Microsoft (Screen) Sizes Up Windows 10, Office 365 Markets

At the Windows Hardware Engineering (WinHEC) conference in China last week, Microsoft (MSFT) for the first time detailed the minimum hardware requirements for Windows Phones and PCs, separating the operating system’s consumer from ‘Pro’ version in part by screen size.

Then this week Kirk Koenigsbauer, Microsoft Office 365 Client Apps and Services corporate vice president, disclosed that Microsoft has decided that 10.1 inch-screens is where the personal becomes professional. In other words, the vendor will apply Office 365 subscriptions for devices above that screen size and not for those under the line.

“Based on our research, we are classifying anything with a screen size of 10.1 inches or less as a true mobile device: You’re probably using it on the go, when it’s not practical to use a larger computing device such as a PC or a Mac,” Koenigsbauer wrote in a blog post.

“You probably aren’t using a mouse or a keyboard, instead navigating via touch interface. It’s probably not a ‘pro’ category tablet that is used for design or presentations. On these devices, the core editing and viewing experience is free, until you get to those premium, subscription features,” he said.

Similarly, albeit for a different platform, with Windows 10 slated for a summer release, at WinHEC the vendor also outlined the differences between the consumer and the Pro versions of the OS, with the former requiring 8-inch displays for tablets and PCs and the latter demanding screen of 7-inches or more for desktops and tablets.

Windows 10 will accommodate smartphones scaling in screen size from 3 inches to 7.99 inches, hence the possibility of more phablets and more relatively tiny smartphones, making it possible we might see Windows 10 OEMs produce both an 8-inch smartphone and an 8-inch tablet, an unlikely looking but thoroughly feasible duo should the market even hint at a need or desire for such footprints.

The hardware requirements for Windows 10 actually are fairly standard, with users needing 1GB of RAM for the 32-bit version and 2GB of RAM to run the 64-bit edition, and 1GHz or faster processing speed. A minimum of 16GB of hard drive space is required for the former and 20GB for the latter.

Smartphones and tablet ranging in screen size from 7.99 inches down to 3 inches will need a minimum of 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, and a display resolution of 800 x 480 or better.

At the high end, Windows 10 will support phones with a 2,560 x 2,048 display resolution equipped with at least 4GB of RAM. Windows 10 phones and tablets also will need to have a cellular radio supporting data and voice, a loudspeaker, earpiece and headphone jack. Optional features include touch, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, an accelerometer and a gyroscope.