Sony: Windows Vista Does Not Support Intel Turbo Memory

Sony will not include Intel Turbo Memory technology in their line of VAIO notebooks scheduled for release this summer, because Microsoft’s Windows Vista operating system is not currently Turbo Memory compatible, the computer maker’s representative announced. On the other side, Microsoft has denied Sony’s claims.

Turbo Memory, codenamed “Robson”, is a flash memory-based feature built in Intel’s new “Santa Rosa” notebook platform. The “Robson” is designed to speed up system’s boot time and application loading by preloading data on a flash memory. Sony says that the current release of Vista supports neither Intel’s Turbo Memory technology nor hybrid hard drives, which are a combination of a standard HDD and flash memory. Product specialist for the Sony VAIO series David Spaeth claims the omission of support for Turbo Memory and hybrid hard disk drives in the current release of Vista arose during the finalization of this operating system.

“Microsoft sat down and said ‘OK, to get Vista into the market, what are the really important parts of the software we need for launch?’ 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,” Spaeth says.

He added that Sony would probably release laptops with Intel Turbo Memory after Vista SP1 (Service Pack 1) appears towards the end of this year.

But, Microsoft told ZDNet.co.uk that Sony’s claims were not correct.

“Windows Vista supports Intel’s Turbo Memory, and Microsoft and Intel have worked together to ensure that Turbo Memory works with Windows Vista technologies that support intelligent NVRAM cache management: SuperFetch, ReadyBoost, and ReadyDrive,” a statement from the company read.

Recently Hewlett-Packard also announced it will not use Intel Turbo Memory, since it “doesn’t give you a lot”.

ZDNet

[…] Fujitsu’s E8310 and E8410 are offered with Intel Core 2 Duo T7100, T730, or T7500 processors featuring 1.8GHz, 2GHz, and 2.2GHz clock speeds respectively, and a 800MHz front side bus. Both laptops provide two DIMM slots for up to 4GB of system memory, and come with up to 120GB hard drive. These notebooks have built in optical drives and an optional Intel Turbo memory, which should work under Microsoft’s Windows Vista Business operating system. […]

[…] The Intel Centrino Duo LifeBook A6030 15.4-inch widescreen laptop is built on GM965 chipset providing 800MHz front side bus and the integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100. It is offered with Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 processor at 2.0GHz or T7100 at 1.8GHz. The A6030’s display resolution is 1280×800. This notebook supports up to 4GB system memory, and has up to 120GB hard drive storage capacity, as well as a DVD burner. The PC maker also provides the controversial Intel Turbo Memory option in A6030 notebooks with Windows Vista Business OS preloaded. […]

[…] There is no word on any tweaks related to controversial support for Intel’s Turbo Memory, commonly used in newer notebook computers. […]

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