Areoglass's requirements are also a joke. I'm sorry, but I shouldn't need to have a dedicated graphics controller with 128mb of RAM just to get transparencies, the weird ALT-TAB replacement, etc. I'm running on a 6 month old Dell Inspiron 700m laptop with an Intel 850 graphics chipset. Granted, it's not the best, but I'm sorry, it should be enough to run Vista with at least some of the 3D effects.
But the big claim to fame of Aero is a completely 3D rendered desktop. Gone is the 2D mode--your desktop is rendered just as any modern game is. This, naturally, consumes a lot more memory and GPU resources. I'm very curious to see what else can be done now that the interface is truly 3D...
Honestly, I think one of the biggest advantages of Vista will be moving the audio driver out of kernel mode and into user mode. I can't tell you how many times I've had to reboot computers just because the sound driver hiccupped. Printing is also supposedly new, finally getting away from the old buggy spooler used for years. The new network stack is supposedly more responsive, too...
I guess I'm just cautiously optimistic. Make no mistake, though: Vista probably won't be going on my machine until SP1.
Greg
