Microsoft Hardware Newsletter for April 21, 2006

Microsoft Hardware Newsletter - Hardware Platform News Edition for : April 21, 2006

The Microsoft Hardware Newsletter provides manufacturers and developers the latest technical details for how to succeed with the Windows platform. Register now <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827445>, if you're not already receiving the Microsoft Hardware Newsletter.

From the Editor

Ah, it's spring in Seattle, and our hearts turn to WinHEC. Seriously now, this is the time of year when I most like my job. To produce WinHEC, we get to work closely with the Windows Base team, the Windows Device Experience Group, and others who are involved in building core features in Windows Vista and Windows Server Longhorn for systems and devices. It's my job to help teams explain what's new in Windows and how hardware engineers and driver developers can take advantage of these new features.

With this inside view <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827446>, I also learn about the hard choices that Windows teams have to make. For example, one controversy I've been watching is the decision about when Microsoft will support EFI--Extended Firmware Interface--in Windows. EFI is the next-generation firmware model, set to replace the legacy BIOS in the coming decade. EFI serves as the interface between hardware and the operating system.

Windows Vista and Windows 2003 Server already support EFI 1.10 on Intel Itanium platforms. In the future, Windows Vista will also support native UEFI boot on x64 64-bit platforms. EFI support for x64 systems, however, will first be delivered with the release of Windows Server Longhorn.

Why wait? For Microsoft, support for UEFI means rigorous testing on a wide-ranging mix of UEFI implementations and hardware platforms. As we learned when the industry shifted to ACPI with Windows 2000, every major PC or server manufacturer has its own firmware implementation for its own unique hardware. Therefore, we can't test just one implementation on one type of hardware. But to date, no production-ready UEFI implementations are available. So Windows teams cannot complete the appropriate testing before Windows Vista is released. By the time Windows Server Longhorn is released, we expect sufficient UEFI implementations to be available for testing with a solid set of manufacturers' hardware platforms.

Microsoft is working closely with the Unified EFI Forum and industry partners to ensure that we can provide a high-quality, standards-based EFI solution that works across x86 and x64 hardware. As part of this effort, Microsoft is providing a "technology preview" of EFI in the Windows Vista Beta 2 release. This preview will allow our partners to begin testing their UEFI implementations.

Want to know more? A new white paper--EFI and Windows <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827447>--on the WHDC Web site provides technical background and information about Microsoft plans.

Want even more? At WinHEC in Seattle, we'll be discussing the nitty-gritty details at sessions like "Inside the Windows Pre-Boot and Boot Environment" in the System Fundamentals track <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827448>. I hope to see you there. Pre-registration for WinHEC in Seattle ends May 16 <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827449>.

And we are carrying this great information about advances in Windows Vista and Windows Server Longhorn to WinHEC Taipei, June 12-13 <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827450>.

- Annie Pearson for the WHDC Web team

WHDC After Dark: While we're preparing for WinHEC, it's late at night when some of the best links are traded.

· CyberSlug Foraging Behavior <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827451>: We've been learning about mollusks lately, because of the obsessions on the best science blogs. This charmer runs on your PC, with no slime involved.

· Shoelacing Mathematics--more options than code paths in Windows <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827452>: "On an average shoe with six pairs of eyelets, there are almost 2 trillion ways to feed a shoelace though those 12 eyelets."

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Developer News for Windows Vista and Windows Server Longhorn

Active State Power Management in Windows Vista--ASPM <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827440> ASPM allows power to be incrementally reduced to individual serial links in a PCI Express (PCIe) fabric as a link becomes less active. Windows Vista supports ASPM through enhancements to the PCI bus driver and the Windows power manager. A new paper on the WHDC Web site describes how Windows Vista configures the PCIe fabric to enable the maximum power savings. Hardware manufacturers can use the information in this paper to design their systems to take advantage of ASPM support in Windows Vista.

Tip: The Windows Base team and our industry partners will be discussing power management advances in the System Fundamentals track at WinHEC <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827453>.

Driver Verifier in Windows Vista <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827441> Driver Verifier monitors kernel-mode drivers to detect illegal function calls or actions that might corrupt the system. Driver Verifier was first included in Windows 2000 and is available in all later versions of Windows. For Windows Vista, Driver Verifier has been enhanced with new tests and features. These changes allow Driver Verifier to expose more classes of typical driver bugs. Also, Driver Verifier is easier to use, beginning with Windows Vista Beta 2. A new paper on the WHDC Web site provides a preview of the Driver Verifier enhancements.

Tip: Windows developers and testers will be discussing new tools and best practices in the Device Driver Fundamentals track at WinHEC <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827454>.

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Windows Vista Logo Program

Basic Driver Requirements for WPD Devices <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827442> The Windows Portable Device (WPD) infrastructure for Windows supersedes both Windows Media Device Manager (WMDM) and Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) by providing a flexible, robust way for a computer to communicate with music players, storage devices, mobile phones, and other types of connected devices. A new paper on the WHDC Web site provides a preview of the basic requirements that all WPD drivers must meet to be eligible to receive a digital signature under the Windows Vista Logo Program.

Tip: Windows teams will be discussing drivers, protocols, connectivity, and more for portable devices in the Device Connectivity <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827455> and Media <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827456> tracks at WinHEC.

What System Requirements Will Windows Vista Require to Run the New Aero Features? <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827443> The Windows Vista Logo Program for Hardware FAQ on Microsoft.com answers a host of questions about the logo program and related hardware issues and program policies. For example, in answer to the question about Aero features, the premium logo requirements describe the technologies that enable Aero experiences in Windows Vista: a modern CPU, 512-MB RAM or better, and a powerful graphical processor unit (GPU) that has a Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) driver. Read the Windows Vista Logo Program FAQ <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827457>.

See also: Windows Vista Logo Program Requirements Suite, Revision 0.8 <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827458>

Windows Vista Hardware Start Button--Draft Preview Version 0.91 <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827459>

Tip: The Microsoft teams supporting the Windows Vista Logo Program and WHQL testing will be discussing the changes in the Windows Vista Logo Program at WinHEC <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827460>.

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XPS Specifications and Papers

· Open XML Markup Compatibility Open XML Markup Compatibility v0.85 (April 2006) <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827461> Open XML Markup Compatibility License Overview <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827462>

· XPS Sample Documents XPS Sample Documents <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827463> Sample XPS Documents Download <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827464>

Tip: The Microsoft D2 team and our industry partners will be discussing XPS and Windows Color Management in the Printing, Graphics and Imaging track at WinHEC <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827465>.

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What Else Is New on WHDC? http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827432

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Events

· WinHEC 2006 <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827466> May 23-26, 2006 Washington State Convention and Trade Center Seattle, WA

· Microsoft Management Summit 2006 <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827467> April 24-28, 2006 San Diego Convention Center San Diego, CA

· PCI-SIG I/O Virtualization Interactive Technology Assessment <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827468> April 27, 2006 Santa Clara Convention Center Santa Clara, CA

· PCI-SIG Compliance Workshop #50 <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827469> May 15-19, 2006 Embassy Suites Hotel - Santa Clara Santa Clara, CA

· PCI-SIG Developers Conference 2006 <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827470> June 8-9, 2006 San Jose McEnery Convention Center San Jose, California

· WinHEC Taipei <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827471> June 12-13, 2006 Taipei, Taiwan

· Certified Wireless USB Developers Conference <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827472> June 20-22, 2006 San Jose, CA

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Blogs for Driver Developers:

· Peter Wieland's Thoughts on Windows Driver Development <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827473>

· Doron Holan's Musings on Kernel-Mode Drivers and Other Nibbles and Bits <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827474>

· Michael Bourgoin on Color at Microsoft <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827475>

· Kam VedBrat on Graphics Hardware Development <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827476>

· Greg Schechter on the Windows Presentation Foundation (Avalon) <http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4827477>

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