Computer Techno

What is store in the five-dimensional storage system developed by an Australian research team takes traditional 2D storage and adds multiple layers, color coding, and polarization of the light. The storage medium is a network of gold nanorods.

Imagine storing 10,000 standard-definition movies on one disc. Sound impossible? Not to a team of Australian researchers. The team recently published a report in the journal Nature in which it details its development of a “five-dimensional” storage medium that promises to store up 10 terabytes on a single disc. Peter Zijlstra, James W.M. Chon, and Min Gu of the Swinburne University of Technology found a way to combine addressing data using wavelength, polarization, and three spatial dimensions, creating the so-called five dimensions of addressable space. The approach allows for a storage density of a terabit of information in just a cubic centimeter of space.

Mixing and matching different methods of addressing data has been tried using individual methods, the researchers said. In fact, writing data to a three-dimensional storage medium has been one of the hallmarks of holographic storage. But for fivedimensional storage, the team projected information into the material using different color wavelengths. Additional information was then added by polarizing the light, first at a fixed orientation and then by rotating the filter 90 degrees. Data was read using a technique called “longitudinal SPRmediated 2-photon luminescence.”

It’s difficult to say, however, how easily a solution like this might be moved into production, since the medium used to store the information is a network of gold nanorods. “The major hurdle is the lack of a suitable recording medium that is extremely selective in the domains of wavelength and polarization,” the researchers wrote in an abstract. Nonetheless, companies such as Samsung have already expressed interest. —Mark Hachman

Source of Information : PC Magazine July 2009

NetBIOS name service messages share a common structure. NetBIOS name service messages consist of the following:

• Name Service header. Fixed length (12 bytes long), containing information about the type of name service message and the numbers of the other records in the message.

• Question entries. Variable length for NetBIOS Name Registration, Refresh, or Release messages. This portion of the message contains the NetBIOS name being acted on by the message.

• Answer RRs. Variable length, containing resource records (RRs) returned in response to a question entry.

• Authority RRs. Variable length, containing RRs used to indicate the authority for the question being asked. These are not used by the WINS Server service in Windows Server 2008.

• Additional RRs. Variable length, containing other RRs that are not an answer to a question entry. This is almost the same structure as Domain Name System (DNS) Name Query Request and Response messages.

• Transaction ID. A 2-byte field that is used to identify a specific NetBIOS name service transaction. The sender of the request message creates the transaction ID and the responder copies it into the response message. This allows the WINS client to match the responses that it received from a WINS server with their requests. Each separate NetBIOS name service transaction has a different transaction ID. For example, if a WINS client is registering multiple names, each Name Registration Request message has a different transaction ID.

• Flags. A 2-byte field containing flags.

• Question Entry Count. A 2-byte field indicating the number of entries in the Question Entries section of the message. The sender of a request message always sets this value to 1 or more, although typically it is set at 1. The responder always sets this field to 0.

• Answer RR Count. A 2-byte field indicating the number of RRs in the Answer RRs section of the message. The sender of a request message sets this count to 0. The responder sets this to indicate the number of answers returned. This is typically 1 for unique NetBIOS name lookups and a larger number for Internet group name lookups.

• Authority RR Count. A 2-byte field indicating the number of RRs in the Authority RRs section of the message. Authority RRs are used for recursive NetBIOS name queries, which are not supported by the WINS Server service in Windows Server 2008. Therefore, this field is always set to 0 in NetBIOS name service messages to indicate that there are no authority RRs in the message.

• Additional RR Count. A 2-byte field indicating the number of RRs in the Additional RRs section of the NetBIOS name service message. These records are used when an RR needs to be included in any name service operation that is not a response to a name query request. For example, in a name release, an additional RR includes the name being released.


The fields within the Flags field are the following:
• Request/Response. A 1-bit field that is set to 0 for a request message or 1 for a response message.

• Operation Code. A 4-bit field that indicates the specific name service operation of the message. See Table 16-1 for a list of Operation Code values.

• Authoritative Answer. A 1-bit field that indicates, when set to 1 in a name query response, that the sender is authoritative for the NetBIOS name. For name service requests, this flag is always set to 0. For name service responses, the computer responding to the request sets it to 1 if it is authoritative for a NetBIOS name.

• Truncation. A 1-bit field that indicates, when set to 1 in a name query response, that the message was truncated because the original datagram containing the entire message exceeded 576 bytes. Similar to DNS truncation, RFC 1001 describes the use of TCP to obtain the original datagram. Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista do not support
the use of TCP for NetBIOS name service messages. Therefore, the Truncation bit is always set to 0.

• Recursion Desired. A 1-bit field that indicates, when set to 1 in a name query request, that the query is recursive. When set to 0, the sender indicates an iterative query; the WINS server can return a list of other name servers that can be contacted to resolve the name. Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista-based WINS clients set this flag to 1 for all name queries. If the flag is set to 1 in a name service message sent to a WINS server running Windows Server 2008, the WINS server sets it to 1 in the corresponding reply. Windows Server 2008 does not support iterative NetBIOS name queries.

• Recursion Available. A 1-bit field that indicates, when set to 1 in a name query response, that the WINS server can perform recursive queries. Set to 0 on all name request messages. The Windows Server 2008 WINS Server service sets this field to 1 in name service responses to indicate that it can perform recursive name query, name registration, and name release messages. If set to 0 in a response message, the client must iterate for name service queries and perform challenges for any name registrations.

• Reserved. A 2-bit field that is reserved and set to 0.

• Broadcast. A 1-bit field that indicates that the message is being sent as a broadcast (set to 1) or unicast (set to 0).

• Return Code. A 4-bit field that indicates the return code in a name query response. All name service requests set the value to 0. A return code of 0 in a name service response indicates a successful response (the answer is in the name query response message). A return code of 0 in name query responses means that the answer to the query is in the response message. A return code of 0 in name registrations means that the registration was successful.

Source of Information : Microsoft Press Windows Server 2008 TCP IP Protocols and Services

WINS clients and WINS servers communicate by exchanging NetBT name service messages. NetBT messages and protocol operation are defined in RFCs 1001 and 1002. There are many types of NetBT name service messages defined in RFC 1002, which are typically sent as UDP messages. Both the WINS client and the WINS server listen on UDP port 137. The types of NetBT name service messages thatare the following:

• Name Query Request. Sent by a WINS client to a WINS server to perform NetBIOS name resolution.

• Name Query Response. Sent by a WINS server to a WINS client to respond to a name query request. There is a positive name query response and a negative name query response.

• Name Registration Request Sent by a WINS client to a WINS server to perform name registration.

• Name Registration Response. Sent by a WINS server to a WINS client to respond to a name registration request. There is a positive name registration response and a negative name registration response.

• Wait Acknowledgment. Sent by a WINS server to a WINS client during name registration when confirming the ownership of an existing name previously registered by another client.

• Name Refresh Request. Sent by a WINS client to a WINS server to refresh a name that was previously registered. The response to a name refresh request is a name registration response.

• Name Release Request. Sent by a WINS client to a WINS server to release the registration of a name that was previously registered.

• Name Release Response. Sent by a WINS server to a WINS client to respond to a name release request. There is a positive name release response and a negative name release response.

Source of Information : Microsoft Press Windows Server 2008 TCP IP Protocols and Services

The Network Basic Input/Output System (NetBIOS) was developed in 1983 and used by IBM as a way for computer applications to communicate over a network. NetBIOS is also firmly ingrained into all Microsoft operating systems that have come before the Windows 2000 series. Legacy software applications may also rely on NetBIOS for locating resources on the network.

NetBIOS provides a way for identifying resources on a network (such as a printer, file server, and so on). All devices running on the network are assigned a unique 16-byte name that defines the particular computer or printer to the network (or a service on a computer—this means that a single computer may provide services identified by different NetBIOS names). NetBIOS names are typically assigned when you install a particular operating system on a computer. Down-level operating systems such as Windows NT all request that a unique, 15-character NetBIOS name be entered for the computer during the installation process of the OS. When you install Windows on a computer, a computer name is created for that computer. If you change the hostname and the name is fewer than 15 characters, it also becomes the NetBIOS name for the computer (otherwise, the hostname is truncated to a 15-character NetBIOS name).

In fact, NetBIOS names are 16 characters long. The last character is used by the computer's operating system to specify the special functions of certain computers such as domain controllers and browsers.

Even though the default networking protocol for Windows Server 2008 is TCP/IP and the primary name-resolution strategy is DNS, an important issue related to NetBIOS names rears its head on your Windows Server 2008 domain. Applications that still use NetBIOS for identifying other computers and resources on the network must have a way of resolving these NetBIOS names to IP addresses. This process is cleverly called NetBIOS name resolution. NetBIOS is also required in the networking environment for NetBIOS dependent applications.


NetBIOS Broadcasts
When a computer seeks to resolve a NetBIOS name to an IP address, it sends a NetBIOS broadcast. Because the name-resolution request takes the form of a broadcast message, it is sent to all nodes on the local subnet (the subnet being a particular segment on a routed network).

For example, imagine a computer named Kirk wants to send data to a computer named Spock. Kirk broadcasts that it would like to send data to Spock but does not know Spock's IP address. When Spock hears this broadcast (as do all nodes on the subnet), Spock sends a response providing Kirk with the IP address. Kirk can now proceed with establishing a network session with Spock and transferring data as needed.

Two obvious problems plague the use of broadcasts for NetBIOS name resolution. First, the broadcast messages clog your network with broadcast traffic, which sucks up your bandwidth. Another problem is that broadcast messages are not typically forwarded by routers on the network (unless the router has also been configured as a bridge). So, if a computer on one subnet uses a broadcast message to resolve a NetBIOS name for a computer that is on another subnet, the broadcast message is never forwarded to the intended target.

One strategy that has been worked out to cut down on the number of broadcast messages is as follows: After a computer has discovered the IP addresses of other computers on the segment through the use of broadcasts, these IP addresses are kept in a NetBIOS name cache on that computer. This cuts down on broadcasts in the case of "repeat" business with a particular computer or computers on the network. You can view the NetBIOS name cache on a computer running Windows Server 2008 by using the NBTSTAT command. We discuss this command-line tool later in the hour.


Working with LMHOSTS Files
Another alternative for NetBIOS name resolution is to use an LMHOSTS file. The LMHOSTS file is a text file that lists the IP addresses of computers on the network followed by their NetBIOS name. LMHOSTS files are static and must be updated by the network administrator (that means you). And although they provide the computer with a quick way to look up an IP address based on a NetBIOS name, you must place them on each computer on the network (and whenever you add computers to the network, you also have to update all the LMHOSTS files on all the computers).

Some network administrators still use LMHOSTS files to resolve NetBIOS names to IP addresses on their networks. On a server running Windows Server 2008, the LMHOSTS file is kept in the \Windows\system32\drivers\etc folder. The basic structure of an LMHOSTS file is a two-column text file:

IP address NetBIOS name


Windows 2008 actually provides a sample LMHOSTS file in the \windows\system32\drivers\etc folder. You can open it using Windows Notepad or another text editor.

Included in the Windows 2008 LMHOSTS file are explicit directions for building your own LMHOSTS lists. Pay special attention to the fact that descriptive entries in the file are always followed by the number sign (#). All other entries are read as mapping records.

The major problem with LMHOSTS files is that they represent a fairly labor-intensive way to manage NetBIOS name resolution. If LMHOSTS files have been used on the network in the past, however, they can be integrated into the WINS database on your WINS server. An Import LMHOSTS File command is available on the WINS snap-in Action menu. We discuss the WINS snap-in later in the hour.

NetBIOS Node Types
Before concentrating on the Windows Server 2008 WINS service and its installation and configuration, it is important to discuss the different node types that can exist in the NetBIOS environment. A node type simply refers to the way that a computer on the network registers with a NetBIOS name server (such as WINS) and seeks to resolve NetBIOS names to IP addresses. There are four node types:

B The client uses broadcast messages for name registration and name resolution.

P The client uses unicast (directly to the server's IP address) messages to a NetBIOS name server for both name registration and NetBIOS name resolution.

H A hybrid node type, these clients use unicast messages to the NetBIOS name server for registration and resolution. If they cannot find a NetBIOS name server (a WINS server), the client resorts to broadcast messages for registration and resolution.

M Clients use broadcasts for name registration and for name resolution. However, if the name cannot be resolved by broadcast, the client attempts to contact a NetBIOS name server.


Windows 2008 WINS clients (those configured for WINS) act as H nodes. They attempts to resolve names by using the WINS server first, and then they resort to broadcasts if a WINS server is not available. As a last resort, these clients consult their LMHOSTS file if one is available locally.



Deploying a WINS Server
The most foolproof method for dealing with NetBIOS naming issues is to deploy a WINS server (or servers) on your network. WINS provides the greatest amount of efficiency in terms of your network bandwidth. The series of steps that allows a WINS client to take advantage of the WINS server for NetBIOS name resolution is very straightforward:

1. When a WINS client computer boots up, it registers its NetBIOS name and IP address with the WINS server.


2. When a WINS client on the network wants to communicate with a network resource designated by a particular NetBIOS name, it communicates with the WINS server to handle the NetBIOS name resolution of its intended target, rather than sending out a broadcast to all nodes on the segment.

3. The WINS server finds the appropriate mapping of NetBIOS-name-to-IP-address in its database and returns the IP address to the WINS client.

4. If the WINS client cannot contact the primary WINS server, the client makes two more attempts to contact the primary WINS server. Then it attempts to contact the secondary WINS server if one has been designated in the TCP/IP properties for the client (or if the client is a DHCP client with multiple WINS servers configured).

5. If the secondary WINS server (or other WINS server because the client attempts to contact WINS servers in the order designated in the TCP/IP properties) can handle the request, no problem. However, if the client cannot contact any designated WINS server, the client resorts to a network broadcast. If a number of WINS servers are available on the network, the chances of the client having to resort to a broadcast message are slim.

The great thing about WINS is that the database compiled by the server is dynamic. The WINS clients actually register with the server, supplying the entries in the WINS database. This is similar to the way that Dynamic DNS (DDNS) works, however WINS does not provide a mechanism for secure updates as DDNS does. Any computer configured to use a WINS server can register itself in the WINS database.

Source of Information : Sams Teach Yourself Windows Server 2008

Let’s step back a bit before diving too deeply into potentially confusing territory. In order to understand Vista’s virtual folders, it’s important to first understand the thinking that went into this feature; and because this is the ever-delayed Windows Vista I’m talking about, it might also be helpful to know about Microsoft’s original plans for the Vista shell and virtual folders and compare those plans with what eventually happened.

Microsoft originally decided not to include in Vista a traditional file system with drive letters, physical file-system paths, and real folders. The software giant wanted to virtualize the entire file system so that you wouldn’t need to worry about such arcane things as “the root of C:” and the Program Files folder. Instead, you would just access your documents and applications without ever thinking about where they resided on the disk. After all, that sort of electronic housekeeping is what a computer is good at, right?

This original vision required a healthy dose of technology. The core piece of this technology would be a new storage engine called WinFS (short for Windows Future Storage), which would have combined the best features of the NTFS file system with the relational database functionality of Microsoft’s SQL Server products. As of this writing, Microsoft has been working on WinFS, and its predecessors, for about a decade.

Unfortunately, the WinFS technology wasn’t even close to being ready in time for
Windows Vista, so Microsoft pulled WinFS out of Vista and began developing it separately from the OS. Ultimately, it completely canceled plans to ship WinFS as a separate product. Instead, WinFS technologies will be integrated into future Windows versions and other Microsoft products.

Even though WinFS was out of the picture, Microsoft figured it could deliver much of that system’s benefits using an updated version of the file system indexer it has shipped in Windows for years; and for about a year of Vista’s development in 2004–2005, that was the plan. Instead of special shell folders such as Documents, users would access virtual folders such as All Documents, which would aggregate all of the documents on the hard drive and present them in a single location. Other special shell folders, such as Pictures and Music, would also be replaced by virtual folders.

Problem solved, right? Wrong. Beta testers—who are presumably more technical than most PC users—found the transition from normal folders to virtual folders to be extremely confusing. In retrospect, this should have been obvious. After all, a virtual folder that displays all of your documents is kind of useful when you’re looking for something, but where do you save a new file? Is a virtual folder even a real place for applications that want to save data? And do users need to understand the differences between normal folders and virtual folders? Why have both kinds of folders?

With the delays mounting, Microsoft retreated from the virtual-folder scheme, just as it had when it stripped out WinFS previously. That’s why the file system you see in Windows Vista is actually quite similar to that in Windows XP and previous Windows versions. That is, the file system still uses drive letters, normal folders, and special shell folders such as Documents and Pictures. If you’re familiar with any prior Windows version, you should feel right at home in the Vista shell. (Likewise, if you’ve found the Windows file system to be a bit, well, lackluster, all the same complaints still apply in Vista.)

There’s one major difference between Vista’s file system and that of previous Windows versions, although it’s not particularly obvious. Even though Microsoft has decided not to replace special shell folders with virtual folders in this release, the company is still shipping virtual-folder technology in Windows Vista. The idea is that users will get used to virtual folders now, and then perhaps a future Windows version will simply move to that system, and eventually we’ll all reach some nerdvana where all the silly file-system constructs used today are suddenly passé.

In short, virtual folders do exist in Windows Vista; they’re just somewhat hidden. OK, they’re really well hidden, maybe even devilishly well hidden. That makes them a power-user feature and thus, for readers of this book, inherently interesting. Most people won’t even discover virtual folders and their contained shared searches. In fact, if you want to harness some of the most awesome and unique technology in Windows Vista, this is the place to start; the skills you learn now will give you a leg up when Microsoft finally gets around to retiring the current file system. It’s only a matter of time.

Source of Information : Wiley Windows Vista Secrets SP1 Edition

Most Windows Vista Secrets readers are probably familiar with basic computer file system concepts such as files, folders, and drive letters; but you may not realize that certain locations in the Windows shell—that is, Windows Explorer, the application with which you literally explore the contents of your PC’s hard drives—have been specially configured to work with particular data types, and live in the shell hierarchy outside of their physical locations. In Windows XP and previous Windows versions, these locations were called special shell folders, and they included such things as My Documents, My Pictures, and My Music.

In Windows Vista these special shell folders still exist, but now most of them have different names and are accompanied by a number of new members. They’re also in a different location: Whereas Windows XP placed user folders (which contain the special shell folders for each user) in C:\Documents and Settings\Your_User_Name by default, Windows Vista uses the simpler C:\Users\Your_User_Name.

Special Shell Folders
Home. This special location is named after your user name. If you chose the user name Paul, for example, then your Home folder would be named Paul as well. (Case matters: If you enter paul, it will be paul and not Paul.) This folder is available as the top option on the right-hand, fixed part of the Start Menu. Although it was never particularly obvious, every user actually had a Home folder in previous Windows versions.

Contacts. A new addition to Windows Vista, Contacts acts as a central database for Vista’s centralized contacts management, which is used by Windows Mail and can be used by any third-party application.

Desktop. This folder represents your Windows Vista desktop. Any folders, files, or shortcuts you place on the desktop appear in this folder too (and vice versa). There’s one exception: If you enable certain desktop icons—such as Computer, User’s Files, Network, Recycle Bin, or Control Panel—via the Desktop Icon Settings dialog, these icons will not appear in the Desktop folder.

Documents. A replacement for My Documents, this folder is specially configured to handle various document types, such as Word documents, text fi les, and the like. As with
its predecessor, Documents is the default location for the Save and Save As dialog boxes in most applications.

Downloads. New to Windows Vista, this folder is the default location for files downloaded from the Web with Internet Explorer and other Web browsers, including Mozilla Firefox.

Favorites. A central repository for your Internet Explorer Favorites (or what other browsers typically call Bookmarks). The Favorites folder has been in Windows for several years.

Links. New to Windows Vista, this folder typically contains shortcuts to common shell locations. Its contents appear in the Favorite Links pane of Windows Explorer windows. Note that only shortcuts to folder and other shell locations appear in Favorite Links. If you copy a shortcut to a document here, for example, it will not appear in the list.

Saved Games. A new addition to Windows Vista, the Saved Games folder is designed as a place for Vista-compatible game titles to store saved game information.

Pictures. A replacement for My Pictures. The Pictures folder is designed to handle digital photographs and other picture fi les and to work in tandem with other photorelated tools in Vista, such as Windows Photo Gallery and the Import Pictures and Videos Wizard.

Music. A replacement for XP’s My Music folder. The Music folder is designed to work with digital music and other audio fi les. If you rip music from an audio CD or purchase music from an online music service such as the Apple iTunes Store or Amazon MP3, those fi les are typically saved to your Music folder by default.

Searches. New to Windows Vista, this folder contains built-in and user-created saved searches.

Videos. A replacement for My Videos. This folder is designed to store digital videos of any kind, including home movies. It also interacts with video-oriented tools in Vista, such as Windows Movie Maker and Windows DVD Maker. In Windows XP you had to run Windows Movie Maker once before the My Videos folder would appear. This is no longer the case in Windows Vista, where the new Videos folder is always available under each user’s Home folder. However, as with XP, it’s still impossible to add a link to the Videos folder to the right side of the Start Menu. The Videos folder, it seems, is still a second-class citizen in Microsoft’s eyes.


Each of the special shell folders in Windows Vista shares certain characteristics. First, they are all physical folders in the sense that they are represented by a specific location in the Windows shell hierarchy. For example, your Home folder is now found at C:\Users\username by default. Likewise, Documents can be found at C:\Users\username\Documents.

You might notice that most folder names (Saved Games is a curious exception)—and indeed the names of the folders above each of them in the shell path—has been stripped of spaces. That is, each folder is now a single word (e.g., Documents instead of My Documents). That’s because of a renewed commitment to shell scripting in Windows Vista, an environment in which it’s simply harder to deal with spaces.

Finally, many of the special shell folders are represented somewhat differently in the Windows shell than are other folders, which you might think of as normal physical folders.

The Documents, Favorites, Music, and Pictures folders are all colored blue-green now instead of the normal yellow folder color; and although you can create a folder almost anywhere you’d like in the Windows Vista shell—assuming you have the security credentials to do so—special shell folders are typically found only in their preset locations within the file system.

In addition to the new special shell folders in Vista, there are also some differences in the way that preexisting special shell folders are organized now. For example, folders such as My Pictures, My Music, and My Videos were physically arranged below (and logically contained within) the My Documents folder in previous Windows versions; but in Windows Vista the new versions of these folders are found directly below each user’s Home folder, alongside Documents. This won’t affect typical users, who will likely access special shell folders like My Documents and My Pictures only from the Start Menu, but more advanced users will want to be aware of the changes.

Advanced users can use the Registry Editor (regedit.exe) to change special shell-folder locations. (If you’re not familiar with the Registry, this isn’t the time to start. You can irreperably harm Windows via the Registry.) Using regedit, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Explorer\Shell Folders. You’ll see a variety of special shell folders listed there, including Personal (Documents), My Music (Music), My Pictures (Pictures), and My Video (Videos). To change the location of one of these special folders, simply double-click in regedit and add the new location to the Value data field in the dialog that appears.

You can see some of Vista’s special folders in your Start Menu, but if you want a better idea of how they’re laid out in the fi le system, simply launch Windows Explorer and enable the classic left-mounted folder hierarchy, which is now found in the bottom-left corner of the window. The new Home folder layout is actually quite similar to that used by Unix and Linux systems, including Apple’s Mac OS X. Vista even follows the same naming conventions these competitors utilize.

Source of information : Wiley Windows Vista Secrets SP1 Edition

Windows Aero is the premium user experience in Windows Vista and the one most users will want to access. It provides a number of unique features. First, Windows Aero enables the new Aero Glass look and feel in which the Start Menu, the taskbar, and all onscreen windows and dialog boxes take on a new glass-like translucent sheen

Aero Glass is designed to move the visual focus away from the windows themselves and to the content they contain. Whether that effort is successful is open to debate, but it’s certainly true that window borders have lost the vast, dark-colored title bars of previous Windows versions and provide a softer-looking and more organic-looking container around window contents. Compare Windows XP’s My Computer window to Windows Vista’s Computer window.

When you have a lot of Aero windows open onscreen, it’s often hard to tell which one is on top or has the focus. Typically, that window will have a bright red Close window button, whereas other windows will not.

When you utilize the Windows Aero user experience, you receive other benefits. Certain
Windows Vista features, for example, are available only when you’re using Aero. Windows Flip and Flip 3D, two new task-switching features, are available only in Aero.

Windows Flip and Flip 3D are most typically accessed via keyboard shortcuts. The trick, of course, is that you have to know those shortcuts. To use Windows Flip, hold down the Alt key and press the Tab key to cycle between all of the running applications and open windows. To use Flip 3D, hold down the Windows key and press the Tab key to cycle between these windows.

Aero also enables dynamic window animations, so that when you minimize a window to the taskbar, it subtly animates to show you exactly where it went. This kind of functionality was actually first introduced in Windows 95, but it has been made more subtle and fluid in Windows Vista. Additionally, Aero enables live taskbar thumbnails: When you mouse over buttons in the taskbar, a small thumbnail preview will pop up, showing you the window without actually activating it first.

In addition to its obvious visual charms, Windows Aero also offers lower-level improvements that provide a more reliable desktop experience than you might be used to with previous Windows versions. Thanks to a new graphics architecture based on DirectX video-game libraries, Windows Vista can move windows across the screen without any of the visual tearing or glitches that were common in Windows XP. The effect is most prominent in windows with animated content, such as when you’re playing a video in Windows Media Player (WMP). But it’s not just about looks. Windows Aero is simply more reliable than the other user experiences. To understand why that’s so, you need to examine Aero’s strict hardware and software requirements.

Source of information : Wiley Windows Vista Secrets SP1 Edition

This oddball user experience is designed specifically for Vista Home Basic users and is an olive branch, of sorts, to those who have the hardware required to run Windows Aero but cannot do so because that user experience is not included in Home Basic.

Vista Standard is essentially a visual compromise between Vista Basic and Windows Aero. That is, it features the look and feel of Windows Aero, minus the translucency effects. Under the hood, however, it utilizes the less-sophisticated display technologies utilized by Windows Vista Basic. In addition to lacking Aero’s transparency feature, Windows Vista Standard also dispenses with many other Aero features, such as Flip 3D and live taskbar thumbnails.

If you are running Windows Vista Home Basic and would like to upgrade to Aero, you need to utilize Vista’s unique Windows Anytime Upgrade service—available to Vista Home Basic and Home Premium customers—to upgrade to Windows Vista Home Premium or Ultimate Edition.

Source of information : Wiley Windows Vista Secrets SP1 Edition