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Vista Capable Vs. Premium Ready

Thursday, 08 February 2007

Vista Capable Vs. Premium Ready
The primary features that create the most confusion for consumers -- and the ones that seem least explained on vendor sites -- are the Vista features that have gotten the most attention: its new graphics model and flashy Aero interface. While HP's site, for example, does a good job of recommending 2GB of memory when a shopper clicks on the button to select Vista Ultimate, it doesn't attempt to explain the more complex requirements for graphics hardware that uses a WDDM driver and 128MB of memory.

Unfortunately, Microsoft itself hasn't been much help. While Microsoft created a set of designations that indicate whether a PC has Vista installed, or is capable of running some version of Vista (see sidebar, "Vista Sticker Shock"), the program's designations of "Windows Vista Capable" and "Windows Vista Premium Ready" don't provide a complete answer to crucial distinctions.

For the record, Microsoft says that a "Vista Capable" PC (that is, one that would run Vista Home Basic), should include:

A "modern" processor (at least 800MHz).
512 MB of system memory.
A graphics processor that is DirectX 9 capable.

"Vista Capable" PCs support the security features of Vista -- Windows Defender and Windows Firewall -- and Parental Controls, but not the advanced graphics and Aero interface features, or media and networking features. PCs with Vista Basic installed wear "Windows Vista Basic" stickers.

Requirements for "Premium Ready" PCs include:

Minimum 1GHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor.
Miniumum 1 GB of system memory.
Support for DirectX 9 graphics with a WDDM driver, Pixel Shader 2.0 and 32 bits per pixel, and 128 MB of graphics memory (either dedicated or shared -- if the graphics processor uses shared memory, then no additional graphics memory is required beyond the 1 GB system memory requirement but the diversion of memory may impact overall system performance; if the GPU uses dedicated memory then 128MB is required.)

Unfortunately, while "Premium Ready" is the clearest indicator of support for Aero and advanced media-center and networking features, there is no "Premium Ready" sticker.

Also, Microsoft's Web site notes that some product features may require advanced or additional hardware:

Receiving and playing TV programs requires a TV tuner card and a remote control which complies with the Windows Vista Remote Control Specification. TV playing is supported in Vista Home Premium and Vista Ultimate.
BitLocker Drive Encryption, available in Vista Ultimate (and in Vista Enterprise, sold only to corporate volume licensees), requires an integrated Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 chip or USB 2.0 key.
Tablet PC support is available in Home Premium, Vista Ultimate, Vista Business, and Vista Enterprise, but the PC must meet the Tablet PC specification that includes an electromagnetic digitizer pen.

Vista isn't the first new version of Windows to push the technology envelope. But in the past, the primary determiners of whether a new version of Windows would run were memory and processor speed, both requirements that could be stated simply. (For Windows 95, for example, Microsoft recommended an Intel 80486 or compatible processor and 8Mb of RAM -- numbers that fit easily into a product description on a price tag.)

With Vista, things are more complicated. In particular, retailers are going to have to find new ways of describing graphics hardware that supports the advanced functions of Vista ("Aero-ready"?) and describes how system memory is divided up by the CPU and the graphics processor. And PC customers are going to have to learn some new questions to ask.

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