Windows 8 Hardware Guidance Emerging

With Windows 8 not likely to be generally available until late 2012 or early 2013, organizations should continue Windows 7 deployments and hardware refresh programs. However, hardware purchases should be carefully evaluated to ensure the hardware will be capable of running Windows 8 and exploiting features of the new OS. Caution is required because the hardware specifications currently address only computers with x86 and x64 processors, and may change as Windows 8 moves through the development and testing cycle, and the price of some new hardware, such as touch-enabled monitors, will likely fall as the demand increases.

Based on Windows 7 Specs

The Windows 8 Developer Preview made available in conjunction with the Sept. 2011 Build conference provides a snapshot of Windows 8 hardware specifications. On the download page for the Windows 8 Developer Preview, Microsoft indicates that Windows 8 “works great on the same hardware that powers Windows Vista and Windows 7.” Based on this information, systems using x86 processors should have a minimum processor speed of 1GHz, and at least 1GB of RAM and 16GB of available disk space. Systems using x64 processors should also have a minimum processor speed of 1GHz, but 2GB of RAM and 20GB of available disk space.