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Microsoft Vista Notes Home Page
4
Chapter 1
Installing Windows Vista Client
RAM
Not only do you need enough RAM to run the operating system, but you also
need extra RAM
to run applications. Most people like to run several applications at once,
such as a word pro-
cessor, e-mail client, web browser, and chat program. When a computer begins
running out of
available RAM, it begins to use the page file. A page file is a special
file, usually hidden, that is
used to hold parts of programs and data files that do not fit within the
computer’s physical
memory. Data is moved from the paging file to memory and back again as
required. The page
file is sometimes called the swap file. The more a computer uses the page
file, the slower the
computer gets. You can often improve the speed of a computer more by
increasing the amount
of RAM it has than you can by increasing its processor speed. Windows Vista
has a minimum
recommended RAM of 512 MB and a recommended RAM of 1 GB.
Hard Disk Drive
Having enough free space on the volume to install the operating system is
one thing, but you
will need space for an office productivity suite, all that e-mail that
arrives, and space to install
the latest and greatest games. Although a standard Windows Vista
installation will consume
approximately 7 GB of hard disk drive space, the recommended minimum amount
of hard
disk drive space is 20 GB, and the recommended amount is 40 GB. If you had
only 7 GB of
hard disk drive space, you would not be able to install any extra
applications!
Graphics Card
Windows Vista has two graphics interfaces: the basic interface and the more
advanced Windows
Aero interface. Windows Aero is more aesthetically pleasing, but Windows
Vista is still fully
functional if using only the basic interface. The minimum requirement to run
the basic inter-
face is a graphics adapter that is DirectX 9 capable. You can find
information on whether a
graphics adapter is DirectX 9 capable on the vendor’s website or on the
product packaging. To
run Windows Aero, a graphics adapter needs:
■
DirectX 9 capacity
■
A WDDM Driver
■
Hardware Pixel Shader 2.0
■
32 bits per pixel
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A minimum of 128 MB graphics memory
Comparing Windows Vista Editions
To the uninitiated, one of the most challenging things about Windows Vista
is the number of
editions it comes in. Each edition, or SKU (Stock Keeping Unit), is aimed at
a particular target
audience, and each edition has a particular price point. It is likely that
in your job as an IT pro,
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