Are you planning to
upgrade to Windows 8, but still not sure about the hardware requirements? A
Windows running computer cannot be upgraded to Windows 8 until it full the
minimum requirement of Windows 8. This article deals with the minimum
requirements and pre-planning that is required for installing or upgrading your
previous Windows OS to Windows 8.
I do hope that most of us are familiar with the terms
Processor, RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), Graphics, HDD
(Hard disk drive). You Windows 8 installation and upgrade depends on the
following key factors. The table below shows the minimum hardware requirements
for Windows 8.
Hardware
|
x86 (32-bit)
|
x86 (64-bit)
|
Processor
|
1 GHz or higher
|
|
RAM
|
1 GB or more
|
2 GB
|
HDD free space
(Free memory in Hard Disk Drive) |
16 GB (minimum)
|
20 GB
|
Graphics
|
DirectX 9
|
|
Therefore, it is the time to go for Windows 8 if your
computer meets these minimum requirements. All the computers sold in recent 5
or 8 years may be at ease while those with less RAM or Hard disk or even
processor may get their hardware upgraded from authorized computer repair
centre. If you are planning to buy a new computer or laptop, you should
consider models with equivalent or better specifications than those mentioned
in the table above. Most of the new computers/laptops are coming with Windows 8
already installed on it, so you may not even have to buy a copy of Windows 8
from Microsoft.
If you want to taste the new features of Windows at its full,
then you must go for a touch screen device.
You may check the current version of Windows running on your
computer by right clicking on the ‘My Computer/Computer’ icon on your desktop,
followed by clicking on ‘Properties’ from the drop-down menu. If you do not
have a ‘Computer’ or ‘My Computer’ icon on your desktop, then go to ‘Start’
button and right click on the ‘Computer’ or ‘My Computer’ options from the
drop-up menu. The next window will show the current edition of Windows under
‘Windows edition’ section.