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Nazmus Khandaker asked the Lockergnome community recently when we feel that 4GB of RAM just won’t be “enough” for our machines. As of now, there are very few people who need more than this, even though we all like to think we do. If you think back to when Windows XP was released, the minimum requirement to install was 64MB of RAM. Compare that to Vista or Windows 7 – or any other software on the market today. Most of it will require you to have at least 1 or 2GB of memory.

I remember that my first computer had less than 1MB of memory. The second machine had 8MB and I ended up upgrading it to 16MB soon after. That cost me a few hundred bucks, and it was way back in 1995. If I remember correctly, Windows 95 had just been released, and my 16MB of RAM was considered to be very high-end.

What we really need to see are applications that can take better advantage of memory on a computer, instead of needing more of it. Maybe ten years from now 4GB of memory won’t be enough… at least I hope. If we don’t need more, then that means we aren’t creating enough software on the cutting edge. It would mean we aren’t advancing the way we should.

Games will look better, sound better and play better in the future. We’ll find a more immersive experience with our technology, as well. Our machines will be better equipped to take advantage of all of the pieces and parts inside. Think about it – some machines and operating systems out there right now don’t even make use of all of the memory you may have inside there. It’s collecting dust and taking a nice long nap, I suppose.

So – when will we see the day where 4GB isn’t enough anymore?

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When Will 4GB of RAM be Obsolete?

When I was troubleshooting my ReadyBoost issues with the PNY Attache 4GB USB 2.0 thumb drive, I got silly and purchased two 2GB SanDisk high-speed USB (2.0) memory sticks. For those of you keeping track, that’s two 2 twos I snagged. The Cruzer Micro was the only thing the store had on hand that was both high-speed and high-capacity. However, these SanDisk Cruzer Micro “thumb drives” also came with the dreaded U3 software – which I don’t want (and I don’t need). You can’t just go and reformat the entire USB key, mind you – you have to find the uninstaller first. Geeky Jock to the rescue! I downloaded the U3 remover utility from his site and now my Cruzer Micro USB flash memory sticks are 100% without annoyances. I laud SanDisk and U3 for doing something interesting, but you should at least give the user the *EASY* option to remove this so-called feature from a product they paid good money for. U3 isn’t necessarily bad – it’s just terribly annoying. Oh, and I wound up getting Vista to recognize the PNY Attache 4GB USB 2.0 memory key (after connecting and removing it a few times, per a Gnomie’s suggestion).

U3 Uninstaller