Windows Vista has been "feature complete" since the February 2006 Community Technical Preview (CTP) Build (build 5308), which is a change from previous beta programs, which usually only see feature-complete builds by Release Candidate 0 (RC0) status.

Hardware Requirements

Microsoft has released the hardware requirements for Windows Vista in the past few months, and refined them again in May.

Computers that meet the minimum supported system requirements will be able to run the core features of Windows Vista with the basic user experience.

Minimum supported system requirements

• Processor 800 MHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
• System Memory 512 MB
• GPU SVGA (800x600)
• Hard Disk 20 GB
• Free Hard Disk Space 15 GB
• Optical Drive CD-ROM drive

Microsoft also published requirements for what it calls a Windows Vista Premium Ready PC. This is a PC that will offer a better Windows Vista experience, including the Windows Aero user experience. A Windows Vista Premium Ready PC includes at least:

• 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor.
• 1 GB of system memory.
• A graphics processor that runs Windows Aero.
• 128 MB of graphics memory.
• 40 GB of hard drive capacity with 15 GB free space.
• DVD-ROM Drive.
• Audio output capability.
• Internet access capability.

To enable Windows Aero, PC systems must meet the following criteria for graphics hardware:

• DirectX 9 class graphics hardware that supports WDDM and Pixel Shader 2.0
• A minimum of 32 bits per pixel
• Appropriate graphics memory for specified monitor resolutions:
  • 64MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor at resolution equivalent to 1280 x 1024 or less
  • 128MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor at resolutions less than or equal to 1920 x 1200
  • 256MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor at resolutions higher than 1920 x 1200
• Graphics memory bandwidth, as assessed by Windows Vista's built in system assessment tool WinSAT.EXE, of at least 1,800MB/s at the following resolutions:
  • Desktop PC: at a monitor resolution equivalent to 1280 x 1024
  • Mobile PC: at the native resolution of built-in display

Some of the 30(!) desktop backgrounds included in Build 5384: