Microsoft Says Windows 8 Won't Require Hardware Upgrades

In a possible attempt to spur Windows 7 adoption Microsoft confirmed today that Windows 8 will carry similar or even lower hardware requirements to those of Windows 7. Meaning unlike the leap from XP to say Vista any computer currently running Windows 7 will be upgradable to Windows 8 when the next version of Windows is released.

Speaking at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, Steve Ballmer revealed that Windows 7 has officially sold 400 million licenses to-date. Despite those numbers Windows XP still holds nearly twice the market share worldwide.

"Two-thirds of business PCs are still on Windows XP. Moving these users to Windows 7 is important and urgent work for us to get after together," Tami Reller, corporate VP and CFO for Windows. "Whether upgrading an existing PC or buying a new one, Windows will adapt to make the most of that hardware," Reller said. Windows 8 is for "the hundreds of millions of modern PCs that exist today and for the devices of tomorrow."

If rumors are true Windows 8 is slated to be released early next year with a possible beta release as soon as this fall. Microsoft hopes to bolster sales of Windows 7 pcs so the company is urging both businesses and consumers to upgrade now and by promising they will be able to use the same PC to run Windows 8 later.

"Windows 8 is a true re-imagining of Windows, from the chip to the interface," Reller said. Despite the re-imagining, Microsoft will keep system requirements flat or reduce them. Currently to run Windows 7, PCs need at least a 1GHz processor, 1GB RAM, 16GB available disk space and DirectX 9 graphics. We strongly suggest a faster CPU and at least 2GBs of RAM and a much larger hard drive!

For more details on what's in store for Windows 8 checkout Microsoft's First Official Look at Windows 8