Vector Graphics in Windows Vista
One of the quantum leaps Windows Vista will make is the move from raster graphics to high-quality vector graphics. Two outcomes result.
1. The visual information on computer screens running full versions of Vista will be assembled using lines and curves not grids and dots. These vector elements scale without breaking up into jagged edges and boxy mosaics, so will produce much better quality pictures and text. Similarly, improved handling of text will allow greater flexibility in the presentation.
2. Users will need vastly improved graphics cards, with at least 256 MB of RAM and, at the high end, a type of monitor that’s not yet on the market.
IT Jungle reckons a mid-range PC “will have a dual core 64-bit processor and 1 GB or 2 GB of main memory. It will also probably have a 200 GB disk drive that includes the new, smart SATA interface, technology that provide performance similar to what you find in SCSI disks today. Your display will probably run at 1600 x 1200 pixels, or you might go for a premium screen with roughly 2000 x 1500 pixels. Even more generously configured Windows XP boxes, which many companies have been buying this year as vendors improved the specifications of their basic business PCs, are going to fall short.”
So Vista will also come with raster graphics for the many users whose machines don’t climb the hardware heights demanded by this technology-hungry beast. Windows Vista will automatically scale to the hardware it finds. Cheap deals on Vista PCs will almost certainly deliver boxes that run on XP lines and be Vista in name only. Buyers may feel hard done-by with this option, and severely out of pocket purchasing the real Vista experience.
So can the hardware makers match the vision of Vista and keep prices within sight of the average user. It will happen. But probably not next year. Start saving.
Update: Even your Vista correspondent is starting to get confused by the dizzying array of Vista versions beginning to materialize. Not just the seven “editions” already announced, but also the options within the box as the software scales to the resources available.
Have pity on the support folk who will have to sort this out in the real world as harrassed owners ring in with problems. The checklist for discovering which particular version of which edition is running, and which elements have or have not been suppressed, will be awesome.
