Microsoft Windows 8 Developers Preview Goes Live With Requirements

Microsoft on Tuesday officially posted the Windows 8 Developer Preview, hours before their 11PM Eastern time promise.

The company is currently offering Intel-based 32-bit (ISO) and 64-bit (ISO) editions, while ARM based processors have been left out do to a lack of hardware.

The developer center provides extra details and is now available for interested parties.

With the announcement Microsoft has shown that the system requires very low requirements including the ability to run on a single-core 1GHz x86 processor and just 1GB RAM for 32-bit installations and just 2GB for 64-bit installs.

The company has also kept space limits close to Windows 7 with just 16GB needed for their 32-bit version and 20GB required for the 64-bit offering.

The system also requires DirectX 9-capable offerings.

The use of the Metro interface also requires a display resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels and is ideally meant for 1366 x 768 displays or higher with multi-touch capabilities.

As is the case with any developer based platform the company is not suggesting that it be placed on vital production systems and urging users to be wary of Apple’s Boot Camp.

If you can stand to wait a few months a public beta version is expected around the time of CES in January 2012 with a finished version expected around April 2012.

If you happen to give Windows 8 a try through the developers program be sure to drop us a line with your initial thoughts.

[via Electronista]