PWI000035
this document applies to :
Gripes: No direct gripe, but related relevant gripes include: 121, 188, 250, 253, 319
PowerINSPECT 1300 is designed to run on Windows NT 4.0 (Service Pack 5)
but it will also run on Windows 98.
Windows NT is preferred for two reasons.
Windows NT is generally a more robust operating system than Windows 98.
Windows NT has a 32 bit GDI (compared with 16 bit for Windows 98)
and this gives better performance using most graphics cards.
PowerINSPECT 1300 is designed to run on Windows NT but it will also run on Windows 98. When running on Windows NT it requires version 4.0 minimum (NT service pack 5).
Windows NT is to be preferred to Windows 98 for the following reasons:
1 Windows NT is generally a more robust operating system than Windows 98.
2 Windows NT has a full 32 bit graphical display interface (GDI) whereas Windows 98 has a 16 bit GDI (due to reverse compatibility with Windows 3.1). Very fine 'view zooming' in PowerINSPECT shows a coarser graphics display on Windows 98 compared with Windows NT.
3 Intensive tests with open GL on both platforms suggest that most graphics cards work better with Windows NT. This is probably related to point 2.
PowerINSPECT run under Windows 98 has occasionally produced a 'Pixel format invalid' error message after displaying the shaded view. This does not crash the software but it interferes with its ease of use. If this problem occurs a workaround may to to disable the shaded view. It can be disabled using 'Display- Options' and unselecting 'Display the shading View.' This problem is under investigation.
PowerINSPECT has also been run under Windows 95 when necessary but this is NOT recommended. PowerINSPECT is a very efficient program, but related applications (such as other inspection software and Microsoft Excel) tend to use most of the available memory when running under Windows 95 and this can cause problems. Under Windows 95, GDI allocates all 16-bit resources from a 64K heap. This can cause GDI resources to be dangerously low when executing several applications at once. There is no such restriction with Windows NT. For a fuller explanation, see Microsoft technical note Q125699 http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q125/6/99.asp