Minimum system requirements for GNOME Shell

[Nirbheek Chauhan <nirbheek gentoo org>]

Hello,

I was wondering what the minimum system requirements for running GNOME
Shell in a usable manner are/will be. I was only able to find vague
statements saying "all computing devices in the last 4-5 years"[1],
etc[2]. IMO, this ambiguity has led to a lot of uncertainty among
people about whether GNOME Shell will even launch on their machines.
It would be a good idea to publish a set of minimum and recommended
system requirements for GNOME Shell (similar to what is published by
games).

* Minimum OGL requirements to launch clutter
* Minimum Intel/ATI/nvidia chipset models with which a smooth
experience is guaranteed
* Minimum CPU configuration for software rendering mode under swrast
and llvmpipe (useful for VMs)

In addition to letting people know where they stand in all this, it
would also help *us* make sure that GNOME Shell is usable (60+fps with
no background processes, ~30fps with heavy background CPU usage) on
the systems that we target. If testing is currently being done only on
developer machines, we should begin to do testing on the minimum
hardware configuration that we intend to support.

I'm sure we all agree that a GNOME Shell which stutters, lags, and
drops to 15fps as soon as the user compiles something is not going to
be well-received.

Thanks!

1. http://live.gnome.org/GNOME3Myths#My_computer_and.2BAC8-or_graphics_card_isn.27t_powerful_enough_to_run_GNOME_3
2. http://live.gnome.org/GnomeShell/FAQ#What_led_to_the_decision_to_make_3D_acceleration_a_requirement_for_GNOME_Shell.3F

-- 
~Nirbheek Chauhan

Gentoo GNOME+Mozilla Team