Volume 2, Issue 10

 Downloadable Version (.pdf format)

October, 2003
In this edition:
TECH ALERT!  Recent Drivers, Updates and Tech Issues
Each Month ASI Tech Support will bring you tech alerts so you can stay ahead of the competition.
Tech FAQs / Advice
USR Modem Drivers (ASI SKU#23994) - These bulk drivers do not come with drivers and the wrong ones were posted on the USR OEM webpage.  Solution:  NEW #3090 Modem Drivers!

Problem: Intel SE7501HG2 combined with Intel SRCZCR.  This combination of parts has an issue with Windows Server 2003 std. Upon loading the OS, it will lock-up after around 33 to 35 minutes during the last part of installation. Solution: Update the controller firmware by going to this page.

Problem: When utilizing the onboard RAID function on SE7501HG2, only using a single channel A, the Adaptec BIOS will see your RAID array, and you can still set your RAID up. However, she will not see your raid even if you load Adaptec RAID driver. If you load the SCSI driver. she will see your hard disk individually.  Solution: Populate channel B. instead of channel A.  Channel B is the primary channel on 7501 series motherboards.
Problem: Some customers with Adaptec Ultra320 cards, specifically the 29320LP-R, 29320-R, 39320D-R, 39320-R, 2120S and 2200S and running Ultra320 hard drives have reported experiencing time out and bus reset errors. These errors are occurring often on the U320 RAID and SCSI Cards when Seagate Hard drives are attached. For more information, please refer to Adaptec official website: http://adaptec-tic.adaptec.com
ASUS Motherboards with 3COM Ethernet controller onboard

Q: My network connection of the onboard 3COM LAN controller works just fine.  But why does it fail after I installed TrendMicro PC-Cillin 2003?

A: The network connection failure is caused by malfunction of the software firewall built in PC-Cillin 2003 anti-virus software. To fix the problem, you have to get an updated version of a system file named TM_CFW.sys from TrendMicro, and overwrite the original file in C:\WINNT\system32\drivers(Windows 2000 users) or C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers(Windows XP users). The network connection will be recovered after the system is restarted. The updated version of the system file named TM_CFW.sys can be downloaded from the following webpage:
 http://www.trendmicro.com.tw/support/downloads/pc-cillin/tool/pcc2003/tm_cfw.sys
Warning: SKU # 16453 460W PS- This power supply is ONLY to be used for Tyan 2462 and Tyan 2468 motherboards, if used on a Intel XEON board it will most likely permanently damage the motherboard.
Installation Advice: Intel S875WPD1 motherboard (ASI SKU#20647/20648) with Intel SATA RAID function onboard (using Adaptec controller firmware).  You must follow exact procedure for this to work correctly when using RAID O or 1 function.  First run the SATA_RAID program and follow all instructions here Enabling RAID function on Intel 875WP1E:   Next create the RAID array and instruct it to “initialize” the array (not build) or else the array will not function.  This initialization can take some time when using very large SATA hard drives.  If you do not do this the two drives in the array will not appear as a single drive in Windows Operating System as they are supposed to.
AMD Athlon 64
 
 It was January of this year when we first posted an article about AMD's Athlon 64 CPU, then referred to as the Hammer. The article went on to detail information on the new integrated controller, the various flavors of the Opteron and Hammer CPU and gave you a peek at what you could expect from them. Two days after the newsletter was posted, AMD delayed the CPU.
 
  It's taken an additional 8+ months, but we finally have seen the Athlon 64 enter the market. September 23rd AMD released the Athlon 64 CPU. The initial offering is at a PR of 3200+ but the CPU itself actually runs at an approximate 2GHz. Following AMD's logic and marketing for the past few years, this will undoubtedly be deemed a non-issue and fall into their "MHz. Myth" campaign.

  Possibly due to the delay in the initial processor, or maybe just as an extra bonus, AMD has given us two new CPUs on this release date, the Athlon 64 and the Athlon 64 FX. It came as quite a shock when this was released, as we had seen no prior information about this new processor, and we were sent scrambling for data to give to our sales force. The differences can be seen in the chart below, but let's take a quick rundown of what the differences are between these 2 new processors. The Athlon 64 FX is basically a stripped down Opteron 1-way server CPU. As with the 100 series of the Opteron CPU's, the Athlon 64 can not be run in multi-processor environments. It is based on the same 940 pin socket package as the standard Opteron, has the same 128 bit integrated built-in memory controller, and can run on many of  the same motherboards as the standard Opteron. Where they primarily differ is in the HyperTransport link. The Opteron has 3 HyperTransport links to the Athlon 64 FX's 1 link. This accounts for the 754 pins on the Athlon 64, less data transfer due to the missing 2 HyperTransport links. Since the Athlon 64 is targeted at gamers and the high end desktop market, it can use standard unbuffered memory (DDR400/333/266/200) and does not need ECC Registered RAM like the Opteron boards. The CPU's are also tested to different electrical specifications, probably due to the Opteron being targeted at servers and the Athlon 64 FX being targeted at gamers and high performance desktop systems.

Athlon Comparison Chart

Characteristic Athlon 64 FX Athlon 64 Athlon XP
Socket 940 754 A
Production technology 0.13µm SOI 0.13µm SOI 0.13µm
Housing Ceramic Organic Organic
Heat Spreader Yes Yes No
Transistors 105,9 million 105,9 million 54,3 million
L1 Cache 128 KB 128 KB 128 KB
L2 Cache 1 MB 1 MB 512 KB
Size 193 mm˛ 193 mm˛ 101 mm˛ bar clay/tone
84 mm˛ Thoroughbred b
Processor Voltage 1.5V 1.5V 1.5 - 1.65V
64-bit Support Yes Yes No
32-bit Support Yes Yes Yes
Multimedia Extensions 3DNow! Professional/SSE/SSE2 3DNow! Professional/SSE/SSE2 3DNow! Professional/SSE
Integrated Northbridge Yes
128-bit data path with full processor clock		 Yes
128-bit data path with full processor clock		 No
64-bit data path over FSB
Memory Controller Yes
128-bit & 16-bit ECC		 Yes
64-bit & 8-bit ECC		 No
Memory CONTROLLER integrates in the Main board chip set
Memory Type Registered:
DDR200/266/333/400		 Unbuffered
DDR200/266/333/400		 Main-board-chip-sentence-dependently
System bus technology Hyper-Transport technology
Full duplex, Independent		 Hyper-Transport technology
Full duplex, Independent		 Front Side bus
Single duplex, Bi-directional one
Ranges Hypertechnology:
6,4 GB/s with 1.6 GHz clock
Memory range:
6,4 GB/s with DDR400		 Hypertechnology:
6,4 GB/s with 1.6 GHz clock
Memory range:
3,4 GB/s with DDR400		 3,2 GB/s with 200 MHz FSB and DDR400

 

The primary focus of this article is actually the Athlon 64 in it's original form, not in it's enhanced FX design, so let's get to it. The Athlon 64 is AMD's first endeavor into 64-bit desktop computing. By bringing a 64-bit CPU to the market with full compatability with 32-bit software, AMD is establishing itself in an excellent position for future software technology. 64-bit technology is slow in coming to the desktop market, but rest assured, it is coming. 64-bit technology allows for applications requiring multi-processor scalability, larger addressable memory, video/audio/3D processing, and high computational accuracy.

Currently there are not many operating systems that take advantage of 64-bit processing. Microsoft has announced development of their 64-bit version of Windows for server and desktop, SuSE Linux already has their 64-bit OS up and running in the market. Due to the Athlon 64s backwards compatability, it also supports all current x86 operating systems such as Windows, Linux, and NetBSD. With the variety of software becoming aware of the 64-bit hardware coming into the market, we will undoubtedly see a boom in software development in this direction.

The packaging for the Athlon 64 CPU is the now standard AMD plastic box which contains the CPU, heatsink w/fan, heatsink mount, Athlon 64 sticker, and installation and authenticity certificates. The heatsink that is packaged with the Athlon 64 is all aluminum, this should be sufficient for the CPU due to the fairly low speed that the CPU operates at (2GHz.).

Motherboard Support

Asi is currently selling two motherboards which are designed for the Athlon 64, the ASUS K8V-DX and the MSI K8T-NEO-FIS2R. Please see below for specs and features.
 
ASUS K8V-DX  -  ASI SKU 23220
CPU Support: AMD Athlon 64
System Bus: Scalable HyperTransport
Chipset: VIA K8T800, VIA VT8237
Memory: 3x184-pin DIMM, Supports 3GB unbuffered ECC and Non-ECC PC3200/PC2700/PC2100 DDR SDRAM
Expansion Slots: 1x AGP 8X, 5x PCI, 1x WiFi Slot
Storage: South Bridge - 2x ATA133, 2x SATA (RAID 0, 1), Promise RAID controller - 1x UDMA133 (2 drives), 2x SATA (RAID 0, 1, 0+1)
Audio: ADI AD1980, 6 Channel CODEC, S/PDIF out
LAN: 3COM 3C940 Gb Ethernet LAN
IEEE1394: VIA VT6307 controller with 2 IEEE1394 ports
USB: 8 USB 2.0 ports
Back Panel I/O Ports: 1x serial, 4x USB, 1x Parallel, 1xRJ45, 1x IEEE1394, 1x PS/2 Keyboard, 1x PS/2 Mouse, 1x Audio I/O, 1x SPDIF Out
Internal I/O Connectors: 2x USB 2.0, 20-pin ATX power, 4-pin ATX 12V power, CPU/chassis/Power Fan, COM 2, CD/AUX audio in, IEEE1394, Game port, SPDIF_OUT
Form Factor: ATX 12"x9.6" (30.5cm x 24.5cm)
 
MSI K8T NEO-FIS2R  -  ASI SKU 23257
CPU Support: AMD Athlon 64
System Bus: Scalable HyperTransport
Chipset: VIA K8T800, VIA VT8237
Memory: 3x184-pin DIMM, Supports 2GB unbuffered ECC and Non-ECC PC3200/PC2700/PC2100 DDR SDRAM
Expansion Slots: 1x AGP 8X, 5x PCI
Storage: South Bridge - 2x ATA133, 2x SATA (RAID 0, 1), Promise RAID controller - 1x UDMA133 (2 drives), 2x SATA (RAID 0, 1, 0+1)
Audio: RealTek ALC655, 6 Channel CODEC, AC'97 v2.3 spec. compliant
LAN: RealTek 8110S Gb Ethernet LAN
IEEE1394: VIA VT6307 controller with 2 IEEE1394 ports
USB: 8 USB 2.0 ports
Back Panel I/O Ports: 1x serial, 4x USB, 1x Parallel, 1xRJ45, 1x IEEE1394, 1x PS/2 Keyboard, 1x PS/2 Mouse
Internal I/O Connectors: 4x USB 2.0, 20-pin ATX power, 4-pin ATX 12V power, CPU/chassis/Power Fan, COM 2, CD/AUX audio in, IEEE1394, Game port, SPDIF_OUT
Form Factor: ATX 12"x9.6" (30.5cm x 24.5cm)
 
Hard Drive Technologies

Choosing the Right Hard Drive

When building or selling computer systems your customers depend on you to choose the right storage solutions.  Choosing the right hard drives is very critical because it affects both system performance and the integrity of the user’s valuable data.  Here is an overview of the most important technologies available today.

Hard Drive Interfaces

PATA (Parallel ATA) – This is the standard IDE parallel data interface that has been used on PCs for almost 20 years and which has seen some improvements recently with the move up to ATA133 (133 Megahertz) bus speeds with the help of 80-line ribbon cables.  Even with the ultra cables PATA technology suffers from the inability to go to higher bus speeds due to problems with high-frequency cross-talk.

SATA (Serial ATA) – Serial ATA is the next generation IDE communication interface and uses a single device per cable.  The technology draws its name from the way it transmits signals in a single stream (serially) compared with the multiple streams found in parallel technology. The current generation SATA drives are version 1.0 and work at 150MB/sec, support hot-swap, plug and play, and requires no jumpers.  Each SATA drive is attached to the controller using a single thin cable so devices do not share the bus.  SATA specification 2.0 (to be released over the next couple years) will run at speeds of 300MB/sec  plus add additional advanced features to the ones in the SATA 1.0 specification.  For more info go to this page: Serial ATA (IDE) FAQ.s

SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) – The SCSI standard has greatly evolved over time to the current Ultra320 standard that allows up to 15 drives on a single channel using 320MB/sec bus speeds.  SCSI is typically very fast and a perfect solution for server systems that need a large amount of very reliable storage.  Current drives SCSI use 68-pin connectors, but hot-swap SCSI drives use a special 80-pin connector called SCA (Single Connector Attachment).  Hot swapping allows you to change the drive with the system power on.

SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) – SAS is the next evolution of SCSI beyond Ultra320.  It leverages the power of serial communication bus/protocol like SATA to increase performance.  SAS is not yet on the market but will offer many features not found in today's mainstream storage solutions. These include drive addressability of up to 16,256 devices per port, plus reliable point-to-point serial connections at speeds of up to 3G bps.  SAS drives will also use the same internal data and power interfaces as SATA.  In addition, the similar SAS and SATA physical interfaces enable a new universal SAS backplane that provides connectivity to both SAS drives and SATA drives. This eliminates the need for separate SCSI and ATA drive backplanes.  For more info see: http://www.scsita.org/aboutscsi/sas/tutorials.html 

External Hard disks (USB/Firewire/SATA)

With USB 2.0 controllers now standard on all motherboard it is easy to connect external drives that can communicate at high speeds.  Most such solutions provide a hard drive enclosure that will hold an IDE PATA or SATA drive and that has its own power connector.  The external enclosure then connects to the system using USB 2.0 or Firewire, or optionally to a SATA card with external SATA cable (such as the Highpoint RocketRAID 1542).  External drives may support booting in some cases.

ATA (IDE) Chart:

Interface

Transfer Speed

RPM

Connector

ATA 133

133MB/s

7,200

40 pin / 80 lines

ATA 100

100MB/s

7,200
5,400

40 pin / 80 lines

ATA 66

66MB/s

7,200
5,400

40 pin / 80 lines

ATA 33

33MB/s

5,400

40 pin

SCSI Interface Chart:

Interface

Transfer Speed 

RPM

Connector

Ultra 320

320MB/s

15,000
10,000

68 pin / 80 pin

Ultra 160

160MB/s

15,000
10,000
7,200

68 pin / 80 pin

Ultra Wide

80MB/s

7,200

68 pin / 80 pin

Ultra 2 (LVD)

80MB/s

7,200

68 pin

Ultra

40MB/s

7,200
5,400

50 pin

Fast

20MB/s

5,400

25 pin

Hard Drive Performance Factors

There are a number of factors that determine a hard drive’s performance, which in itself has a great impact on overall system performance.  The faster data can be read from or written to the hard disk the faster applications will load, data can be stored, and virtual memory (i.e. the swap file) can function.  This speed is called the access time. IDE drives typically have access times of 8.0 - 9.5 milliseconds, while SCSI has average 3.9 - 5.2 milliseconds access time.  The main factors are :

RPM (Rotational Speed): The faster the disk can spin the faster the R/W (Read/Write) head can get to the right spot on the disk.  For IDE 5400RPM speeds are giving way to 7200RPM.  Many newer SCSI drives spin at 10,000-15,000RPM, giving them a definite edge.  Higher RPM speeds can generate more heat so extra cooling and design considerations will come into play when using multiple drives.

Cache Size:  The cache memory is the physical computer memory chip on a disc drive where data is stored temporarily until the host bus adapter requests the data.  For IDE this cache size can be 512K-8MB, and for SCSI 2-16MB.  Testing has shown a great performance increase when using IDE drive with 8MB cache compared to same drive with only 2MB cache.

Burst Speed: The burst speed is a measure of the maximum about of data that can be sent at one time.  Since hard disks read and write information in bursts, this maximum rate limit is only actually reached occasionally, such as when the drive moving large blocks of data.

RAID Technologies

One of the most effective ways to increase the reliability and/or performance of your storage system is to use RAID.  RAID can be used in personal computers, workstations, servers, or rackmount units using either IDE (PATA or SATA) or SCSI drives.  IDE RAID allows for larger capacity RAID arrays than SCSI, but at lower performance.

The best way to protect your valuable data on a budget is IDE RAID LEVEL 1.  This is also known as "mirroring" where the data from one drive is copied exactly onto another drive. If one hard drive fails, you have a perfect duplicate to use.  This is also good for entry level servers that must be kept running 24 hours a day.

The best overall RAID for building mission-critical servers is RAID LEVEL 5, which involves data striping + parity information that is spread across a minimum of three hard disks.  With RAID 5 drive you a combination of good performance and excellent data protection.  Some servers will use RAID 1 array for the OS and a second RAID 5 array for data.

See this page for more info RAID Technology Info

 
New Chipsets
AMD 64 / Opteron VIA K8T800
Server/Workstation		 VIA K8T800
Performance PC
North Bridge VIA K8T800 VIA K8T800
Processor Support AMD OpteronSingle/Dual Processor Support AMD Athlon™64Single Processor support
Front Side Bus 1.6GHz (800MHz Upstream & Downstream) HyperTransport Bus Link 1.6GHz (800MHz Upstream & Downstream) HyperTransport Bus Link
Memory Bus 128-bit Dual Channel DDR memory controller integrated directly into processor 64-bit Single Channel DDR memory controller integrated directly into processor
AGP Support AGP4X/8X AGP4X/8X
Memory Type DDR266/333/400 DDR266/333/400
Max. Memory 4GB 4GB
South Bridge VT8237 VT8237
North/South Bridge Link 8X V-Link (533MB/sec) 8X V-Link (533MB/sec)
Audio

VIA Vinyl™ Audio 5.1 surround sound (AC'97)

VIA Vinyl™ Gold Audio 7.1 surround sound 

VIA Vinyl™ Audio 5.1 surround sound (AC'97)

VIA Vinyl™ Gold Audio 7.1 surround sound 
Network

VIA Gigabit Ethernet companion controller

VIA MAC 10/100 Ethernet

VIA Gigabit Ethernet companion controller

VIA MAC 10/100 Ethernet
Modem MC'97 MC'97
PCI Devices/Slots

6 
Dual PCI-X bus support through VIA VPX2 I/O expansion bridge

 6 
SATA

Dual Channel Serial ATA supports 2 SATA devices

SATALite™ interface for two additional SATA devices (4 total)

Dual Channel Serial ATA supports 2 SATA devices

SATALite™ interface for two additional SATA devices (4 total)

V-RAID RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 0+1* & JBOD (SATA) RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 0+1* & JBOD (SATA)
PATA Dual Channel Parallel ATA133 (up to 4 devices) Dual Channel Parallel ATA133 (up to 4 devices)
USB 8 ports 8 ports
I/O Protocols I/O APIC / LPC Super I/0 I/O APIC / LPC Super I/0
IO APIC Yes Yes
Power Management ACPI/APM/PCI/PM ACPI/APM/PCI/PM
 
SiS
  SiS648FX / SiS655FX SiS760 SiS746FX
North Bridge SiS648 / SiS655 SiS760 SiS746
Processor bus 400/533/800 MHz  800FSB 333FSB
Processor interface Intel Pentium 4 Socket 478 AMD Athlon 64/ Opteron CPUs AMD Athlon XP
Memory type DDR200/266/333/400 MHz DDR333/266/400 MHz DDR400/333/266 MHz
Max. memory size 4 DIMMS / 4GB 6/8 DIMMS /16GB 4 DIMMS / 4GB
AGP Speed AGP 3.0. 1.5V AGP 4x/8x Universal AGP v3.0 8X/4X Interface AGP 3.0. 1.5V AGP 4x/8x
Inter-Bridge bus MuTIOL® 1G / 1GB/s MuTIOL 1G / 1GB/s  MuTIOL 1G / 1GB/s
South Bridge SiS963L SiS964 SiS963L
Support PCI Slot 6 6 6
IDE Speed ATA 33/66/100/133 Dual IDE Channels with ATA 133/100 ATA 33/66/100/133
Integrated Graphics NO NO NO
AC'97 Integrated 6-channel audio AC-97 (modem MC-97) 6 Channels AC'97 v2.3 and v.90 HSP Modem Integrated 6-channel audio AC-97 (modem MC-97)
CNR/ACR/AMR support N/A N/A N/A
10/100Mbit LAN  Integrated 10/100 Ethernet LAN Fast Ethernet/Home Networking Controller with MII Interface Integrated 10/100 Ethernet LAN
USB ports USB 2.0 serial bus (six ports) 8 USB 2.0/1.1 Ports USB 2.0 serial bus (six ports)
Other Features

IEEE1394 (Firewire) serial bus - three ports

 Integrated Serial Host Controller
RAID 0, 1 and JBOD		 N/A
 
VIA
  VIA PT800  VIA KT600
North Bridge  VIA PT800 VIA KT600
Processor Support Intel® Pentium® 4 HT AMD Athlon™ XP / Barton
Front Side Bus 800/533/400MHz 266/333/400MHz
Memory Bus 400/333/266MHz 266/333/400MHz
Memory Support DDR400/333/266 w/ECC DDR266/333/400
Max Memory 8.0GB 8.0GB
AGP Support AGP 8X/4X AGP 4X/8X
South Bridge VT8237 VT8237
North/South Bridge 8X V-Link (533MB/sec) 8X V-Link (533MB/sec)
Integrated Audio VIA Vinyl™ Audio integrated 5.1 surround sound VIA Vinyl Six-TRAC six- channel AC'97 audio
Integrated Modem MC'97 MC'97
Integrated Network VIA MAC 10/100 Ethernet VIA MAC 10/100 Ethernet
PCI Devices/Slots 6 slots 6 slots
SATA

Dual Channel Serial ATA directly supports two SATA devices

SATAlite™ interface expands support for two additional SATA devices

Dual Channel Serial ATA directly supports two SATA devices

SATAlite™ interface expands support for two additional SATA devices through optional external Serial ATA PHY Dual Channel Parallel ATA (up to 4 devices)
V-RAID RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 0+1 & JBOD (SATA) RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 0+1Supports SATA and ATA-133
PATA Dual Channel Parallel ATA133 (up to 4 devices) Dual Channel Parallel ATA133 (up to 4 devices)
USB 8 ports 8 ports
Super I/O LPC Super I/O LPC Super I/O
IO APIC Yes Yes
Power Management ACPI/APM/PCI/PM ACPI/APM/PCI/PM
A View of Office 2003
More and more people and  business are using software tools to deal with information.  Office XP (2002) manage information seamlessly and will continue to do so for many people and business individually.  However, with Office 2003, individuals people and business can work together faster and smarter and flawlessly.   Office 2003 is not just another "Office Suite", it's a platform that connects people, data, and business where they can collaborate information safely and productively thorough it's new technology.

What's new in Office 2003?
Information Rights Management (IRM)

Note: IRM requires Rights Management Service (RMS) technology from Windows Server 2003.

 *Protect information from unauthorized access and reuse *Prevent unauthorized forwarding, pasting, or printing confidential or sensitive information *Help prevent e-mail messages from being copied, forwarded, or printed *Automatically encrypt e-mail messages when sending messages *Set the same security levels on e-mail messages and attached files *Set file permissions at different levels and change the level for specific users and groups of users *Assign permissions according to roles and responsibilities *Restrict file printing *Set expiration dates *Help prevent forwarded files from being opened by an unauthorized recipient *Free IRM viewer, or Rights Management Add-on for Microsoft Internet Explorer, for reading protected files
Extensible Markup Language (XML) Support A universal standard computer language used throughout the world to share business information on the Web without worrying about incompatible programs, computer networks, data structures, and operating systems. XML makes it easier to share information.
Office Online Provide tools such as Assistance on Office Online, Training on Office Online, Templates on Office Online, Clip Art and Media on Office Online, Downloads on Office Online, and Office Marketplace, which can help to maximize productivity.
Manage E-Mail (New Outlook) Outlook 2003 includes: A new redesigned look and feel, Easier reading and navigation, Quick and convenient organization, Filters to block unwanted messages, Privacy protection for your Inbox, Cached Exchange Mode, Intelligent Connectivity, Remote connections, and many more features for users to share and protect information seamlessly.
Block Unwanted E-Mail Messages Outlook 2003 features are designed to help block unwanted e-mail messages. Features: *Junk E-Mail Filter *Safe Senders List *Blocked Senders List *Safe Recipients Lists *AutoUpdate
Shared Workspaces and Meeting Workspaces

Note:  Document Workspaces and Meeting Workspaces require Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003 running Windows SharePoint Services.

 Users can create shared workspaces or meeting workspaces where they can work together and plan, schedule, and interact with one another in real time. Users can create these workspaces in the familiar environments of Microsoft Office Word 2003, Microsoft Office Excel 2003, Microsoft Office Outlook 2003, and Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003.
Research Library The Research Library, which integrated into Microsoft Office Word 2003, Microsoft Office Excel 2003, Microsoft Office Outlook 2003, Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003, and Microsoft Office Publisher 2003—enables users to search corporate databases, intranet sites, reference materials, and selected Internet services while working on reports, charts, or other files. Users can query multiple sites simultaneously and then compile the results into a single view.
Smart Documents The new smart document in Microsoft Office Word 2003 and Microsoft Office Excel 2003 allow users to find files faster and more consistently. Based on information the users enter, smart documents can return useful results that users can use to fill out forms, write reports, or complete documents.
Which Office 2003 is right for you?

Office 2003 comes in four flavor: Retail Editions, Preinstalled Editions, Volume-License Editions, and Academic-License Editions.   The chart below list what ASI is going to carry in the future.

Preinstalled Editions (OEM)
Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003 Microsoft Office Basic Edition 2003
  • Word 2003
  • Excel 2003
  • Outlook 2003
  • PowerPoint 2003
  • Access 2003
  • Publisher 2003
  • Outlook 2003 with Business Contact Manager

Note  This edition includes additional support for Extensible Markup Language (XML) and information rights management (IRM) content creation and authoring.
  • Word 2003
  • Excel 2003
  • Outlook 2003
  • PowerPoint 2003
  • Publisher 2003
  • Outlook 2003 with Business Contact Manager

 
  • Word 2003
  • Excel 2003
  • Outlook 2003

 

Volume-License Editions www.openlicensecentral.com
Microsoft Office Professional Enterprise Edition 2003 Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003 Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003
  • Word 2003
  • Excel 2003
  • Outlook 2003
  • PowerPoint 2003
  • Access 2003
  • Publisher 2003
  • Outlook 2003 with Business Contact Manager
  • InfoPath 2003

Note:  This edition includes additional support for Extensible Markup Language (XML) and Information Rights Management (IRM) content creation and authoring.
  • Word 2003
  • Excel 2003
  • Outlook 2003
  • PowerPoint 2003
  • Word 2003
  • Excel 2003
  • Outlook 2003
  • PowerPoint 2003
  • Publisher 2003
  • Outlook 2003 with Business Contact Manager

Academic-License Editions www.openlicensecentral.com
Microsoft Office Professional Enterprise Edition 2003 Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003 Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003
  • Word 2003
  • Excel 2003
  • Outlook 2003
  • PowerPoint 2003
  • Access 2003
  • Publisher 2003
  • Outlook 2003 with Business Contact Manager
  • InfoPath 2003

Note:  This edition includes additional support for Extensible Markup Language (XML) and Information Rights Management (IRM) content creation and authoring.
  • Word 2003
  • Excel 2003
  • Outlook 2003
  • PowerPoint 2003
  • Publisher 2003
  • Outlook 2003 with Business Contact Manager

 

  • Word 2003
  • Excel 2003
  • Outlook 2003
  • PowerPoint 2003

 

Basic Requirement
Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003 Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003

  • Intel Pentium 233-megahertz (MHz) or higher processor, Pentium III recommended

  • 128 MB of RAM or above recommended

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 with Service Pack 3 (SP3) or later; or Windows XP or later
  • 400 MB of available hard disk space; 190 MB of hard disk space for Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 with Business Contact Manager
  • Optional installation files cache (recommended) requires an additional 290 MB of available hard disk space.

 

  • 380 MB of available hard disk space; 190 MB of additional hard disk space to use optional installation of Outlook 2003 with Business Contact Manager
  • Optional installation files cache (recommended) requires an additional 280 MB of available hard disk space.

 

  • 260 MB of available hard disk space
  • Optional installation files cache (recommended) requires an additional 250 MB of available hard disk space.

 

Additional Requirement or Services

Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003 Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003
To use the optional installation of Outlook 2003 with Business Contact Manager, you need:
  • A PC with a Pentium 450-MHz or higher processor
  • 260 MB of RAM or above recommended
  • 190 MB of additional hard disk space
Note:  Business Contact Manager will be disabled in the presence of an Exchange technologies-based e-mail system
  • Exchange is required for certain advanced functionality in Outlook 2003. Note:  Business Contact Manager will be disabled in the presence of an Exchange technologies-based e-mail system.
  • Windows Server 2003 running Windows SharePoint Services is required for certain advanced collaboration functionality. See detailed system requirements for Windows SharePoint Services on the Windows Server 2003 site.
General Questions:

Q.  What are the major changes between Office 2003 Editions and Office XP?

A.  The core programs in Office 2003 Editions include many significant changes. Some of these changes include:

  • Broader XML will be available in Microsoft Office Word 2003, Excel 2003, and Microsoft Office Access 2003, and offer schemas you can customize for consuming data, smart documents, and programmable task panes and Research task panes.
  • Greater integration with Windows SharePoint Services, with increased collaboration through team sites, Document Workspaces, Meeting Workspaces, and other tools.
  • A redesigned version of Outlook 2003 with an improved reading pane, smart folders, cached memory, e-mail conversation thread condensers, and many more improvements.

Q.  If I get Office XP now, can I upgrade to Office 2003 Editions for free?

A. If you order Office XP between August 15, 2003 and November 30, 2003, you may be eligible for a free upgrade to Office 2003 Editions through the  Microsoft Technology Guarantee Program. Note:   Shipping and handling charges may apply.
*Courtesy of WWW.Microsoft.com
Knoppix

  Knoppix “pronounced Ka-noppix” is a new distribution of Linux that is live-on-cd. Knoppix Linux has set a number of defaults designed make this Debian Linux-based system as simple as possible. By default, it boots without requiring setup of anything, and requires no passwords or accounts to be configured. It's 100% automatic. So your up and running in less than 30 seconds.  In its default configuration, Knoppix sets all of your Windows hard drive partitions as "read only," so it is an exceptionally safe Linux distribution for the absolute beginner. The drives can easily be set to allow writing FAT OR FAT 32  “newer kernels even support NTFS” after you get to know the system a bit and wish to save your work.  By default, it doesn't even touch your hard drive, and it requires no manual configuration at all. This makes Knoppix Linux ideal for experimentation by Windows users.  To obtain a copy go to www.linuxiso.org and download the newest kernel 3.3 as of 10-9-03 it will be in the form of an .ISO file which Nero or any of the current burning software can handle you’ll just need to make sure you burn it to a 700MB or 80 minute cd-r.  Once you burnt the image to a cd you can boot it as if it was a normal bootable cd.   As the CD boots, it creates a RAM disk and auto-detects the hardware in your computer. “FYI….  there’s actually 1700MB of data on the knoppix disk by using a process called transparent decompression” The Knoppix disc includes CD burning software, multimedia players for audio and video, web browsers, even a full version of the OpenOffice suite -- a free competitor to Microsoft's Office XP.  By using the built in windows emulator many programs will run in the Linux environment a list of tested programs can be found here:  http://thetechnozone.com/pcbuyersguide/software/system/TheWineList.html.

Did I mention Knoppix is FREE and you can also use it to troubleshoot computers that have a corrupt OS install, or no existing OS at all !!!! 

  PC technology is always on the move. One of the areas that, up until now, has seemed pretty stagnant has been monitor technology. LCD flat panels have gained ground in the past few years, but their technology has remained the same. The manufacturing costs have come down substantially allowing for it to become a normal household product instead of a wish from all of us PC users. With the cost down, the manufacturers have started to move towards larger screens with better picture and more features. Here are just a few of the things that you should look for when looking into whether you are going to purchase a standard LCD, or go even more modern and look into a plasma screen.

Size and Cost

In the past, plasma screens have been the dominant product in the large screen market due to the availability of larger sizes and are more cost effective. Due to the cost of producing a plasma display panel you will rarely see one smaller than about 32 inches and as large as 61”. The LCD panels have the maximum sizes of 40” at the current time.

Burn in
 Plasma technology has a static image screen burn-in factors to consider. Static images will begin to burn-in the image displayed in a short period of time, approximately 15 minutes in some cases. Though the burn-in can generally be washed out using gray images or continual full color ranges over several hours, burn-in is a significant factor and hindrance to the plasma technology.

LCDs, have almost no static image screen burn-in factors. LCD (liquid crystal diode) technology uses a fluorescent backlight to send light through its pixel design, and uses liquid crystal molecules and polarizing substrate to give form to light and color. The "liquid" crystal in an LCD is actually used in its solid state.

Resolution
LCDs  can support a much higher resolution than plasma displays can. The difference is quite dramatic if they were side by side.

Voltage Requirements

Plasmas, have very large power requirements that will most likely not change in the near future. With plasmas, you are switching 200 to 300 volts, and it is switching it very fast. The heat and voltage that are required for the plasma have a large affect on the size of the cabinet can be used.

LCDs, the amount of volts that are switching is 5 to 12 volts. The electronics that drive an LCD weigh a small fraction of the electronics needed to drive a plasma screen, because of the high power and high heat dissipation.

Plasma Screen

Viewing Angle  
 Plasmas, have always been able to support a 160 degree viewing angle, which is the most that is available.

LCDs, has come a long way toward improving viewing angles. The materials on newer generation LCD's have been improved drastically as well as increasing dynamic range. Although, they did have a long way to go and there is still a noticeable difference between the two technologies when viewing from angles.               

Contrast
 Plasmas, technology has come a long way in developing higher contrast images with contrast ratios up to 3000:1.

LCDs, displays can only support the contrast between 500:1 to 700:1.

LCD Screen

Life of the display
 Plasmas, use a small electric pulse for each pixel to excite the rare natural gases argon, neon and xenon (phosphors) used to produce the color information and light. As electrons excite the phosphors oxygen atoms dissipate. These rare gases actually have a life and fade over time. Manufacturers of plasma place a time stamp of 25,000 to 30,000 hours on the life of these phosphors and the display itself. They cannot be replaced.

LCDs, manufacturers claim figures between 50,000 and 75,000 hours for LCD monitors/TVs. An LCD can last as long as the backlight (and backlight bulbs can actually be changed out). This is because the light is passing through a prism effect of the liquid crystal to produce the light and color. It's a substrate so there is nothing to effectively burn out.

Conclusion

The two technologies are very new and are still developing with advantages and disadvantages to choose from. With plasma being the leader in large screens LCDs are rapidly improving and becoming more affordable and available in the larger formats.

See You Next Month!