Windows Aero

Windows AERO is the name for vista's new windows user interface, Microsoft claims the word AERO is an acronym for (Authentic, Energetic, Reflective, and Open), i think it is not, for when kam vedbrat (one of the AERO developers) was asked on what is the most important thing in AERO was, he kept emphasizing the word smooth all the time, you will find that it is smoother, in a smooth way, smooth this smooth that, i don't see an S anywhere in AERO, i think it is a Backronym, Microsoft first liked the word, then found words, but that is not what a backronym is is it ? a backronym is an acronym that had its originating words changed.

The real answer to the question of what did Aero stand for originally remains unanswered if it did at all stand for anything, with the answers remaining a secret closely kept by a few at Microsoft.

Let me start with this, AERO is demanding from your graphics card, my computer is a very fast machine, The only thing that is ordinary on the computer is my Graphics Card, since the computer analyses log files etc.. and not meant to be a gaming machine, Windows experience index reports that my NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 which is very common on the market scores 2 on the Windows Experience Index, the report reads as follows

Is that so bad Mr. AERO ? this is way below average, but what is the average, i really don't know where there sample comes from, and no where did they state it.

Windows Aero is not available in Windows Vista Starter or windows vista home-basic edition. it is also not compatible with many applications, so you might be starting an application and then boom

The color scheme has been changed to windows vista basic A running program isn't compatible with certain visual elements of Windows Click here for more information

You need to note that this will not happen with every application, it will depend on the application and how it was written, applications that use GDI (Graphics Device Interface) will not disable VISTA's AERO just because they utilize GDI Applications utilizing GDI are usually those that were written for Windows XP or an older version of windows. all those applications written for XP will not do this just because they were written for XP They will still work, your windows VISTA will still run AERO but don't expect the application to have transparency in it, while others will disable AERO and example of an application that will disable AERO would be Jasc Paint Shop Pro 9, an example of one that will not would be Apple iTunes V. 7, so you should now have an idea on when it will be disabled.

Trying not to get too involved in all the bad aspects of Aero (All the memory usage, hardware requirements, and the disable screen above) just yet, windows Aero may be a nice user experience, but is it worth your money?

Windows Aero costs much on its own and does not come with all vista editions, it looks good with levels of transparency that when mixed with effects can give the user a glass feel for example with its window transparency capability, To see if you would really want to spend money on this, check the video and see how things differ
(The video is not here yet)

Windows AERO has a few new improvements, The most important one is "the looks" that are also available in API for developers to use in there own applications, an example of that is the glass windows in applications, the transparency that is.

Also new to windows is that the visual shape and contents (visual contents) of every window are stored in memory, this means that when a window crashes it will not become white/blank because windows knows how it looked like before crashing, so it does not need to redraw itself, you can look at it as if windows is faking the application window with the last image the application returned (then shades it to tell you it crashed).

Live thumbnails appear everywhere, so if you are watching a video and you press Alt+Tab (now called windows flip) you will be able to see a thumbnail of the window with the actual video playing in the thumbnail, thumbnails also appear when you mouseover the taskbar.(see Windows Flip, Flip3d and Taskbar)

You can also arrange windows in front of each other and scroll through them, the windows contents will display live within those 3d objects..

In short, most of this uses the Direct3D in the graphics card... something game manufacturers have been using for many years (not the 2007 technology you think it is) the hardware 3D accelerator has been in your graphics card since forever.

Older applications will not make use of all this nice stuff, you will not see glass in an application not specifically made for windows vista

Also, windows now shows you the contents of most file types (not just images and videos) in the thumbnail view, this has been available in Linux for a long time now, but i thought it might be worth mentioning.

What else is worth mentioning about windows vista AERO is not the only option you have, Windows Vista can also run the basic view user interface (slight change from previous versions of windows that include how the start menu looks), Windows Classic user interface which is the same as the basic but with a windows 2000 look and feel, , Standard user interface is the intermediate one, this is the best a windows vista home basic user can get, and is only available in Home Basic edition, it is superior than the ones before in that it can utilize (but does not require) Windows Driver Display Model (WDDM) yet missing features that come in AERO like Windows flip (the thumbnailed alt-tab) and windows flip 3d (the one you scroll through with your mouse), and finally Windows Aero that is only available with Home Premium and above.

so to name them again they are

Basic (all editions) - Classic (all editions) - Standard (home basic edition) - AERO (Home premium, business, and ultimate)

So is vista's new user interface worth all the fuss ? it depends on how important graphics are to you, I myself only noticed it when i ran Vista for the first few times, Now i don't notice it, If you are coming in for vista just for this, Get yourself a free theme and fit it on windows XP, I have not been benefiting from the new Windows Flip, Flip 3d, and live thumbnails either, they sound so useful, i find it easier to read the text as i flip in XP with the help of the icons.