Meuchel Computer Services & Office Supplies

Most computer manufacturers now are trying to boast 4+ Gigabytes of memory with super huge hard drives and Dual or Quad Core processors.  In the computer world those numbers usually mean everything.  Here is the problem.  Windows XP and Vista, as most people know them, run on what’s called a 32-bit platform.  Most games, software, and hardware drivers are programmed for that platform.  The 32-bit platform only supports a total of 4 GB memory.  This includes video and processor memory.  So, in essence, only about 3.5 GB of total system memory can actually be used or even seen.

Enter 64-bit.  Now most programs are not coded for 64-bit Operating Systems yet.  But there is a compatibility feature that will allow 32-bit programs to run on 64-bit systems.  Here is the tricky thing.  Hardware has to have a 64-bit driver to run on a 64-bit operating system.  This is why when people unaware of this situation buy a 64-bit computer, they cannot get older hardware to work on it such as printers, scanners, cameras and such.

So the key is to watch for the amount of memory.  If it has 4+ GB it is most likely 64-bit.

Microsoft Office bundles range from $150 to $450.  Windows XP and Vista operating systems range from $90 to $250.  Here is an alternate solution to the software price crunch.

Try OpenOffice.org as a replacement to Microsoft Office.  It is an open source office suite including a spreadsheets, word processing, database maintenance, presentations, graphics and more.  The great part is that it is distributed under the open source license, which means it is 100% free.  Check it out at www.openoffice.org.

Try Ubuntu as a replacement for your operating system needs.  Ubuntu is an operating system based off of Linux and is also distributed under the open source license.  Check it out at www.ubuntu.com.

Want more open source solutions? Check out www.sourceforge.net for tons of open source projects created by programmers that believe that software should be free.  Remember that if you use an open source product a lot, it is always courteous to offer donations to the cause.

Use of open source solutions limits your support options as most of the software is self-support only.  Also it may not run under Windows unless it is specified.