While Microsoft has been touting the Aero Glass interface as one of the main selling points for Windows Vista, there will be another new interface - one for users running Vista on less-powerful systems - too. Microsoft hasn't said much about its final plans for that interface until now. Microsoft has posted some screenshots of the non-Glass theme for Vista, which officials are currently calling the Standard or Basic theme.

Windows Vista uses the Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) to deliver some amazing user experience features collectively called Windows Aero which include; Desktop Composition, Glass window frames with colored glass, window thumbnails and Flip3D, a new window management facility. All of the Windows Aero features are enabled in Windows Home Premium, our Business SKUs, and Ultimate assuming you have the appropriate hardware. On Home Basic, you get Desktop Composition with opaque colored glass windows frames.

If you don't have a display driver capable of running WDDM you'll get the Windows Vista Basic theme which does not benefit from some of the more graphically intensive features such as desktop composition and glass window frames. This is a good, clean interface called the Basic or Standard theme, but lacking the glass window frames of Aero.