CCP Games announced in their latest blog entry a raise in EVE's minimum system requirements in preparation for the upcoming Dominion expansion, which will feature numerous graphic updates and an in-game Chromium browser.
The rather long blog entry goes into details about the upcoming updates:
With the release of EVE Online: Dominion this winter the minimum system requirements needed to run the EVE client will become Windows XP Service Pack 2. We will at the same time officially support Windows 7.
Updates, updates, updates, ...
The history of EVE is the history of continuous enhancements, updates, upgrades, and new and improved technology; both client and server software updates as well as hardware upgrades. When writing this dev blog I compiled a list of technical dev blogs since 2007 that relate to new or improved technology:
-Common technology
Stackless Python 2.5
StacklessIO
Engineering updates
More engineering updates-Client technology
EVE Voice
Trinity, the first graphics update
Client performance enhancements
Apocrypha, the second graphics update
Audio update-Server technology
EVE64
Server performance enhancements-Hardware
Server hardware upgrades
More server hardware upgrades
Network upgrades
Database upgrades-Community technology
EVE API
Static Data Export DatabaseWhy do we constantly update EVE? "Why can't you just keep it the way it is?"
We update EVE because EVE needs to be fresh, vibrant and cutting-edge. EVE should be immortal, just as you, the pod pilot.
With the release of EVE Online: Dominion this winter we are yet again adding more new technology. Dominion will be the third graphics update and then, as CCP Pleognost detailed in his dev blog on the new in-game browser, we are updating the IGB in Dominion using the Chromium browser toolkit.
Increased minimum system requirements
Introducing new technology has at times required that we update the minimum system requirements needed to run the EVE client. Adding new technology sometimes entails that old technology must be left behind.
Currently the minimum system requirements are Windows XP but with Dominion they will become Windows XP Service Pack 2. This is due to Chromium's dependence on Windows HTTP Services version 5.1 (winhttp.dll).
The increased minimum requirements will affect 0.4% of our Windows XP users. There is a direct update path for these users: To update to the latest Service Pack, currently Service Pack 3, at the Microsoft Update website. This update is free of charge for Windows XP users.
Other options include upgrading to Windows Vista or Windows 7.
Official Windows 7 support
With Dominion we will be officially supporting Windows 7. We have been testing Windows 7 since December last year and our bi-weekly platform tests are run on several Windows 7 configurations.
Microsoft has announced Windows 7's general retail availability on 22 October but already about 8.8% of our Windows users use Windows 7. The majority of our Windows users are still using Windows XP, or 49.5%, with 41.7% using Windows Vista but the increased Windows 7 usage has been at the expense of Windows XP.
Here is an overall breakdown of all operating systems in September 2009:
