How are minimum system requirements determined?

Posted by Michael McGowan on Programmers See other posts from Programmers or by Michael McGowan
Published on 2011-06-24T21:28:31Z Indexed on 2012/03/27 23:42 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 305

Filed under:

documentation

|

Requirements

|

qa

We've all seen countless examples of software that ships with "minimum system requirements" like the following:

Windows XP/Vista/7
1GB RAM
200 MB Storage

How are these generally determined? Obviously sometimes there are specific constraints (if the program takes 200 MB on disk then that is a hard requirement). Aside from those situations, many times for things like RAM or processor it turns out that more/faster is better with no hard constraint. How are these determined? Do developers just make up numbers that seem reasonable? Does QA go through some rigorous process testing various requirements until they find the lowest settings with acceptable performance? My instinct says it should be the latter but is often the former in practice.

© Programmers or respective owner

Related posts about documentation

Hyperlinked, externalized source code documentation

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
Why do we still embed natural language descriptions of source code (i.e., the reason why a line of code was written) within the source code, rather than as a separate document? Given the expansive real-estate afforded to modern development environments (high-resolution monitors, dual-monitors, etc… >>> More
A tool to aid completion of missing or incomplete source code documentation

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I have several finished, older PHP projects with a lot of includes that I would like to document in javadoc/phpDocumentor style. While working through each file manually and being forced to do a code review alongside the documenting would be the best thing, I am, simply out of time constraints,… >>> More
Quick C# Project Documentation in Visual Studio

as seen on Internet.com - Search for 'Internet.com'
Here's a quick way to document your .NET projects. >>> More
SQLAuthority News – Feature Pack for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 SP4

as seen on SQL Authority - Search for 'SQL Authority'
If you are still using SQL Server 2005 – I suggest that you consider migrating to later version of the SQL Server 2008/2008 R2. Due to any reason, you wanted to continue using SQL Server 2005, I suggest that you take a look at the Feature Pack for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 SP4. There are many… >>> More
SQLAuthority News – Statistics Used by the Query Optimizer in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 – Microsoft Whitepaper

as seen on SQL Authority - Search for 'SQL Authority'
I recently presented session on Statistics and Best Practices in Virtual Tech Days on Nov 22, 2010. The sessions was very popular and I got many questions right after the sessions. The number question I had received was where everybody can get the further information. I am very much happy that my… >>> More

Related posts about Requirements

Requirement refinement between two levels of specification

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
I am currently working on the definition of the documentation architecture of a system, from customers needs to software/hardware requirements. I encounter a big problem with the level of refinement of requirements. The classic architecture is : PTS -- SSS -- SSDD -- SRS/HRS with PTS : Purshaser… >>> More
Hardware requirements for playing HD

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
A friend of mine has some HD videos (720p and 1080p), so i would like what are the hardware requirements in order to play them correctly with no slowing-downs ? my computer is build of : Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU 2.40GHz nvidia GeForce 5200 FX 768 RAM My friend said that it won't be possible… >>> More
A Two-Way Requirements Verification Process during Design Phase

as seen on Internet.com - Search for 'Internet.com'
This article will demonstrate a simple technique, "A Two-Way Requirements verification process", which reinforces the most critical connection point of any methodology: the transition between functional design or requirement sign off and the beginning of the technical design by the technical team. >>> More
Skip the Requirements - 10 Problems With Web Development Projects, and How to Solve Them

as seen on Ezine Articles - Search for 'Ezine Articles'
For most businesses, hiring a freelancer or web company to develop a web site is a frustrating but necessary endeavor. After working with over a hundred small businesses and organizations, we've discovered some pitfalls that make the whole thing worse. Fortunately, powerful new platforms like Drupal… >>> More
T-SQL Tuesday #13 : Business Expectations

as seen on SQL Blog - Search for 'SQL Blog'
This month's T-SQL Tuesday is being hosted by Steve Jones ( @way0utwest ) over at SQLServerCentral . For some history on T-SQL Tuesday, see Adam Machanic's posts here and here . The topic this time is summarized as: "What issues have you had in interacting with the business to get your job done."… >>> More