longhorn video card requirement

[Force Flow]

The top-of-the-line interface, code-named "Aero Glass," will have transparency and other advanced three-dimensional shading features but will demand a high-end video card with at least 64MB of video memory. The midlevel "Aero" interface will offer most of the improved graphics abilities and will require just 32MB of video memory. Both Aero and Aero Glass will also require DirectX 9.0 support, AGP 4X for external graphics cards and a Longhorn graphics driver. For those systems that lack such a powerful graphics card, Microsoft will offer a "classic" interface, designed to replicate Windows 2000, the mainstay of today's corporate desktops.

~From news.com

http://news.com.com/2100-1016_3-5207576.html

[kram 2.0]

Wow...Seems like integrated ATI Radeon 9800 Pro graphics card MOBO may need to come soon

kram

[RJ]

I knew they must have included 3D stuff, otherwise why would a 3D card be required that is 3 times as fast as current models

For those systems that lack such a powerful graphics card, Microsoft will offer a "classic" interface, designed to replicate Windows 2000, the mainstay of today's corporate desktops.

That's great. Although the first line should be "For those systems that lack such a powerful graphics card or those who don't like the bloat"

RJ

[ghost2003]

wow, just 64Mb, not as much as I would have expected.

[Staren]

Originally posted by RJ That's great. Although the first line should be "For those systems that lack such a powerful graphics card or those who don't like the bloat" RJ

I'm with you RJ. For the life of me I can not understand why you would waste CPU cycles or RAM on stuff like this when you could be using it for something worthwhile.

[AerynSedai]

i would like to strangle the people who write this garbage. it's absolute nonsense. you can do transparency with simple alpha blending using a z-buffer trick on even the crappiest of video cards. opengl has supported that since like the 80's.

if longhorn does indeed require 1 terrabyte of ram, a 70 ghz clock, and a 30" plasma screen in order to operate, or whatever nonsense these articles spew out, i will personally mail everyone $5.

end rant.

AS