Gizmodo: system requirements

Standardized PC System Requirements Are Coming, Will Help Unify PC Gaming

Jason Chen — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:20:00 EDT

Kotaku says that the PC Gaming Alliance, a group of game developers and hardware makers, is working on building a standardized set of system requirements for PC gaming.

There aren't a lot of details here (any, really), but from older articles, the PCGA has been wanting these ratings for a while. It'll help people who are trying to buy a PC and need to know exactly which games it'll be capable of playing, which is much different from the process of matching up video cards with benchmark scores that consumers have to do now.

Although their intentions seem to be good, firms like Activision Blizzard (maker of World of Warcraft and many other games) have left the alliance for some reason or another.

For more on the PC Gaming alliance, hit up Kotaku.

Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor Program

Jason Chen — Fri, 19 May 2006 15:40:13 EDT

We know what the official Vista requirements are now, so most of us are well informed and on our way to Best Buy. But isn't there an easier way to tell if your PC is Vista ready? Microsoft thought so, and they just released a Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor program that scans your machine to tell you whether it's Vista capable.

We imagine this would be useful for non-technical folk, especially your parents. Email this link to them, tell them to install it—well, some parents don't know how to install software—and they'll know whether their old Dell can run the newest OS out of Redmond.

Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor [Microsoft]

Windows Requirements, Then and Now

Gizloco — Thu, 18 May 2006 18:18:58 EDT

Microsoft has finally released the official system requirements for its much anticipated (by some, anyway) next version of Windows, Vista. Surprisingly, the requirements aren't as steep as was previously rumored. Firstly, it's important to note that Microsoft announced two distinct levels of Vista support, Vista-Capable PCs and Premium-Ready PCs. The two levels differ in their support of the more advanced graphics features of Vista, namely the Aero interface. Additionally, Microsoft has launched a Web site designed to help people get ready for the transition to Vista.

What are they? Find out, along with a small retrospective, after the jump.

Vista-Capable PCs require at least an 800 MHz processor, 512 MB of RAM, a graphics processor with Direct X 9.0 support and at least a 20 GB hard drive.

Premium-Ready PCs up the specs just a bit, requiring a 1 GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM, a graphics processor that not only is compatible with Direct X 9.0 but has at least 128 MB of memory to power a resolution of no more than 1920x1200 and 256 MB to power more than the aforementioned 1920x1200, and a 40 GB hard drive with at least 15 gigabytes free.

Interesting, no? But how does this compare to previous Windows requirements?

Windows 95 asked that you have a 486, 32-bit processor at any speed, 4 MB of RAM, and 50 MB of hard drive space.

Windows 98 upped the ante just slightly, requiring a 486DX processor running at at least 66 MHz, 16 MB of RAM, a 195 MB hard drive, a 3.5-inch floppy disk drive and a VGA monitor.

People who were suckered into buying Windows ME had to pony up a 150 MHz Pentium processor, 32 MB of RAM, 320 MB of hard drive space and a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.

The current incarnation of Windows, Windows XP, requires for the Home Edition a 300 MHz processor, 128 MB of RAM, 1.5 GB of hard drive space, a Super VGA monitor and a CD-ROM or DVD drive.

There you have it, the evolution of Windows requirements. So really, what Microsoft is asking for Vista is right in line with the previous jumps from generation to generation.

Windows Vista's recommended settings according to Microsoft, then according to Ars [Ars Technica]

Previous Windows Requirements [Microsoft]