Windows Vista Beta 1-Part2
Windows Vista's new look-and-feel is known as "Aero." On suitably equipped machines, Aero will exploit 3D graphics accelerators to implement "Glass" display effects. At this point, at least, the venerable shell metaphor of a desktop with overlapping windows hasn't changed, but Aero Glass uses subtle visual cues to make the experience much more convincing and seamlesswe'd dare say even a bit Mac-like. Window and dialog borders are partially transparent, blurring content behind them and casting drop shadows to enhance the sense of depth. They appear and disappear using understated zooming and fading effects. Buttons and controls have a gel-like look and light up in natural-looking ways.
Because the "chrome" that surrounds windows and dialog boxes is drawn by the OS rather than by individual applications, and because the bulk of apps written in recent years use common controls within their windows, many of the Glass effects appear even when you are running legacy applications. Programs written to take advantage of Windows XP's visual styles will automatically use Aero styles. Application developers taking advantage of the new Avalon APIs (application programming interfaces, described further below) will be able to exploit Glass effects in additional ways.
The familiar Start menu is still there too, although its organization has changed a bit. Responding to complaints that the cascading menus spawned by the "All Programs" option were difficult to navigate, Microsoft has changed the All Programs list so it appears embedded within the left pane of the Start menu. Now you can collapse and expand it, much as you can do with the tree view of directories in Windows Explorer.
Additionally, the Start menu contains an embedded search box that lets you search program names incrementallythat is, as you type each letter, the list of programs displayed is immediately constrained to those that match your search string. Different users will find it more or less useful to search for applications by name, but we expect that Microsoft's goal of making search pervasive will lead to this query box becoming an entry point for systemwide search. It's only natural for such a feature to be located in either the Start menu or on the taskbar.
Running Aero Glass will require moderately beefy hardware, including a 3D graphics accelerator that supports DirectX 9 with AGP 8X or PCI Express 8X support and at least 64MB of RAM. Although that may exceed the capabilities of today's typical corporate desktop, it shouldn't be a stretch for desktop systems and for the higher-end laptops that will be shipping when Vista arrives. Hardware that isn't up to snuff will be unable to show Glass effects like transparency or live icons, but even without them Vista will have the same basic look and feel. A third appearance, Classic, will be available for companies that don't want to have to train staff on a new interface.
For the complete story please visit http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1840730,00.asp
Because the "chrome" that surrounds windows and dialog boxes is drawn by the OS rather than by individual applications, and because the bulk of apps written in recent years use common controls within their windows, many of the Glass effects appear even when you are running legacy applications. Programs written to take advantage of Windows XP's visual styles will automatically use Aero styles. Application developers taking advantage of the new Avalon APIs (application programming interfaces, described further below) will be able to exploit Glass effects in additional ways.
The familiar Start menu is still there too, although its organization has changed a bit. Responding to complaints that the cascading menus spawned by the "All Programs" option were difficult to navigate, Microsoft has changed the All Programs list so it appears embedded within the left pane of the Start menu. Now you can collapse and expand it, much as you can do with the tree view of directories in Windows Explorer.
Additionally, the Start menu contains an embedded search box that lets you search program names incrementallythat is, as you type each letter, the list of programs displayed is immediately constrained to those that match your search string. Different users will find it more or less useful to search for applications by name, but we expect that Microsoft's goal of making search pervasive will lead to this query box becoming an entry point for systemwide search. It's only natural for such a feature to be located in either the Start menu or on the taskbar.
Running Aero Glass will require moderately beefy hardware, including a 3D graphics accelerator that supports DirectX 9 with AGP 8X or PCI Express 8X support and at least 64MB of RAM. Although that may exceed the capabilities of today's typical corporate desktop, it shouldn't be a stretch for desktop systems and for the higher-end laptops that will be shipping when Vista arrives. Hardware that isn't up to snuff will be unable to show Glass effects like transparency or live icons, but even without them Vista will have the same basic look and feel. A third appearance, Classic, will be available for companies that don't want to have to train staff on a new interface.
For the complete story please visit http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1840730,00.asp
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