
The folks behind the new MeeGo operating system for smartphones have announced the minimum hardware requirements to run the upcoming MeeGo 1.2 operating system. Basically in order to play, a handset will need a 600MHz or faster ARM v7 or x86 processor, 512MB or more of RAM, and 512MB or more of storage space.
Most higher end smartphones released in the last year or two already meet those specifications, so it doesn’t look like MeeGo is shooting for the stars here. But by making it clear that MeeGo 1.2 won’t support less powerful devices, the developers can focus on developing a user experience that should work well on all supported devices.
MeeGo 1.2 is due out in April.
This is a very serious question: Is “requirement” that right word here? If so, required for what? I certainly understand the spirit of minimum hardware specifications, but what are the implications. It seems unlikely that I as an individual will not be allowed to install MeeGo on whatever I want.
In this case, I’m pretty sure these specs are for smartphone builders,
not end users. While there’s certainly an active modding community,
smartphone users are much less likely than PC users to chuck the OS
that came with their phones and install a Linux distro or other
operating system.
If you want to compile MeeGo and see if it will run on your Motorola
Q, I’m sure there’s nothing stopping you from trying. But I doubt
we’ll see Nokia, HTC, or any other big name phone makers trying to put
MeeGo on devices that don’t meet the minimum specifications.