Corrine Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 From Windows 12 Is Going To Make Some Significant Changes for New PCs: Recent reports have shed light on Microsoft’s ambitious plans for Windows 12, revealing a strategic move to increase the minimum specifications required to run the operating system. According to a detailed analysis by Trendforce, a notable shift is on the horizon with the base memory requirement set to soar to 16GB. This adjustment is not merely a numbers game; it aligns with Microsoft’s vision for integrating its AI assistant Copilot into the user experience, ensuring it operates with minimum efficiency. This decision underscores a broader trend towards more powerful, AI-driven PCs. Historically, Microsoft’s operating systems have maintained relatively low minimum requirements, with Windows 11 and Windows 10 requiring 4GB and 1-2GB of memory, respectively. The leap to 16GB represents a significant escalation, reflecting the growing demands of advanced computing tasks and AI applications. See the linked article for more information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corrine Posted February 26 Author Share Posted February 26 An option to consider is to add more RAM to your computer. See this article at How to Geek: How to Upgrade or Replace Your PC's RAM. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bookmem Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 On 2/26/2024 at 1:26 PM, Corrine said: An option to consider is to add more RAM to your computer. See this article at How to Geek: How to Upgrade or Replace Your PC's RAM. The problem with that is that there is a trend, in order to make laptops thin, to eliminate the sockets and solder RAM direct to the PCB. Fairly recent laptops with 8gb of RAM that can't be upgraded will be made obsolete. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goretsky Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 Hello, Microsoft is referring to these PCs with 16GB of RAM as "AI PCs." It is certainly possible that PC's with < 16 GB of RAM will run Windows 12, but as "conventional" or "AI-less" PCs. I suspect we'll know more as Microsoft comes closer to releasing Windows 12. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bookmem Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 9 hours ago, goretsky said: Hello, Microsoft is referring to these PCs with 16GB of RAM as "AI PCs." It is certainly possible that PC's with < 16 GB of RAM will run Windows 12, but as "conventional" or "AI-less" PCs. I suspect we'll know more as Microsoft comes closer to releasing Windows 12. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky "Possible"???? Nothing in the article suggest that. But I guess anything is possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 I have a desktop with 32GB of RAM. Right now Windows 11 is using close to 10GB with caching. It'll take whatever memory you throw at it. I am reminded of the Windows Capable machines we had back in the Vista era, which came from the OEM with about 1/3 the memory needed to work properly with the Aeroglass UI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bookmem Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 9 minutes ago, raymac46 said: I have a desktop with 32GB of RAM. Right now Windows 11 is using close to 10GB with caching. It'll take whatever memory you throw at it. I am reminded of the Windows Capable machines we had back in the Vista era, which came from the OEM with about 1/3 the memory needed to work properly with the Aeroglass UI. I think you'll admit that your use is far heavier than that of the average person. Personally, I have 3 desktops running. Two of them have 16gb and the other only 8 and I see no difference in performance. And I would have no problem adding more RAM to all of them. As my OP stated, my problem is with late model laptops, whose memory can't be upgraded, becoming obsolete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 (edited) I also have a laptop running Windows 11 with 8 GB of RAM. The graphics takes up 2 GB so free memory is 6 GB. Windows is taking up 4.1 GB on this machine and it runs OK. I'm only using the laptop for web surfing and office tasks. No gaming. Should I need to use the laptop and can't run Windows on it any longer, I'll simply switch it over to Linux or Chrome OS Flex. Checking the specs I see that I could add another RAM module . Edited March 12 by raymac46 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goretsky Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 4 hours ago, Bookmem said: "Possible"???? Nothing in the article suggest that. But I guess anything is possible. Hello, Well, here's the thing; Microsoft has announced the 16 GB requirement for "AI PCs" and not made any statement at all at this time about "conventional" PCs or upgrades. Because of this, I suspect the 16 GB is, in part, some kind of marketing requirement for selling systems running a specific edition of Windows 12, or to make use of a specific feature set, like maybe some kind of enhanced version of CoPilot. Those with 16 GB (or more) will get the "AI PC" branding and logo, while those that don't will have some other kind of branding and be sold with lesser editions of Windows 12, like Windows Vista Home Basic and Windows 7 Home Basic were, many years ago. Also, given that AI stacks perform favorably on dGPUs and NPUs, it could be that there are some additional requirements to be announced around these for "AI PCs," although I would include recent IGPs and mobile GPUs from AMD, Intel and Nvidia in that mix. It is also possible we might see Windows 12 upgrades bundled with memory modules by various retailers, leading to a temporary rise in their cost, much as we saw when it was announced that Windows 11 required TPM modules and people purchased those for desktops which did not have them. Again, this is all very speculative, but it would seem to follow trends we have seen with previous Windows releases where hardware requirements changed. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goretsky Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 Hello, A little more information: https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/12/what_is_an_ai_pc/ Regards, Aryeh Goretsky 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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