Microsoft Says Windows 8 Won't Require Hardware Upgrades

[SirPeterPan]

http://www.geek-news.net/2011/07/microsoft-says-windows-8-wont-require.html

-{ Quote: "
Monday, July 11, 2011

Microsoft Says Windows 8 Won't Require Hardware Upgrades (http://www.geek-news.net/2011/07/microsoft-says-windows-8-wont-require.html)

In a possible attempt to spur Windows 7 adoption Microsoft confirmed today that Windows 8 will carry similar or even lower hardware requirements to those of Windows 7. Meaning unlike the leap from XP to say Vista any computer currently running Windows 7 will be upgradable to Windows 8 when the next version of Windows is released.

Speaking at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (http://digitalwpc.com/), Steve Ballmer revealed that Windows 7 has officially sold 400 million licenses to-date. Despite those numbers Windows XP still holds nearly twice the market share worldwide.

"Two-thirds of business PCs are still on Windows XP. Moving these users to Windows 7 is important and urgent work for us to get after together," Tami Reller, corporate VP and CFO for Windows. "Whether upgrading an existing PC or buying a new one, Windows will adapt to make the most of that hardware," Reller said. Windows 8 is for "the hundreds of millions of modern PCs that exist today and for the devices of tomorrow."

If rumors are true Windows 8 is slated to be released early next year with a possible beta release as soon as this fall. Microsoft hopes to bolster sales of Windows 7 pcs so the company is urging both businesses and consumers to upgrade now and by promising they will be able to use the same PC to run Windows 8 later.

"Windows 8 is a true re-imagining of Windows, from the chip to the interface," Reller said. Despite the re-imagining, Microsoft will keep system requirements flat or reduce them. Currently to run Windows 7, PCs need at least a 1GHz processor, 1GB RAM, 16GB available disk space and DirectX 9 graphics. We strongly suggest a faster CPU and at least 2GBs of RAM and a much larger hard drive!

For more details on what's in store for Windows 8 checkout Microsoft's First Official Look at Windows 8 (http://www.geek-news.net/2011/06/microsoft-offers-first-official-look-at.html)
" }-

[Hungry Man]

As always I can't wait. I've seen the beta builds/ screenshots and I love some of the new features.

[berryracer]

good to know, thanks for the info :)

[Daveski17]

I'm saving up for a Mac. ;)

[funkydude]

-{ Quote: "I'm saving up for a Mac. ;)" }-

Haha, I get the joke - because that requires a complete hardware change and hardware lock.

Imagine having to pay for service packs like Lion though :-[

[vasa1]

-{ Quote: "I'm saving up for a Mac. ;)" }-

Daveski17, look at this (http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/linux-everyone.html) if you have the time ;)

[Daveski17]

-{ Quote: "Daveski17, look at this (http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/linux-everyone.html) if you have the time ;)" }-

Thanks, yes of course, Linux is a very viable alternative. I'm pretty sure when it comes time to replace my notebook I will get a Chromebook.

[jonyjoe81]

people are still using xp because they can't upgrade to vista/7, and they will still not upgrade to windows 8 for the same reason.
If windows 8 wanted to be successful, they made sure it could also run on what xp could run. ie maybe retrograde the OS instead of making the hardware work with the OS.
The majority of people/business are cheap, they run there equipment till it breaks down than upgrade. Computers are like fridges they last a long time and are easy to repair.
Microsoft need to get with the program, currently they are trying to force people to buy new computers to run its "fancypants" OS. That stragedy is not working to well so far.

[Hungry Man]

lol no, they should not downgrade the OS just so that people with 10 year old hardware can run it. 1GHZ CPU + 1GB of RAM... that is not unreasonable. If Windows 8 brought the RAM minimum requirement to 768MB all the better, but companies shouldn't have to be held back.

[tonyf1971]

Good to know i put a Win 8 install on my current PC and move my win 7 license to my Mac ;)

[funkydude]

But by they way they are advertising it, you might be able to run win8 on xp machines.

[firzen771]

-{ Quote: "people are still using xp because they can't upgrade to vista/7, and they will still not upgrade to windows 8 for the same reason.
If windows 8 wanted to be successful, they made sure it could also run on what xp could run. ie maybe retrograde the OS instead of making the hardware work with the OS.
The majority of people/business are cheap, they run there equipment till it breaks down than upgrade. Computers are like fridges they last a long time and are easy to repair.
Microsoft need to get with the program, currently they are trying to force people to buy new computers to run its "fancypants" OS. That stragedy is not working to well so far." }-

that doesnt really make much sense, id assume people that cant afford (or are too cheap to shell out, what like $500 for a new laptop) also would not spend the money to buy a new OS separately to put on an old machine even if it did support it...

[Daveski17]

-{ Quote: "that doesnt really make much sense, id assume people that cant afford (or are too cheap to shell out, what like $500 for a new laptop) also would not spend the money to buy a new OS separately to put on an old machine even if it did support it..." }-

Is $500 for a new laptop cheap where you live? My notebook cost me just over £400 about three years ago & it was considered a good buy. It was not a particularly expensive machine compared to others I could have bought (it was all I could really afford at the time anyway). That's about $645 (US), I am not sure what that translates into Canadian dollars.

[firzen771]

-{ Quote: "Is $500 for a new laptop cheap where you live? My notebook cost me just over £400 about three years ago & it was considered a good buy. It was not a particularly expensive machine compared to others I could have bought (it was all I could really afford at the time anyway). That's about $645 (US), I am not sure what that translates into Canadian dollars." }-

well there are many diff kinds of laptops for various prices, but u can find new laptops for pretty cheap prices, some lower than $500 as well sometimes, and yes i do consider $500 to be cheap for a new laptop.

[vasa1]

-{ Quote: "... on xp machines." }-

What are those?

[vasa1]

-{ Quote: "... $500 to be cheap for a new laptop." }-

I agree. USD 500 is cheap in India. A Dell laptop Intel Core I3, 500 GB HDD, 4 GB DDR3, 15.6" LED screen goes for about USD 800 in local currency. I'm not sure of the Win version pre-installed.

Anyway, it doesn't matter since I've moved on and won't be irritating people with comments about MS Windows.

[tgell]

-{ Quote: "I agree. USD 500 is cheap in India. A Dell laptop Intel Core I3, 500 GB HDD, 4 GB DDR3, 15.6" LED screen goes for about USD 800 in local currency. I'm not sure of the Win version pre-installed.

Anyway, it doesn't matter since I've moved on and won't be irritating people with comments about MS Windows." }-

$800? That is a pretty steep price. I just noticed an Acer AMD E-350 laptop with 4GB or ram and a 500GB hard drive for $400 at Staples. This is with ATI Radeon HD 6310 Graphics.

[Hungry Man]

And those are laptops...

You can get a desktop with more than enough to run Windows 7 for like... 100 bucks. A P4 + 2GB of RAM is fine for Windows 7.

[firzen771]

-{ Quote: "And those are laptops...

You can get a desktop with more than enough to run Windows 7 for like... 100 bucks. A P4 + 2GB of RAM is fine for Windows 7." }-

exactly, so the people complaining about "o if only microsoft would support our ancient computers" really arent very relevent concerns because clearly if the issue is money, they wont be going out to BUY the new OS (if they do get the new OS it certainly wont be purchased legally...)

[noone_particular]

Microsoft needs to get it thru their greedy minds that people don't have the money to replace perfectly good hardware every time they want to release a new OS. There's no good reason that an OS should need several gigabytes of disk space and a gigabyte of RAM or more just to run itself. This policy of deliberately bloating the OS in order to push hardware sales gives people or businesses 2 choices:
1, Spending money they don't have to replace equipment that works just fine.

or

2, Using an unsupported OS and putting themselves and their data at risk because MS also coerces the software vendors into dropping support for the system.

Their policies of planned obsolescense combined and continously bloating the operating systems are directly responsible for untold thousands of functional but artificially obsolete PCs being thrown out, introducing who knows how many tons of lead, arsenic, and other toxic chemicals into landfills. Proper recycling facilities are few and far between. Microsoft should bear the total cost of properly recycling and disposing of all those PCs, since their policies are directly responsible for their being thrown out.

[Hungry Man]

Uh, they're not deliberately bloating the OS. That's literally a baseless opinion. The article suggests the opposite, that they're working to trim it.

The requirements for Win7 make perfect sense. 1GB of RAM + 1ghz CPU is something you'll find in a damn phone today. Finding a PC with those specs will cost you LESS than the operating system itself.

edit: Furthermore, software developers should not be limited by the monetary constraints of a minority consumer.

AND even XP is still being supported for a while. It's old as hell but still gets security updates, you aren't forced to move to a new OS.

[funkydude]

Gotta agree with Hungry_Man. It's was obvious with Win7 and even more obvious with Win8 that they are working hard at making Windows far more efficient, probably as a lesson from the Vista experience.

[safeguy]

That's good news as far as I'm concerned.:thumb:

[Critter2]

Windows is one of the most bloated piece of software
I have ever seen

And it just gets worst on every new release
I have to go in and dissect it every time I upgrade
running windows XP now but it is a stripped version

[Hungry Man]

I think the point is that it isn't getting worse... it's getting better.

[J_L]

Good thing they're not following Macs, which is becoming the most bloated OS ever (if not already).