PC System Design Guide: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 14:02, 5 December 2007

Latest revision as of 22:11, 17 July 2025

(186 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)

Line 1:

{{More citations needed|date=April 2023}}

The Microsoft PC''XX'' standard is a set of design requirements and recommendations assembled by Microsoft and Intel and aimed at simplifying setup and use of Personal computers by maximizing cooperation between the operating system and hardware.

{{Short description|Series of hardware design requirements and recommendations}}

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 computer]]s, 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.

== PC97 ==

'''Color code'''

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Version

! colspan="2" | Color

! Date

! Description

|-

| PC-97

| February 9, 1998

|-

| PC-98

| December 31, 1998

|-

| PC-99

|style="background:#d0a0ff"| 

| July 14, 1999

| Purple

| Keyboard

|-

| PC 2001

|style="background:#00DD77"| 

| November 2, 2000

| Green

| Mouse

|}

===PC-97===

The various requirements and recommendations of the PC '97 standard were augmented or superseded in turn by the requirements and recommendations of the PC 98, PC 99 and PC 2001 standards.

Required:

* 120 MHz [[Pentium (original)|Pentium]], MIPS [[R4000|R4x00]], Digital [[Alpha 21064]] (EV4) or [[PowerPC|IBM PowerPC]] architecture (latter three only under [[Windows NT]])

* 16 MB RAM

Initial version.

== PC99 ==

* Introduced color code for [[PS/2 keyboard]] (purple) and [[PS/2 mouse]] (green) connectors

===PC-98===

The most lasting impact of PC 99 was that it set out the [[color code]] for the various standard types of plugs and connectors used on PCs. 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, [[PC motherboard|motherboard]] and peripheral manufacturers.

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

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

'''Color Codes'''

* 200 MHz Pentium processor with [[MMX (instruction set)|MMX]] technology (or equivalent performance)

* 256 KB [[L2 cache]]

* 32 MB [[Random-access memory|RAM]] (recommended: 64 MB of 66 MHz DRAM)

* [[ACPI]] 1.0 (including power button behavior)

* Fast [[BIOS]] power-up (limited RAM test, no floppy test, minimal startup display, etc.)

* BIOS [[Year 2000 problem|Y2K]] compliance

* [[Preboot Execution Environment|PXE]] preboot environment

It was published as {{ISBN|1-57231-716-7}}.

===PC-99===

Required:

* 300 MHz CPU

* 64 MB RAM

* [[USB]]

* Comprehensive color-coding scheme for ports and connectors (see below)

Strongly discouraged:

* Non [[plug-and-play]] hardware

* [[Industry Standard Architecture|ISA]] slots

It was published as {{ISBN|0-7356-0518-1}}.

===PC 2001===

Required:

* 667 MHz CPU

* 64 MB RAM

Final version. First to require IO-[[Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller|APIC]]s to be enabled on all desktop systems. Places a greatly increased emphasis on legacy-reduced and [[legacy-free PC|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.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.freeopenbook.com/pc-hardware-nutshell-3/pchardnut3-chp-1-sect-1.html |access-date=January 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711032416/http://www.freeopenbook.com/pc-hardware-nutshell-3/pchardnut3-chp-1-sect-1.html |archive-date=July 11, 2011|isbn=0-596-00513-X|page=1.1 PCs Defined|edition=3rd|title=PC Hardware in a Nutshell|publisher=O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.|author=Robert Bruce Thompson |author2=Barbara Fritchman Thompson |date=24 July 2003 }}</ref>

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."<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.tech-insider.org/windows/research/acrobat/001102/03sys-2001.pdf |publisher=Intel Corporation and Microsoft Corporation. |title=PC 2001 System Design Guide |chapter=Chapter 3 PC System |quote=SYS–0047. A20M# is always de-asserted (pulled high) at the processor |page=52 |access-date=2023-06-03 }}</ref>

== Color-coding scheme for connectors and ports ==

[[File:Soundblasterlive1024 2connectors.png|thumb|Color coded [[sound card]] connector on a [[Sound Blaster]]]]

{{multiple image

| total_width = 230

| direction = vertical

| image1 = Shuttle XS29F - Backview (3565351519).jpg

| image2 = Mini-itx-motherboard.jpg

| footer = Color-coded motherboard [[ATX#Connectors|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.<ref>[http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/archive/pcguides.mspx PC 99 System Design Guide], Intel Corporation and Microsoft Corporation, 14 July 1999. Chapter 3: PC 99 basic requirements ([http://download.microsoft.com/download/win2000pro/PCG/1.0/NT5/EN-US/pc99v1a.exe PC 99 System Design Guide (Self-extracting .exe archive)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070216004214/http://download.microsoft.com/download/win2000pro/PCG/1.0/NT5/EN-US/pc99v1a.exe |date=2007-02-16 }}. Requirement 3.18.3: Systems use a color-coding scheme for connectors and ports. Accessed 2009-02-05</ref> 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.

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! colspan="2" | Color / [[Pantone|Pantone value]] !! Function !! Connector on PC

|-

! colspan="5" | [[MouseComputer (computing)mouse|Mouse]] and [[Computer keyboard|keyboard]]

|-

! style="background-color: #00DD7700c389;" | &nbsp;&nbsp;

! [[Green]] / 3395C

| [[PS/2 connectorport|PS/2]] [[MouseComputer (computing)mouse|mouse]] / [[pointing device]]

| rowspan="2" | 6-pin [[Mini-DIN connector|mini-DIN]] female

|-

! style="background-color: #d0a0ff8b84d7;" | &nbsp;

! [[Purple]] / 2715C

| PS/2 [[Computer keyboard|keyboard]]

| 6 pin mini-DIN

|-

! style="background-color: #cc8a00;" | &nbsp;

! colspan="5" | [[Input/output|I/O]] [[Computer port (hardware)|Ports]]

! [[Gold (color)|Gold]] / 131C

| [[Game port]] / [[MIDI]]

| 15-pin D female

|-

! colspan="5" | General [[input/output]]

! style="background-color: black;" | &nbsp;

! Black

| [[USB]] port

| [[USB]] Type A

|-

! style="background-color: grey#25282a;" | &nbsp;

! Grey[[Black]] / 426C

| [[Universal Serial Bus#USB 1|USB]] 1

| [[Firewire|Firewire / IEEE 1394]]

| USB Type A female

| 6 pin FireWire 400

|-

! style="background-color: #f040a0707372;" | &nbsp;

! Magenta[[Grey]] / 424C

| [[IEEE 1394]] (FireWire)

| 6-pin FireWire 400

|-

! style="background-color: #840b55;" | &nbsp;

! [[Burgundy (color)|Burgundy]] / 235C

| [[Parallel port]]

| 25 -pin [[D-subminiature|D]] female

|-

! style="background-color: turquoise#007377;" | &nbsp;

! [[Teal]] or [[Turquoise (color)|turquoise]] / 322C

| [[Serial port]]

| 9 -pin [[D-subminiature|D]] male

|-

! colspan="5" | [[Video card|Video]]

|-

! style="background-color: blue#003594;" | &nbsp;

! [[Blue]] / 661C

| Analog [[VGA]]monitor

| [[VGA connector|15-pin VGA]] female

|-

! style="background-color: white;" | &nbsp;

! [[White ]]

| Digital monitor

| [[Digital Visual Interface|DVI]] female

|-

! style="background-color: yellow#ffc72c;" | &nbsp;

! [[Yellow]] / 123C

| Video out: [[S-Video]]

| 4 -pin [[Mini-DIN connector|mini-DIN]]

|-

! style="background-color: yellow#ffc72c;" | &nbsp;

! [[Yellow]] / 123C

| Video out: [[Composite video]]

| [[RCA connector|RCA jack]]

|-

! colspan="5" | [[Sound card|Audio]]

|-

! style="background-color: pink#e68699;" | &nbsp;

! [[Pink]] / 701C

| Analog [[microphone]] audio input (mono or stereo).

| rowspan="5" | 3.5 &nbsp;mm [[TRSPhone connector (audio)|TRS]]

|-

! style="background-color: lightblue#6cace4;" | &nbsp;

! Light [[blue]] / 284C

| Analog [[line level]] audio input.

| 3.5 mm [[TRS connector|TRS]]

|-

! style="background-color: palegreen#a9c47f;" | &nbsp;

! [[Lime (color)|Lime green]] / 577C

| Analog line level audio output for the main stereo signal (front speakers or headphones).

| 3.5 mm [[TRS connector|TRS]]

|-

! style="background-color: brown#eca154;" | &nbsp;

! [[Orange (colour)|Orange]] / 157C

! Brown

| Analog line level audio output for 'Right-to-leftthe center speaker'. and [[Subwoofer]]

| 3.5 mm [[TRS connector|TRS]]

|-

! style="background-color: orange#ad7c59;" | &nbsp;

! [[Brown]] / 4645C

! Orange

| [[S/PDIF]] digitalAnalog audio output for "right-to-left" speakers.

| 3.5 mm [[TRS connector|TRS]]

|-

! style="background-color: gold;" | &nbsp;

! Gold

| center speaker and [[subwoofer]]

| 3.5 mm [[TRS connector|TRS]]

|-

! style="background-color: gold;" | &nbsp;

! Gold

| [[Game port]] / [[MIDI]]

| 15-pin [[D-sub]]

|}

==See also==

* [[ATX]]

* [[Legacy-free PC]]

* [[Multimedia PC]]

* [[Sound card]]

* [[IBM PC–compatible]]

* [[PoweredUSB]] (proprietary high-power USB extension using other color-coded ports)

==References==

<references/>

==External links==

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20141127014030/http://www.microsoft.com/whdcen-us/systemdownload/platform/pcdesign/desguide/pcguidesdetails.mspxaspx?id=34585 Microsoft -Legacy PC System Design Guide DownloadsGuides] – Microsoft Download Center

*[http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/ Microsoft - WHDC]

'''PDF versions:'''

[[Category:Standards]]

*[http://tech-insider.org/windows/research/1997/0711.html PC-97 System Design Guide]

[[Category:IBM PC compatibles]]

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160303173857/http://www-pc.uni-regensburg.de/hardware/TECHDOK/Pc98.pdf PC-98 System Design Guide]

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930060636/http://www-pc.uni-regensburg.de/hardware/TECHDOK/PC_99_1.pdf PC-99 System Design Guide]

*[http://tech-insider.org/windows/research/2000/1102.html PC 2001 System Design Guide]

{{Audio and video interfaces and connectors}}

{{microcompu-stub}}

{{compu-hardware-stub}}

[[Category:Color codes]]

{{standard-stub}}

[[Category:Computer standards]]

[[Category:IBM PC compatibles]]