Intel and Microsoft would like to thank the many individuals and companies who contributed comments and content to the drafts of the PC 98 System Design Guide. The ample feedback was very consistent and few major issues were raised with the document. Both this site and the Microsoft site now contain Version 1.0 for downloading. As always, feel free to send comments to PC98@intel.com or PC98@microsoft.com. We encourage and welcome this communication. Comments and input received will be considered for FAQ's, which will be posted at the Intel and Microsoft web sites, or as inputs for PC 99.

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These files are in Adobe* Acrobat* PDF format, and are bookmarked for easy reference.

PC 98 System Design Guide Size: 3,295,055

Below are the individual chapters of the PC 98 System Design Guide.

Introduction: Welcome

Part I: System Design Issues

Chapter 1, PC 98 Design Issues
Chapter 2, PC 98 Design Initiatives

Chapter 3, Basic PC 98
Chapter 4, Workstation PC 98
Chapter 5, Entertainment PC 98
Chapter 6, Mobile PC 98

Chapter 7, USB
Chapter 8, IEEE 1394
Chapter 9, PCI
Chapter 10, IDE and ATAPI
Chapter 11, SCSI
Chapter 12, PC Card

Chapter 13, I/O Ports and Devices
Chapter 14, Graphics Adapters
Chapter 15, Video and Broadcast Components
Chapter 16, Monitors
Chapter 17, Audio Components
Chapter 18, Storage and Related Peripherals
Chapter 19, Modems
Chapter 20, Network Communications
Chapter 21, Printers
Chapter 22, Scanners and Digital Cameras

Appendix A, Icons
Appendix B, Device Identifiers
Appendix C, Accessibility
Appendix D, Legacy Support
Appendix E, Network PC System Design Guidelines, Version 1.0b
Appendix F, PC 98 Master Checklist
Hardware Glossary
Index

PC 98 Design Guide goals include the following:

• Advance the quality of PC hardware, firmware, and device drivers by encouraging PC hardware platform initiatives and technical capabilities. This will result in improved user satisfaction and will contribute to market segment growth.
• Ensure the availability of lower-cost PCs via informed hardware/software tradeoff decisions.
• Encourage innovation, so manufacturers and designers can pursue new solutions and advances in system design. The PC 98 System Design Guide enables new users and new PC use by encouraging new platform types and models.

PC 98 offers guidelines for achieving the following:

• Systems that support visual computing through balanced CPU-memory design, new graphics and video device capabilities, DVD, scanners and digital cameras, and other devices.
• Systems that take advantage of the new capabilities available in the next versions of Windows* and Windows NT.*
• Systems that support OnNow power management, including the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) specification, Plug and Play device configuration, and power management in PC systems.

Key additions to the PC 98 Design Guide include:

• Mobile platforms
  The different design optimizations for a mobile PC system, where the design focus is on portability and battery life, are now highlighted in a separate section. A mini-notebook system type is introduced.
  
  
• Graphics adapters
  2-D and 3-D acceleration are refined for PC 98, and new topics are introduced for supporting accelerated graphics port (AGP) for improved display of video playback.
  
  
• Video, Still image and broadcast capabilities
  To take advantage of new video and other imaging support in Windows and in new hardware, the design guide highlights MPEG-2 playback, data transfer and playback quality, digital TV, and digital satellite TV.
  
  
• Audio
  The design guide audio chapter differentiates performance expectations for consumer vs. business audio, including digital output readiness and new performance metrics.
  
  
• Storage
  The design guide completes the migration to bus master support for all controllers and devices. Other changes clarify implementation issues for DVD, emphasizing the importance of bus mastering and the migration from ISA to IEEE 1394 for storage.
  
  
• Modems
  The design guide enables PCs to keep current with new modem technology, including universal serial bus (USB) controller-less and software modems, and to migrate modems off the ISA bus.
  
  
• Network communications
  The design guide also covers networking advances, requiring all network devices to be implemented with NDIS 5.0 drivers and new Windows 95-style INF files. In addition, the guide discusses how to support new "push" technologies. A PC 98 system that uses a network adapter as a boot device to support installing the operating system must have a network adapter compatible with new remote system setup capabilities defined in the Network PC (Net PC) System Design Guidelines developed by Compaq, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, and Microsoft.