What Will You Need For Vista?

In this Recipe, I'll cover the known hardware requirements for the upcoming OS, what components you need to be looking at for the new systems you'll be building, and what updates are likely to be needed for existing systems to run Vista at its full potential. I'll also walk you through installing and running the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor to get a better sense of what version of Vista will be best for your customers.

But first, there's the timing issue. Namely, when will a final version of Vista ship? Well, Beta 2 was released in June, and Microsoft now says final Vista products will be available to businesses and OEMs in November. General release to consumers, Microsoft says, is now set for January 2007. But some industry analysts say a more likely ship date is mid-2007.

Regardless of when Vista is finally released, there's enough available now to examine Vista's major selling points: ease-of-use, top-notch security, robust search, and improved management functionality. Microsoft has posted a good summary of Vista's features on this page.

For example, on the ease-of-use front, Vista's user interface has been redesigned to be intuitive and visually appealing—taking a cue from Mac OS X—and it also features a slick new graphical user interface (GUI) called Aero. But Aero is optional and isn't even included in the base version of the OS. Still, it's certain to be one of the reasons that people are drawn to the Vista in the first place. Aero looks great, with lots of rounded edges and translucent windows. All this beauty comes at a price, however; Aero requires some hefty graphics horsepower.

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On the security side, Vista is more tightly integrated with Microsoft's anti-malware tools than WinXP is. Also, Vista supports advanced security features, such as hard-drive encryption and a new feature called Windows Service Hardening, which helps prevent virus, spyware and other malware from messing with critical system-level components. Vista also includes features to make it easier and faster to find files, manage wireless networks, and integrate with backup and system-recovery tools.

Vista System Requirements

For starters, check out Microsoft's recently launched Windows Vista: Get Ready site, which compiles lots of material about Vista, including features, functionality, and minimum system requirements.

But minimum system requirements are a funny thing. Microsoft doesn't want to dissuade users of older or lower-end PCs from upgrading to Vista. Yet at the same time, the company doesn't want to over-promise to high-end users, either. The result: recommended minimums are way too low for a true production system.

For the Vista launch, Microsoft is pushing two main systems requirements categories: Windows Vista Capable and Windows Vista Premium Ready. This lets manufacturers and system builders build and sell systems today that will support all or most of the Vista functionality as it's released.

Any system that is Windows Vista Capable will be able to install and run the OS and its core new features, such as security enhancements and search improvements. What it probably won't do, however, is run the Aero GUI, which requires a higher-end graphics processor. It's also likely to be pretty sluggish, due to the slower main processor and the less-than-ideal RAM included.

In any event, here are the official Windows Vista Capable minimum requirements:

Next, a system called Windows Vista Premium Ready supports all of the main features, including security enhancements and search improvements, as well as having the capacity to run Aero. Here are the Vista Premium Ready minimum requirements:

The main difference between Capable and Ready is a lot more RAM—and I believe Microsoft's recommendation of 1 GB is conservative—and a more robust graphics card. A system with an integrated video card sharing system memory is almost certainly not going to cut it.

Bottom line: The more RAM and graphics horsepower you're willing to throw at Vista, the better your customer's experience is likely to be. The Five 'Editions' of Vista

Microsoft is publishing Vista in five versions, which the company calls "editions." Here's a quick look at the functionality and target market of each:

How much will these editions cost? Microsoft hasn't said much about pricing. But most analysts expect the prices for the basic editions to be similar to those for WinXP. More specifically, Windows XP Home today retails for $99 for an upgrade copy and $199 for the full version. WinXP Pro is $199 for the upgrade, $299 for the full version. Opting for Windows XP Media Center Edition adds about $25 to the price of XP Pro. Assuming the industry analysts are right, Vista prices won't be too far from these. Where Do You Stand with the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor?

Once you have a handle on Vista's basic requirements and versions, I recommend you check out Microsoft's Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor. It's a program, currently in beta, that lets you test a system's readiness to run Vista. It also evaluates which edition would be "best" for your customer.

For best results, install and run the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor on a system similar to those you currently build for your customers. Doing so will let you know how your systems stack up requirements-wise.

Once you install this application, you'll start a quick system scan. Then you'll reach a Web page that asks what you'd like to do with Vista. This is Microsoft's way of helping you decide which version of Vista will best suit you or your customer's needs.

The options you can check or uncheck include:

Two other options are included with all versions of Vista: Strengthen Security, and Search and Organize. These two options cannot be unchecked.

Next, based on the options you select, the Vista Upgrade Advisor dynamically changes the edition of Vista it recommends. Not surprisingly, making any selection changes the recommendation from Vista Home Basic to another edition.

Further, picking any of the first four items above points you to Vista Home Premium. Picking Simplify My Business or Connect to Corporate or Campus Networks points you toward Windows Vista Business. And picking a combination of them points you to Windows Vista Ultimate. Oddly, no combination I selected recommended Windows Vista Enterprise. But since the Upgrade Advisor is still in beta, that will probably change.

Click Next. This will bring you to a readout showing how the system you're testing would fare when trying to install and run the Vista edition that Upgrade Advisor has recommended.

For this Recipe, I tested the Upgrade Adviser on two systems:

The Dell laptop in its current state won't run Vista for multiple reasons. Mainly, there's too little hard-drive space, and its graphics card has too little power to run Aero. The Upgrade Adviser didn't recommend adding additional RAM, though I've found that even WinXP is occasionally sluggish with just 512 MB installed. Vista has higher RAM requirements than XP.

The tower passed with more or less flying colors. However, because I selected Watch and Record TV in the Upgrade Advisor, it noted that my current card does not support TV output, let alone HDTV output. It did, however, suggest that I could use the PC as a media-center host and connect it to an HDTV through a Microsoft Xbox 360. Ah, the joys of cross marketing

Finally, take a look at the devices connected—printers, scanners, webcams, etc.—and take note of any software driver issues. While I was interested to see how the system stacks up, since Vista is still in beta, it's probably a bit early to start looking for Vista-compatible drivers. Building New Vista-Ready Systems

Pulling out the crystal ball can be risky business, but system builders will definitely need to keep a few things in mind over the next 18 to 24 months as they start to build Vista-ready systems.

First, make sure your motherboards can support lots of RAM. Capacity up to 2 GB should cover you for the next few years. Anything less could paint you and your customers into a corner. Don't be surprised if Vista's minimum system requirements for RAM have trouble running the newest applications.

Next, don't skimp on power supplies. Although Intel and AMD both promise efficiency improvements in their new multi-core processors, there's no reason to think you can cut corners on power and get away with it. Add to that the need for a separate, power-hungry graphics card to get the full Aero experience, and you'll regret going with less than 400 watts or so on newer systems. To review, the Aero requirements, see the System Requirements and Vista Editions sections of this Recipe.

Finally, expect changes coming for hard-drive and DVD drive interfaces. Especially with Serial ATA (SATA) becoming more prominent and customers starting to include Blu-ray and HD-DVD drives in their systems. (For more on the latter, see this recent Recipe: Get Ready for Blu-ray and HD-DVD.)

Upgrading Older Systems for Vista

Older PCs should be able to run Vista just fine provided they have enough RAM and graphics power. In other words, RAM and graphics power are the two make-or-break areas for upgrading to Vista.

I'm from the school of thought that says throwing lots of RAM at a sluggish PC either solves the problem, or at least does a good job of hiding the performance problems. There's no reason to think that upgrading to Vista will be any different. So thinking about getting your customers' systems up to at least 1 GB, and ideally into the range of 1.5 GB to 2 GB, will help smooth the transition. Today, 2 GB of RAM is overkill for just about everything but the most tricked-out XP system. But I'll bet that most systems running Vista will be upgraded to at least 1 GB of memory over the next couple years.

With graphics, it's hard to say what will happen. From what I've seen, and the way the tests are shaping up, there don't seem to be any motherboard-integrated graphics cards on the market today that will support the full Aero interface. That means one of three things: One, a lot of customers will settle for non-Aero graphics. Two, integrated graphics cards will get a lot more powerful, very quickly. Or three, NVIDIA and ATI are going to sell a boatload of very nice standalone video cards.

The other thing to consider is your customers' drives. It seems Vista will be available on DVD only. So a DVD drive will be helpful for installing Vista, unless you'll pull the OS files from a network. With 15 GB of free space the minimum to do a full Vista install, upgrading to a new 100 GB drive or better should be adequate for the next few years.

At the end of the day, customers are more concerned than ever about system reliability and data security. Vista looks to accomplish a lot in addressing those two concerns. Combined with a user-friendly GUI and slick new features, Vista is sure to drive a lot of interest in upgrading to either updated components or completely new systems. Smart system builders will get to know the ins and outs of Vista now for a smooth upgrade whenever the new OS is finally released.

PETER HAGOPIAN is a Philadelphia-based freelance writer. He's been covering technology and music for more than a decade.