[ultralexy]

[Philosophy]
When you first get a glimpse of AERO, the new GUI (graphic user interface) in Vista, you might feel like you’re behind the wheel of a fancy automobile from the future. And that’s just what Microsoft is aiming for. In fact, they want you to feel connected to Vista in a special and positive way. Microsoft is unleashing Vista with a whole new twist of philosophy meets technology.

[Intuition]
So what is AERO, exactly? According to Microsoft, AERO stands for Authentic, Energetic, Reflective and Open. But AERO is much more than a philosophy and an acronym. AERO is Vista’s GUI that integrates the desktop shell, icons, toolbars, menus, and folders. AERO offers an intuitive interface that delivers more usability than ever in the navigation of your operating system. And it does it with incredible graphics and flair so you’ll enjoy every minute of your experience.

[Clarity]
The most telltale feature of AERO is the glass-like or translucent effect it applies to your folders, icons and toolbars. These are very cool looking, but you’ll need a high-resolution graphics card to appreciate the speed and appearance of the glass effects. Lower resolution cards will work, but you'll sacrifice performance. One interesting tidbit behind the way AERO works, is that the GUI will be able to take advantage of a wider spectrum of colors because the code is written to match up with the theme files rather than hard coding the values. AERO also uses a greater dots per inch for crisper pixels.

[Performance]
AERO gives you more ways to manage and organize your data with “Live Icons,” “Virtual Folders,” and “Desktop Search.” Live icons give you live previews of programs, documents, photos, and videos so you see the first page of a document before you open it. You’ll also find more information about what’s inside those folders and icons with AERO’s visual clues. Virtual folders take your desktop searches and store them for future instant access. Not only that, your searches are updated each time you open a virtual folder. And lastly, Microsoft introduces a powerful desktop search engine that gives you quick access to all your data without having to know much more about it that a simple keyword.

AERO merges your standard user interface with all the fun and innovative things we enjoy about adding onto our existing operating systems. Aero incorporates usability with impressive graphics and brings an experience to the end-user, advanced or newbies alike, which is sure to please the senses.