Microsoft has started its “Vista: Get Ready” campaign, and pulled the cloth off of the official Windows Vista System Requirements. The requirements themselves aren’t particularly hefty apparently, aside from the requirements of a modern graphics card and a full 1GB of RAM. here are the system requirements, between Vista Capable and Vista Premium Ready PCs:
A Windows Vista Capable PC includes at least:
* A modern processor (at least 800MHz1).
* 512 MB of system memory.
* A graphics processor that is DirectX 9 capable.A Windows Vista Premium Ready PC includes at least:
* 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor1.
* 1 GB of system memory.
* A graphics processor that runs Windows Aero2.
* 128 MB of graphics memory.
* 40 GB of hard drive capacity with 15 GB free space.
* DVD-ROM Drive3.
* Audio output capability.
* Internet access capability.
Essentially the major difference between “capable” and “premium ready” PCs is that the former will not be able to take advantage of all the shiny graphics and glass effects that Microsoft has included with the premium versions of Vista. Curious if your computer has a “modern” processor, for example? Microsoft has listed a bunch of questions and answers on the Get Ready website, and is also offering a tool you can download and run to see if your computer is vista capable or vista ready, and what you might need to upgrade.