The history of Windows system requirements

Yahoo News has taken a look at the Windows system requirements, starting with Windows 3.0 which arrived in May 1990. They also take a look at the average desktop PC and notebook prices.

Eleven years ago the average desktop PC was priced at $1,926 and the average notebook at $2,819. Nowadays it's respectively $801 and $1,256.

As an additional comparison, average prices for desktop computer -- monitor included -- and portable PCs have been noted for all releases except Windows 3.0. (Data provided by IDC.)

While these "average" prices don't spec out systems identical to Microsoft's minimum requirements, they are a good indicator of what users paid for machines to run each OS.

Check it out over here.