Microsoft today launched a new website aimed at informing consumers about Windows Vista's hardware requirements, among other things. As we reported earlier, there are two levels of recommendations for Windows Vista, those dubbed "Vista-Capable" and those dubbed "Premium-Ready." Microsoft has now revealed the specs in each category, and here they are:

Minimum Requirements (Vista-Capable PCs): 800 MHz Intel-compatible processor, 512MB of RAM, DirectX 9.0-Capable Graphics Processor, 20GB HD

Recommended Requirements (Premium-Ready PCs): 1 GHz Intel-compatible processor, 1GB RAM, DirectX 9.0-Capable Graphics Processor, with 128MB graphics memory*, 40GB HD with at least 15GB 'free space'

* 64MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor less than 1,310,720 pixels [no more than 1440x900]; 128MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor at resolutions from 1,310,720 to 2,304,000 pixels [no more than 1920x1200]; 256MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor at resolutions higher than 2,304,000 pixels [more than 1920x1200]

What's the difference between the two recommendations? Machines that are only "Vista Capable" can indeed run Vista, but as I reported earlier, those machines will not be able to run the new Aero user interface.

It's not like this comes as any surprise. They keep adding in new features that take up more and more processing power and memory. I'm not against that in theory, but they should do a better job of cutting down on the bloat. What they really need is some user-friendly way (like XP-AntiSpy) to disable certain unnecessary features that most people don't need. You should be able to uncheck (if not uninstall) certain things you don't care about. It's possible at times with services, but normal users haven't a clue what to do in there, much less how to get there...