers.
khalid

January 8th, 2006 at 3:10 am
8

suck my dick all of uz Os shit nuffin will beat windows vista and i will wait 4 it till it comes out
Tom Lansing

March 22nd, 2006 at 10:21 am
9

most of my friends still run windows 98 and even computers that were made for windows 98 had the power to run xp… Heck when xp was released the fastest computer was 1.4ghz or in amd standards 1400+.
My computer is new and decent but it isn’t high end so i barely hit that minimum requirement in everything besides video card.

Agp 8x with 256mb ddr ati radeon 9550 usually overclocked so I can run my lcd monitors demanding 1280×1024…. because my monitor is highend and has a high native res..
sempron 2500+, 768mb pc 2800 ddr ram.
sound blaster audigy platinum sound (hopefully my 24bit sound card will be compatible..)
Tom Lansing

March 22nd, 2006 at 10:21 am
10

most of my friends still run windows 98 and even computers that were made for windows 98 had the power to run xp… Heck when xp was released the fastest computer was 1.4ghz or in amd standards 1400+.
My computer is new and decent but it isn’t high end so i barely hit that minimum requirement in everything besides video card.

Agp 8x with 256mb ddr ati radeon 9550 usually overclocked so I can run my lcd monitors demanding 1280×1024…. because my monitor is highend and has a high native res..
sempron 2500+, 768mb pc 2800 ddr ram.
sound blaster audigy platinum sound (hopefully my 24bit sound card will be compatible..)
RYLE

June 18th, 2006 at 6:56 pm
11

My PC didn’t even meet the min. req. I’m still running win98 and that sucks. What kind of geek i am… running in an old fassion win9x. i LOVE the windows vista, but i have to buy a new pc to get in touch with the new windows. :-(
mr. complaint

June 20th, 2006 at 1:09 am
12

well, microsoft has sealed it with me…xp will be the last operating system i care to get… i refuse to spend a few hundred just to upgrade to handle an o/s that will cost me a few hundred more, thanks to gates you filthy rich ass p.o.s. I resent the fact that you cannot make a piece os software affordable for people that do not make a ton of money like yourself
boohoo

June 22nd, 2006 at 2:53 am
13

oh boohoo you whingers…so microsoft is going to bring out an OS that required more processing power than the previous version and will require a more powerful computer to run. what do you expect? for them to write an new OS that will run on your Athlon 1G? No one will make you buy vista, just like no one made you buy XP. and plus, most of the vista users will buy it packaged with a computer and not get it by itself. and do you think dell et al will really sell a computer that runs like a dog?
if you want something to complain about, complain about geoff crammond’s grand prix series which only ran decently on computers that came out 2 or so years after the games were released…although that still didn’t stop me…
Vi

July 7th, 2006 at 6:41 pm
14

to those who know and don’t…The PC world is about productivity, whether you like MS or Intel or hate them, PCs are used for work, and not the utilitarian blandness that the Mac world would have you believe. PCs can and allow you to do everything out of the box, but not as those annoying mac commercials would have you believe.

That said, why an “equivalent” windows OS would require more is that it just does more. The Mac world ran off of non multitasking, single mouse button, hidden key combo techs, ingrained and inherent crashes and corruption that had software made speficially for recovering from them…but shhh, supposedly only PCs did that. That’s sarcasm if you couldn’t tell…yeah I like PCs.

–(I will never again work on Macs…BUT then again, they’re nothing but PC wannabees now right? So maybe they’ll actually perform decent, without mandatory 4 times or more a day reboots, and I will need to be paid well)–

And, in this day and age, it’s inevitable, whether we like the eye candy that things will be this way. I am one of those that don’t like fancy looks, but damn if Vista ain’t pretty. It is to embrace those crazy hollywood computer guis we see in the movies, sure they didn’t exist when we saw them but it’s about time. This is a part of what it’s all about…games aren’t the only app that should drive the pc evolution.

I’m surprised some “tech” people think the reqs are too much. If Vista came out now, by Feb next near there would be hardware so jacked it would make it like cream, nice and easy with nothing to worry about.

The only thing advanced thinking computer users need to worry about is the apparent lag in matching up buses and interconnects…everything else evolves nicely.

don’t worry, be Vista :)
james

July 14th, 2006 at 11:07 am
15

i use my computer as a server… my current computer spec is…

System Information for Â«serverÂ»: Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
CPU: x86 Family 15 Model 3 Stepping 4 GenuineIntel Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.93GHz 2926 MHz, RAM: 768MB
Harddisks: [C:\> Total size: 63GB, Used: 14GB Free: 49GB (77%) , NTFS] [D:\> Total size: 37GB, Used: 31GB Free: 5GB (15%) , NTFS]

the fact that windows XP is demanding on most computers as it is… makes me think… id prefer win 98 or 2000 from any newer versions microsoft bring out… i need as much uptime as i can get and a new OS that is more demaning on your system (use more resorces)woudnt work for me… does any1 know what i am saying…?
amol

August 18th, 2006 at 7:49 am
16

great job
Sam

November 15th, 2006 at 2:41 pm
17

You foolish dogs! Windows Vista will most likely be a piece of trash, but then again so is any Linux platform. The problem isn’t MS, the problem is shitty OS’s based on crap kernals. If you really wanna revamp the OS’s you need a team of genius programmers to work together on implimenting the best overall kernal + rest of it. That would destroy MS, and let’s face it today if MS had 100 men working on an OS from scratch it would take maybe 4-5 years for them to complete a totally new an innovative system. It’s sad they’ve not already done it
Stucker

December 17th, 2006 at 2:18 pm
18

New OS, nre requirements. Dealing with it, already. Were you pissed off that XP didn’t run on the commodore?

And besides, you apprarently don’t care about the Windows Aero skin too much, so why the hell do yo ucare?

Bitch, whine, bitch, wine. If you’re sick of the way technology is so commercial, stop using it. I bought my computer 2 years ago and it’s still good enough to run XP on….
Katrina

December 18th, 2006 at 8:50 am
19

Great looking site so far!! I’m just starting to look around it but I love the title page!
[url=][/url]
t3h hax0r

January 10th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
20

my computer is a pile of w*nk, 650mhz prosessor, 64mb of ram, heck it will cost at least Â£130 (about $260) to get it running on the BARE MINIMUM of vista, AND it willcost a thurther Â£300 (about $600) JUST TO BUY VISTA for my shoddy pc, and i dont even know if i need to buy a new graphic card ($60/Â£30) and i need a new sound card ($6/Â£3) i hav a gd screen (19″ convectonal moniter that is a good resolution with it going up to 1600 x 1200) but i wonder if it will have microsoft office 2007 on it as well??? well if it didnt, my microsoft office will be 10 years out of date, AND vista bisnness u need at least 1gb of ram. WHAT DO YOU NEED TWICE THE RAM FOR IF IT IS BASICALLY THE SAME THING???
even tho i am gonna go to the hassle and get all the upgrades and get vista will it be worth it???
t3h hax0r

January 10th, 2007 at 2:41 pm
21

oops not Â£300 to get vista, Â£300 to pimp up my pc, by the way it is running on windows me, do you think it will be able to upgrade if from that?? (remove the http:// on my URL it may not work then)