HP Armada 1500c Compaq Armada and Microsoft Windows NT - Page 3

WHITE PAPER (cont.) ... COMPAQ ARMADA AND WINDOWS NT 4.0 Today notebook computing with Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 requires additional software enhancements to provide key mobile functionality not available in the operating system. This functionality includes power management, plug and play, and PC Card support, all of which must be provided by the notebook manufacturer to enable mobile capabilities for the Windows NT 4.0 environment. Compaq provides leadership-class mobile support for the Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 for the Compaq Armada family of notebook computers. The Armada family provides mobile extensions to Windows NT including power management, enhanced PC Card support, 32-bit CardBus support and both PC Card and MultiBay hot swapping support. These mobile enhancements and the Armada industry-leading performance benchmarks with Windows NT make the Armada family a logical choice for business customers deploying Windows NT. In an October, 1997 article entitled NT Notebooks Take Off from ZDNet, the Compaq Armada 7730 running Windows NT ranked best in Windows NT application performance and the longest battery life of any other competing notebook considered in the evaluation. The Armada 7730 was ranked 63 percent faster than the IBM ThinkPad 760XD with over two and one-half hours of battery life.1 The Compaq Armada products are among the only notebooks in the industry to fully integrate power conservation features into the Windows Control Panel and System Tray, making for the most intuitive power management solution for Windows NT 4.0 today. The Armada family also provides the most comprehensive suite of power management features for Windows NT 4.0. For instance, Compaq provides hibernation support for the NTFS file system, an important advantage to consider for businesses that want to take full advantage of the enhanced performance and security features of Windows NT. Compaq provides comprehensive PC Card support, including 32-bit CardBus support with Windows NT 4.0. CardWare® from Award Software is pre-installed on select models of the Armada 7800, 7700, 7400, 7300, 3500, and 1700 families, and is available for the Armada 4100, 4200, and 1500 families. CardWare is designed in strict accordance with the industry-wide PCMCIA specification providing robust PC Card support when used in conjunction with compliant PC Card device drivers. Another mobile-specific feature is hot swapping of MultiBay devices which provides the ability to hot swap a CD-ROM, floppy drive or even a second battery without having to power down. All of these features provide mobile performance and convenience when taking Windows NT 4.0 on the road with Armada notebooks. Windows NT 4.0 is offered as a pre-installed option on select Armada 7800, 7700, 7400, 7300 6500, 3500, and 1700 models and is also supported on the Armada 1500, 4100, 4200, and LTE 5000 product families. These notebook families meet Microsoft's Designed for Windows NT certification. Software deliverables for Windows NT support on Compaq notebooks are available on the Compaq Support Software CD and on the Compaq Web site at http://www.compaq.com. WINDOWS NT 5.0 Windows NT 5.0 is designed to support mobile computers with integrated power management and plug and play capabilities. Plug and play support for PC Cards and docking stations will be provided by the new Windows NT 5.0 plug and play architecture under ACPI. 1 NT Notebooks Take Off, http://www.zdnet.com/pccomp/sneakpeeks/snpk0997/comp.html, Ziff Davis, October 27, 1997. 3