Microsoft Claims Windows Vista Can Run with Zero Graphics Memory!

Whoever told you that Windows Vista is a resource hog lied! Nothing could be further from the truth! Nothing! Vista is just your average and friendly operating system, requiring just modest hardware resources if you are to believe Microsoft. Vista is in fact optimized to run on nothing at all. If you have an ancient machine just laying around gathering dust, go and fetch it. Vista will fly on it, guaranteed! Right, I can't keep going like this any more... well, maybe just a little bit.

I have come across a Microsoft official web page that details the Minimum Supported System Requirements for the Windows vista operating system. You will be able to see the screenshot integrated toward the bottom of this article. I took the liberty of emphasizing the most relevant part. "PCs that meet the minimum supported system requirements will be able to run the core features of Windows Vista with the basic user experience," reads a promising message from Microsoft.

And then the minimum supported system requirements follow: Processor - 800 MHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64); System Memory - 512 MB, GPU - SVGA (800x600), HDD 20 GB, HDD Free Space - 15 GB and CD-ROM drive. Microsoft is pretty sure that the minimum supported system requirements do not involve audio or Internet... or any Graphics Memory for that matter.

Right, it's fortunate that they've managed to mention the GPU, otherwise the obvious conclusion would have been that you could have yanked the graphics card out of your computer altogether, since it made so little difference in the first place. But no Graphics Memory... this is rich. And it shows how much Microsoft knows about its own Vista operating system.

Vista running with no graphics memory... fat chance! Obviously! Even Windows Vista Home Basic requires at least a DirectX 9-class graphics card with 32 MB of graphics memory. When it comes down to the remaining editions, namely Vista Home Premium, Business, and Ultimate, the requirements are boosted a tad to a DirectX 9-class graphics card with a WDDM driver, Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware, 32 bits per pixel and 128 MB of graphics memory (minimum).