14 DAY TRIAL // NVIDIA, the world's leading manufacturer of graphics solutions, has just announced that its recently introduced NVIDIA Ion has now been certified for Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows Vista. With the announcement, NVIDIA's small form factor, low-power computer system will now be ready to provide users with a premium solution with support for Microsoft's Windows Visa and enable a rich media experience, with full graphics support.
“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,” said Mike Ybarra, general manager for the Windows division at Microsoft.
Over the past year, netbooks and nettops have become increasingly popular, enabling PC users to take advantage of a small form factor, low-power computer system that provides the basics in computing technology. However, NVIDIA's Ion platform is able to provide the same small form factor as most netbooks or nettops on the market, but enabling a performance level that can't be achieved by a full Intel-based solution. The Ion, released late last year, combines Intel's highly successful Atom processor with a GeForce 9400M GPU, to deliver a rich media experience inside a computer device that can fit a user's pockets.
With the announcement, the Santa Clara, California-based graphics maker also said that it was working with Microsoft, PC manufacturers, software developers, and Windows eco-system partners to provide customers with Ion-based PCs that would likely debut the market by summer 2009. Price wise, these aforementioned devices might become available for price points as low as $299.
“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!”