2d vs 3d

Hi, We would like to upgrade our desktop to Vista and we have a question about "Aero": who needs it? Is there an advantage to run Aero? Is there a software (except a game) that need Aero?
thanks Jacques

Aero can reduce CPU usage and relieve stress off of the CPU because the video card (mainly) draws the graphics and hanldes and renders it instead of the CPU, which should do away with those white erase marks when dragging windows and so on. It's also reported that CPU usage is reduced when for example, you resize a window or drag a window. Since Aero puts the video card to work, you would think that gaming would not be as good as Aero would eat up the video card's resources, however, I believe Aero shuts off when playing games, so this would not be true. And then besides that, Aero Glass is just nice to look at. : ) "Jacques" wrote in message

Hi, We would like to upgrade our desktop to Vista and we have a question about "Aero": who needs it? Is there an advantage to run Aero? Is there a software (except a game) that need Aero?
thanks Jacques

A GPU accelerated UI system is of benefit also to multimedia application. when ever the data is dynamic and/or require transparency, the graphic card is much better equiped at display the data.
We have been using Direct3D for our UI components for 5 years now.
Stephan
"Jacques" wrote in message

Hi, We would like to upgrade our desktop to Vista and we have a question about "Aero": who needs it? Is there an advantage to run Aero? Is there a software (except a game) that need Aero?
thanks Jacques

It is pretty much just eye candy. The increased functionality is the thumbnail preview of running programs by hovering over the program in the taskbar. Another feature is the Flip3D feature, (Winkey+Tab) which will show you a pretty graphic of your running programs, and allow you to select one to the foreground.
The Windows Sidebar looks much better with Aero glass as well. No one really "needs" it, but it is one of the main features of Vista.
-- Jeff Warren
"Jacques" wrote in message

Hi, We would like to upgrade our desktop to Vista and we have a question about "Aero": who needs it? Is there an advantage to run Aero? Is there a software (except a game) that need Aero?
thanks Jacques

I wouldn't necessarily say the Flip3D is eye candy as such... I actually use it more now than Flip (Alt+Tab) because it's faster to use :o)
-- Zack Whittaker » ZackNET Enterprises: www.zacknet.co.uk » MSBlog on ResDev: www.msblog.org » Vista Knowledge Base: www.vistabase.co.uk » This mailing is provided "as is" with no warranties, and confers no rights. All opinions expressed are those of myself unless stated so, and not of my employer, best friend, Ghandi, my mother or my cat. Glad we cleared that up!
--: Original message follows :-- "Jeff Warren" wrote in message

It is pretty much just eye candy. The increased functionality is the thumbnail preview of running programs by hovering over the program in the taskbar. Another feature is the Flip3D feature, (Winkey+Tab) which will show you a pretty graphic of your running programs, and allow you to select one to the foreground.
The Windows Sidebar looks much better with Aero glass as well. No one really "needs" it, but it is one of the main features of Vista.
-- Jeff Warren
"Jacques" wrote in message Hi, We would like to upgrade our desktop to Vista and we have a question about "Aero": who needs it? Is there an advantage to run Aero? Is there a software (except a game) that need Aero?
thanks Jacques

This is not primarily a feature directed towards applications, if you compare with 'XGL' on Linux you'll probably see that this is directed towards the user. It's a fantastic concept for giving the user something to grab and turn and resize and zoom in and out - it can give you a tactile respons from your on-screen work, something that, like what we've been used to, was completely lacking.
So, eye-candy - yes, but one with a purpose!
Tony. . .
"Jacques" wrote in message

Hi, We would like to upgrade our desktop to Vista and we have a question about "Aero": who needs it? Is there an advantage to run Aero? Is there a software (except a game) that need Aero?
thanks Jacques