Technical databse system network

For spreadsheets a machine needs a slightly more powerful CPU, plenty of memory and, if the spreadsheets involve a lot of computation (and not all do) a numeric co-processor. If presentation graphics are of interest then colour VGA is a good idea. Putting the word processing and spreadsheet requirements together gives the following profile.

	Demand or type
CPU	low to medium
BUS	ISA
RAM	medium
Expanded	medium
Disk speed	medium
Disk cache	no
RAM Drive	no
Disk capacity	medium
Video	VGA
Co-processor	possibly
Mouse	yes
Printer	any
Operating system	MS-DOS or Windows 3

As CPU use is low to medium a 386SX should be adequate. Memory requirements range from 1 MByte minimum to 2MBytes.

A slightly different situation arises if Windows is adopted. This has many advantages both for the beginner and the experienced user. It shield beginners from the difficulties of MS-DOS and, as long as they can copy with a mouse, reduces training time-especially if Windows applications such as Word for Windows and Excel are used. For the expert or skilled user the most important reason for using Windows is being able to run more than one application at a time and switch between them in an instant. The only additional requirement for Windows is an increase to 4 MBytes of extended memory and a preference for a Super VGA monitor.