Microsoft Revises Longhorn Graphics Requirements

winnetmag.com ^ | May 6, 2004 | Paul Thurrott

[HAL9000]

Although Microsoft didn't announce general hardware requirements for Longhorn as expected at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) 2004 trade show this week, company representatives did reveal that the graphics-card requirements for the upcoming system have changed since Microsoft first revealed them at WinHEC 2003. Microsoft also presented details about Longhorn's so-called tiered user experience, which the company calls Aero.

"The Aero user experience is a generational leap over what's available today in Windows XP," Kerry Hammil, a program manager on the Avalon team, said during a graphics session at the show Monday afternoon. "There will be two discrete levels of user experience in Longhorn. As graphics hardware becomes more powerful, the user experience becomes richer in discrete steps."

These levels, or tiers, are currently called Aero and Aero Glass; last year, Microsoft simply referred to them as the Tier 1 and Tier 2 user experiences. The default Aero user experience is built on the low-level Longhorn graphics API called Avalon and will require a DirectX 9-compliant 3-D graphics processor with at least 32MB of RAM and an Intel AGP 4x bus. Aero will require a minimum resolution of 1024 x 768 (XGA), compared with 640 x 480 (VGA) for today's Windows versions. Last year, Microsoft announced DirectX 7 compliance as a baseline for Longhorn, but Hammil defended the change. "By 2006, DirectX 9 will be baseline functionality," she noted, adding that finding DirectX 7 cards in 2 years will be impossible, anyway. "Machines with graphics hardware that doesn't meet this Aero bar won't qualify for the [Designed for] Longhorn logo."

Aero Glass, the higher-end user experience, will be a true superset of Aero and will come with higher hardware requirements. "Aero Glass will provide a beautiful [UI] experience with transition animations. Window frames will be a bit blurry and translucent, making text easier to read. Transparencies and animations will be hallmarks of the Aero Glass user experience, with more modern, high-quality visualizations than with [standard] Aero." Aero Glass will require a DirectX 9-compliant 3-D graphics processor with at least 64MB of RAM, although Microsoft will recommend 128MB to 256MB of RAM.

In addition to the two tiered Avalon-based user experiences, Longhorn will also support a legacy Classic display mode that will resemble the Windows 2000 UI. This mode will support all the non-UI-related Longhorn technologies, enabling Longhorn applications to run in Classic mode. Microsoft is providing this mode for upgrades that don't meet the minimum requirements for Aero and for corporations that would prefer not to retrain users as they migrate to Longhorn.

[HAL9000]

"The Aero user experience is a generational leap over what's available today in Windows XP," Kerry Hammil, a program manager on the Avalon team, said during a graphics session at the show Monday afternoon.

Aero is Microsoft's attempt to copy the Quartz Extreme technology that Apple started shipping in Mac OS X a couple of years ago.

Longhorn will also support a legacy Classic display mode that will resemble the Windows 2000 UI.

Classic mode will be so awful, everyone will be running to the computer stores to buy software updates.

[Vermonter]

Longhorn will also support a legacy Classic display mode that will resemble the Windows 2000 UI.

Can't they do anything without copying Apple?

[The Duke]

Sounds pretty fancy .... one finds oneself wondering if all this overhead is going to find itself to their server operating systems (where it will be useful about 0.00001% of the time)?

[oolatec]

Wow... drop shadows and animated windows... welcome to 2001!

[upchuck]

Sounds like the "ivory tower" folks at MicroSloth have fallen off the deep end.

Hey Kerry, how 'bout spending some serious time on basic Quality Control for the garbage you're currently distributing?

I am really sick of the "another week, another emergency security update" routine. Is this the best you can do?

[Izzy Dunne]

Does anyone remember when software was written to run on whatever hardware could be built?
Now it's the other way around.

[bigcheese]

Well, Im not a MS fanatic, but I doubt very seriously they copied apple in offering a 'classic GUI'. And I say that in past tense because XP offers a Win2000 look. And there is only 7 months of difference between the release of XP and OS X. Not nearly the amount of time necessary for MS to see a concept ('classic gui') and copy it and actually have it work decently :-).

[Vermonter]

When Apple released OS X for the macintosh, they kept in support for the previous OS 9 and deemed it the 'Classic' environment. I was attempting (unsuccessfully it seems) to show that MS even copied Apple's name for its older environment in its new release

[VeniVidiVici]

deemed it the 'Classic' environment.

Bet you a steak dinner the name will change before release.

[Abcdefg]

Unrelated to this thread, exactly, but check out: http://msdn.microsoft.com/vbasic/atthemovies/
They are giving away free copies of Visual Basic .NET 2003!

[BritExPatInFla]

By the time it comes out, most everyone that stays even remotely near "State of the art" will have DX9 compliant cards. We "Bleeding Edge" types will be using whatever replaces the PCI Express cards that are in beta now, and aftger playing with ATI's X600, they are niiiiiice. THe people and businesses that stay a release or two behind, due to stabilty fears and cost, won't be affected anyway.

[mikegi]

Can't they do anything without copying Apple?

Good grief, "Classic" mode is standard terminology in software. Can I claim that the vaunted Apple Computer "copied" WinZip? As I'm sure you know, in 1996 WinZip introduced a new interface but kept the old interface as "classic mode".

[Swordmaker]

"deemed it the 'Classic' environment."

Bet you a steak dinner the name will change before release.

Let's see... well, since the project is Longhorn, how about "hidebound"?

[dennisw]

Turn on Windows XP ClearType and how to refine it further

[bigcheese]

Oh. Good thing, cause I had remembered an even earlier case of 'classic GUI' that MS had done. When I went from NT 3.51 to NT 4.0, I could not stand the win95 interface at first. Eventually, someone showed me how to make it 'classic' in that the gooey became win3.x, which was the gooey of NT prior to 4.0.

[antiRepublicrat]

Aero is Microsoft's attempt to copy the Quartz Extreme technology that Apple started shipping in Mac OS X a couple of years ago.

Also notice they picked air (Aero) instead of water (Aqua) -- even ripping off Apple's naming scheme. Next up for Microsoft, Pyro and Geo.

[Leroy S. Mort]

I hope thay dont have that cartoonish "bubble-bar" at the bottom. A lil too cutsie for me.

[antiRepublicrat]

I hope thay dont have that cartoonish "bubble-bar" at the bottom. A lil too cutsie for me.

Are you talking about the Dock? Even original Mac GUI designer and usability guru Tog says it's not a good thing usability-wise, although it's a good trick to bring in new buyers. He recommends replacing it as soon as you buy a Mac.

[Petronski]

Next up for Microsoft, Pyro and Geo.

LOL

I here Longhorn 2009 will offer translucent menus!

[Petronski]

Next up for Microsoft, Pyro and Geo.

LOL

I hear Longhorn 2009 will offer translucent menus!