From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article or section does not adequately cite its
references or sources.
Please help
improve this article by adding citations to
reliable sources. (help,
get involved!)
This article has been tagged since November 2006.
This
article is part of the
Windows Vista series. |
|
New features |
|
Overview |
|
Technical and administrative |
|
Security and safety |
|
Removed features |
|
Other articles |
|
Editions and pricing |
|
Development history |
|
Criticism |
|
List of Windows Vista topics |
The Desktop Window Manager (abbreviated DWM;
previously called Desktop Compositing Engine or DCE)
is a
windowing system introduced with
Windows Vista that enables the
Windows Aero user interface. Users will need to have a
DirectX 9 capable video card to be able to use the Desktop
Window Manager. Windows Aero is not available on Windows Vista
Home Basic edition, and the Desktop Window Manager is not
included at all with the Starter edition.
The Desktop Window Manager is similar to
Quartz Compositor in
Mac OS X in that applications do not draw directly to
screen, but instead draw to off-screen buffers that are then
composited by the window manager and displayed on-screen. This
allows the window manager to easily create a number of on-screen
effects found in Windows Vista. These include translucent window
borders which show parts of window content lying beneath and the
stacking effect displayed when users switch between
applications.
Windows Flip 3D
Perhaps the best example of how the DWM works is when using
Windows Flip 3D. Since windows are 2D entities by design, in
order for them to be shown in 3D properly, the 2D rendering
needs to be transformed into 3D space. Using off-screen buffers
means that the window is only rendered once it has been
positioned in the 3D environment, saving excessive processing.
See also
-
Features new to Windows Vista
-
Quartz Compositor
- Xgl
-
AIGLX
Categories:
Articles lacking sources from November 2006 |
All articles lacking sources |
Windows Vista |
Graphics software |
Windowing systems |
Microsoft