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Source: http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=2842
Quote:
The following are requirements for Windows Vista Premium logo-compliant PC and will be mandated by June 1st, 2007:
* Must have H.264 hardware decoding
* Must have HDCP
* Must support multi-monitor support
* Must have HD audio
* Must have HD audio jack presence detection
* Must have Serial ATA 2.5
* Must have minimum of 50MB NV cache on hybrid HD's with at least 8MB/sec write 16MB/sec read (for mobile only)
* Must support booting from USB flash drives
* Must have Windows Vista Green Button on all remotes
* Must have Green Driver Quality Rating (DQR)
o Green score of 7 to 9
o Yellow score of 4 o 6
o Red score of 1 to 3
Premium logo level PCs must first support Windows Vista Aero user interface. This means included graphics cards or integrated graphics solutions must support hardware DirectX9c. While DirectX 10 will be introduced later in 2007 along with Windows Vista, it is not a requirement. Graphics solutions must also support hardware decoding of HD video codecs such as H.264 and MPEG2 and MPEG4. This ensures that Premium PCs will be able to play back Blu-ray and HD-DVD at full resolution. To ensure that this occurs gracefully, PCs must also support HDMI and/or UDI graphics interfaces. HDCP will also be a stiff requirement and there are other content protection schemes on the way. Microsoft is also requiring that Premium systems be capable of multi-monitor support, allowing the use of two screens at minimum.
Making sure that the high definition experience is carried all the way through, Microsoft is also making it a requirement that all Premium logo systems support Intel's HD Audio standard at the very minimum. This means at least 5.1 channels of audio via analog outputs and S/PDIF outputs. Audio jacks are also required to be able to detect what kind of connection is being used, analog or digital.
In terms of storage, hybrid hard drives are only required for mobile systems using the Premium logo. With hybrid hard drives, a minimum of 50MB of non-volatile flash cache memory must be implemented that is at least capable of writing at 8MB/sec. and reading at 16MB/sec. Other NAND flash memory technologies such as Intel's Robson technology, is not a requirement Windows Vista Premium logo -- at this time. For storage devices, Serial ATA-II must be implemented. This means a minimum speed of 3Gbit/sec and advanced features such as native command queuing (NCQ), among others. This rule will apply to both hard drives and motherboards. Interestingly, optical storage drives are not required to use SATA.
System BIOS and EFI implementations will be required to support booting from USB flash memory sticks. As memory sticks increase in sizes, it becomes easier to backup an entire OS install and more completely onto a USB memory key and take it anywhere with you. Microsoft's Premium logo requires that this be an essential feature.
For Media Center PCs, Microsoft will require that all remotes have the Windows Vista Green button. TV tuner and add-in DVR devices that include remote controls must also comply to this rule too if the manufacturer wishes to claim that the product is Windows Vista Premium compliant.
Finally, Microsoft will be making it easier for users to get manufacturers to take action when it comes to bad driver releases. Often times, an application or game can be completely or partially crippled due to a bug in the driver or just one that is poorly designed. Windows Vista will allow users to vote for the quality of a driver that they install and all drivers that wish to pass the Windows Vista Premium logo program must meet a Green status, which is a rating of 7 to 9. Any driver that is rated below it will cause the accompanying device to fall out of Premium compliancy and the manufacturer must supply users with a fixed driver within 90 days. How Microsoft will enforce this policy remains to be seen, but it's definitely a step forward in creating stable and secure Windows systems.
The Windows Vista Premium logo program ensures that users will get a top-notch experience out of their machine, and is also in place to make sure that manufacturers build quality products. Features such as DQR will help ensure that Windows Vista computers will be a big improvement over Windows XP.
Quote:
The following are requirements for Windows Vista Premium logo-compliant PC and will be mandated by June 1st, 2007:
* Must have H.264 hardware decoding
* Must have HDCP
* Must support multi-monitor support
* Must have HD audio
* Must have HD audio jack presence detection
* Must have Serial ATA 2.5
* Must have minimum of 50MB NV cache on hybrid HD's with at least 8MB/sec write 16MB/sec read (for mobile only)
* Must support booting from USB flash drives
* Must have Windows Vista Green Button on all remotes
* Must have Green Driver Quality Rating (DQR)
o Green score of 7 to 9
o Yellow score of 4 o 6
o Red score of 1 to 3
Premium logo level PCs must first support Windows Vista Aero user interface. This means included graphics cards or integrated graphics solutions must support hardware DirectX9c. While DirectX 10 will be introduced later in 2007 along with Windows Vista, it is not a requirement. Graphics solutions must also support hardware decoding of HD video codecs such as H.264 and MPEG2 and MPEG4. This ensures that Premium PCs will be able to play back Blu-ray and HD-DVD at full resolution. To ensure that this occurs gracefully, PCs must also support HDMI and/or UDI graphics interfaces. HDCP will also be a stiff requirement and there are other content protection schemes on the way. Microsoft is also requiring that Premium systems be capable of multi-monitor support, allowing the use of two screens at minimum.
Making sure that the high definition experience is carried all the way through, Microsoft is also making it a requirement that all Premium logo systems support Intel's HD Audio standard at the very minimum. This means at least 5.1 channels of audio via analog outputs and S/PDIF outputs. Audio jacks are also required to be able to detect what kind of connection is being used, analog or digital.
In terms of storage, hybrid hard drives are only required for mobile systems using the Premium logo. With hybrid hard drives, a minimum of 50MB of non-volatile flash cache memory must be implemented that is at least capable of writing at 8MB/sec. and reading at 16MB/sec. Other NAND flash memory technologies such as Intel's Robson technology, is not a requirement Windows Vista Premium logo -- at this time. For storage devices, Serial ATA-II must be implemented. This means a minimum speed of 3Gbit/sec and advanced features such as native command queuing (NCQ), among others. This rule will apply to both hard drives and motherboards. Interestingly, optical storage drives are not required to use SATA.
System BIOS and EFI implementations will be required to support booting from USB flash memory sticks. As memory sticks increase in sizes, it becomes easier to backup an entire OS install and more completely onto a USB memory key and take it anywhere with you. Microsoft's Premium logo requires that this be an essential feature.
For Media Center PCs, Microsoft will require that all remotes have the Windows Vista Green button. TV tuner and add-in DVR devices that include remote controls must also comply to this rule too if the manufacturer wishes to claim that the product is Windows Vista Premium compliant.
Finally, Microsoft will be making it easier for users to get manufacturers to take action when it comes to bad driver releases. Often times, an application or game can be completely or partially crippled due to a bug in the driver or just one that is poorly designed. Windows Vista will allow users to vote for the quality of a driver that they install and all drivers that wish to pass the Windows Vista Premium logo program must meet a Green status, which is a rating of 7 to 9. Any driver that is rated below it will cause the accompanying device to fall out of Premium compliancy and the manufacturer must supply users with a fixed driver within 90 days. How Microsoft will enforce this policy remains to be seen, but it's definitely a step forward in creating stable and secure Windows systems.
The Windows Vista Premium logo program ensures that users will get a top-notch experience out of their machine, and is also in place to make sure that manufacturers build quality products. Features such as DQR will help ensure that Windows Vista computers will be a big improvement over Windows XP.
