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.
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.
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
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 .
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 .
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.
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."
Color-coding scheme for connectors and ports
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.PC 99 System Design Guide, Intel Corporation and Microsoft Corporation, 14 July 1999. Chapter 3: PC 99 basic requirements (PC 99 System Design Guide (Self-extracting .exe archive) . Requirement 3.18.3: Systems use a color-coding scheme for connectors and ports. Accessed 2009-02-05 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 1.0/1.1/2.0 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 Black / 426C Digital monitor / TV HDMI female 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.
Icons Another long lasting inpact of the PC System Design Guide is that it recommended a set of icons that were created by Microsoft. These icons first appeared in the Hardware Design Guide for Microsoft Windows 95. While the use of these icons were not required, they became de facto standard. This icon set was later extended by Hewlett-Packard and others.
Icon Function Connector on PCMouse and keyboard Mouse Various Keyboard Game port / MIDI 15-pin D femaleGame portMIDIGeneral input/output USB USB Type A female Laptop docking station Various IEEE 1394 (FireWire) FireWire Ethernet 8 Position 8 Contact (8P8C) female Various Printer Various SCSI SCSI connector Landline/Modem RJ11 female Serial port 9-pin D maleParallel port25-pin D femaleVideo Analog monitor 15-pin VGA female and male.MonitorVariousAudio Analog microphone audio input (mono or stereo). 3.5 mm TRS Analog line level audio input. Analog line level audio output. Analog audio output for headphones.Analog audio output for speakers. Analog audio output for telephone handset. 4 Position 4 Contact (4P4C) female
Front panel LEDs These front panel LEDs are usually used on the PC System Design Guidehttps://www.scribd.com/document/71084763/Front-Panel-I-O-Connectivity-Design-Guide: Power LED: indicates the power status, including system full on (LED on) and system sleep (LED flickering). HDD LED: indicates the HDD/SSD host input/output status.
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
External links Legacy PC Design Guides – Microsoft Download Center
PDF versions: PC-97 System Design Guide PC-98 System Design Guide PC-99 System Design Guide PC 2001 System Design Guide