The Kinect for Windows SDK, as its name suggests, only runs in a Windows environment.
Specifically, it runs on x86 and x64 versions of Windows 7. Compatibility with Windows 8 has not been tested as of this writing. Because Kinect was designed for Xbox hardware, it requires roughly similar hardware on a PC to run effectively.
Hardware Requirements
- Dual-core, 2.66 GHz+ processor
- Dedicated USB 2.0 bus
- 4 GB RAM
- Kinect for Windows sensor, which includes special USB/power cabling
Software Requirements
- Microsoft .NET Framework 4
- Kinect for Windows SDK
- Microsoft Speech Platform SDK (x86)
- Kinect for Windows Language Pack (en-CA)