INSIDE ...

The Whole Story
Life with Your First NC
PC vs. NC: Their Defenders Face Off
First Suite Could Be Sweeter

Match the Tool to the Job

NC Hardware
Java Adds Steam to NC Engine
PC or NetPC: What's the Difference
TV Tunes In to the Web


EXCLUSIVE WEB COVERAGE
Analysis: Java Anywhere? Not Yet.
WinMag NC page

WINDOWS Magazine
April 1997, Cover Story


April 1997 Table of Contents


PC vs. NC:
Match the Tool to the Job






















PC NC NETPC Set-Top Box
Document creation and editing Yes Yes Yes See note 3
E-Mail receiving and sending Yes Yes Yes Yes
Offline storage
(supports a removable drive)
Yes See note 2 See note 3 No
Web browsing Yes Yes Yes Yes
Teleconferencing Yes Yes Yes No
Hardware additions
(e.g., scanners, sketch pads, joysticks)
Yes No See notes 3, 5 No
PC NC NETPC Set-Top Box
Fax receiving/sending Yes No No 3 See note 3
Site-wide access to all data from any log-on point No Yes Yes Yes
Runs ActiveX controls Yes No Yes No
Natively runs Java binaries Yes Yes Yes No
Interactive/computer-
aided instruction
Yes Yes Yes Yes
PC NC NETPC Set-Top Box
Newsgroup reading and writing Yes Yes Yes Yes
Audio CD playing Yes No See note 3 No
Game playing Yes Yes 4 Yes 4 Yes
Windows/Intel
software development
Yes No Yes No
Java application development Yes Yes Yes No
Point-of-sale terminals Yes See notes 3, 6 See note 3 No
1. Assuming ISP provides persistent storage
2. Already announced, likely to be widely adopted in the near future
3. Not completely clear yet; could go either way
4. Limited by hardware's ability to accommodate joysticks, and so forth
5. Up to the hardware vendor; the standard neither requires nor prohibits serial, parallel or other ports
6. Limited by hardware's ability to accommodate peripherals

Back to Top

NC Hardware