Office XP - System Requirements

There's official system requirements for using software - then there's the real world. Software makers will usually state the absolute minimum requirements in order to get as many sales as possible. In recent years Microsoft has taken the laudable step of giving both minimum and recommended system requirements, however even the 'recommended' level is often too low for daily use.

The minimum and recommended configurations will work, but they'll often work so slowly that you'll spend more time staring at an hourglass icon than actually working.

Keep in mind that it is not unusual to be running at least two of the Office applications at once -- you'll often have Outlook (a real resource hog) and Word started plus maybe Excel or PowerPoint. And that's without considering non-Office programs you have like an accounting package or multiple browser windows.

With this in mind, CheaperOffice.com presents below Microsoft's official position with the comments of our panel of Office experts to supplement that with some reality.

Microsoft says:	In the real world ....
"To use Office XP, the recommended system configuration is Microsoft WindowsŽ 2000 Professional on a computer with a Pentium III processor and 128 megabytes (MB) of RAM. Below are the minimum requirements your computer needs to run Office XP. Some Office XP features have additional requirements."	"That is a pretty reasonable setup for Office XP, if anything the memory suggestion is low. Better to go for 192MB of RAM or more if your budget will stand it, especially if you'll be running 2 or more programs at once"

Office XP Minimum Requirements	Microsoft says:	In the real world ...
Computer/Processor	Computer with a Pentium 133-megahertz (MHz) or higher processor	"This is a joke, right? Office XP on an original Pentium computer! That's a very short road to madness." "Absolute minimum is a Pentium II with 64MB of RAM and that's only for running one Office program at a time."
Memory	RAM requirements depend on the operating system used: Windows 98, or Windows 98 Second Edition 24 MB of RAM plus an additional 8 MB of RAM for each Office program (such as Microsoft Word) running simultaneously Windows Me, or Microsoft Windows NTŽ 32 MB of RAM plus an additional 8 MB of RAM for each Office program (such as Microsoft Word) running simultaneously Windows 2000 Professional 64 MB of RAM plus an additional 8 MB of RAM for each Office program (such as Microsoft Word) running simultaneously	"You can double the minimum base memory in all cases: 48MB for Windows 98 or 98 Second Edition 64MB for Windows ME or Windows NT 128MB for Windows 2000 " "Add at least 16MB just for Outlook and the same for Word or Excel if you're a heavy user with lots of documents open or large / complex worksheets."
Hard Disk	Hard disk space requirements will vary depending on configuration; custom installation choices may require more or less hard disk space. 245 MB of available hard disk space with 115 MB on the hard disk where the operating system is installed.š š Users without Windows 2000, Windows Me, or Office 2000 Service Release 1 (SR-1) require an extra 50 MB of hard disk space for System Files Update.	"You need more space during the installation as Office adds and replaces files on your system. But you get a lot of it back when you're finished the setup" "Adding the clipart option will vastly increase the hard disk space used." "Don't forget the space for your own documents! If you have less than 500MB of hard drive space left consider getting more room before installing Office XP"
Operating System	Windows 98 Windows 98 Second Edition Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me) Windows 2000 or later, Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 6 (SP6) or later,˛ ˛ On systems running Windows NT 4.0 with SP6, the version of Microsoft Internet Explorer must be upgraded to at least version 4.01 with SP1.	"WARNING: Office XP will not run on Windows 95 at all."
Drive	CD-ROM drive	"Needed for the installation only and access to some features if you choose not to install them fully in the first place." "Since you only need it for the setup there's no reason why you can't use Office XP on a laptop with no CD-ROM"
Display	Super VGA (800 × 600) or higher-resolution monitor with 256 colors	"You're much better off with at least 1024 x 768 resolution screen with 16-bit color" "This might work for a single application running with no multiple documents -- otherwise you need much better than this."
Peripherals	Microsoft Mouse, Microsoft IntelliMouseŽ, or compatible pointing device	"Some sort of rodent is essential, but then try to buy a computer without one!"

Additional items or services required to use certain features:

Microsoft says:	In the real world ....
For multimedia and sound: Accelerated video card or MMX processor for improved graphics rendering	"Any decent video card made in the last few years is enough for Office XP"
For speech recognition (available for U.S. English, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese only): Pentium II 400-MHz or higher processor 128 MB of RAM or more Close-talk microphone and audio output device Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or later	"Speech recognition will disappoint the vast majority of people who try it. Even Microsoft concedes that by dropping it from the Typical installation for Office XP" "Add another 32MB of RAM if you want to try speech recognition and a fast Pentium II -- better still a Pentium III. Converting speech to text takes up a lot of hardware resources." "In theory any headset microphone will work, but you'll get better results from a good quality headset with a USB interface." "I agree, a USB microphone will give a clearer, digital signal for the recognizer to work with."
Microsoft Exchange Server Exchange Server required for certain advanced collaboration functionality in Outlook Internet SMTP/POP3, IMAP4, or other MAPI-compliant messaging software required to use e-mail	"Exchange Server is needed ... but to get the most from Office XP you'll need, surprise, surprise, Exchange Server 2000." "POP/ SMTP or IMAP4 email access comes with your Internet connection in almost all cases."
Some Internet functionality may require Internet access and payment of a separate fee to a service provider; local or long-distance charges may apply	"Translation: you need an Internet connection and you'll have to pay separately for it."
14,400 or higher-baud modem	"Another lame attempt at humor -- in practice a 33k modem is an absolute minimum for Internet use."
Graphics tablet recommended for handwriting-input features
Collaboration features compatible with Office 97 or later
Microsoft Windows Media encoder-compatible video camera for broadcasts including video; Microsoft Exchange Chat Server to enable chats during live broadcasts; Microsoft Windows Media Server to enable multicasts of live broadcasts to more than 10 audience members	"Don't worry about this unless you're a company into streaming media."
100 MB of additional hard disk space for installation of Office XP Media Content
50 MB of additional hard disk space for each additional language interface installed