Almost all computer Software requires some features to be present on a computer system before it can be used with the computer. These necessary features are known as system requirements, and are often used as a guideline as opposed to an absolute rule. Often two sets of system requirements are given for an item of software: a minimum set of requirements (which must be satisfied for the software to be usable at all) and a recommended set of requirements (for maximum performance).

System requirements for software tend to increase over time, and have done so to a large extent over the last decade.

For instance, while StarCraft (1998) needed: *Microsoft Windows 95 or NT or superior *Pentium processor at 90MHz or higher *16MB Random Access Memory *80MB available in the hard disk *CD-ROM, 2x or higher *DirectX 3.0 or higher

and Spider-Man (2002) needed: *3D Hardware Accelerator *Microsoft Windows 98/2000/NT/XP *Pentium III processor at 500MHz or higher *128MB Random Access Memory *1.5GB available in the hard disk *DirectX 8.1

Doom 3 needs: *3D Hardware Accelerator - 64MB of memory minimum *Microsoft Windows 2000/XP *Pentium 4 1.5 GHz or Athlon XP 1500+ processor or higher *384MB Random Access Memory *8x Speed CD-ROM *2.2GB free hard disk space *DirectX 9.0b compatible 16-bit sound card *DirectX 9.0b

Not only computer games need these features, but any substantial Computer programs such as Encarta, DVD players (on the computer), file managers and the like.

= See also =