Code Name Vista

Hello folks, here I am back to throw some light on new and emerging technologies. This time it is the so long waited Windows Vista(code name longhorn actually). So there are a few things that u need to know once you are upgrading from a previous version of Windows to Vista.

Firstly there are two specifications of Vista namely Vista Capable PCs and Premium Ready PCs. The requirements for each specification are different, for Vista Capable PCs the minimum requirement is:

• A processor with a minimum speed of 800MHz
• 512MB of RAM
• A graphics system capable of supporting DirectX 9 (SVGA 800×600)
• 20GB hard drive (with 15GB free)

Similarly the requirements of Premium Ready Pcs are:

• A processor with a minimum speed of 1GHz (x86 or x64)
• 1GB of RAM
• A GPU that supports DirectX 9 and the following:
  - WDDM (Windows Vista Display Driver Model) Driver
  - 128MB of video RAM
  - Hardware support for Pixel Shader 2.0
  - 32 bits per pixel
• 40GB hard drive (with 15GB free)

To be able to run the new Aero user interface you need a lot more graphics card power than you do for the standard interface (this is because Aero uses DirectX and this means that the majority of the work is carried out by the GPU on the graphics card as opposed to the CPU). You can choose to run Windows without Aero also (and business systems need not ever use it).

Before going for Windows Vista make sure to check your system compatibility at the microsoft's site. Follow the link by Clicking Here. Just download the upgrade adviser and check your system's status. And just be aware of all those low-end PCs which were marked Vista Capable, because they might not even support the slick "Aero" user interface or Flip 3D and media center support. In fact Microsoft has been through a bit of trouble due to that, coz Dianne Kelley sued Microsoft for selling PCs with tag "Vista Capable PCs" which can just run the basic version of Vista. In order to be able to fully leverage these features customers will need to have bought a "Premium Ready" PC in order to run Vista Home Premium or higher.

The most important thing is that, due to a lot of vulnerabilities present in the current version of Windows Vista, you need to run update from your vista machine to download and install all the patches and fixes. For instance the recent Cursor flaw. The vulnerability is caused by an unspecified error in the way Windows 2000, XP, and Vista handles animated cursors on a Web site. Successful exploitation can result in memory corruption when processing cursors, animated cursors, and icons. So Microsoft has released a patch for it last week. The vulnerabilities like this are expected to appear for another half a year. So my suggestion is buy a authenticated and genuine version of Windows Vista and don't forget to download updates regularly.