Vista May Not Actually Support Turbo Memory

By Nick Mokey June 10, 2007

Transparent windows might not be Windows Vista’s only see-through feature. Sony is claiming that compatability with Intel’s Turbo Memory technology, which was promised with the new operating system, isn’t actually functional in the first release.

Turbo Memory is a form of on-board laptop memory designed to reduce boot time and application loading times by pre-loading data. While Dell, Asus, Acer and Toshiba already offer notebooks with Turbo Memory built in, Sony claims that they will not include it on their next line of Vaio notebooks because Vista isn’t actually capable of taking advantage of it.

David Spaeth, project specialist for Sony’s Vaio line, alleged that Microsoft intentionally left Turbo Memory capability out of Vista’s first release in order to get it to the market, since no hardware existed at launch time to take advantage of it anyway. “They had to cross out or skip some parts of the OS, and one of these things was the support of this third-stage memory,” he told ZDNet Australia.

According to Spaeth, Vista will recognize Turbo Memory and make use of it, but not in a way that will deliver the promised performance boost. “If you turn on your PC and there’s nothing in this Robson memory that is boot-relevant, there is no performance increase. Boot time will not be touched at all because Vista will basically need to learn from you as a user which applications you use the most.”

Microsoft denied the claim. “Windows Vista supports Intel’s Turbo Memory, and Microsoft and Intel have worked together to ensure that Turbo Memory works with Windows Vista technologies,” the company said. “There are no issues which we are aware of that would prevent [manufacturers] from adopting Turbo Memory for great performance results with Windows Vista.”

If Microsoft can’t prove Sony’s allegations incorrect, the company could end up in court over claims of deceptive marketing.

Editors' Recommendations

Managing Editor

As Digital Trends’ Managing Editor, Nick Mokey oversees an editorial team delivering definitive reviews, enlightening…

News

AMD’s next-gen Navi 23 graphics chip may support ray tracing

AMD Radeon RX 5700 and 5700 XT review

AMD’s next-generation graphics chip code-named "Navi 23" will reportedly feature hardware-based ray tracing. That's an important ingredient missing in AMD’s current GPU lineup. Hardware-based ray tracing surfaced in Nvidia’s RTX 20 series this time last year.

Sources claim that AMD refers to this chip as the “Nvidia Killer.” It will target the high-end market currently dominated by Nvidia’s RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 Ti GPUs. As Wccftech points out, this naming is highly unusual -- and probably unlikely -- as companies typically don’t associate upcoming products as competition “killers,” not even internally.

Computing

Unreal Engine 4 support for developers coming to Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 in May

hololens 2 news roundup demo mwc 2019

Julia Schwarz, Microsoft corporate vice president for Azure marketing, demonstrates the HoloLens 2 headset at MWC 2019. Jeremy Kaplan / Digital Trends

In an effort to get developers on board to create new and exciting content for its mixed reality HoloLens 2 headset, Microsoft announced the HoloLens 2 Development Edition package. Though the initial version of HoloLens will be sold to businesses and corporate customers for $5,000, developers can pick up HoloLens 2 as part of the Development Edition pricing for just $3,500. In addition to the glasses, Microsoft announced that the package will also include $500 of Azure credits along with a three-month trial of Unity Pro and Unity PiXYZ Plugin for CAD data.

Computing

Save $100 on this Netgear mesh Wi-Fi system at Crutchfield

netgear orbi ax6000 tri band wi fi system deal crutchfield april 2024 lifestyle

If you want every corner of your home to have access to a stable internet connection, you're going to want to buy a mesh Wi-Fi system. There are lots of options out there among all the router deals online, but here's one that we recommend -- the Netgear Orbi AX6000 tri-band Wi-Fi system, which Crutchfield is selling at $100 off. Instead of $900, you'll just have to pay $800 for this mesh Wi-Fi system, but only if you hurry. The discount is expected to last for a few more days, but we're not sure if stocks will still be available by the end of the sale.

Why you should buy the Netgear Orbi AX6000 tri-band Wi-Fi system
The Netgear Orbi AX6000 tri-band Wi-Fi system includes a router module and two satellites to create a mesh network that supports Wi-Fi 6 and will provide coverage across 7,500 square feet. The router and the satellites will use a single network name for a seamless connection as you move around -- horizontally or vertically -- and MU-MIMO technology will allow for simultaneous streaming across multiple devices, so even if everyone in the family is connected to the mesh Wi-Fi system at the same time, nobody will experience any lag or buffering while watching streaming shows.