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PC System Design Guide

The PC System Design Guide (also known as the PC-97, PC-98, PC-99, or PC 2001 specification) is a series of hardware design requirements and recommendations for IBM PC compatible personal computers, compiled by Microsoft and Intel Corporation during 1997–2001. They were aimed at helping manufacturers provide hardware that made the best use of the capabilities of the Microsoft Windows operating system, and to simplify setup and use of such computers.

Every part of a standard computer and the most common kinds of peripheral devices are defined with specific requirements. Systems and devices that meet the specification should be automatically recognized and configured by the operating system.

Versions

Four versions of the PC System Design Guide were released. In PC-97, a distinction was made between the requirements of a Basic PC, a Workstation PC and an Entertainment PC. In PC-98, the Mobile PC was added as a category. In PC 2001, the Entertainment PC was dropped.

PC-97

Required:

Initial version.

PC-98

(Not to be confused with NEC's incompatible PC-98 series)

Aimed at systems to be used with Windows 98 or Windows 2000. Required:

It was published as ISBN 1-57231-716-7.

PC-99

Required:

Strongly discouraged:

It was published as ISBN 0-7356-0518-1.

PC 2001

Required:

Final version. First to require IO-APICs to be enabled on all desktop systems. Places a greatly increased emphasis on legacy-reduced and legacy-free systems. Some "legacy" items such as ISA expansion slots and device dependence on MS-DOS are forbidden entirely, while others are merely strongly discouraged.[1]

PC 2001 removes compatibility for the A20 line: "If A20M# generation logic is still present in the system, this logic must be terminated such that software writes to I/O port 92, bit 1, do not result in A20M# being asserted to the processor."[2]

Color-coding scheme for connectors and ports

Color coded sound card connector on a Sound Blaster
Color-coded motherboard ATX connectors

Perhaps the most end-user visible and lasting impact of PC 99 was that it introduced a color code for the various standard types of plugs and connectors used on PCs.[3] As many of the connectors look very similar, particularly to a novice PC user, this made it far easier for people to connect peripherals to the correct ports on a PC. This color code was gradually adopted by almost all PC and motherboard manufacturers. Some of the color codes have also been widely adopted by peripheral manufacturers.

See also

References

  1. ^ Robert Bruce Thompson; Barbara Fritchman Thompson (24 July 2003). PC Hardware in a Nutshell (3rd ed.). O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. p. 1.1 PCs Defined. ISBN 0-596-00513-X. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
  2. ^ "Chapter 3 PC System". PC 2001 System Design Guide (PDF). Intel Corporation and Microsoft Corporation. p. 52. Retrieved 2023-06-03. SYS–0047. A20M# is always de-asserted (pulled high) at the processor
  3. ^ PC 99 System Design Guide, Intel Corporation and Microsoft Corporation, 14 July 1999. Chapter 3: PC 99 basic requirements (PC 99 System Design Guide (Self-extracting .exe archive). Requirement 3.18.3: Systems use a color-coding scheme for connectors and ports. Accessed 2009-02-05

External links

PDF versions: