- The Windows Vista operating system was released in different editions, such as Home, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate. It also came in two different versions, 32-bit and 64 bit. The 64-bit needs a 64-bit CPU, or processor, but can handle more data, is capable of working with larger RAM sizes and is more advanced that the 32-bit counterpart.
- Your computer's speed is determined by the speed of its CPU, or Central Processing Unit. The faster the processor is the better your operating system will function. You need 1-gigahertz (GHz) 64-bit processor for all editions of 64-bit Windows Vista.
- RAM, determines how many applications you can run at the same time without affecting the efficiency of programs. The greater the amount of RAM, the more applications you can open without slowing down your computer. Sixty-four-bit Vista Home requires at least 512 megabytes (MB), while Home Premium, Business and Ultimate editions need at least 1 gigabyte (GB).
- A computer's hard drive stores all of your data and is the secondary to the RAM storage device. The larger your hard drive, the more data and software you can store. Windows Vista Home edition requires at least 15 GB of free hard disk space on a 20 GB or larger drive. Other editions also need 15 GB of free space but on a 40 GB or larger disk.
- For your PC to run and display any information on the monitor it needs a video card drive that has graphics memory capacity, similar to RAM, along with a software driver that allows the operating system "communicate" with the card. The larger the graphics memory is, the smoother and better the information is displayed. For Vista-64 bit you will need a Windows display driver model (WDDM) driver, a minimum of 128 MB (32 MB for Home) of graphics memory and Pixel Shader 2.0---a computer program designed to run more complex graphics, such as 3-D---in hardware with 32-bits per pixel. You also need a DVD-ROM drive as an additional storage and playback device.
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