Much like it does with its Windows Phone 7 OS, Microsoft plans to have a set of hardware requirements for tablets running its highly-anticipated Windows 8 platform, and now they've been discovered.
The requirements were detailed in Microsoft's latest hardware certification requirements document, which revealed that Windows 8 touch PCs must use digitizers supporting a minimum of five points. Tech website The Verge -- which broke the story shortly after discovering that ARM devices won't have the option to switch off secure boot -- speculated that this was done in an effort to "avoid confusion over multitouch machines."
In terms of the required buttons, all tablets and convertible PCs will need to have five: power, rotation lock, Windows key, and volume up/down. Pressing the Windows key and power button at the same time will serve as the new equivalent of CTRL + ALT + DEL.
And for those Windows 8 tablets that will feature NFC (near field communications) will be required to have "touch marks" on the hardware that indicate where exactly the touch point is located. Other requirements will include UEFI firmware, WLAN, Bluetooth 4.0, a 720p camera, at least one USB 2.0 port, a magnetometer, speakers, a gyroscope, and an accelerometer.
Source: The Verge
