In my previous blog posting (see “Vista, yes, but not yet“) I referred to the term “Windows Vista Premium Ready” without giving a definition for it. According to Microsoft, in the article “Windows Vista Capable and Premium Ready PCs” on Microsoft.com, “Windows Vista Premium Ready” refers to a PC that:
“..will provide an even better Windows Vista experience, including the Windows Aero user experience. “

Then they give the minimum requirements for a Windows Vista Premium Ready PC:
“1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor).
1 GB of system memory.
Support for DirectX 9 graphics with a WDDM driver, 128 MB of graphics memory (minimum), Pixel Shader 2.0 and 32 bits per pixel.
40 GB of hard drive capacity with 15 GB free space.
DVD-ROM Drive.
Audio output capability.
Internet access capability.”

Most of the requirements don’t sound like much, except for the graphics requirements. This is where a major problem emerges. The graphics power is required to run the heavily advertised Aero Glass interface of Windows Vista. Unfortunately the Aero Glass “user experience” is not available in the Windows Vista Home Basic Edition. That brings me to the other, more familiar term “Windows Vista Capable” which is currently in the center of a class action suit. It appears that all “Windows Vista Capable” means is that a Notebook or Desktop PC is only capable of running the bare minimum of Vista features. Even if you install Vista Home Premium on the Windows Vista Capable PC you still won’t be able to run the Aero Glass interface.

Microsoft says “some features - such as the new Windows Aero user interface - available in certain editions of Windows Vista require advanced or additional hardware.” In other words, these features require a Vista Premium Ready PC, not a Vista Capable PC.

Posted on March 20th, 2008 by mervyn