Windows Vista Premium 2007 Requirements Detailed

bakuryu

While Microsoft works to prepare and update Windows Vista for launch in 2007, the hardware industry has continued to move forward. Microsoft however, has been following the hardware world steadily, incorporating changes into Windows Vista's requirements for the actual launch. Assuming that all factors work out on time -- and Windows Vista launches on schedule, which is already delayed to begin with -- a Windows Vista computer should be able to provide its owner with very interesting advantages.

Microsoft has broken down its requirements for the Windows Vista logo program into two categories: Basic and Premium. Don't be confused by Basic and Premium, however, as there are several other versions of Windows Vista that can be "Premium" compliant. The actual names of Windows Vista versions are:

• Windows Vista Home Basic
• Windows Vista Home Premium
• Windows Vista Business
• Windows Vista Enterprise
• Windows Vista Ultimate

From the above, the only SKU not eligible for a Windows Vista Premium logo is Home Basic although all of the above are able to use the Basic logo. According to Microsoft, any computer with enough basic specifications can run any of the above Vista SKUs, but those systems that wish to use a Premium logo designation must have certain special specifications met, regardless of which Windows Vista SKU is used -- minus Home Basic. Windows Vista Premium-logo compliancy according to Microsoft:

At a system level, if it includes a device, then all the requirements associated with that device class must be met for the appropriate compliance level of the logo (basic or premium). To qualify for a basic system logo, the devices of a basic system that includes embedded or add-in devices must comply with the basic requirements (if a logo program exists for the device categories). Likewise, to qualify for a premium system logo, the devices of a premium system that includes embedded or add-in devices must comply with the premium requirements for the device category.

The following are requirements for Windows Vista Premium logo-compliant PC and will be mandated by June 1st, 2007:

• Must have H.264 hardware decoding
• Must have HDCP
• Must support multi-monitor support
• Must have HD audio
• Must have HD audio jack presence detection
• Must have Serial ATA 2.5
• Must have minimum of 50MB NV cache on hybrid HD's with at least 8MB/sec write 16MB/sec read (for mobile only)
• Must support booting from USB flash drives
• Must have Windows Vista Green Button on all remotes
• Must have Green Driver Quality Rating (DQR)
  • Green score of 7 to 9
  • Yellow score of 4 o 6
  • Red score of 1 to 3

Premium logo level PCs must first support Windows Vista Aero user interface. This means included graphics cards or integrated graphics solutions must support hardware DirectX9c. While DirectX 10 will be introduced later in 2007 along with Windows Vista, it is not a requirement. Graphics solutions must also support hardware decoding of HD video codecs such as H.264 and MPEG2 and MPEG4. This ensures that Premium PCs will be able to play back Blu-ray and HD-DVD at full resolution. To ensure that this occurs gracefully, PCs must also support HDMI and/or UDI graphics interfaces. HDCP will also be a stiff requirement and there are other content protection schemes on the way. Microsoft is also requiring that Premium systems be capable of multi-monitor support, allowing the use of two screens at minimum.

Making sure that the high definition experience is carried all the way through, Microsoft is also making it a requirement that all Premium logo systems support Intel's HD Audio standard at the very minimum. This means at least 5.1 channels of audio via analog outputs and S/PDIF outputs. Audio jacks are also required to be able to detect what kind of connection is being used, analog or digital.

In terms of storage, hybrid hard drives are only required for mobile systems using the Premium logo. With hybrid hard drives, a minimum of 50MB of non-volatile flash cache memory must be implemented that is at least capable of writing at 8MB/sec. and reading at 16MB/sec. Other NAND flash memory technologies such as Intel's Robson technology, is not a requirement Windows Vista Premium logo -- at this time. For storage devices, Serial ATA-II must be implemented. This means a minimum speed of 3Gbit/sec and advanced features such as native command queuing (NCQ), among others. This rule will apply to both hard drives and motherboards. Interestingly, optical storage drives are not required to use SATA.

System BIOS and EFI implementations will be required to support booting from USB flash memory sticks. As memory sticks increase in sizes, it becomes easier to backup an entire OS install and more completely onto a USB memory key and take it anywhere with you. Microsoft's Premium logo requires that this be an essential feature.

For Media Center PCs, Microsoft will require that all remotes have the Windows Vista Green button. TV tuner and add-in DVR devices that include remote controls must also comply to this rule too if the manufacturer wishes to claim that the product is Windows Vista Premium compliant.

http://dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=2842

__________________
Please don't click here

Strider

God that should be a monster.

I cann't understand why M$ going for the starter edition.

__________________
Want to ask a question? Try This! A guide on how to post a question, reply to a post etc.