Microsoft has revealed the minimum requirements a PC will need to run its forthcoming Windows Vista operating system.

The software giant listed the required specifications for a PC to be branded 'Vista Capable' and 'Vista Premium Ready'.

Judging by the response on the internet, the list of requirements has surprised consumers who had expected to have to shell out for a whole lot of new hardware.

A 'Vista Capable' PC will require at least an 800MHz processor, 512MB of system memory, a DirectX 9 capable graphics card, a 40GB hard drive with at least 15GB of free space, a DVD drive, and audio and internet capabilities.

The only extra requirements for a 'Vista Premium Ready' PC are a 1GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor, 1GB of Ram and a graphics card with 128MB of onboard memory capable of supporting Windows Aero2.

An Aero2 compatible card is a DirectX 9-class graphics processor that supports WDDM, Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware, 32 bits per pixel, and 64MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor less than 1,310,720 pixels.

128MB of graphics memory will be required to support a single monitor at resolutions from 1,310,720 to 2,304,000 pixels, or 256MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor at resolutions higher than 2,304,000 pixels.

At most, the typical consumer with a PC even a few years old is only looking at buying a new graphics card and some extra memory.

The announcement is likely to put Intel's and AMD's noses out of joint, as the chip manufacturers are thought to have been expecting strong motherboard and processor sales on the back of the Vista launch.

But the news is good for consumers who can expect to take less of a hit on their pocket than previously expected.

"To help customers make informed decisions when buying new PCs, Microsoft today announced the availability of 'Windows Vista Capable' PCs and the forthcoming availability of 'Windows Vista Premium Ready' PCs," said Microsoft.

"The 'Windows Vista Capable' logo is designed to assure customers that the PCs they buy today will be ready for an upgrade to Vista and can run the core experiences of Vista."