Don't overlook hardware when upgrading to Windows 95
Sept.
14, 1997
By JIM BROOKS
My recent column about upgrading a PC's operating system to Microsoft
Windows 95 spurred a number of e-mail questions about the other
half of the upgrade equation: What about the hardware?
The minimum hardware configuration listed for running Windows 95
is a "PC with 386DX or higher processor, 4 MB or memory (8
MB or more recommended), 45 MB of hard disk space" as well
as a mouse, an existing DOS operating system and at least VGA-graphics
capability.
But is upgrading that aging 386 hardware a wise investment?
According to Steve Arnold, the technology coordinator for the Bardstown
City Schools, it depends on what you expect from it.
Arnold says he has successfully run Win95 on 386s and slower 486-processor
PCs with 8 MB of memory. This configuration will run 16-bit applications,
which are those intended to for the Windows 3.1x operating systems.
But the more powerful 32-bit applications -- those specifically
designed for Windows 95 -- perform poorly on older PCs running Win95,
he said.
He recommends users have at least a 75 MHz-speed Pentium processor
PC with 16 MB of RAM in order to be able to use all the features
Windows 95 has to offer.
Hardware upgrades aren't for the inexperienced, he said. "Unless
you are capable of doing the upgrade yourself and don't want the
best group of configured components, don't do it," he said.
"If the machine is more than 2-3 years old then any upgrade
will be difficult at best and the price will be getting dangerously
near the point you will think you should have just gone and put
it all toward a new machine," he said.
Upgrading may require a host of new components, including motherboard
and CPU, video card or hard drive. "About the only thing left
is the case, power supply and keyboard," he said.
With complete Pentium 166MHz systems available for $1499 and other
clones for even less, Arnold said it really becomes hard to recommend
upgrading older computers.
For new computer buyers, Arnold considers a Pentium 166 with 16
or 32 aMB of RAM and a 2.5 GB hard drive a good entry-level computer.
SOLD! The long-awaited sale of CompuServe was announced
last Monday.
The $1.2 billion agreement reshapes the world of online services,
an industry that CompuServe actually pioneered.
The deal will carve up CompuServe Corp. between America Online
and WorldCom Inc.
AOL will combine CompuServe's 2.6 million subscribers with its
own 9 million subscrber base. The company also receives CompuServe's
overseas subscribers, a market AOL had been hoping to build.
AOL said it will operate CompuServe as a seperate service.
WorldCom takes CompuServe's commerical business. WorldCom owns
Uunet, and is focusing on commerical Internet access and network
sevices.
As part of the deal, AOL is selling its network services company,
ANS Communications to WorldCom. AOL also has signed a contract with
WorldCom for network services, meaning better access for its expanded
customer base.
The agreement will mean AOL will have a total of about 650,000
modems in place by the end of the year, which was triple the number
they had last January.
The deal must get the approval the U.S. Justice Department.
MAC ATTACK PART II. Motorola announced Thursday that it
was ending its development of Macintosh clone computers.
The announcement comes after a formal shift in Apple Computer policy
on licensing rights to build clones of its popular Macintosh computers.
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who has been steering the company
while a new chief executive is recruited, has called licensing the
Mac operating system a mistake.
Mac clones have not created a larger base of Macintoshes, but instead
have erroded Apple's sales.
Motorola officials blamed their decision on Apple's recent moves
to phase out future licensing deals.
IBM also has a license for the Mac operating sytem, and rumors
are that it will make a similar announcement in the near future.
IBM doesn't manufacture clones, but sub-licenses the rights to
two Asian computer companies.
|