Section 2.2. The Vista DesktopNow with Aero | Windows Vista for Starters: The Missing Manual

2.2. The Vista DesktopNow with Aero!

Once 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 since the last version of Windows (Figure 2-2). For example:

Figure 2-2. There's a new desktop picture in VistaMicrosoft evidently endured one Teletubbies joke too many during the Windows XP eraand a glowing , more modern look called Aero. The only truly new element is the Sidebar, the stack of small floating windows that appears at the right side of the screen. (Chapter 6 covers the Sidebar in detail.)

The edges of windows are extra thick (for easier targeting with your mouse). Parts of the Start menu and window edges are transparent. Windows and dialog boxes cast subtle shadows on the background, as though theyre floating.
A new, bigger, more modern font is used for menus and labels.
When you point to a window button without clicking, the button "lights up." The Minimize and Maximize buttons glow blue; the Close button glows red.
The default button in a dialog boxthe one Microsoft thinks you really want, like Save or Printpulses gently, using fading color intensity to draw your eye.
Little animations liven up the works, especially when you minimize, maximize, or close a window.

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 3.

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 (Section 2.1), meaning a good amount of memory and a recent graphics card with Vista-specific drivers.

Tip: The Windows Upgrade Advisor, described on Section 2.1, 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. If you have a slower computer or the Home Basic version of Vista, 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.