Hardware Requirements

When choosing where to deploy Windows 95 and Windows NT Workstation, you must make sure that destination computers meet the hardware requirements for the operating system they will be using. Also, make sure that the operating system provides support for all of the hardware devices (such as video cards, network adapters, etc.) being used on the destination computer. In many cases, your existing hardware inventory will determine where each operating system is deployed.

Windows 95 is designed to have less demanding hardware requirements, and will work very well with existing hardware. You can run Windows 95 on a computer with the following minimum hardware configuration:

• 386DX or higher processor

• 4 MB of memory (8 MB recommended)

• 35–40 MB of free hard disk space

• VGA or higher resolution graphics card

Windows NT Workstation 4.0 has higher hardware requirements for Intel-based platforms:

• 486/33 or higher processor

• 12 MB of memory (16 MB recommended)

• 120 MB of free disk space

• CD-ROM drive (or access to CD-ROM drive over the network)

• VGA or higher resolution graphics card

Windows NT Workstation also supports symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) configurations and RISC-based platforms such as MIPS, Alpha, and the PowerPC.

Windows 95 provides a broader set of device driver support. Check the Windows NT Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) to ensure that Windows NT drivers exist for all of your devices.