NVIDIA GPUs power Windows Vista kiosks at Intel Developer Forum

NVIDIA Corporation reported today that NVIDIA GPUs enabled users to get a sneak peek of the new Microsoft Windows Vista Aero interface during Intel’s Developer Forum 2006 in San Francisco last week. Early preview versions of the new operating system were running on Dell XPS notebooks powered by NVIDIA graphics processing units (GPUs) used on all of the 24 IDF Connect Internet kiosks. NVIDIA graphics solutions were also exclusively featured in more than a dozen desktop PCs running Windows Vista at the Microsoft booth.

Windows Vista is the next-generation version of Microsoft Windows that is expected to ship later this year. While computers with inadequate 3D graphics capabilities will experience a plain user interface similar to the current Windows XP, PCs equipped with advanced 3D GPUs, like those from NVIDIA, will experience a visually-enhanced environment referred to as Windows Aero. This improved interface is said to have a more aesthetically-pleasing and productivity-enhancing user interface complete with glass-like transparency effects. The entire Windows Vista user experience is enhanced when it is run on a computer equipped with a dedicated GPU.

Modern NVIDIA GPUs from the GeForce 7, GeForce 6, and GeForce FX series for desktop and notebooks PCs are all designed with Windows Vista in mind, to provide users with a premium Windows Vista experience.

Even though Windows Vista is not expected to ship until the second half of 2006, Microsoft is already providing users with early versions of the operating system for testing to ensure that Windows Vista is solid and reliable. NVIDIA is working closely with Microsoft during development and testing of Windows Vista to reach this goal. For more information on what NVIDIA is doing with Windows Vista, please visit nvidia.com/windowsvista.