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.

Comments and questions about this column may be sent to jbrooks@myoldkentuckyhome.com, or visit www.myoldkentuckyhome.com on the World Wide Web.

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