Recently both Samsung and Chimei gained Windows Vista Premium certification on their 20 and 22″ lcd’s. As I’m still waiting on my 22″ Samsung 225BW lcd’s to arrive I thought I would find out what exactly that meant. If anything. What does certification mean for an lcd? It is not like it will not display Windows Vista. This begs the question…
What is Windows Vista Premium Certification?
Pat Azzarello, an employee of Microsoft writes…
The Premimum logo requirements are available to computer makers to help them get quality components to deliver on their systems. The Logo program is a guideline, and it doesn’t mean that other components won’t work on Vista, or that other components are not high quality. It will (in the very least) help you identify components that have been tested and work at a certain level
Basically this means for OEM manufacturers and partners to market their products with Windows Vista support, they need to gain Microsoft’s certification to do so. When it comes to marketing, the ‘Windows Vista ready’ logo is a strong force. I would argue this is something more important for manufacturers and marketing techniques than anything else. Depending on the type of user, it may not make muc of an impact. Though you do have to realise the connection between the two.
Slightly more tech savy people aren’t really going to care too much about this Windows Vista certfication in most cases. They will already know (or can easily find out) if a particular piece of hardware is properly supported under Windows Vista. The average consumer however doesn’t know better and will be looking for this seal of approval before making a purchase.
Why would you Want Vista Certification
To system builders and OEM manufactuers it means selling systems with Windows Vista branding power and the added benefit of being able to submit their drivers to Microsoft, making them available for download via the Windows Update service. To end users, this is a nice convenience.
It’s a good thing system builders have to earn Windows Vista certification (through the user of higher end products). It raises the demand for higher level components, bringing more expensive components into mainstream market that are in high demand.
For further information on Windows Vista’s OEM hardware requirements
