May 6, 2004 2:12 PM PDT
Not all will see Longhorn in 3D
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Is your PC ready for Longhorn?
February 18, 2004 -
Plan A for Microsoft
November 6, 2003
That's because with Longhorn, Microsoft plans to offer three different graphical interfaces, each requiring a different level of graphics card.
"This is the first time we've had a tiered user experience based on the hardware you are running," lead product manager Greg Sullivan said during an interview at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) here.
The top-of-the-line interface, code-named "Aero Glass," will have transparency and other advanced three-dimensional shading features but will demand a high-end video card with at least 64MB of video memory. The midlevel "Aero" interface will offer most of the improved graphics abilities and will require just 32MB of video memory.
Both Aero and Aero Glass will also require DirectX 9.0 support, AGP 4X for external graphics cards and a Longhorn graphics driver.
For those systems that lack such a powerful graphics card, Microsoft will offer a "classic" interface, designed to replicate Windows 2000, the mainstay of today's corporate desktops.
Although Microsoft detailed the graphics requirements for Longhorn, it did not, as it had originally planned, give public guidance on what types of hardware will be either required or recommended to run Longhorn.
Instead, Sullivan said, the company is talking privately with computer makers and other hardware companies, as it tries to finalize its plans for the OS. The arrival of Longhorn has also been pushed back until mid-2006, making the need for such requirements less urgent.
Sullivan did say that "the overwhelming majority" of systems being made when Longhorn ships will be capable of running the operating system. The OS will also run on relatively new machines made before Longhorn arrives. "The expectation is that if you have a relatively new PC, you should be able to take advantage of the OS," Sullivan said.
The graphics requirements are not merely for show, Sullivan said.
"When you have a terabyte of local storage, potentially, a rich way to relate and gain (access) to the data becomes very important," Sullivan said. "We're not doing 3D in the (Windows) shell because it is cool--but it is cool."
Independent technology analyst Peter Glaskowsky said the hardware requirements appear not to be overly stringent and that the OS should run on most modern machines. "Certainly, by the time it comes out, I think almost anything being manufactured will make the grade," he said.
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Microsoft Windows 2000
3 years ago. Longhorn's recommmended hardware specs are
ridiculous and Mac OSX gets faster and less encumbered on
older hardware with each release plus OSX is already leaps and
bounds ahead of where Windows HOPES it will be by 2006 in the
GUI department. ...and people wonder why people like myself
who have been in professional IT consulting for over a decade
are now using Macs? I have all the power and portability of
Unix, plus the best GUI any OS could hope to have. (and it keeps
getting better!) I hear people gripe about the price of Macs, yet
every new Windows OS practically requires a PC upgrade
(Longhorn will require EXTENSIVE upgrades from today's PC's),
my 3 year old G4-550 Powerbook performs marvelously and
flawlessly 24/7, needs not to be upgraded (though I'm lusting
for a G5), and every release of OSX runs BETTER on my laptop
than the previous one. Let's talk ROI people! : ) You WIndows
folks, can wait if you want, I'll continue to support you and your
networks, patch your security holes and buggy software, and
take your money to the bank, but I'll be d*mned if I'll throw mine
away on Longhorn or any other Windows OS in my house or my
shop. It was fun while it lasted, but I've met a new love.
will be getting people to upgrade. Every computer out today is
apparently too slow to run it, so everyone will have to upgrade.
In the meantime, Mac OS X runs on any computer since the iMac
(1998) and boasts the same feature set as Longhorn, and is
available today. And guess who first introduced the tiered
graphics for the OS? Apple with Quartz Extreme in Mac OS X
10.2.