Vista has more than the usual memory management methods to boost performance. The operating system can draw on other hardware resources--notably external and portable storage--to speed up operations. That's the crux of ReadyBoost, which works with USB flash drives.
Basically, Vista's ReadyBoost function lets you use a USB thumb drive to beef up the memory on your notebook by storing data on the drive as if it were a part of main memory. It could be a significant boon to memory-pinched notebook users, since USB flash memory is relatively inexpensive compared with internal notebook memory.
That new function presents opportunities -- and raises questions. Here are some of the answers.
The drive must support USB 2.0 and must be able to access data at 3.5 megabits per second for 4-kilobit random reads uniformly across the entire device, and at 2.5 mbps for 512-kilobit random writes uniformly across the device.
As a practical matter, it's tough to find these specs for a flash drive before you buy it, so make sure that your vendor is reasonable about returns. Microsoft has said that it will work with manufacturers to develop a ReadyBoost certification program so that consumers can determine, before buying a flash drive, whether they can use ReadyBoost with it.
There are several reasons why you may be running into the problem. The Vista specs are for random performance, whereas the specs you see listed may measure sequential performance. (Some devices do great on sequential reads, but struggle on random reads.) Another issue may be inconsistent performance across your drive. Some flash drives carry 128MB of extremely fast "lightning flash" on part of the drive, but slower memory on the rest of the drive.
That depends on how much RAM you have on your system. The smallest cache that ReadyBoost can use is 256MB; the largest is 4GB. Microsoft recommends establishing a flash-memory-to-system-RAM ratio of anywhere from 1:1 to 2.5:1. For a system containing 512MB of RAM, it follows that 512MB to 1.25GB of flash memory will be productive. Since ReadyBoost maxes out at 4GB, any amount of flash memory beyond that ceiling won't provide a boost, regardless of your PC's quantity of RAM.
No. Microsoft has limited ReadyBoost to one device at a time.
You'll see notebooks with external displays that use Microsoft's Sideshow technology to run some of the same kinds of gadgets available in the Windows Sidebar, without requiring your PC to be on. Other manufacturers will eventually use Sideshow to power color-display-equipped remotes for Media Center systems.
Windows Rally should simplify setup, security, and management of networked devices. Rally technologies include Windows Connect Now for easy Wi-Fi setup; Plug and Play Extensions (PnP-x) for quick installation of network-connected devices; and the Link Layer Topology Discovery protocol for easy discovery of networked devices.
Microsoft has demonstrated Rally-ready wireless cameras that nearby PCs automatically discovered and could download new images from in real time. This development suggests that a working wireless digital camera is not far from reality, though experts currently think that wireless USB is a better technology than Wi-Fi for short-range cable replacement.
Edited by Peggy Watt, PC World
