Not all will see Longhorn in 3D
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That's because with Longhorn, Microsoft plans to offerthree different graphical interfaces, each requiring adifferent level of graphics card.
"This is the first time we've had a tiered userexperience based on the hardware you are running," lead product manager Greg Sullivan said during aninterview at the Windows Hardware EngineeringConference (WinHEC) here.
The top-of-the-line interface, code-named "Aero Glass,"will have transparency and other advancedthree-dimensional shading features but will demand ahigh-end video card with at least 64MB of videomemory. The midlevel "Aero" interface will offermost of the improved graphics abilities and will require just 32MB of video memory.
Both Aero and Aero Glass will also require DirectX 9.0support, AGP 4X for external graphics cards and aLonghorn graphics driver.
For those systems that lack such a powerful graphicscard, Microsoft will offer a "classic" interface,designed to replicate Windows 2000, the mainstay oftoday's corporate desktops.
Although Microsoft detailed the graphics requirements forLonghorn, it did not, as it had originally planned,give public guidance on what types of hardware will beeither required or recommended to run Longhorn.
Instead, Sullivan said, the company is talkingprivately with computer makers and other hardwarecompanies, as it tries to finalize its plans for theOS. The arrival of Longhorn has also been pushed back until mid-2006,making the need for such requirements less urgent.
Sullivan did say that "the overwhelming majority" ofsystems being made when Longhorn ships will be capableof running the operating system. The OS will also runon relatively new machines made before Longhornarrives. "The expectation is that if you have arelatively new PC, you should be able to takeadvantage of the OS," Sullivan said.
The graphics requirements are not merely for show,Sullivan said.
"When you have a terabyte of local storage,potentially, a rich way to relate and gain (access) tothe data becomes very important," Sullivan said."We're not doing 3D in the (Windows) shell because itis cool--but it is cool."
Independent technology analyst Peter Glaskowsky saidthe hardware requirements appear not to be overly stringent and that the OS should run on mostmodern machines. "Certainly, by the time it comes out, Ithink almost anything being manufactured will make thegrade," he said.
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