Summary: 'Aero' is/was the codename for the Longhorn Window Manager

Aero Rumours

Aero will be hardware-accelerated and use 3D features from the video card

Aero Questions

What is Aero?

Will Aero Allow Resolution Independence For Non-Avalon Windows Applications?

Does Aero allow us to run our existing apps with resolution indepenance?

Customizable UI?

Is Aero the replacement for the MS Shell Style system used in XP? If so, will it be closed like in XP or will it be possible to customize the look of the style without the use of a modified system file or program like StyleXP or WindowBlinds?

Vector Intelligent Icons

What of the icons in Vista? Will they be vector based? will they animate on the desktop, will they be intelligent and interact with one another? Not just vector but 3D and rotatable, with a light source, I believe inteligent icons/desktop will work by attaining real time information from a users .Net Passport profile i.e. location & weather:

1. Consider the desktop icons at the beginning of the day, casting an early morning bright yellow realistic shadow from the sunrise position of the light source at 7:30AM (e.g. bottom left of the screen but nortically relational to the users location)

2. Then in the evening if the sky turned pink into a red sky at night glow, the light source on the icon turns velvety pink at 8:30PM, thus giving a pink tint to the vector icons. Imagine if there was a cool breeze that night, the icons would then rotate with full reflection of the night glow in tandem with the weather conditions. (nb: the light source is only shown on the icon and not a replacement to the desktop background picture)

Future icons and air jordan 11 like cursors could easily be made more complex than just including a ‘hotspot’ (where the double click arrow tip is designated). E.g. a shop hanging sign style icon could be told to sweep slowly back and fourth (with an eerie distant creek sound-FX) if the weather condition dictated that. Or a drainpipe end (bit pointing to the floor drain) would start to gush or trickle water when it started raining.

Also consider how surrounding icons would be affected, would the water drip down the icons below it, would beads of rainwater slide down the sides of the icons clinging to their shape?! This could be programmed in, some kind of XML vector icon or something, (I don’t know everything is XML these days)

Most importantly is that all of this would be achieved with local and real-time info, so I could look out of my window as this evenign it is indeed a Sherlock Holmes style British foggy evening and my desktop would automatically emulate that, even theme it to my mobile wirelessly.

Emulation could be in the form of a light mist around the icons on the desktop, as tonight here in Scotland (where I live), with a steamy/rainy feel because of the rain