Microsoft has specified what kit you'll need to run Windows Vista, with and without the upcoming operating system's fancy Aero user interface. It has also posted an application that will assess your system for its Vista suitability.

To get Vista's full array of graphical geegaws, you'll need a Premium Ready PC. To qualify, your machine has to have a 1GHz 32- or 64-bit processor, 1GB of memory, 40GB of hard drive capacity with at 15GB free space, a DVD-ROM drive and internet access, Microsoft said.

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You'll also require a DirectX 9 graphics chip capable of doing PixelShader 2.0 in hardware, supporting 32-bit colour and having a Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) driver. The GPU also needs access to "adequate" graphics memory: 64MB to 256MB, depending on the size of the monitor you plan to connect it to.

System not up to spec? You can still run Vista with a more basic GUI if you have a 800MHz CPU, 512MB of memory and any DirectX 9-capable graphics card. Together these specifications define what Microsoft calls a Vista Capable PC.

You can get Microsoft's Vista Upgrade Advisor app here. ®