The Highlander Posted May 22, 2006 Report Share Posted May 22, 2006 Windows From where to wnen? The publication Thursday of Windows Vista's minimum hardware specs is only the last in a long series of requirement postings by Microsoft. To show some perspective, TechWeb compiled the Redmond, Wash. developer's stated reqs for each major Windows release since 1990's Windows 3.0. Caveat: Microsoft is notorious for understating system requirements to pitch Windows to the greatest number, even when that minimum hardware has difficulty actually running the OS. JupiterResearch analyst Joe Wilcox characterized the habit this way on his blog. "You could run Windows on the minimum requirements, but you wouldn't want to." As an additional comparison, average prices for desktop computer -- monitor included -- and portable PCs have been noted for all releases except Windows 3.0. (Data provided by IDC.) While these "average" prices don't spec out systems identical to Microsoft's minimum requirements, they are a good indicator of what users paid for machines to run each OS. It's easy to notice that as Windows' requirements got steeper, prices plummeted. A desktop able to run Windows XP (and probably at least parts of Vista), for example, costs only 42 percent of the price of a computer likely running Windows 95 eleven years ago. (Today's average notebook costs 45 percent of 1995's.) And that's not even factoring in the rate of inflation. Here are the major releases for Windows, their release dates, and system requirements. Many of the trivia tidbits were gleaned from Wikipedia. Windows 3.0 // May 1990 286 or faster processor 640K conventional memory (additional 256K extended memory recommended) Hard disk drive Hercules, CGA, EGA, VGA, or 8514/A graphics card (EGA or higher resolution recommended) MS-DOS 3.1 or later Mouse optional [Tidbit: First Windows to be pre-installed on PC hard drives, by Zenith Data Systems and Dell.] Windows 95 // August 1995 386DX or faster processor (486 recommended) 4MB memory (8MB recommended) 35-55MB hard disk space 3.5-inch high-density floppy disk drive VGA or higher resolution (256-color SVGA recommended) Average desktop PC price: $1,926 Average notebook price: $2,819 [Tidbits: 3.5-inch floppy version came on 13 disks; Brian Eno composed the Windows 95 start-up sound.] Windows NT 4.0 // August 1996 Pentium or faster processor 16MB of memory (32 MB recommended) 110MB hard disk space CD-ROM drive VGA or higher-resolution display adapter Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device Average desktop PC price: $1,988 Average notebook price: $2,997 [Tidbit: Holds the record for most service packs -- 6, plus a post-SP "Roll-up" -- delivered for a Windows OS.] Windows 98 // June 1998 486DX 66MHz or faster processor (Pentium recommended) 16MB memory (24MB recommended) 120-355MB hard disk space 3.5-inch high-density floppy disk drive VGA or higher resolution (16-bit or 24-bit color SVGA recommended) Average desktop PC price: $1,619 Average notebook price: $2,395 [Tidbit: Crashed catastrophically -- complete with infamous "Blue Screen of Death" -- during April 1998 COMDEX presentation by Bill Gates, who quipped "That must be why we're not shipping Windows 98 yet."] Windows 2000 // February 2000 133MHz or faster Pentium-compatible 64MB of memory 650MB free hard disk space CD-ROM or DVD drive VGA or higher resolution monitor Keyboard required Average desktop PC price: $1,306 Average notebook price: $2,167 [Tidbit: First Microsoft OS to make it through development and release without a code name. Windows Millennium // September 2000 Pentium 150MHz processor or better 32MB memory 320MB free hard disk space CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive 3.5-inch high-density floppy disk drive Video adapter and monitor that support VGA or higher resolution Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device Sound card Speakers or headphones Average desktop PC price: $1,306 Average notebook price: $2,167 [Tidbit: Usually considered the "dog" of Windows, Millennium's moniker of ME was said to stand for "Moron Edition," "Migraine Edition," "Malfeasance Edition," and "Many Errors."] Windows XP // October 2001 Pentium 233MHz processor or faster (300MHz is recommended) 64MB of memory (128MB recommended) 1.5GB free hard disk space CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive Video adapter and monitor with Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher resolution Keyboard and a Microsoft Mouse or some other compatible pointing device Sound card Speakers or headphones Average desktop PC price: $1,163 Average notebook price: $1,876 [Tidbits: First Microsoft OS to require "activation;" metamorphosed into more variations than any other OS, including Home, Professional, Tablet PC, Media Center, N (specifically for the European market, sans Windows Media Player), Starter, and Professional x64.] Windows Vista // ?? [Premium Ready] 1GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor 1GB of memory Graphics processor that runs Windows Aero 128MB of graphics memory 15GB free hard disk space DVD-ROM drive Audio output capability Internet access capability Average desktop PC price (2005 data): $801\ Average notebook price (2005 data): $1,256 [Tidbits: Longest development track of any Windows OS: first announced in July 2001, prior to XP release; first Microsoft OS to be named in lawsuit before it launched.] Full artical found here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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