Windows 7

Can anyone tell me if GW2 is going to need W7 or if i can still run it on xp machines! im really worried about this actually cause if its w7 required i need to get a new laptop.. and i might not be playing gw2 on release date if this is so

Minor troubles but troubles none the less!!

I don't think it will be too intesely strict when basing it upon your version of windows. Yet, you don't need to buy a new computer if it was the case. you can buy the software to update your computer! I bought Windows 7 Home Premium recently for my Macbook lol.

The system requirements for GW2 are unknown at this point. But it is normal to announce it in advance. So in short you can expect to have your answer several weeks atleast before releasedate.

They announced that they are going to make it like GW1 in terms of not needing "top of the line" tech to be able to run it. So I highly, highly doubt windows 7 will be a requirement. When I say highly doubt, I mean there is literally a .0001% chance that it will be required.

Err why does everyone assume that win7 is on a top machine ?
I run win 7 and xp on this pc ( tricore ) but my wife also runs win7 on her machine which is a plain 3ghz p4 machine ( single core ).
The only thing i see that may affect xp and guildwars is - xp is no longer being supported by microsoft - its too old now and as usual ms want you to buy all the new stuff and upgrade.
Personally id upgrade the windows and go from there.

you're completely right. settings will be able to be edited. Software may have to be updated is all....like divx haha

Well if you like eye candy you might want dx10/11 support and XP does not have it. That also leads to the only reason xp does not work is that gw2 do not run on dx9 and frankly i'm more worried that gw2 won't use the new features of the dx10/11 platform. Since most users is still on XP and does not have dx10/11. More likely tho is that your XP computer is to slow to run it if you got a pc pre installed with XP.

We don't know, but I really doubt that GW2 will require Win7, but it might run better on it. At any rate, if your machine has enough RAM - 2 Gigs at least - you could simply install Win 7 if needed.
One thing though - it would be useful to check what hardware - video, audio, chipset - your laptop has, and check to see if there are Win7 drivers for it. If it's very generic, Win7 should come with basic drivers.

So, I'd say wait until GW2 is available - there will probably be a demo and you can see if, and how well, GW2 runs on your current setup before spending money on upgrades.
If you tell us the make and model number of the laptop, we may be able to tell you what hardware it contains (google search ) and what problems you might encounter.

On a side note, if you are a student you can check out this site.

https://www.dreamspark.com/default.aspx

With a valid student email address you can get cheap software. So that may help with the cost of upgrading to W7 if it is needed.

Also, if you are in college you can check to see if your school participates in the MSDNAA program offered by Microsoft. They offer some of there software free to students, including operating systems.

I know that doesn't offer an answer to your question but I figured if you are a student it would help with the cost of things.

EDIT:

Also, take note W8 was announced to come out in 2012 so if GW2 doesn't come out before then I would wait and just skip W7. Although, Microsoft has a history with releasing a great OS then a terrible one so W8 could be garbage.

The requirement of windows all depends on what Direct X version gw2 will use... according to Wiki the game will use Direct X 10 technologies but is not required... XP only goes up to Direct X 9.. so i assume since 10 is not required you will be able to run GW2 on XP just not in full graphic experience.

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Guild_Wars_2#Game_Engine

Windows 8 is coming out soon but that is for tablet PCs features and computers with ARM microprocessors it is not meant to replace windows 7.

Ok awesome.. there is hope

Please use Guild Wars 2 Guru for questions about GW2. There are few stickies in the Tech section on this very subject.