Tamero IT Consulting & Services

January 2007 is when Microsoft says it will release its new operating system Vista, but will it work on your PC?

Microsoft promises that Vista will be more secure than Windows XP with three-dimensional views, these and other features are going to require a lot of processing power.

Microsoft haven't formally announced its system requirements but from the leaks that have come out so far, there are definitely some hardware upgrades required.

Processing: Microsoft says you need a "modern CPU" without specifying which processors, however since Vista is a 64-bit operating system, new 64 bit Intel and AMD processors will be required.

Memory: This is more critical. The minimum memory requirement is 512 MB of RAM. That might sound like a lot, but it is probably inadequate. You should probably have to double that to 1GB and that's only if you use your computer for basic word-processing, e-mail and Web surfing. To be on the safe side, 2GB of memory would ensure system reliability and stability.

With Windows XP's minimum requirement of only 128Mb of memory you may think that it is excessive, however Windows XP, has the ability to handle 2GB and more of memory. If your current computer can't handle that much memory, you will need to upgrade your PC.

Graphics: Microsoft will make a big deal of Vista's new graphical interface. But you don't have to use it. Vista's new bells and whistles can be turned off to work better with budget graphics systems.

At a minimum, your computer needs to support DirectX 9, a Microsoft standard. It also needs at least a 64MB graphic card.

However, to get the full wow factor of Windows Vista (such as translucent windows), you'll want a more powerful graphics system on your computer. You'll want a video card with at least 128MB of memory. Alternatively, built-in video systems will need at least 128MB of dedicated memory. That's another reason to buy 2GB of system memory, rather than 1GB.

Hard drive: Vista will take more space than Windows XP. But, given the size of today's hard drives, that shouldn't be a problem. You're more likely to need the space for videos or music files.

Even inexpensive machines come with 80GB or 120GB hard drives today. They will handle Vista without a problem. If you plan to do video editing, go for size. Currently, the biggest hard drives hold 500GB of data.

Microsoft Vista with 64-bit processing power will take computing to a whole new level of fun, but hardware upgrades will be required.

For those who need a new computer now and cannot wait till January 2007, there are Vista (64-bit) Ready systems available now, so you can upgrade your hardware and upgrade your software when Vista is released at a later date.