* CPU: Intel x86-compatible 32-bit or x64-compatible 64-bit microprocessor(s) (Dual Core systems will be supported)

    * Motherboard: ACPI compatible firmware is required.

    * Memory: At least 512 megabytes

    * Graphics Card: A DirectX 9–compatible GPU that is capable of supporting Windows Vista Display Driver Model (WVDDM) and has 64 megabytes of VRAM

    * Hard Drive space: At least 1.5 gigabytes for installation files, possibly more, depending on the version of Windows Vista


Aero Glass

Aero Glass is the full Windows Vista desktop experience. Built on the new Desktop Compositing Engine, it adds support for 3D graphics, translucency, animation and other visual effects.

    * Intended for mainstream and high-end graphics cards.
    * 64 MB of graphics memory recommended for 1024x768, 128 MB for 1600x1200+.
    * At least 32 bits per pixel.
    * 3D hardware acceleration with capabilities equal to DirectX 9.0c.
    * A memory bandwidth of 2 GB/s, and as much 8 GB/s can be supported.
    * Capable of drawing ~1.5 M triangles / second, one window being ~150 triangles.
    * A graphics card that uses AGP 8X or PCI Express 16X 8-lane bus.
    * Windows Vista Display Driver Model (WVDDM) Drivers.

It is likely that such a configuration will be an average configuration by Vista's release in 2006. During Vista's early alpha testing stages, the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro and the nVidia GeForce FX 5900 were the only cards compatible with Aero Glass. Since, support has been extended to most DirectX 9 Graphics cards. At this point, the nVidia FX family and up, and ATI Radeon 9500 and up are supported.

It is possible to disable the Glass translucency effects to improve performance with slower graphics cards.
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