Theres an article at Dennis Forbes’ site about Vista power consumption when using the new Aero Glass skin :
One of the major new features of Windows Vista is the Aero Glass experience (both as an API for applications, and the shell itself). Aero Glass in essence turns your desktop into a video game: Instead of the current model where the GDI draws on a 2D palette, updating the video card memory (making using of acceleration routines that the video card supports) only when changes occur, the model of Aero Glass is that of a traditional game: With every “frame” the scene is wiped clean and re-rendered from scratch, layering “textures” that represent application canvases on onto 3-D polygons and building the user experience from there.
This system will attempt to push 60-90FPS of user experience goodness through your video card.
In many cases this will max out even high end video cards. Even where it doesn’t, all of the shaders and T&L engines on the video card are engaged - the additional power consumption will be considerable.
23.Nov.05 
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Speculation is circulating around the ‘Net as to which particular PCs will be able to run Windows Vista. Word is that each system’s graphics card will determine how smoothly Vista will move. The operating system will be shipping with four different themes, ranging from Classic XP to Aero Glass, with each theme demanding more graphical horsepower. Aero Glass will be the most intense.
Currently, Microsoft is stating that those who wish to push the capabilities of Vista have the following setup:
* 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
Taken from arstechnica.com
17.Nov.05 General Read more Comments (0)
For people with access to the Vista betas through MSDN, there is an installation guide over at installvista.com :
Windows Vista Installation Guide
The follow installation guide is for Beta 1 ( Build 5112 ) of Windows Vista.
Pre-Setup
# Download the 2.42 GB .ISO available through MSDN.
# Mount the image, also known as the .ISO file, to a DVD disc.
# Alternatively, you can use Daemon Tools to mount the image to a virtual drive. *Not Recommended
# Insert the DVD disc into your CD-Rom drive and restart your computer.
# Hold the key F8 while your computer is booting. You will be prompted with a screen that allows you to choose a device to boot from. Using your arrow keys, select your CD-Rom drive.
Setup
# Windows will then load files and prepare for the setup.
# You should see a screen that gives you 3 options: Install now, View the release notes for Beta 1, and Repair problems with Windows startup.
# Click on Install now or press “I”.
# You will then be prompted with a screen that says in a large font: “Install Windows”. Click next.
# Enter your product key and click next.
# Read the License Terms and then click the circle that says “I accept the License Terms”. Click next.
# The only option at this point is to click custom, the upgrade option has been disabled for this build.
# This screen allows you to choose where you want Windows Vista to be installed and what your computer will be named. Click the current computer name, LH-*************, and enter what you would like your computer to be named. Click “Click here to select where to install Windows”. The screen will display your hard drives and their partitions. You will need to install Windows Vista on an empty partition. Please note that the partitions will not be the exact same size in megabytes as the hard drives. Click next to proceed with the setup.
# You will now see a screen that says “Windows is installing…”. Eventually, your computer will restart and the screen will now display “Completing installation…”.
01.Nov.05 General Read more Comments (0)
This is something Im looking forward to, having been a fan of Konfabulator for some time now.
Gadgets or Widgets are small applications that sit on your desktop and can provide information and features such as a stock ticker, weather forcasts, they can pull rss feeds off websites and so on.
They are fairly easy to create if you have knowledge of web design or development.
Microsoft will be providing three types of gadgets :
Gadgets for Windows Sidebar will run on your desktop or dock into Windows Sidebar, an upcoming feature in Windows Vista alongside other applications. Desktop Gadgets can developed using Windows Presentation Foundation, DHTML/Atlas, and even ActiveX controls. The beauty of Desktop Gadgets is that they are visually and programmatically rich – scaling from vector-based graphics and managed code to standard techniques you’d use for the Web. You’ll be hearing more about Windows Sidebar over the coming months here as we approach release around Beta 2 of Windows Vista.
Gadgets for Start.com (a.k.a. Web or Server-based Gadgets) provide a fast, customizable homepage with a clean user interface – putting the user in control of more of their online experience. Currently in incubation/public preview, Start.com is a place where consumers can customize the web to their liking by adding their own sources of content including RSS web-feeds and web-based Gadgets that extend functionality of their site- anything from custom calendars to service integration. Start.com demonstrates the use of DHTML and ASP.Net Atlas, which separates the data from the UI resulting in significant performance improvements. In addition, Start.com Gadgets can easily support docking into the Windows Sidebar.
Gadgets for Windows SideShow(tm) (a.k.a. Auxilary Display Gadgets) allow users to view their information on devices. Users can view their data where they want it, whether it is for instant access on the lid of a laptop PC, for notifications on a keyboard display or for convenience on a detached device like a cell phone. Gadgets for Windows SideShow run on the PC and use COM interfaces to send data to devices. This Windows SideShow platform combined with the power of desktop applications allows for new scenarios and opportunities.
Read More On the Microsoft Gadgets Blog
19.Oct.05 General Read more Comments (0)
Its interesting that the wiki gives a disclaimer on its information about Vista :
This article or section contains information about scheduled or expected future product(s).
It is likely to contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the product release approaches and more information becomes available.
This is what it has to say anyway :
Windows Vista, abbreviated WinVI, is Microsoft’s next version of its Windows operating system, succeeding to Windows XP. It was previously known by its codename Longhorn (see the other Microsoft codenames). The name “Vista” was unveiled on July 22, 2005. Longhorn Server, the successor of Windows Server 2003, is yet to be named. Windows Vista will carry the version number 6.0 (Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 being Windows NT versions 5.0, 5.1 and 5.2, respectively). The scheduled release date for Windows Vista is December 7, 2006.
Windows Vista has several planned new features such as an entirely new user-interface called Aero, improved searching technology dubbed Search, and an XML specification designed for document formats and similar in many ways to Adobe’s PDF entitled XPS. Windows Vista also has an entirely new development API, WinFX, along with several other key technologies. In addition, current speculation points to several different editions of Windows Vista being released, including starter, home, and professional editions. The new operating system had several previously scheduled features that are currently not planned to go into the operating system such as WinFS and the new command shell MSH. System requirements of the new software are also higher than previous versions of Windows.
You can read the full wiki description here
15.Oct.05 General Read more Comments (0)
Microsoft are claiming that the new vista operating system will have the quickest startup time of all their operating systems.
It is claimed it will only take 2-3 seconds, on par with that of a TV.
Quotes from the official microsoft site :
Fast On and Off: A Windows Vista computer starts and shuts down as quickly and reliably as a television, typically within 2 to 3 seconds. Windows Vista processes login scripts and startup programs and services in the background so you can start working right away. You’ll also shut down and restart your computer less often by using the New Sleep state, a simple one-click on and off experience which not only reduces power consumption, but also delivers and protects user data.
15.Oct.05 General Read more Comments (0)
Interesting article over at softpedia :
It seems that Microsoft might have borrowed some sort of a marketing strategy from the gaming industry, where successive delays of a title make it even more appealing to gamers.
Windows Vista seems to fit that profile; any information announced by Microsoft, any beta or technology with the label: “Warning! It will be available in Windows Vista” is carefully analyzed, everybody hoping to figure out what are Microsoft’s plans for Windows Vista… By implementing this strategy, which seems to have intensified over the last period, Microsoft succeeds in keeping the users alert with a product nobody should care about until next year.”
Full Story : Softpedia
15.Oct.05 General Read more Comments (0)
