Themes and Schemes in Vista - Limiting the number of windows available in Windows Flip 3D
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As mentioned previously in this title, Windows Flip 3D is a function of Vista’s new Areo interface. As such, it won’t be available on every computer out there. Your computer must meet certain hardware specifications that designate it as “Windows Vista Premium Ready.” At the time of this writing, that didn’t include a whole lot of existing computers, especially if we’re talking about laptop systems.*
* At the time of this writing, Microsoft was being sued in the state of Washington for deceptive advertising. The claim: Microsoft marketed computers as being “Vista Capable,” when in fact they were only capable of running Windows Vista Basic. But what do you see in the marketing campaign? Aero, of course, and as you now know, Vista Basic is not “capable” of running Aero or Media Center or many of the other features that make Vista worthwhile. Personally, I think the lawsuit has merit—how is the average computer consumer supposed to know or understand that there are 15 different versions of a single operating system? I’d guess that 95 percent of Microsoft employees don’t realize there are that many, much less have the ability to articulate the differences among the multiple versions. To the average Joe watching an advertisement, a computer either runs Vista or it does not.
Moreover, the Aero interface won’t be available on every Vista version, either. To review, Aero is available on Vista Home Premium and higher. It’s not available on Home Basic.
Because of the hardware requirements for the Aero interface, some users might experience a considerable performance hit if their system hardware just barely meets Vista Premium capabilities.
If you have several open windows, Flip 3D has to render each window when switching among programs. As a result, some users might notice glitches in performance when several windows are open. If this is the case, you might consider limiting the number of windows displayed in Flip 3D.
Here’s what to do:
- From the Start menu, type regedit, and then launch the Registry Editor application from the Programs list. Alternatively, you can press the Windows key and the R key and then type regedit from the Run dialog box.
- Choose Allow when asked permission to launch the Registry Editor (assuming User Account Control is enabled).
- Now, navigate to this registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\DWM
and create a new DWORD (32-bit) entry; give it the nameMax3DWindows.
- Click OK and exit the Registry Editor.
In Chapter 6, we’ll discuss the Windows Experience Index (WEI). This will allow you to get a good score for your computer’s performance at a glance. The tips discussed here might be a good idea if your system’s WEI score is 3 (less than that, and it won’t be able to run Aero anyway).
Please check back next week for the conclusion to this article.
| DISCLAIMER: The content provided in this article is not warranted or guaranteed by Developer Shed, Inc. The content provided is intended for entertainment and/or educational purposes in order to introduce to the reader key ideas, concepts, and/or product reviews. As such it is incumbent upon the reader to employ real-world tactics for security and implementation of best practices. We are not liable for any negative consequences that may result from implementing any information covered in our articles or tutorials. If this is a hardware review, it is not recommended to open and/or modify your hardware. |
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 This article is excerpted from chapter four of Windows Vista Administration: The Definitive Guide, written by Brian Culp (O'Reilly; ISBN: 0596529597). Check it out today at your favorite bookstore. Buy this book now.
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