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Microsoft releases final Windows 7 system requirements

By Mary Jo Foley | April 30, 2009, 3:38pm PDT

Summary

When Microsoft released the Beta of Windows 7 in January, it released a set of recommended system requirements for the Beta (which its officials noted were subject to change). On April 30, concurrent with the beginning of the delivery of the Release Candidate, Microsoft released the final system requirements for Windows 7.

Topics

Disk, Microsoft Windows 7, System Requirement, Microsoft Corp., RAM, Graphics, Microsoft Windows, 64-Bit, Operating Systems, Software, Processors, Semiconductors, Hardware, Components, Mary Jo Foley

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Mary-Jo Foley

Biography

Mary-Jo Foley

Mary-Jo Foley

Mary Jo Foley has covered the tech industry for 20 years for a variety of publications, including ZDNet, eWeek and Baseline. She has kept close tabs on Microsoft strategy, products and technologies for the past 10 years. In the late 1990s, she penned the award-winning "At The Evil Empire" column for ZDNet, and more recently the Microsoft Watch blog for Ziff Davis.

Got a tip? Send her an email with your rants, rumors, tips and tattles. Confidentiality guaranteed.

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Special Report: Windows 7

When Microsoft released the Beta of Windows 7 in January, it released a set of recommended system requirements for the Beta (which its officials noted were subject to change). On April 30, concurrent with the beginning of the delivery of the Release Candidate, Microsoft released the final system requirements for Windows 7.

Here are the minimum Windows 7 requirements Microsoft offered in January when it released the Beta:

  • 1GHz processor (32- or 64-bit)
  • 1GB of RAM
  • 16 GB of available disk space
  • Support for DirectX 9 graphics with 128MB of memory (for the Aero interface)

Here are the minimum Windows 7 system requirements Microsoft released on April 30 when it made available the Release Candidate to MSDN and TechNet testers:

  • 1 GHz processor (32- or 64-bit)
  • 1 GB of RAM (32-bit); 2 GB of RAM (64-bit)
  • 16 GB of available disk space (32-bit); 20 GB of avaiable disk space (64-bit)
  • DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

Note: If you are planning to run Windows XP Mode along with Windows 7, Microsoft is recommending a PC with a minimum of 2GB of memory and 15 GB of additional disk space. “In addition, Windows Virtual PC requires a PC with Intel-VT or AMD-V enabled in the CPU, as it takes advantage of the latest advancements in hardware virtualization,” according to company officials.

I asked whether Microsoft had different requirements for the different SKUs of Windows 7 that it is planning to release and was told (via a spokesperson): “The system requirements are final and not SKU-specific.”

If you’re curious how these final Windows 7 requirements compare to Vista’s requirements, they aren’t all that different. Here are the final Vista system requirements:

  • 1 GHz processor (32- or 64-bit)
  • 512 MB of RAM (for Home Basic); 1 GB of RAM for all other versions
  • 15 GB of available disk space
  • Support for DirectX 9 graphics and 32 MB of graphics memory (for Home Basic); 128 MB of graphics memory plus WDDM support for all other versions

Microsoft also announced on April 30 that it is readying a beta of a new Windows Upgrade Advisor (WUA) designed to support Windows 7. A spokesperson provided the following information:

“Windows Upgrade Advisor will check any devices that are connected to the PC (with the appropriate driver installed) at the time of the scan. WUA will identify any known potential compatibility issues and will communicate this in the report. Our beta tester feedback has been critical in ensuring Windows 7 is a quality OS and we hope our testers can continue to partner with us on testing this software to ensure the best end-user experience.”

(I’ve asked Microsoft when it will release the new WUA beta. No word back yet.)

Mary Jo has covered the tech industry for more than 25 years for a variety of publications and Web sites, and is a frequent guest on radio, TV and podcasts, speaking about all things Microsoft-related. She is the author of Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft plans to stay relevant in the post-Gates era (John Wiley & Sons, 2008).

Disclosure

Mary-Jo Foley

Freelance journalist/blogger Mary Jo Foley has nothing to disclose. WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). I do not own Microsoft stock or stock in any of its partners or competitors. I have no business ventures that are sponsored by/funded by Microsoft or any of its partners or competitors. I have not accepted any consulting funds from Microsoft, any of its partners or its competitors for any studies/projects.

Biography

Mary-Jo Foley

Mary Jo Foley has covered the tech industry for 20 years for a variety of publications, including ZDNet, eWeek and Baseline. She has kept close tabs on Microsoft strategy, products and technologies for the past 10 years. In the late 1990s, she penned the award-winning "At The Evil Empire" column for ZDNet, and more recently the Microsoft Watch blog for Ziff Davis.

Got a tip? Send her an email with your rants, rumors, tips and tattles. Confidentiality guaranteed.

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Talkback Most Recent of 57 Talkback(s)

  • Does this not seem odd?
    That Windows 7 should have the same requirements as Vista, when anyone who has used it knows better either shows a remarkable sense of humor at Microsoft, or a new course taken, called closer to the truth.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    chrome_slinky@...
    04/30/2009 04:49 PM
  • Well, the only thing that wasn't "close to the truth"
    On Vista was the memory requirements! 512MB's of memory? Hell no! It takes at least 2 gigs to have the best performance, I know that from having to upgrade my notebook with 1GB of memory in it to 4gigs and being ASTOUNDED at the difference.

    Like night and day, and it was true for Windows 7 as well.

    Really, if your computer cannot take anymore than 512MB's of memory... time to trash it or recycle it (I do the latter to most people's computers who bring them in for trade-ins) and buy a new one!
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Lerianis
    04/30/2009 09:03 PM
  • Or
    Stick with XP or Linux like most people will do.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    tymiles
    05/01/2009 09:42 AM
  • Or
    Stick with MacBook Pro which runs Windows in a Virtual Environment 3 times faster than a Dell XPS.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    No More Microsoft Software Ever!
    05/01/2009 12:18 PM
  • no need to spend thousands replacing that 'old' laptop
    just replace windows with a decently optimized linux.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    brokndodge@...
    05/03/2009 07:34 AM
  • RE: Microsoft releases final Windows 7 system requirements
    Windows 7 will NEVER run on a cheap netbook.

    ZDNet Gravatar
    penguin-386
    05/01/2009 01:22 AM
  • What a joke!
    It is ABSURD that you would even think of saying that.

    Evidently you don't know what you don't know.

    Windows 7 DOES run on netbooks.

    I saw it, with amazement, at CES back in January.

    ZDNet Gravatar
    mike@...
    (Edited: 05/04/2009 11:06 AM)
  • expect an Window Mobile - Windows 7 Hybrid
    The Windows 7 minimum requirements do seem low to me.

    Personally, I would run Windows 7 on anything less than a 3 Ghz Qaud core AMD or Intel CORE i7, 4 GB RAM DDR3, 64bit system.

    However, regarding the netbooks with Windows 7 issues, remember WinXP is 8 years old and was designed for PII, PIII, P4 systems with much older architectures.

    Even Unbuntu and other fairly new distributions of Linux, that are being re-written with these new architectures in mind.

    With that said, I do expect Windows 7 will need an extensive Service Pack to achieve the seamless fluid performance. Maybe there may even be a Windows 7 - Windows Mobile hybrid.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    daniel.pereznet
    06/29/2009 06:52 PM
  • expect an Window Mobile - Windows 7 Hybrid

    The Windows 7 minimum requirements do seem low to me.

    Personally, I would NOT run Windows 7 on anything less than a 3 Ghz Qaud core AMD or Intel CORE i7, 4 GB RAM DDR3, 64bit system.

    However, regarding the netbooks with Windows 7 issues, remember WinXP is 8 years old and was designed for PII, PIII, P4 systems with much older architectures.

    Even Unbuntu and other fairly new distributions of Linux, that are being re-written with these new architectures in mind.

    With that said, I do expect Windows 7 will need an extensive Service Pack to achieve the seamless fluid performance. Maybe there may even be a Windows 7 - Windows Mobile hybrid.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    daniel.pereznet
    06/29/2009 06:53 PM
  • RE: Microsoft releases final Windows 7 system requirements
    Windows 7 will never run on cheap netbook computers.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    penguin-386
    05/01/2009 01:22 AM

  • ZDNet Blogger

    Win 7 on netbooks
    Hi. You are wrong. Microsoft has demonstrated Windows 7 (not just Starter Edition, but even Ultimate) running on netbooks. The question re: Win 7 and netbooks is how much of a hit MS is willing to take to maintain netbook share. They will need to offer Win 7 at a serious cut rate to netbook makers to get them to load it. MJ
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Mary Jo Foley
    05/01/2009 06:03 AM
  • Sure it will
    Performance tests have shown that Win7 performs equal or better than XP SP3. You may need a netbook with 1GB of Ram to make it really fly but I am sure Basic Edition with no Areo will work just fine.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    bobiroc
    05/01/2009 07:04 AM
  • No. At least 2GB required to run Win7. Let's get real here. (NT)
    NT
    ZDNet Gravatar
    No More Microsoft Software Ever!
    05/01/2009 12:19 PM
  • Just like Vista, which more recent reviews suggest 4GB is its sweet spot...
    Vista, on its own, eats 1.8GB of RAM. On a 2GB machine, that's 90%. On a 4GB machine, 44%... 8GB machine, 23%... Microsoft has said "unused RAM is wasted RAM" to help justify Vista's RAM usage claims. Reality has proven, that is a lie.

    There is no differentiation between what's used by programs and what's used by cache/superfetch. Now add in why 4 or 8GB machines, after a boot with no apps launched, have 2 or 6GB available and NEVER GET USED, it's pretty obvious that the phrase "unused RAM is wasted RAM" was just a pathetic, pallid, paltry, putrid, portly excuse to cover up for more lies and obfuscations.

    Linux may be free, but it's not compatible with a lot of hardware. Even my old Epson 4180 scanner isn't Linux-compatible. It's recognized and works on my Macs...

    ZDNet Gravatar
    HypnoToad72
    05/02/2009 06:30 AM
  • Most UNIX systems cache information in RAM.
    UNIX has been doing this for years. So why is it "pathetic, pallid, paltry, putrid, portly excuse to cover up for more lies and obfuscations" when Microsoft does it?

    The only difference between UNIX and Vista is that UNIX reactively (i.e. keeps information in memory after it's been used) whereas Vista is proactive (i.e. puts information into memory before it is used as well as keeps it in memory after it's been used).
    ZDNet Gravatar
    ye
    05/03/2009 12:18 PM
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