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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.
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2023) |
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.
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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.
| Version | Date |
|---|---|
| PC-97 | February 9, 1998 |
| PC-98 | December 31, 1998 |
| PC-99 | July 14, 1999 |
| PC 2001 | November 2, 2000 |
PC-97
Required:
- 120 MHz Pentium, MIPS R4x00, Digital Alpha 21064 (EV4) or IBM PowerPC architecture (latter three only under Windows NT)
- 16 MB RAM
Initial version.
- Introduced color code for PS/2 keyboard (purple) and PS/2 mouse (green) connectors
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:
- 200 MHz Pentium processor with MMX technology (or equivalent performance)
- 256 KB L2 cache
- 32 MB 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 Y2K compliance
- 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
- 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-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]
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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.
| Color / Pantone value | Function | Connector on PC | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mouse and keyboard | ||||
| Green / 3395C | PS/2 mouse / pointing device | 6-pin mini-DIN female | ||
| Purple / 2715C | PS/2 keyboard | |||
| Gold / 131C | Game port / MIDI | 15-pin D female | ||
| General input/output | ||||
| Black / 426C | USB 1 | USB Type A female | ||
| Grey / 424C | IEEE 1394 (FireWire) | 6-pin FireWire 400 | ||
| Burgundy / 235C | Parallel port | 25-pin D female | ||
| Teal or turquoise / 322C | Serial port | 9-pin D male | ||
| Video | ||||
| Blue / 661C | Analog monitor | 15-pin VGA female | ||
| White | Digital monitor | DVI female | ||
| Yellow / 123C | Video out: S-Video | 4-pin mini-DIN | ||
| Yellow / 123C | Video out: Composite video | RCA jack | ||
| Audio | ||||
| Pink / 701C | Analog microphone audio input (mono or stereo). | 3.5 mm TRS | ||
| Light blue / 284C | Analog line level audio input. | |||
| Lime green / 577C | Analog line level audio output. | |||
| Orange / 157C | Analog audio output for the center speaker and Subwoofer | |||
| Brown / 4645C | Analog audio output for "right-to-left" speakers. | |||
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- ATX
- Legacy-free PC
- Multimedia PC
- Sound card
- IBM PC–compatible
- PoweredUSB (proprietary high-power USB extension using other color-coded ports)
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