Here are some initial Microsoft system requirements for using Windows 7 :
* 1GHz processor (32- or 64-bit)
* 1GB RAM
* 16 GB free disk drive
* Support for DirectX 9 graphics with 128MB memory (for Aero interface)
This is a request that was later updated by Microsoft :
Configuration required to use Windows 7 Picture 1 * 1GHz processor (32- or 64-bit)
* 1 GB RAM (32-bit); 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
* 16 GB (32-bit) free disk drive; 20 GB free disk drive (64-bit)
* DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or larger drive
However, according to ZDNet 'if you plan to run Windows XP Mode with Windows 7, Microsoft recommends a PC with at least 2GB of memory and an additional 15GB of free disk space. "Microsoft emphasized' In addition, Windows Virtual PC requires one PC with Intel-VT or AMD-V because it takes advantage of the latest in virtualization hardware '.
If you are interested in comparison, here is the final list of requirements for Windows Vista operating system :
* 1 GHz processor (32- or 64-bit)
* 512 MB RAM (for Home Basic); 1 GB RAM for all other versions
* 15 GB free disk drive
* Support for DirectX 9 graphics and 32 MB graphics memory (for Home Basic); 128 MB of graphics memory plus WDDM support pool for all other versions.