The official blog for the Microsoft Office 2010 product development group today revealed the system requirements for the upcoming office software suite. Slated to launch next month, most users will be able to use the new suite on the same hardware used in Office 2007 according to Alex Dubec, Program Manager on the Office Trustworthy Computing Performance team.
"If your current computer can run Office 2007, it can run Office 2010," he said. "If you’re purchasing a new laptop or netbook, it can run Office 2010. If you have a computer with a multi-core processor, it can run Office 2010 even faster. If your computer is currently running Office 2003, it’s possible that it can run Office 2010 (check the requirements to be sure). "
Based on the blog, the minimum requirements consist of a 500 MHz processor and 256 MB of RAM. While these two factors were the same requirements for Office 2007, they've doubled since the release of Office 2003, requiring a 233 MHz processor and 128 MB of RAM. Dubec also added that the “footprint” of most Office applications have gotten larger--most standalone application disk-space requirements have gone up by 0.5 GB, and the suites have increased by 1.0 or 1.5 GB.
For consumers running 32-bit operating systems, the 32-bit version of Office 2010 is compatible with Windows 7, Vista with SP1, XP with SP3, Server 2008, and Server 2003 R2 with MSXML 6.0. For those running 64-bit operating systems, the 32-bit version of Office 2010 is compatible with Windows 7, Vista SP1, Server 2008 R2, Server 2008, and Server 2003 R2 with MSXML 6.0. The 64-bit version of Office 2010 will not work on Server 2003 R2 with MSXML 6.0.
