Want to buy that cool new video game but are unsure how much memory or what kind of processor your computer uses so you can make sure the software will work? Both Windows and Mac OS X keep these details, along with other hardware information, in a convenient place.
In Windows 7, go to the Start menu and type System into the Search box. Select System or System Information in the results to open a window listing your computer’s details. For a quicker way to the information, press the Windows key and the Pause key on the keyboard to open the System window; the Win + Pause keyboard shortcut works in the newer Windows 8 system as well.
On a Mac running recent versions of OS X, go to the Apple menu on the left side of the menu bar and choose About This Mac. The box that appears shows the OS X software version, processor and amount of installed memory. Click the More Info button to see additional details about the computer. If you want a shortcut to even more data, hold down the Option key on the keyboard and return to the Apple menu, where the About This Mac item now says System Information. Select System Information from the menu to get a big list of specifications.
