[ Outline ] · Standard · Linear+ Windows 'Longhorn' will need whopper PCs

[Zone55555]

Now if this quote doesn't make your short & curlies stand straight up, I don't know what will:

Microsoft is expected to recommend that the 'average' Longhorn PC feature a dual-core CPU running at 4 to 6GHz; a minimum of 2 gigs of RAM; up to a terabyte of storage; a 1 Gbit, built-in, Ethernet-wired port and an 802.11g wireless link; and a graphics processor that runs three times faster than those on the market today.

Article on the upcoming 'Longhorn' version of Windows

Yowza... don't think I'll be overclocking my 1GHz to that kind of category of machine.

[Zone55555]

Before you scoff too much, realize that they're still *targeting* late 2006 for release, that even then they may yet slip their dates, and that what they're talking about is the *average* machine.

The interface choices you'll have are full DX9 including 3D elements, a cut-down version of the new interface, and a "classic" windows 2000-style interface for the slower machines in the bunch.

While it will still run on current-class machines, they're going whole-hog on targeting the anticiptated state-of-the-art. Dual-core processors are imminent from Intel and AMD, next-gen videocards are double today's performance, RAM continues expanding in systems, and it's not uncommon *now* to pack a system with a terabyte of HDD.

It's really not that far-fetched for even a year out from now, let alone late 2006. It sounds staggering by today's standards, but think back two years to what we were running then.