Microsoft posts Windows 8 Dev Preview, sets requirements
updated 09:05 pm EDT, Tue September 13, 2011
Windows 8 Dev Privew live for Intel only
Ahead of an 11PM Eastern promise, Microsoft has posted the Windows 8 Developer Preview. Intel-based 32-bit (ISO) and 64-bit (ISO) editions are on tap, with an ARM version understandably left out given the lack of hardware. The developer center is also now active with more details.
In releasing the developer-focused version, Microsoft also confirmed that Windows 8 would have unusually low requirements. The OS needs a single-core 1GHz x86 processor and just 1GB of RAM for 32-bit installs and 2GB for 64-bit. Space limits are also similar to Windows 7, Microsoft says: at least 16GB is needed for 32-bit, with the larger code size pushing 64-bit up to 20GB. Its toughest requirement is at least DirectX 9-capable graphics.
Using the tiled Metro interface demands at least a 1024x768 display and ideally runs on a 1366x768 or higher multi-touch display.
As a developer-focused preview, the OS doesn't have activation requirements but also isn't recommended for use on a vital production system and might not work properly in Apple's Boot Camp or a virtual machine. Most tips have hinted at a public beta in or near the CES expo in January and a finished version sent to manufacturing in April or later.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2001
Windows 8
"Think INSIDE the box."
I kid, of course. Maybe it'll be a genuine improvement, who knows? I like that they are pursuing their own visual style for a change. Funny how Google has taken over the traditional MS role of slavishly imitating Apple, leaving Microsoft having to -- dare I even say it? -- innovate their own direction. Android might just end up being the best thing that ever happened to MS, forcing a change in perspective that might actually be good for them. Stranger things have happened.