1.2. The Vista DesktopNow with Aero!: Home Premium ¢ Business ¢ Enterprise ¢ UltimateOnce you've recovered from the excitement of the Welcome Center, you get your first glimpse of the full Vista desktop. All of the usual Windows landmarks are herethe Start menu, taskbar, and Recycle Binbut they've been given a drastic cosmetic overhaul . If you're into this kind of thing, here's the complete list of what makes Aero Aero:
Aero isn't just looks, eitherit also includes a couple of features, like Flip 3D and live taskbar icons. You can read about these two useful features in Chapter 2. Tip: Windows Vista also includes all-new sounds, toothe little blips and bleeps you hear when you wake up or shut down the PC, get an error message, and so on.Microsoft wishes you to know, in particular, that the new Windows startup sound "has two parallel melodies, played in an intentional 'Win-dows Vis-ta' rhythm; consists of four chords, one for each color in the Windows flag; is 4 seconds long, end to end; and is a collaboration between contributors Robert Fripp (primary melody), Tucker Martine (rhythm), and Steve Ball (harmony and final orchestration)." Any questions?
What you're seeing is the new face of Windows, known to fans as Aero . (It supposedly stands for Authentic, Energetic, Reflective, and Open, but you can't help suspecting that somebody at Microsoft retrofitted those words to fit the initials .) The Aero design may not actually be Authentic or whatever, but it does look clean and modern. You'll see it, however, only if you have a fairly fast, modern PC. Basically, you need a Windows Experience Index score of 3 or higher (page 20), meaning a good amount of memory and a recent graphics card with Vista-specific drivers. Tip: The Windows Upgrade Advisor, described on page 559, can tell you in advance if your PC is capable of showing you the Aero goodies . Furthermore, the Aero features are available only in the more expensive versions of Vista: Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate. If you have a slower computer or the Home Basic version, you'll be able to enjoy all of Vista's featuresbut they just won't look quite as nice. You'll use them without the transparencies , animations, and other eye candy . The pictures in this book will match the buttons and text you'll see on the screen, but without so much decoration around the edges. Nobody ever said Microsoft's specialty was making things simple. |