The following probably won't pertain to UNIX users but may be of interest to
Mac/Windows developers who grapple with the "lowest common denominator
display" issue that constantly plagues media development...
We're at the precipice of beginning a new graphics project with Intuit,
makers of popular financial software, notably Quicken and Quickbooks. We
learned from the project lead today that they're going to be raising their
recommended system requirements, based on statistics they've collected from
their user base. They found that:
- Roughly 98% of their users run their displays HIGHER than 8 bit color (24
bit or 32 bit).
- The 2% of users that run their systems at 8 bits didn't know they could
switch the resolution of their monitors.
- The "majority" of pre-configured systems sold these days are shipped
preset to 24 bit color or higher, with one high level exception being Dell,
who apparently still ships its systems set to 8 bit color.
- Apparently, Intuit will be requiring 800x600 resolution, but at this point
we're not sure if this will preclude the ability to run on 640x480 displays.
(On a side note, we're getting repeated requests from our clients to use
800x600 as a baseline in screen real estate -- we don't recall any 640x480
requirements over the last few years).
- Between 55% and 60% of their users report having dedicated (always on)
online connections.
-----
Granted, statistics are what you make of them and can be biased to support
whatever conclusions you want to draw, but as developers we're enthusiastic
to see 1) actual collected statistics regarding user equipment, and 2) the
fact that users' systems appear to be getting more powerful.
Hope folks find this useful.
Regards,
Scott
_____________________________________________________________________
Scott Rossi Tactile Media - Multimedia & Design
Creative Director Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Web: www.tactilemedia.com
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