NVIDIA and Microsoft Collaborate On Ion SFF PCs

by Marco Chiappetta — Wednesday, February 11, 2009, 09:01 AM EDT

NVIDIA Collaborates with Microsoft to make premium, low-cost PCs a reality

Microsoft Certifies NVIDIA ION to Deliver a Premium Windows Experience on PCs Starting as Low as $299

SANTA CLARA, CA - FEBRUARY 11, 2009 - In an effort to deliver an outstanding computing experience on small, low power PCs, NVIDIA announced today that NVIDIA ION has been Certified for Windows Vista. With NVIDIA ION and premium versions of Microsoft Windows, small form factor notebook and desktop PCs will have rich media capabilities and full graphics support for the first time.

Microsoft Corp. has validated NVIDIA ION with certified Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) drivers for Windows Vista Home Premium. NVIDIA is working with Microsoft, PC manufacturers, software developers, and Windows eco-system partners to bring ION-based PCs to market by summer of 2009. ION-based mini-notebooks and compact desktop PCs will have industry-leading performance at price points as low as $299.

Mike Ybarra, general manager for the Windows division at Microsoft, states: “Customers have told us they expect a full Windows experience across a variety of PC designs. What many people call a ‘netbook’ today is really a small notebook, and users expect it to perform like one. With NVIDIA’s ION platform combined with Windows Vista Home Premium, consumers can get an affordable, premium Windows experience in a small notebook or desktop form factor. From browsing the web and checking email to streaming music or watching movies, it’s an excellent solution for everyday computing.”

Microsoft has certified the NVIDIA ION platform to ensure that upcoming ION-based PCs will deliver:

Silky smooth 1080p high definition video including Blu-ray movies

Exciting video game play with support for Microsoft’s DirectX 10 API

Support for premium Windows Vista features including Aero Glass and Flip3D

GPU acceleration for faster photo editing and video transcoding

NVIDIA's Drew Henry Ion Demo at CES

“NVIDIA ION and Windows are a perfect match,” said Drew Henry, general manager of the MCP business unit at NVIDIA. “It is great to have Microsoft work with us to drive Windows with ION into these new low-priced notebooks and really small desktop PCs, which previously wasn’t possible with other solutions. This is a big win for consumers!”

About the NVIDIA ION Platform

The NVIDIA ION platform provides a quantum leap in mainstream graphics performance – while using less than half the space of traditional solutions – for smaller, faster, lighter, full-featured notebooks and desktop PCs. The ION platform unlocks the power of the Atom CPU by combining it with a great NVIDIA GPU.

Tags: Nvidia, SFF, Microsoft, Vista, Atom

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com