One of the fantastic features that catches everyone's eye is Aero, especially if you have ever looked over my shoulder on a flight.  Most likely I showed off one of the wow features in Flip 3D and you got demos for the duration of the flight!  Windows Aero is only available on PCs using a compatible graphics adapter and running the Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise edition of Windows Vista,

Two exciting new Windows Aero features, Windows Flip and Windows Flip 3D, enable you to confidently manage the windows on your desktop by arranging them in a visually striking yet convenient way. Beyond the new graphics and visual polish, the Windows Aero desktop performance is as smooth and professional as it looks, providing a simple and high-quality experience.

What is required to get Aero interface improvements?

Here are the requirements:

• 1-gigahertz (GHz) 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
• 1 gigabyte (GB) of RAM
• 128-megabyte (MB) graphics card
• Aero also requires a DirectX 9 class graphics processor that supports a Windows Display Driver Model Driver, Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware, and 32 bits per pixel.

For best results, you might also want to follow these graphics processor recommendations:

• 64 MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor with a resolution that is less than 1,310,720 pixels (for example, a 17–inch flat panel LCD monitor that has a 1280 × 1024 resolution)
• 128 MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor with a resolution from 1,310,720 to 2,304,000 pixels (for example, a 21.1–inch flat panel LCD monitor that has up to a 1600 × 1200 resolution)
• 256 MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor with a resolution greater than 2,304,000 pixels (for example, a 30–inch wide-screen flat panel LCD monitor that has up to a 2560 × 1600 resolution)

Watch the screencast here:

Screencast: Windows Vista Aero

Enjoy and please let me know what you think!