To XP or Not To XP, Microsoft That Is

by

Jim Malins



When you're thinking of upgrading your computer to Microsoft Office XP keep in mind there are differences between what constitutes "Recommended" vs. "Minimum" requirements. We suggest you consider three main areas before upgrading: Processor speed, Memory, and Hard drive space.

We recommend at least a Pentium III, with minimum 450 MHZ processor speed. Anything slower than that and you'll be waiting a lot. Also, the more programs you run concurrently should determine your processor speed selection. We also recommend you have Windows 2000 Professional as the operating system. That could change once Windows XP is released.

We recommend no less than 256 MB RAM. Calculate your RAM requirements based upon the number of programs you expect to run concurrently. If you approach or exceed the RAM limits for all the programs you are running, your system will seem sluggish. For individual program RAM requirements checkout Microsoft's website http://www.microsoft.com/office.

If you can get anything smaller than a 10 GB hard drive these days, don't try. Calculate the minimum size of your hard drive listing all the programs that you intend to load. A typical installation of Office XP Professional takes approximately 485 MB. A complete installation of Microsoft Office XP requires at least 1.4 GB of available hard drive space. A complete installation includes all components of Office XP Professional, and all media content files. Also make sure you allow yourself at least 300 to 500 MB hard drive space for Windows swap files.

System Requirements for Office XP



The recommended system configuration to use Microsoft Office XP is Microsoft Windows® 2000 Professional on a computer with a Pentium III processor and 256 MB of RAM.

Recommended Requirements

Computer/Processor Pentium III with a 450-megahertz (MHZ) or higher processor
Memory 256 MB RAM
Hard Disk Hard disk space requirements will vary depending on configuration; custom installation choices may require more or less:

Office XP Typical: 485 MB Hard Drive space

Office XP Complete: 1.4 GB Hard Drive space

Operating System Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me), Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 6 (SP6) or later, or Windows 2000 or later.
Drive CD-ROM drive
Display Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher-resolution monitor with 256 colors
Peripherals Microsoft Mouse, Microsoft IntelliMouse®, or compatible pointing device

Additional items or services required to use certain features:

  1. For multimedia and sound:
    1. Accelerated video card or MMX processor for improved graphics rendering
  1. For speech recognition (available for U.S. English, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese only):
    1. 128 MB of RAM or more
    2. Close-talk microphone and audio output device
    3. Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or later
  2. Microsoft Exchange, Internet SMTP/POP3, IMAP4, or other MAPI-compliant messaging software required to use e-mail
  3. Microsoft Exchange Server required for certain advanced collaboration functionality in Microsoft Outlook®
  4. Some Internet functionality may require Internet access and payment of a separate fee to a service provider; local or long-distance charges may apply
  5. 14,400 or higher-baud modem
  6. Graphics tablet recommended for handwriting-input features
  7. Microsoft Windows Media™ encoder-compatible video camera for broadcasts including video; Microsoft Exchange Chat server to enable chats during live broadcasts; Windows Media Server to enable multicasts of live broadcasts to more than 10 audience members
  8. 50 MB of additional hard disk space for each additional language interface installed
  9. To use Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer with the scroll wheel and all the programmable buttons, you also need:
    1. Microsoft IntelliPoint version 3.0 software
    2. Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT Workstation 4.0 with SP3 or later operating system
    3. 30 MB of available hard disk space
    4. Round mouse port (PS/2-compatible) or USB port (connection using USB port on a PC requires a computer running Windows 98)
    5. CD-ROM drive

For a more complete cross referencing, or if you need additional information you can get it at Microsoft's web site http://www.microsoft.com/office.