According to a Microsoft press release, the box cover system requirements will read as follows: 800 MHz CPU, 512 MB RAM and DirectX 9.0-Capable graphics card. Users who want a “premium experience” will need to upgrade to a 1 GHz CPU and 1 GB of RAM.
The company indicated that those system requirements are not likely to change, at least not for the first release of Vista, a system that Microsoft has delayed several times in the past.
Vista is now slated for release early in 2007.
Original equipment manufactures (OEMs) must meet a more stringent list of requirements, Microsoft said.
“Those wishing to qualify now for the program must meet the following standards effective immediately,” a company release said. “High-definition audio and DirectX 3D 9 support, one or more digital outputs for video adapters, Ethernet and/or Wi-Fi support, USB 2.0 support, and system resume times of two seconds or less from the standby state.”
Analyzing the system requirements for technology site ArsTechnica.com, Ken Fisher wrote that few, if any, of the specs were surprising. He also labeled the specs “cautious.”
As for the difference between standard and premium certification, Fisher urged users to opt for the premium system if they purchase an OEM machine because of the difference for the graphics requirements.
