Microsoft has confirmed that the system requirements for the next version of Windows 8 will not be higher than those of Windows 7. In fact, it could remain the same as Windows 7’s requirements, or go even lower. The current requirements for Windows 7 are as follows: a 1GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of hard disk space, and DirectX 9 graphics – which is pretty much what most smartphones have today, and what most computers specs today supersede.
But while Windows 8 will be able to run on our current computers, the experience will be scaled – so you can probably expect a more impressive experience if you’re running Windows 8 on a top-of-the-line PC: “We’ve also built intelligence into Windows 8 so that it can adapt to the user experience based on the hardware of the user. So, whether you’re upgrading an existing PC, or buying a new one, Windows will adapt to make the most of that hardware”.