Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference in Houston was a good excuse for the company to reveal a ton of news about its products and services via its keynotes and press releases. However, some other interesting information was revealed to people who attended one of the panels held during WPC 2013.
The panel was called "How To Talk To Customers About Windows Devices." As ZDNet.com reports, the session offered up some of the new hardware requirements for Windows 8.1 PCs. For example, Microsoft told the attendees all GPUs will be required to have the WDDM 1.3 driver installed to run Windows 8.1. Support for SATA Hybrid hard drives is also being added to the OS.
If a new PC has Windows 8.1 installed and also has NFC hardware, they must use the NCI protocol, according to the new requirements. Inbox support for fingerprint readers is being added to Windows 8.1. As we reported earlier, Microsoft and Intel are also working on a better trackpad technology that will launch later this year. Windows 8.1 running on ARM PCs will require the use of the upcoming Precision Touchpads technology, but it will remain an option for x86 PCs.
Microsoft is also looking towards the near and far future for upcoming Windows hardware requirements. In January 2014, all new Windows PCs will have to support Bluetooth wireless technology if the PC supports WiFi. All new PCs that have integrated cameras will also need to support 720p video resolution by that same date, along with better audio fidelity for any speakers and microphones.
Microsoft is even telling partners about its Windows requirements for January 2015, by which time we might have Windows 8.2 or possibly Windows 9. By that date, all new Windows PCs will have to support the TPM (Trusted Platform Module) 2.0 cryptoprocessor specs.
Source: ZDNet.com | Image via Microsoft
26 Comments
Load the comments and join the conversation!
Read the comments, ask the editors questions, show respect and join the conversation.