Identifying Hardware Requirements (Windows Vista)

Windows Vista is Microsoft's most advanced desktop operating system to date, as such it has higher system requirements than any of its predecessors. The tables below show the minimum requirements to run any edition of Windows Vista as well as the minimum requirements to be able to run the Windows Aero Interface.
 

 

Windows Vista Minimum System Requirements

800 MHz processor

512 MB of system memory

20 GB hard drive

15 GB space free

Super VGA video card

CD-ROM drive

 

Windows Aero Minimum System Requirements

Vista Home Premium, Vista Business, Vista Ultimate or Vista Enterprise Edition

DirectX 9 compatible graphics processor

Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) driver

Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware

128 MB of Video RAM

Monitor capable of displaying at a refresh rate of 10Hz or better










 

Windows Vista Editions

Windows Vista is available in a number of versions. These have been designed to ensure that customers get the best value for money by only paying for the features that they will use.

 

Windows Vista Starter

  1. Available only in developing countries
  2. Only available for 32 bit processors
  3. Only 1 physical processor supported
  4. Support for Multi Core processors
  5. No support for Windows Aero
  6. Maximum of 1GB RAM
  7. Cannot serve network services, only allows inbound connections.
  8. Limited to running 3 applications simultaneously.

Windows Vista Home Basic

  1. Available for 32 and 64 bit processors
  2. Only 1 physical processor supported
  3. Support for Multi Core processors
  4. No support for Windows Aero
  5. Maximum of 8GB RAM
  6. Parental Controls to allow parents to restrict programs and websites for limited users
  7. Limit of 5 simultaneous SMB connections

Windows Vista Home Premium

  1. As with Vista Home Basic plus...
  2. Support for Windows Aero (including Flip 3D)
  3. Windows Media Center
  4. Windows DVD Maker
  5. MPEG2 Decoder for DVD Playback
  6. 32 bit edition supports 8GB RAM
  7. 64 bit edition supports 16GB RAM
  8. Limit of 10 simultaneous SMB connections
  9. Support for Tablet PC's

Windows Vista Business

  1. As with Vista Home Premium plus...
  2. Support for Remote Desktop
  3. Ability to join a Domain & support for Group Policy
  4. No Windows Media Center
  5. No Windows DVD Maker
  6. No MPEG2 Decoder for DVD Playback
  7. No Parental Controls
  8. IIS web server
  9. Offline Files and Folders
  10. Faxing Support
  11. Shadow Copy support (known as Previous Version)
  12. EFS (Encrypting File System)
  13. Support for 2 physical processors
  14. 64 bit edition supports 128GB RAM
  15. No limit on simultaneous SMB connections

Windows Vista Enterprise

  1. As with Vista Business plus...
  2. Only available to volume licensing customers
  3. BitLocker Drive Encryption
  4. Multilanguage User Interface
  5. Licensed to run in unlimited number of simultaneous Virtual Machines

Windows Vista Ultimate

  1. As with Vista Business plus...
  2. BitLocker Drive Encryption
  3. Vista Ultimate Extras - collection of games and screensavers with additional software being published at regular intervals
  4. Windows Media Center
  5. Windows DVD Maker
  6. MPEG2 Decoder for DVD Playback
  7. Parental Controls

 

'N' Editions

You may come across two additional versions of Windows Vista. Windows Vista Home Basic N and Windows Vista Business N, both of these editions are exactly the same as their non-'N' counterparts except they do not include Windows Media Player. The 'N' editions are a result of an EU anti-competition ruling, although both editions lack functionality available in the mainstream editions of Windows they are priced identically. The 'N' editions are only available in the European Union.

 

 

Exam Alert

It is important to know the differences between various versions as many questions in the exam will refer to them.

 

External Links

  1. Microsoft Windows Vista - System Requirements
  2. Knowledgebase Article on Vista System Requirements
By: Edward Laverick
2010-01-28
Favorites Print | Twitter Facebook MySpace LinkedIn | Technorati Delicous Stumble Digg
`