New breed of legacy-free PCs is easy to love

By Linda Musthaler
Network World, 02/28/00

A lifetime ago in the mid '80s, I helped set the desktop computing standards at Johnson Space Center. One top requirement was that all PCs be IBM-compatible. What this really meant is that the PCs had to adhere to all internal architectural standards that IBM had defined with its original PC. Now, two decades after the start of a phenomenal personal computing revolution, the venerable ISA bus standard and its companions known as serial and parallel ports may be pushed into well-deserved retirement.

We're entering a new era of desktop computers, which leaves behind the limitations of technology developed 20 years ago. Spooked by the threat of easy-to-use Internet appliances, Intel, Microsoft and their industry partners are fighting to preserve the life of the de facto corporate standard, the Wintel PC. The plan is to ditch the old internal buses and I/O ports in favor of newer, faster, easier-to-use buses and ports based on the standards of Universal Serial Bus (USB) and IEEE 1394, also called FireWire.

PCs that use the USB standard for connecting peripherals became available a few years ago. Coming to market now are new commercial desktops with USB as the internal bus. This is a milestone in the PC industry, as it leaves behind all the legacy devices from the original IBM-compatible era. Intel calls this legacy-free machine the Easy PC, and it's time we business users embrace this new direction.

The object of the legacy-free PC is to create a more stable, less costly computing device by removing the ancient hardware components - network adapters, modems, general-purpose I/O cards and so forth - that share slow, complicated interfaces. Most of these devices have been redesigned to take full advantage of the faster speed and capabilities of USB or FireWire.

New types of devices are being built around the Easy PC specifications. For instance, Compaq is shipping its iPAQ legacy-free and legacy-light PCs. For users looking to make a clean break from the past, the legacy-free PC doesn't sport a parallel or serial port, or ISA or PCI expansion slots. The legacy-light PC has a serial and a parallel port, for those who want to continue to use existing peripherals.

But this isn't about peripherals and whether or not we can use old ones that are still lying around. It's about making the device less expensive, easier to use, and more stable and manageable. Without all those complicated internal ports and devices fighting for resource allocations, the PC becomes, well, easy.

The Easy PC also is about focusing on the Internet as the PC's major use. Keeping in mind that content is king, these new devices focus on easier ways to get to your desired content. For example, there are special buttons that take you directly to your company intranet or to specific tasks such as e-mail.

But unlike an Internet appliance - which is strictly for accessing the 'Net - an Easy PC runs at least one version of Windows, so you can run all your normal office applications, such as word processing and presentation graphics. Users won't be sacrificing anything except slow, obsolete interfaces to old peripherals.

Do you need a selling point for your management to take an interest in an Easy PC? What about price? An iPAQ retails for as little as $499, and other manufacturers will enter the fray soon. Companies also should see substantial savings in support costs because the devices are simpler inside and out, and thus more stable. Manageability is built right in, with asset tracking and security, fault notification and recovery, software deployment tools and other management features.

You can find out more about Intel's Ease of Use Initiative at here. Just for grins, take a look at the Concept PC Gallery, to see the form factors some of these devices could take. (Imagine a PC that looks like a bonsai tree sitting on your desk.)

Microsoft, too, has information from an operating system standpoint on its Web site. As you formulate your plans to deploy Windows 2000, be sure to factor in how you might transition to an array of these next-generation PCs.

If it lives up to its name, the Easy PC should be the greatest thing to happen for corporate computing since the first generation of PCs. Simple. Cheap. Powerful. It just doesn't get any better than this.