I do operating systems level work for a living, and here's the rules I personally use:
1) For Windows, more memory is better than more CPU. 2GB is an excellent choice (you'll almost never be memory bound unless you're doing truly enormous things, like serious video/audio editing). In fact, there's no such thing as "too much" memory (my development system at work has 8GB, for example) -- If there's a lot of spare memory, Windows uses it for file caching. 2) Dual-Core CPUs are excellent: These are true multiprocessor machines... Except the two CPUs are essentially on one die. Don't confuse dual-core with Hyperthreading (HT) technology which is SORT of like two CPUs but not REALLY. 3) In my estimation AMD is leading Intel, both in value for money (bang for the buck) and in general processor throughput (just plain bang). Intel is leading AMD in terms of power conservation (bang for the watt). Of ANY of the modern dual-core CPUs, I doubt you could use all the CPU power with an app like MixW -- Lots of people run MixW on lower-end laptops successfully after all. If you expect to upgrade to Windows Vista, be very careful what GRAPHIC card you buy. Yes, you'll need memory and CPU power, but equally important in Vista is you'll need a reasonably capable graphics card. As an aside: Don't expect to upgrade to Windows Vista in 64-bit mode anytime soon if you use any special drivers for radio applications (such as the MixW RigExpert driver, for example). On 64-bit Windows all kernel-mode software has to be digitally signed and it's unlikely casual/hobby/small devs are going to pay the cost to acquire the necessary code-signing credentials. Sorry to have wandered a bit far afield from your original questions, but I figured I'd write a relatively comprehensive answer... Even if just for the archives. Peter K1PGV
