The system requirement for Windows 8 generally match those
for Windows 7. There is a change in processor requirements and some additional
requirement for new features in Windows 8.
If you want to run Windows 8 on your PC, here's what it
takes:
·
RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB
(64-bit)
·
Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
·
Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9
graphics device with WDDM driver
Additional
requirements to use certain features:
·
To use touch, you need a tablet or a monitor that supports
multitouch (more info)
·
To access the Windows Store
and to download and run apps, you need an active Internet connection and a
screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768
·
To snap apps, you need a screen resolution of at least 1366 x
768
·
Internet access (ISP fees might apply)
·
Secure boot requires firmware that supports UEFI v2.3.1 Errata B
and has the Microsoft Windows Certification
Authority in the UEFI signature database
·
Some games and programs might require a graphics card compatible
with DirectX 10 or higher for optimal performance
·
Microsoft account required for some features
·
Watching DVDs requires separate playback software (more info)
·
BitLocker
To Go requires
a USB flash drive (Windows 8 Pro only)
·
BitLocker requires either Trusted Platform Module
(TPM) 1.2 or a USB flash drive (Windows 8 Pro only)
·
Client Hyper-V requires a 64-bit system with second level
address translation (SLAT) capabilities and additional 2 GB of RAM (Windows 8 Pro only)
·
A TV tuner is required to play and record live TV in Windows
Media Center (Windows 8 Pro Pack
and Windows
8 Media Center Pack only)
·
Free Internet TV content varies by geography, some content might
require additional fees (Windows 8 Pro Pack
and Windows
8 Media Center Pack only)
To check if your PC meets
these requirements, you can run the Upgrade Assistant.
