What are the hardware requirements for Windows and Linux?

Answer 1

For simplicity's sake, I'll stick to currently supported Linux distros and versions of Windows. None of these are the "optimal" requirements, but rather the "minimum recommended."

133 Mhz Pentium (or compatible) processor

32 MB of RAM

2 GB hard drive with 650 MB free.

VGA video card

Keyboard

CD / DVD-ROM drive

233 Mhz Pentium (or compatible) processor

64 MB of RAM

Hard drive with at least 1.5 GB free

Keyboard & mouse

Video card with SVGA resolution.

CD / DVD-ROM drive

800 Mhz Pentium III (or compatible) processor

512 MB of RAM.

20 GB hard drive

Keyboard & mouse

VESA-compliant video card

DVD drive.

486DX-66 processor

16 MB RAM

50 MB of free space on hard drive (can be run straight from a CD)

Keyboard / mouse

VGA monitor

486 processor

48 MB / 64 MB - command line only *

64 MB - with desktop

1 GB / 5 GB hard drive - without / with desktop

VGA video card (for desktop)

keyboard (mouse needed for desktop)

Installation medium - install can be performed over network, with boot floppies and internet connection, or CD drive

*64 MB is the charted minimum. 48 MB is mentioned in the paragraph explaining that the estimates recommendations are conservative

300 Mhz processor

64 MB of RAM

4 GB free hard drive space

CD / DVD drive

VGA card

keyboard / mouse

Answer 2

This is actually a very complex question. "Linux" is not a single operating system. Nor does it exist at a single point in time: we could look at the system requirements for a typical Linux system in 1997, for instance.

For modern distros, the current minimum is about 50 MB of hard drive space and 16 MB of RAM, for a system with a graphical user interface. You could probably cut it down to about 8 if you lose the GUI. Embedded Linux system have been known to run with as little as 2 MB of RAM.