Why Is Vista So Resource Hungry?

I have followed the Longhorn/Vista train wreck for some time now and one thing has always bothered me. Why is Vista so resource intensive? When some of the early specs came out a year or so ago it was revealed that most of the computers currently on the market wouldn’t be able to run Vista with all of the bells and whistles attached. Doesn’t that strike anyone as odd? Because, if you recall, you can run OS X (with all of its cool visual effects and nifty features turned on) on Macs with a G4 processor that is several years old.

Vista’s Aero glass interface has often been compared to the look of OS X. Now, assume for a moment that both Windows and Mac both do the same basic things eye candy-wise. (Things like shading, transparent windows, ripple or wave effects and similar effects) If Apple can accomplish these things with hardware that is obsolete, why then does Microsoft recomend users buy computers that haven’t even been made yet?

Just how much hardware are you going to need to run Vista? Because every estimate I have seen seems to be higher than the last. This of course begs the question of “how much is the cheapest Vista ready computer going to cost?” This assumes that you are shopping for a computer once Vista comes out . . . whenever the hell that is . . . and not right now. Because right now, it could be a little pricey. Not out of the budget of everyone, but enough to make you really think about how bad you need that upgrade.

And this really brings me to the point of my article. How cheap can Dell (and the rest of the PC makers for that matter) sell a computer when Vista finally arrives? Go over to Dell’s website and you will see that (as of 6/15/06) you can buy a Dimension B110 (it just rolls off the tongue doesn’t it?) for a meager $299. It’s specs are as follows:

Intel Celeron 2.53 GHz
256MB
80GB
Integrated graphics (they wouldn’t tell me it’s specs but I can only assume they are bad)

Now, I bring this up because if you go to Microsoft’s “Get Ready For Vista” page you will find that Vista’s system requirements (for the Aero glass effects, that is) are as follows:

1 Ghz processor
1 GB RAM
40 GB HDD
128 MB VRAM

And lets assume for the moment that Microsoft isn’t lying and these really are the minimum requirements needed for the Aero experience. Clearly Dell’s entry level PCs aren’t powerful enough to cut it. In fact, you have to go up to their Dimension 510 model (love the name, its so, catchy don’t you think?) before you are even given the option of buying a graphics card that will meet your needs. And that computer cost $650, not including the extra RAM you must buy. Which, in that case, brings the price to around $700. No where near the $299 entry level PC we started with.

Read any review you want about Vista and they all say the same thing, the new Aero interface looks really great. And so, if your average consumer decides to upgrade, he is most definately going to want to see and use this wonderful new interface with all its transparent goodness. So, he probably isn’t going to be in the market for a $299 Dell box-O-crap. More likely he will be interested in a $700+ computer. Now, this could be bad for Dell because while they own the low end of the market (with its razor thin margins) the competition gets much fiercer at the higher end.

If you have $400 to spend on a computer you are almost certainly looking at Dell, however, if you have $1,500 to spend on a computer, Dell isn’t your automatic first choice. Thus, I can only predict that Vista, whenever it comes out, will be good for Dell’s bottom line (they will sell more computers and make more money) but they will loose market share because the low end of the market will slide while other players in the field begin stealing some of the high end customers. This bodes well for Apple in any case. So I say bring on Vista and let the fun begin.