Windows 10 system requirements revealed
Anticipation for Windows 10 is growing by the day. Adding to the excitement, Microsoft has begun sending out invitations to Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users to reserve their free upgrade for when the OS becomes available, which Microsoft confirmed to be July 29th. You may have already filled out the form, and all that's left to do now is wait. Well, that and make sure your PC is up to the task.
Don't stress over the requirements -- if your PC can handle Windows 8.1, it should be able to run Windows 10. Officially, however, here's what you'll need:
- Latest OS: Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1 Update
- Processor: 1GHz or faster processor or SoC
- RAM: 1GB for 32-bit; 2GB for 64-bit
- Hard Disk Space: 16GB for 32-bit; 20GB for 64-bit
- Graphics Card: GeForce Titan X...just kidding! DirectX 9 or later with WDDM 1.0 driver
- Display: 1024x600 or greater
The above come with the standard disclaimer that they're subject to change between now and when Windows 10 ships, though they likely won't. And if they do, we suspect they'll be minor changes at best.
That said, there's something else you should know. Even though a 1GHz processor is fast enough to run Windows 10, it needs to have support for PAE, NX, and SSE2, all of which are pretty old technologies at this point. Here's what they mean:
- PAE: gives 32-bit processors the ability to use more than 4 GB of physical memory on capable versions of Windows, and is a prerequisite for NX.
- NX: helps your processor guard the PC from attacks by malicious software.
- SSE2: is a standard instruction set on processors that is increasingly used by third-party apps and drivers.
If your system is around 11 years old or newer, you shouldn't have anything to worry about. Otherwise, it's time to think about an upgrade if you want to run Windows 10.
A Word About Migration
When you upgrade, Windows 10 will do its best to migrate your applications and settings, though there are some exceptions. Straight from Microsoft:
- For Anti-virus and Anti-malware applications, during upgrade Windows will check to see if your Anti-virus or Anti-malware subscription is current. Windows will uninstall your application while preserving your settings. After upgrade is complete, Windows will install the latest version available with the settings that were set prior to upgrade. If your subscription is not current, upgrade will enable Windows defender.
- Some applications that came from your OEM may be removed prior to upgrade.
- For certain third party applications, the “Get Windows 10” app will scan for application compatibility. If there is a known issue that will prevent the upgrade, you will be notified of the list of applications with known issues. You can choose to accept and the applications will be removed from the system prior to upgrade. Please be sure to copy the list before you accept the removal of the application.
In other words, get your licenses in order and be ready to re-install certain applications, if necessary.
Which Version Will I Get?
There's been some confusion as to which version of Windows 10 existing Windows 7/8.1 users are eligible for, so let's clear that up:
- Windows 7 Starter > Windows 10 Home
- Windows 7 Home Basic > Windows 10 Home
- Windows 7 Home Premium > Windows 10 Home
- Windows 7 Professional > Windows 10 Pro
- Windows 7 Ultimate > Windows 10 Pro
- Windows 8.1 > Windows 10 Home
- Windows 8.1 with Bing > Windows 10 Home
- Windows 8.1 Pro > Windows 10 Pro
- Windows 8.1 Pro for Students > Windows 10 Pro
- Windows Phone 8.1 > Windows 10 Mobile
If you own Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 Enterprise, or Windows RT/RT 8.1, you're out of luck -- there's no free upgrade for you. Enterprise users might qualify for other promotions, though the free consumer upgrade path we're talking about here does not apply.
For those who don't qualify, there's no official word on pricing yet, though Newegg may have let the cat out of the bag by listing Windows 10 Professional OEM for $150 and Windows 10 Home OEM for $110.
Anything Else I Should Know?
While you may have the necessary hardware to run Windows 10, whether or not you can take advantage of all of its features is another story. For example, Cortana for the time being will only be available on Windows 10 in the U.S., U.K., China, France, Italy, Germany, and Spain.
Microsoft lists several other disclaimers, some of which are obvious ("To use touch, you need a tablet or monitor that supports multi-touch") while others are more technical ("Client Hyper-V requires 64-bit system with second level address translation (SLAT) capabilities and additional 2GB of RAM (Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise only).
We've covered the most important tidbits above, but if you want the full skinny on all the exceptions and fine-grain requires, you'll find them here.
From maximumpc
from http://bit.ly/1LYugkP
