Specifications

These are for a pre-released version of Windows 10 and are subject to change.

System requirements

If you want to upgrade to Windows 10 on your PC or tablet, here’s what it involves.

Important Notes

• The upgradeability of a device has factors beyond the system specification. This includes driver and firmware support, application compatibility and feature support, regardless of whether or not the device meets the minimum system specification for Windows 10.
• If your PC or tablet is currently running Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1 Update, you can check to see if it meets the requirements by using ‘Check my PC’ in the Get Windows 10 app.
• Applications, files and settings will migrate as part of the upgrade, however some applications or settings may not migrate.
  • For Anti-virus and Anti-malware applications, during upgrade Windows will check to see if your Anti-virus or Anti-malware subscription is current. Windows will uninstall your application while preserving your settings. After upgrade is complete, Windows will install the latest version available with the settings that were set prior to upgrade. If your subscription is not current, upgrade will enable Windows defender.
  • Some applications that came from your OEM may be removed prior to upgrade.
  • For certain third-party applications, the “Get Windows 10” app will scan for application compatibility. If there is a known issue that will prevent the upgrade, you will be notified of the list of applications with known issues. You can choose to accept and the applications will be removed from the system prior to upgrade. Please make sure that you copy the list before you accept the removal of the application.

Feature Deprecation Section

• If you have Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 8 Pro with Media Centre or Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Centre and you install Windows 10, Windows Media Centre will be removed.
• Watching DVDs requires separate playback software
• Windows 7 desktop gadgets will be removed as part of installing Windows 10.
• Windows 10 Home users will have updates from Windows Update automatically available.
• Solitaire, Minesweeper and Hearts Games that come pre-installed on Windows 7 will be removed as part of installing the Windows 10 upgrade. Microsoft has released our version of Solitaire and Minesweeper called the “Microsoft Solitaire Collection” and “Microsoft Minesweeper”.
• If you have a USB floppy drive, you will need to download the latest driver from Windows Update or from the manufacturer’s website.
• If you have Windows Live Essentials installed on your system, the OneDrive application is removed and replaced with the inbox version of OneDrive.

Additional requirements to use certain features

• Cortana is only currently available on Windows 10 for the United States, United Kingdom, China, France, Italy, Germany and Spain.
• Speech recognition will vary by device microphone. For better speech experiences, you will need a:
  • High fidelity microphone array
  • Hardware driver with Microphone array geometry exposed
• Windows Hello requires specialised illuminated infrared camera for facial recognition or iris detection or a fingerprint reader which supports the Window Biometric Framework.
• Continuum is available on all Windows 10 editions by manually turning “tablet mode” on and off through the Action Centre. Tablets and 2-in-1’s with GPIO indicators or those that have a laptop and slate indicator will be able to be configured to enter “tablet mode” automatically.
• Music and Video stream through the Xbox Music or Xbox video available in certain regions. For the most up to date list of regions, please go to Xbox on Windows website.
• Two factor authentication requires the use of a PIN, Biometric (fingerprint reader or illuminated infrared camera) or a phone with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth capabilities.
• The number of applications that can be snapped will depend upon the minimum resolution for the application.
• To use touch, you need a tablet or a monitor that supports multi-touch (more info)
• Microsoft account required for some features
• Internet access (ISP fees might apply)
• Secure boot requires firmware that supports UEFI v2.3.1 Errata B and has the Microsoft Windows Certification Authority in the UEFI signature database
• Some IT administrators may enable Secure Logon (Ctrl + Alt + Del) before bringing you to the log in screen. On tablets without a keyboard, a tablet with the Windows button maybe required as the key combination on a tablet is Windows button + Power button.
• Some games and programs might require a graphics card compatible with DirectX 10 or higher for optimal performance
• BitLocker To Go requires a USB flash drive (Windows 10 Pro only).
• BitLocker requires either Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2, TPM 2.0 or a USB flash drive (Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise only)
• Client Hyper-V requires a 64-bit system with second level address translation (SLAT) capabilities and additional 2 GB of RAM (Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise only).
• Miracast requires a display adaptor which supports Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) 1.3, and a Wi-Fi adapter that supports Wi-Fi Direct.
• Wi-Fi Direct Printing requires a Wi-Fi adapter that supports Wi-Fi Direct and a device that supports Wi-Fi Direct Printing.
• To install a 64-bit OS on a 64-bit PC, your processor needs to support CMPXCHG16b, PrefetchW and LAHF/SAHF
• InstantGo works only with computers designed for Connected Standby.
• Device encryption requires a PC with InstantGo and TPM 2.0.