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From the Editor
If you work in the PC hardware industry, you probably remember how Microsoft spent the last half of the 90s persuading you that Windows needed SSIDs and SVIDs for Plug and Play to work right. Well, we've come a long way together since those days.
With Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows Server Longhorn, a radical evolution occurs in I/O and device and power management through native operating system support for PCI Express, including:
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Active State Power Management (ASPM) and power management events (PMEs)
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Extended configuration space access, version checking, and compatible device ID identification and matching
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Hot-plug insertion and removal for PCI Express and ExpressCard components
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We’re working with system and device manufacturers to ensure that the transition to PCI Express on the Windows platform is seamless. The key is to ensure that system firmware is ready for native control in Windows by supporting the ACPI _OSC control method.
Until now, new operating system support has not been turned on in beta releases of Windows Vista. Beginning with the next Community Technology Preview (CTP) release, Windows Vista will use new PCI Express control—but only if the _OSC method is present in firmware. We are strongly encouraging system manufacturers to perform comprehensive test passes on their PCI Express-capable systems beginning with the next CTP release (more details later in this newsletter).
To help system and device manufacturers understand the new native support for PCI Express--and how to transition seamlessly to this new Windows support--we are featuring a series of new articles on PCI Express and Windows Vista on the WHDC Web site. This month, we have new information that is focused on general PCI Express support. In coming months, we’ll have more details on new power management capabilities in Windows Vista and how devices and drivers can take advantage of them. —Annie Pearson
for the WHDC team
WHDC After Dark: Here in the States, it’s that time of the season when millions of people are migrating home to eat certain traditional foods. Each year, there are long debates in the office, miles of newspaper columns written, and hours of worry over how to cook a turkey correctly.
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PCI Express and Windows Vista
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Windows Vista (and later versions of Windows) uses the capabilities that are defined in the PCI Express Base Specification and exposed in the ACPI 3.0 specification for controlling hot-plug insert/remove, PMEs, and PCI Express register features.
If a computer system indicates by way of the ACPI _OSC method that control of any feature is not possible or if the _OSC method is not implemented in firmware, then Windows Vista does not take control of any of the PCI Express features. This behavior differs from previous beta releases of Windows Vista in which these features were always managed by the operating system, regardless of _OSC settings.
This new PCI Express behavior will be in Windows Vista beginning with the next CTP release. This change might cause degraded performance if the _OSC method is not present in the scope of a PCI root bus or if the firmware does not transfer control of PCI Express features as requested by the operating system.
Therefore, it is extremely important for system manufacturers to use the next CTP release of Windows Vista to perform comprehensive test passes on PCI Express-capable systems. This testing will help to ensure compatibility of ACPI, PCI Express, and Windows implementations in firmware, hardware, and operating system capabilities.
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What native PCI Express and PCI features are supported in Windows Vista and Windows Server Longhorn? Read answers to this and many other questions in this newly published PCI Express FAQ, which has information for system manufacturers, firmware developers, and driver writers about memory-mapped configuration space, hot-plug support, PMEs and hot-plug events, interrupts, systems, devices, and Windows compatibility with PCI Express.
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Windows Vista and Windows Server "Longhorn" Previews
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Windows Vista provides built-in support for a fast system startup experience that boots or resumes directly into media or other applications. Simple changes to the platform firmware and underlying platform wake circuitry enable a PC that is running Windows Vista to launch any Windows application in response to a button-press event, without requiring the user to reboot the system to switch between the Windows shell and a dedicated application environment. To learn how to take advantage of direct application launch in Windows Vista to deliver consumer-friendly application startup experiences to your customers, read this new paper on the WHDC Web site.
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As we’ve been telling you at WinHEC and on the WHDC Web site, the audio stack in Windows Vista has been completely rewritten. On Channel 9, Steve Ball explains what the team has been working on, shows some demos, and introduces his team.
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Insights from Microsoft Experts
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Raymond explores "the memory scene" and the consequences of the way CPUs work, and then applies his particular knowledge of Win32. In addition to viewing his presentation on Channel 9, you can also:
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The goals of the Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) are twofold: to reduce the number of security-related design and coding defects, and to reduce the severity of any defects that remain. Microsoft security expert Michael Howard takes a look at each major phase and outlines what you can do within your own organization to implement SDL.
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Edition for  November 22, 2005 |
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