Welcome

This guide is for engineers who build personal computers, expansion cards, and peripheral devices that will be used with the Microsoft® Windows® 98 and Windows NT® version 5.0 operating systems. The goal of this document is to provide hardware design guidelines that will result in the optimal user experience, particularly when the hardware is used with the Windows family of operating systems.

This guide is co-authored by Intel Corporation and Microsoft Corporation, with contributions by Compaq Computer Corporation. The requirements and recommendations in this guide outline features that the hardware industry should consider in designing PCs and peripherals for various price levels and performance levels.

The clarifications, changes, and additional requirements in this guide define the PC 98 requirements for 1998–99 in the way that PC 97 Hardware Design Guide (Microsoft Press, 1996; ISDN 1-57231-381-1) defined the PC 97 requirements for 1997–98.

This guide includes PC 98 requirements for basic consumer and office implementations, such as desktop, mobile, and workstation systems, and for Entertainment PCs. In this guide, the following requirements are defined:

• Design requirements for specific types of systems that will run either Windows 98 or Windows NT operating systems
  
  
• Design requirements related to the OnNow design initiative, including requirements related to the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) specification, Plug and Play device configuration, and power management in PC systems
  
  
• New manageability requirements that focus on improving Windows 98 and Windows NT, with the end goal of reducing total cost of ownership (TCO) by providing support for maximum automation of administrative tasks using centralized control and maximum flexibility
  
  
• Clarifications and additional design requirements for devices supported under Windows 98 and Windows NT, including new graphics and video device capabilities, DVD, scanners and digital cameras, and other devices

  This book does not address PC systems designed to act as servers in networked environments. It also does not address non-PC handheld computers running on the Microsoft Windows CE operating system.

  Important: The system requirements defined in this document provide guidelines for designing PC systems that deliver an enhanced user experience when implemented with Windows 98 and Windows NT operating systems. These design requirements are not related to the minimum, most-optimal, or best system requirements for running the Windows family of operating systems. For information about minimum system requirements, see the web site at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/.