(This post was posted on June 0, 2009108: 53. You are the144th visitor to this post! Netting Dunhuang Forum -www.iedh.cn) 0
Introduction:
Since the beta version of Windows 7 was opened to the public for download, many netizens are concerned about whether their computers can support the latest version of Windows. This paper will first review the specific hardware requirements of XP and Vista, then analyze Microsoft's hardware positioning of Windows 7 from the perspective of history and market, and then fully consider it from other angles. Finally, the author's own Windows 7 example will be explained in detail.
(1) background check:
When Microsoft officially launched Windows Vista to the market in early 2007, it caused an uproar. Among the many dissatisfied voices, a large part comes from individual users complaining that their hardware can't support Vista smoothly. At the same time, a large number of enterprise users have suspended their plans to upgrade their operating systems for the same reason. So first of all, let's review the different requirements of XP and Vista for system hardware.
Windows XP:
The official minimum requirements for WindowsXP are as follows:
Intel MMX processor 233MHz
Memory: 64MB
Hard disk space:1.5gb.
Graphics card: PCI and AGP graphics cards with more than 4MB of memory.
Sound card: the latest PCI sound card
CD-ROM: above 8x.
In fact, at 200 1 (? ), this configuration is already very poor. Moreover, the situation at that time was that most users were using Windows2000, and many people still kept Windows98SE to support the popular games at that time (2K was a workstation system, and the support for games was not very good). The above configuration is more than enough to support the existing system. At that time, the mainstream configuration was already PIII866, 128M memory and TNT264 graphics card. So running WindowsXP smoothly is basically not a problem.
Six years later, Vista came, but before she came to us, we called 1000 times and urged 1000 times. And as soon as it appeared, it threw him a blockbuster on the hardware configuration:
Windows Vista
The official takes the advanced home edition as an example:
CPU: 1G main frequency
Memory: 1G
Hard disk: 40G, of which at least 15G is available.
Graphics cards that support DX9 at least:
Support WDDM drivers; 128M memory; Pixel shader 2.0 hardware support and 32-bit pigments;
DVD drive.
Today, this configuration is nothing. However, when Microsoft just announced this configuration requirement, that is, in mid-2007 or even earlier, what was the configuration of most people at that time?
Perhaps when the CPU is turned off, most personal computers can pass, but others can't. First, memory. 1G memory is enough for Windows XP, but in the era of Windows 2000, the standard configuration was 256M. So in fact, most people's computers have at most 1G memory, which is enough. Not to mention the specifications of the graphics card, 128M memory, if it is independent memory, even today it is quite a good configuration.
Therefore, many users can't upgrade to Vista at all, or even if they upgrade, the running speed is extremely slow because of the serious shortage of system resources, and the Aero special effects of the signboard are automatically blocked (due to insufficient memory).
While users complained, Microsoft also reviewed its positioning of Vista hardware.
(B) from the perspective of history and market analysis
While WindowsXP was released, Vista was also quietly developed. At that time, its internal name was "Long Horn". At that time, the situation in the software and hardware market was that computer hardware was advancing by leaps and bounds, from Ben II to Ben III, from Ben III to Ben IV, from Ben IV to Ben IV, and then to dual cores. Memory and hard disk are getting bigger and cheaper, accordingly, the development of software seems to be a bit behind. When Pentium 4 HT came out, almost no software could use multithreading. Microsoft believes that it should lead the trend of the times and make full use of the most advanced hardware technology.
At the same time, Microsoft's main competitor, Apple, has done a good job in combining software and hardware. Because of the advantages of designing software and hardware at the same time, Apple has always been unique in personal computers, which also makes Microsoft try its best to get rid of the shackles of blue sky and white clouds, giving people a refreshing feeling. This has directly led to a sharp rise in the hardware requirements of its operating system.
It can be seen that Windows Vista has such high requirements for hardware, which is inseparable from the historical background at that time. Of course, the hardware requirements of Windows 7 must also take into account the current environment.
First of all, the market is constantly criticizing Vista's harsh requirements for hardware, and users are also expecting a beautiful but slim operating system. One of the most direct reactions is that many enterprise users refuse to upgrade the existing XP system in order to ensure the unification of internal systems, and choose to downgrade the new system to XP to ensure that the computers purchased a few years ago can continue to be used.
But at the same time, while complaining, the market is also updating. Although many users still refuse to use Vista for one reason or another, it is undeniable that after more than a year, hardware is no longer the main reason for limiting Vista acceptance. Most people choose to update their computers in this more than a year. Therefore, it is reasonable and feasible to launch the operating system with the mainstream configuration in 2007 as the minimum configuration.
And this is exactly what Microsoft has repeatedly confirmed to the outside world. According to official data, the system hardware supported by Windows7Ultimate is almost the same as Vista. Previously, Microsoft has repeatedly stressed on various occasions that computers with mainstream configurations in 2007 will be able to run Windows7 effortlessly.
#P#
(3) Other factors
In addition to market and historical considerations, other factors also make it necessary for Microsoft to take action to ensure that the hardware requirements of its latest system are no longer as demanding as Vista.
First, Intel forced the popularization of ATOM processors and netbooks.
Since ASUS took the lead in launching Easy PC, the concept of netbook quickly became popular, and Intel also took this opportunity to beat its own mobile processor ATOM. In turn, the popularity of ATOM has further promoted the development of netbooks. This is unexpected for Microsoft. At present, most netbooks use WindowsXP. After all, Vista is too powerful for Internet access with limited hardware. But this situation will not last long. After all, WindowsXP is almost buried, and Vista is useless. What should I do? We can only rely on Windows7 to fully support netbooks. Windows7 even prepared a USB flash drive installation method for netbooks that don't have standard optical drives (we will talk about this in detail later). Supporting netbooks itself means that the hardware threshold of windows7, or the entry threshold, has been lowered very low.
Second: Microsoft is committed to shortening the development cycle.
From XP to Vista, people waited for seven years and looked forward to it for seven years. The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment. And seven years is a bit long for an operating system. Therefore, for the next generation system, Microsoft is committed to developing it by using existing technology according to the current situation, so as to put the updated system into operation as soon as possible. Let the market pay for Windows7 immediately, and at the same time, it can alleviate the pressure brought by expectation and waiting.
To this end, it is reported that Microsoft has announced that the release cycle of the system will be changed from seven years to five years or even shorter.
(4) The machine actually used by the author
Analysis returns to analysis. What are the hardware requirements of Windows7 in actual use? Let the facts speak for themselves. I have an example in front of me. The author is currently using windows7. What about his hardware?
The author's computer was released in March 2008 and given away for free, so the configuration is not available, as follows:
Pentium dual core, E2 140 1.6G
1G memory
On-board graphics card with * * * memory 128M.
DVD drive
80G hard disk
This configuration can only be considered inferior even in 2007. Office2007 is currently being used. Also running at the same time are IE8, MSN Live and QQ2009. The desktop has also been equipped with automatic slide show, and all the visual effects have been completed. According to my personal feeling, the running speed of the system is normal and stable. The following two pictures show the process of the author's computer and the usage of CPU and memory. (turning)