This is something we’ve all known for a while now, especially with Microsoft’s move to low-power 1GHz ARM processors, but now PC Pro magazine are reporting that Microsoft have confirmed that WIndows 8 will have no higher minimum hardware requirements than Vista or Windows 7.
In a statement, Tami Reller, the corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Windows Division said…
In both of our Windows 8 previews, we talked about continuing on with the important trend that we started with Windows 7, keeping system requirements either flat or reducing them over time, Windows 8 will be able to run on a wide range of machines because it will have the same requirements or lower.”
The move is hardly surprising as Intel and ARM have both been pushing for the last few years for lower-power, lower-cost processors that can run as effectively as their more expensive, and power-hungry, cousins. A good example of this is the ARM C-50 chip which at only 1GHz can run some Windows tasks faster than an Intel Atom running at 1.6GHz. You can read my review of the C-50 on our sister site gHacks.
Reller went further, saying that…
“We’ve also built intelligence into Windows 8 so that it can adapt to the user experience based on the hardware of the user, so, whether you’re upgrading an existing PC, or buying a new one, Windows will adapt to make the most of that hardware.”
This is an interesting statement and implies that the power settings of Windows have been enhanced beyond that which we’ve already seen in Windows 7. With the current OS, some features, such as the Aero Glass effects, are switched off for processors that won’t be able to run them effectively. This new move could mean that Windows 8 will examine the processor and other core hardware further at installation and adapt services and core OS processes to take the best advantage of the hardware you have, and, in the case of tablets and laptops, to give you the very best power consumption.
It’s clear that power consumption will be a major factor in how successful, or not, Windows 8 will become. Microsoft clearly recognise this. Currently no tablet is able out outlast Apple’s iPad with it’s 16 hours of battery life, though a few can scrape twelve hours. A cleverly written OS can clearly help as this is a factor that currently prevents both Windows 7 and Google’s Android operating system from being efficient enough to reach iOS’s huge battery life.
Currently the minimum hardware requirements for Windows 7 are a 1GHz processor with 1Gb of RAM, 16Gb of hard disk space and DirectX9 graphics for the 32-bit version, and 2Gb of RAM and 20Gb hard disk space for the 64-bit versions.
This does not necessarily mean however that you will have a happy experience running Windows 8 on low-power machines. If the rumours about the inclusion of Microsoft’s Hyper-V virtualisation client being built into the OS are true, and they probably are, this could mean that the company is finally dropping legacy support from the OS.
This would certainly help make the operating system much leaner and more power and processor-efficient. however it could mean that some software that currently runs of netbooks and Windows 7 tablets in compatibility mode will no longer run under Windows 8 on the same hardware. This will be because the virtualisation software required to run older programs in the new OS will require beefier hardware than some single-core Atom processors can muster.
This is all speculation however but it’s generally good news for people who might not want to, or be able to afford to upgrade their PCs next year.
We’ll continue to bring you all the latest news about Windows 8 here at Windows8News.com
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