Professional Windows® Embedded Compact 7

DEVELOPMENT COMPUTER REQUIREMENTS

It’s a common practice for a software provider to specify the minimum system requirements needed for the software to function. In the actual working environment, it’s good to invest a little more to get a better development computer with a faster processor and more system memory and storage. The return on investment, in terms of time-saving and increased efficiency, is much greater than the cost.

Hardware

Platform Builder for Compact 7 documentation states the following minimum development computer requirements:

• 2.4GHz or faster CPU
• 1024MB or more system memory (RAM)
• 1280×1024 or better display resolution
• 7200RPM or faster hard disk

As PC technology rapidly advanced in recent years, a PC is no longer privileged equipment for the IT professional and becomes a consumer device that many people simply cannot live without. The PC market’s exponential growth and enormous market size make it possible for PC manufacturers to produce higher performance PCs at a much lower cost.

It’s best to get the highest performance computer with the most system memory and storage you can afford. If you work in the computer software development and consulting field, you can recover the additional investment within 1 to 3 months in time-saving and added efficiency with a higher performance development computer. For this book, the following minimum is recommended for the development computer:

• Quad cores CPU
• 4GB or more RAM
• 7200RPM or faster hard disk with much more than ...