Contents:

Overview of PC 98 and "Designed for Windows" Logos

Logo Compliance Dates for 1998-1999

Clarifications and Corrections to Guidelines for "Designed for Windows" Logo Compliance

    Basic PC 98

    Workstation PC 98

    Mobile PC 98

    USB

    IEEE 1394

    PCI

    IDE and ATAPI

    PC Card

    I/O Ports and Devices

    Graphics Adapters

    Video and Broadcast Components

    Monitors

    Audio Components

    Storage and Related Peripherals

    Network Communications

    Scanners and Digital Cameras

    Appendix A - Icons

See also:

PC 98 System Design Guide Web-Site

PC 99 System Design Guide Review Download

View the PC 98 System Design Guide on the Web

Frequently Asked Questions About PC 98

Overview of PC 98 and "Designed for Windows" Logos

PC 98 System Design Guide is not a specification, nor is it a reference design. Rather, PC 98 System Design Guide provides a series of design guidelines for PC systems and components that will result in an optimal user experience when the hardware is used with Microsoft® Windows® 98 and Windows NT®. For Microsoft, the requirements and recommendations in PC 98 System Design Guide provide guidelines for the WHQL tests that support the "Designed for Windows" logo program.

Beta tests for 1998-99 logo compliance were provided at WinHEC 98 in March 1998. For information about logo tests, see the WHQL web site at http://www.microsoft.com/hwtest/.

Note: Microsoft refers to PC 98 System Design Guide as a guideline for the logo compliance tests administered by WHQL. The requirements in PC 98 System Design Guide do not in themselves define the requirements for the "Designed for Windows" logo program.

Tip for Designers: The PC 98 guidelines do not provide an exhaustive list of technical implementation issues for good hardware design under Windows and Windows NT. Be sure to check the white papers on the web site at http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/ frequently to ensure that you have timely information about design issues for components and systems.

Logo Compliance Dates for 1998-99

Please check the web site frequently for current information about logo compliance dates and other changes.

July 1, 1998 is the general date for logo compliance for requirements first defined in PC 98 System Design Guide. However, several key requirements will not be enforced until January 1, 1999. The following table lists specific features that have other dates after which the PC 98 requirements will be part of logo compliance testing.

Requirement	Compliance date
"Basic PC 98" chapter, item #28: "System does not include ISA expansion devices"	January 1, 1999 for ISA modems and ISA audio.
"Basic PC 98" chapter, items 50, 51, and 52: "System supports Windows Hardware Instrumentation Implementation Guidelines (WHIIG)"	Compliance testing begins nine months after WHIIG v.1.0 is released.
"I/O Ports and Devices" chapter, item 7: "Devices use USB or external bus connections rather than legacy serial or parallel ports"	July 1, 1999 for IR blasters. Until that date, these devices can be implemented as external RS-232 devices.
"IEEE 1394" chapter, item 2: "Controllers comply with OpenHCI for IEEE 1394"	January 1, 1999
"Video and Broadcast Components" chapter, items 29 - 39: "Digital Broadcast Television Requirements"	January 1, 1999

Clarifications and Corrections to Guidelines for "Designed for Windows" Logo Compliance

The following changes to 1998-99 requirements and recommendations have been made for "Designed for Windows" logo compliance; additional changes may be posted each month on this web page.

Basic PC 98

• Change to requirement referred to in item 5, "BIOS meets PC 98 requirements for boot support":
  The Plug and Play BIOS may be disabled when ACPI is enabled (not must). (Change date: May 18, 1998)
• New BIOS requirement: "BIOS takes advantage of Windows NT Loader special-memory capabilities":
  If the BIOS uses the E820 memory-reporting interface and reports memory in this (fc0 - fff) region, Windows NT operating system support ensures that all the memory will be used except one page on the 16-MB boundary. A PC 97 system should use the E820 interface to report memory (and test it), which also allows the memory to be reclaimed. Information about this interface can be found in Paragraph 2 of Section 9.3.2, "BIOS Initialization of Memory," in the ACPI 1.0 specification, which states that the E820 specification has been updated and lists the new memory range types. (Change date: October 13, 1997)
• Clarification to requirement referred to in item 16, "Device driver and installation meet PC 98 requirements":
  The installation and loading of a driver must not reduce or eliminate functionality of other devices installed on the system. (Change date: June 16, 1998)
• Compliance testing for requirement referred to in item 19, "Hot swapping for PCI devices must use ACPI-based methods":
  Compliance testing for this capability will begin July 1, 1999. (Change date: July 15, 1998)
• WHIIG compliance testing for requirements referred to in items 50, 51, and 52:
  These requirements will not be tested or enforced until nine months after Windows Hardware Instrumentation Implementation Guide (WHIIG) V.1.0 is published, which is expected after Windows NT 5.0 Beta 2 is released. (Change date: July 15, 1998)

Workstation PC 98

Correction to requirement referred to in item 5, "Workstation system memory includes error correction code (ECC) memory protection":
ECC memory protection is recommended, not required. (Change date: October 13, 1997)

Mobile PC 98

• Clarification to requirement referred to in item 9, "Mobile PC keyboard and pointing device meet PC 98 requirements":
  The BIOS and the driver for the internal pointing device must accommodate full functionality for any external pointing device that is attached to the system, including wheel mice. At a minimum, if the internal pointing device is a PS/2-type device, the BIOS must provide an option to detect when any external PS/2-type pointing device is connected at startup and disable the internal pointing device. In this case, the driver for the internal pointing device must not load. This should be the default BIOS option.

  Recommended: The BIOS should provide a user-settable option to enable dual operation of the internal and external pointing device. (Change date: June 16, 1998)

• Correction to requirement referred to in item 13, "Mobile PC includes communications device":
  For Mobile PC 98, V.80 is not a requirement, but will be a requirement for Mobile PC 99 for all modems. (Change date: March 24, 1998)
• Correction to requirement referred to in item 14, "Built-in display adapter meets PC 98 requirements" -- 3D, AGP, and video playback requirements:
  Mobile PC 98 designs with a chip set implementing 3D acceleration must adhere to the following requirements adapted from Chapter 14, "Graphics Adapters," of PC 98 System Design Guide. For mobile PCs, these items are Recommended rather than Required, with clarifications as noted:
  • "Graphics Adapter," item 7 (screen resolution and local memory):
    • The minimum required local frame buffer memory required is 2 MB regardless of the chip set that is implemented.
    • A minimum of 4 MB or AGP with 2 MB local, and 2 MB non-local video memory is recommended for any system where 3D performance is considered a major feature. To accommodate this, the minimum required resolution is 640 x 480 (rather than 800 x 600 as required for 2D), 16 bpp, double-buffered with Z-buffer for 3D implementations only.
    • The 1.25-MB texture cache is not required for Mobile PC 98 systems.
    • Mobile systems that have 4 MB of local video memory or implement AGP with 2 MB local + 2 MB non-local video memory must support the 3D requirement at 800 x 600 resolution.
    (Change date: March 24, 1998)
  • "Graphics Adapter," item 13, "Adapter supports video overlay surface with scaling":
    • Support is required for only one of the three YUV formats.
    • Scaling is not required (including underscan, overscan, and arithmetic stretching).
    (Change date: May 5, 1998)
  • "Graphics Adapter," item 15, "Video port meets PC 98 specifications if present on graphics adapter":
    • IRQ support is recommended (rather than required).
    (Change date: May 5, 1998)
  • "Graphics Adapter," items 24, 26, 27 (3D acceleration):
    • All required items are recommended. However, any items implemented--that is, exposed as Direct3D capabilities--must pass the WHQL 3D and rasterizer tests.
    (Change date: March 24, 1998)
  • "Graphics Adapter," item 46 (AGP implementation):
    • For Mobile PC 98 systems that implement AGP, all required items are recommended.
    (Change date: March 24, 1998)

USB

• Change to requirement referred to in item 7, "System and devices comply with USB power management requirements":
  This is not a requirement for the "Designed for Microsoft Windows" logo for 1998-99. However, PC 98 systems and USB devices must comply with the power management requirements in the USB Specification, Version 1.0 (as defined in item 2 of the "USB" chapter). In 1999-2000, PC 99 devices must comply with the Interface Power Management feature in the USB Common Class Specification, Revision 1.0 or later. (Change date: June 18, 1998)
• Clarification to 1998-99 test requirements related to any device that uses the USB port:
  This clarification also applies to devices submitted for testing under the 1997-98 logo program. Any device that plugs into a USB port is tested as a USB device--that is, the device provides the capabilities of one or more functions, a hub to the host, or both. As result, the requirements of the USB Version 1.0 Specification and any related USB device class specification, plus the requirements defined in PC 98 System Design Guide (or PC 97 Hardware Design Guide), will apply for the device. (Change date: April 10, 1998)

IEEE 1394

• Correction to requirement referred to in item 13 and later items:
  A new example Configuration ROM table is included in version 1.0b of the Plug and Play Design Specification for IEEE 1394, which is available on the web site at http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/respec/pnpspecs.htm. (Change date: November 12, 1997)
• Clarification to requirement referred to in item 35, "Power source supplies appropriate power":
  Because it may be difficult for a power provider to supply 15 watts of power, alternative implementations are allowable. The design should, however, provide 12V at 0.5 amp, which provides approximately 6 watts and can therefore supply power for most devices that use cable power.
• If the device supports less than 15 watts of power, it must report in its Self_id packet that it does not source power, and the configuration ROM must specify the exact power it provides.
• A power provider is required to always be able to provide its stated power under full load conditions. (Change date: July 15, 1998)

PCI

Correction to requirement referred to in item 11, "Device IDs include PCI 2.1 Subsystem IDs":
This text is being revised and will be available July 14, 1998.

IDE and ATAPI

Change to requirement referred to in item 12, "IDE/ATAPI controllers and devices support Ultra DMA/33":
This is required only for hard disk drives and IDE controllers. (Change date: March 9, 1998)

PC Card

Change to requirement referred to in item 22, "ZV-compatible PC Card driver uses DirectDraw LVE":
PC card devices that use a Zoomed Video (ZV) interface as defined by the PC Card Standard Guidelines, Volume 10, must use a device driver which uses the Video Port Extensions (VPE) as defined in the DirectX 5.0 DDK in order to configure the graphics controller to receive video input using the ZV port. This includes programming the graphics controller to configure the format of the video data, its location on the screen and so on. For more information, see the related "Video port meets PC 98 specifications if present on the display adapter" requirement in the "Graphics Adapters" chapter in Part 4 of PC 98 System Design Guide, or consult the DirectX 5.0 SDK.

I/O Ports and Devices

• Clarification to serial port requirements:
  The COM1 port must always be powered on, configured, and enabled by the BIOS prior to operating system startup. This requirement does not affect any Plug and Play requirements for COM ports (for example, the device must still be capable of being disabled and meet the configurability requirements for COM ports). COM1 is required at boot because the operating system debugger uses it.
• New Smart Card Logo Requirements:
  Smart cards are a key component of the public-key infrastructure Microsoft is integrating into the Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0, and Windows NT 5.0 platforms. A white paper describing the Microsoft standards-based approach to incorporating smart cards is available at http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/basics/techpapers/.

  The following requirements apply for smart card devices under the "Designed for Microsoft Windows" logo program for 1998-99.

  • "Smart card reader complies with ISO 7816" (Required):
    A smart card reader must comply with the following ISO specifications:
    • ISO 7816-1:1987 Identification cards--Integrated circuit(s) cards with contacts--Part 1: Physical characteristics
    • ISO 7816-2:1988 Identification cards--Integrated circuit(s) cards with contacts--Part 2: Dimensions and location of the contacts
    • ISO/IEC 7816-3:1997 Information technology--Identification cards--Integrated circuit(s) cards with contacts-Part 3: Electronic signals and transmission protocols
  • "Smart card reader supports ISO 7816 T=0 and T=1 protocols" (Required):
    A smart card reader must support the asynchronous protocols T=0 and T=1 as described in ISO 7816-3, either in hardware or in the driver for the operating system. Both protocols must be fully supported. The smart card reader and the driver must support cards that can handle both protocols.

    The following protocol rules apply for the T=1 protocol:

    • A transmission is defined as sending a command to a smart card using one or more T=1 blocks and receiving the corresponding answer using one or more T=1 blocks as defined in ISO 7816-3.
    • The very first transmission, after a smart card is reset, should start with an Information Field Size Device (IFSD) request, as defined in ISO 7816-3, Amendment 1, Section 9.5.1.2.
      
      If the current card does not support an IFSD request (the card should reply with an R-Block indicating "Other error"), the transmission should continue with an I-Block.

    After a successful RESYNCH request, the transmission must restart from the beginning with the first block with which the transmission originally started.

    Support for protocols other than T=0 and T=1 is optional.

  • "Smart card reader supports inverse-convention smart cards" (Required):
    A smart card reader must support inverse-convention smart cards either in hardware or in the driver for the operating system.
  • "Smart card reader supports 258 byte packets in T=0 and 259 byte packets in T=1" (Required):
    A smart card reader must support the exchange of the following in a single transmission:
    • 258 byte packets in T=0--that is, 256 data bytes plus the two status words SW1 and SW2
    • 259 byte packets in T=1--that is, 254 INF bytes plus NAD, PCB, LEN, and two EDC bytes
  • "Smart card reader supports a smart card insertion/removal monitor" (Required):
    A smart card reader must be able to detect and report smart card insertions and smart card removals without any user intervention, other than the user removing or inserting the smart card itself. Preferably, the reader utilizes an interrupt mechanism to report the smart card insertion/removal to the system. A driver polling method to detect smart card insertion and removals is not recommended.
  • "Smart card reader supports PTS" (Required):
    To support multi-protocol smart cards and smart cards using higher data rates and higher clock frequencies, the reader must support protocol type selection (PTS) according to ISO/IEC 7816-3 Amendment 2.
  • "Smart card reader supports 3.5795 MHz minimum clock frequency" (Required):
    A smart card reader must support a minimum clock frequency of 3.5795 MHz.
    
    Recommended: The reader supports higher clock frequencies.
  • "Smart card reader supports 9600 bps minimum data rate" (Required):
    A smart card reader must support a minimum data rate of 9600 bits per second.
    
    Recommended: The reader supports data higher rates (3.5795 MHz with default communications settings).
  • "Smart card reader meets PC 98 Plug and Play requirements" (Required):
    Each smart card reader must provide device IDs in the manner required for the bus it uses, as defined in the related chapter for that bus in PC 98 System Design Guide. Installing or removing a smart card reader must not require the reboot of the operating system.

    A smart card reader such as a PC Card smart card reader that directly uses hardware resources such as I/O ports or interrupt lines must be capable of being automatically disabled by the system in order to free all assigned hardware resources.

    Changing or adding a smart card reader to the system must not require changing jumpers or switches on either the smart card reader or on the system board.

  • "Smart card reader supports the Power Down command" (Required):
    A smart card reader must support the Power Down command to turn off power of a smart card, as defined in ISO 7816-3 Section 4.1.
  • "Smart card reader does not use an additional power supply" (Recommended):
    A smart card reader should use power provided by the system for the smart card and the smart card reader. The reader should not use an external power supply or battery.
  • Smart Card References
    • ISO 7816
      http://www.iso.ch 
    • PC/Smart Card (PC/SC) Workgroup
      http://www.smartcardsys.com 
    • Windows 95 DDK and Windows NT DDK
      MSDN Professional membership

(Change date: June 16, 1998)

Graphics Adapters

• Correction to requirement referred to in item 5, "Adapter supports television output if system does not include large-screen monitor":
  Adapter Support for NTSC or PAL TV output is recommended (not required) for Entertainment PC 98. (Change date: November 12, 1997)
   
• Change to color format requirements for hardware acceleration of video playback referred to in item 13, "Adapter supports video overlay surface with scaling":
  The following are the required formats:
  • YUV 4:2:2 YUY2: A packed-pixel byte stream for every pixel in the order of Y1, U, Y2, V is required in both the primary and secondary overlay surfaces.
  • YUV 4:2:2 UYVY: A packed-pixel byte stream for every pixel in the order of U, Y1, V, Y2 is recommended in both the primary and secondary overlay surfaces.
  • YUV 4:2:0 YV12: A system-board byte stream for the entire plane in the order of Y plane, V plane, U plane is required in the secondary overlay surface when double-buffering is supported. If double buffering is not supported, YV12 support must be provided in the primary overlay surface.
  (Change date: April 30, 1998)
• Correction to requirement referred to in item 47, "PCI graphics device supports IRQ and correctly populates PCI BARs":
  For all PC 98 system types, the PCI base address registers (BARs) must be populated correctly for this information to be correct in the registry. IRQ support for video playback is the only element of this item that is a recommendation for Office PC 98. (Change date: November 12, 1997)
• Clarification to requirement referred to in item 53, "Applications provided with device meet Win32 requirements":
  Software provided with display adapters designed for Windows NT 5.0 must comply with the requirements defined in "Testing Requirements for Display and Video Miniport Drivers" in the Windows NT 5.0 DDK. This information will be available in the Beta 2 version of the DDK, expected later this year. (Change date: June 16, 1998)

Video and Broadcast Components

Corrections and Clarification to DVD playback quality requirements:

• Corrections to requirement referred to in item 12, "MPEG-2 playback meets PC 98 requirements":
  • For DVD playback support, the system must provide backward compatibility with MainProfile@Low Level, Simple Profile@Main Level, and MPEG 1. The system must decode MPEG-2 Main Profile@Main Level video streams, including the following:
    • ISO/IEC 13818-2 (video) specification at Main Profile@Main Level.
    • A DVD-ROM device must support sustained input at peak rates of 9.8 megabit/second for all PC 97 system types.
    • Full-frame rate decode of MPEG-2 MP@ML input streams, up to and including the following frame sizes and rates:

      720 x 480 at 60 fields per second	720 x 480 at 24 frames per second
      720 x 576 at 50 fields per second	720 x 576 at 24 frames per second

  • All other video-related items remain as specified in PC 98 System Design Guide. (Change date: October 13, 1997)
• Correction to requirement referred to in item 20, "Video input or capture device supports capture of NTSC/PAL picture quality":
  Video decoders must be capable of decoding full resolution NTSC/PAL signals at 720 samples/line with 8-bit luma and chroma sampling. Decoding to 4:2:2 data format is recommended; decoding to 4:x:x is required. (Change date: December 18, 1997)
• Clarification to requirement referred to in item 43, "Device drivers and installation meet PC 98 requirements" and item 45, "Applications provided with device meet Win32 requirements":
  To ensure forward compatibility and an easy upgrade for end users, all DVD solutions must support DirectShow 2.0. This includes software, hardware-accelerated software (that is, motion compensation graphics hardware), and pure hardware solutions. See the FAQ on DVD playback later in this article. As defined for the PC 97-based "Designed for Windows" logo program, compliance with this requirement means that the software has received a "Designed for Windows" logo. In particular, all DVD-Video playback applications included with a PC 98 system must use the DVD-Video API. (Change date: October 13, 1997)

Monitors

Change to ICM profile recommendation for LCD referred to in item 2, "Monitor supports ICC color matching":
It is recommended, but not required, that LCDs, color plasma displays, and other flat-panel devices meet this requirement. LCD profiles are not expected to be readily available in the 1998-99 timeframe. This will be defined as a requirement in PC 99 System Design Guide and will be a requirement for the logo program in the 1999-2000 timeframe. (Change date: April 30, 1998

Audio Components

Clarification for Audio Devices in requirement referred to in item 3, "Audio performance meets PC 98 requirements":
If the audio device provides a Line Output and a Speaker Output, the following applies:

• The Line Output must meet the analog passthrough requirements defined for "line input to line output."
• The Speaker Output requirements do not apply.

• The Speaker Output must meet the analog passthrough requirements for "line input to speaker output with 8-ohm load."

Storage and Related Peripherals

• Change to requirement referred to in item 8, "IDE/ATAPI devices and controllers support Ultra DMA/33":
  This is required only for hard disk drives and IDE controllers.
• Correction to requirement referred to in item 14, "Legacy FDC device meets resource configuration requirements":
  The correct resource assignments for legacy floppy disk controllers are: 3F0-3F5, 3F7, IRQ 6, DMA 2. (Change date: December 18, 1997)
• Change to requirement referred to in item 16, "IDE hard drive is SMART-compliant and uses SMART IOCTL API":
  It is recommended but not required that hard drives are SMART compliant. (Change date: April 30, 1998)
• Change to requirement referred to in item 20, "CD-ROM drive supports specified logical and physical CD formats":
  Any ATAPI CD-ROM drive designed to play back CD-I content must return a minimum of two track entries for the READ_TOC(0x43) command.
  One track entry can be any valid track between 01 and 99.
  The other returned track entry can be either a track 0xAA entry for the lead out address, or another valid track between 01 and 99. Drives that do not comply with this minimum requirement cannot play CD-I movies.
• Change to requirement referred to in item 26, "DVD drive meets minimum compatibility requirements":
  DVD-ROM drives are not required to read any DVD disc formats beyond those defined in the DVD Specification, Version 1.0. (Change date: June 16, 1998)
• Change to "Designed for Microsoft Windows" logo testing requirement for DVD:
  In addition to the DVD requirements defined in the "Storage and Related Peripherals" chapter, for any system capable of playing back a DVD-Video title, DVD playback must use the latest released version of the Microsoft DirectShow Navigator/Splitter filter.
• Change Requirements for Large EIDE Storage Drives: For vendors who intend to sell EIDE storage devices in the retail upgrade market with greater than 4095 cylinders (that is, greater than 2.1 GB), the following is required in order to receive the "Designed for Windows NT and Windows 95" or "Designed for Windows NT" logo. Note: Must means required; should means recommended.
  • The drive should be shipped in a configuration such that no additional work is needed when the drive is added to a system that has BIOS support for more than 4095 cylinders. Most shipping systems provide this support.
  • For systems that do not have BIOS support, the vendor must allow an "easy" method of limiting the cylinders to less than 4095 cylinders (via a switch or jumpers, software, or clear documentation), and must include a software solution for addressing the full capacity of the drive that works with both Windows 95 and Windows NT.
  • The drive must ship with a highly visible message with information on special instructions for this drive. A sticker or similar obstruction over the interface of the drive is preferred for end users. However, a brightly colored paper or similar method to flag the end user's attention will suffice. Information on this sticker or insert can point to the installation guide, where it must say something to the effect that "this device might cause a system lockup" or "problems might be solved by updating your BIOS from your system vendor."
  • The documentation must have clear descriptions and diagrams of the needed jumper settings (if a jumper is used) to properly access the full capacity of the drive if there is a problem with the shipped configuration. The documentation must include clear instructions of what to do if (a) the system does not boot when the drive is installed and (b) the system does not recognize the drive once the drive is installed.
  • If a jumper is used, the drive should have a diagram of the jumper settings on the actual drive in addition to the diagram in the installation guide.
  • The vendor should ship a partial list of BIOS versions that are known to cause problems or that need the drive to have different jumper settings. This list does not need to be complete.
  • The documentation must not list Microsoft, Windows 95, or Windows NT as possible sources of the problem. The documentation must not lead the user to prefer to call Microsoft phone support over that of the drive vendor or system vendor. The documentation should suggest that the user contact the system vendor for a BIOS upgrade.
  • A sample of the highly visible message and the final documentation must be included in the drive submission to WHQL.

  If this storage device is to be sold only to an OEM market, these requirements do not apply. In that case, the vendor must provide WHQL with written documentation stating that the device is for OEM sales only. Should the vendor at a later time make this device available to the retail market, it must be retested under the above requirements or face revocation of the logo rights by Microsoft Corporation. (Change date: June 30, 1997)

Network Communications

• Compliance testing for requirements referred to in items 9 and 10, "Adapter automatically senses presence of functional network connection" and "Adapter automatically senses transceiver type":
  These requirements apply only where the network media allow this capability. (Change date: July 15, 1998)
• Clarification for requirement referred to in item 11, "Device can transmit packets from buffers aligned on any boundary":
  Buffer alignment refers to whether a buffer begins on an odd-byte, word, double word, or other boundary. Adapters must be able to transmit packets, any of whose fragments are on an odd-byte boundary. For performance reasons, it is recommended that packets be received into contiguous buffers on a double word boundary. (Change date: July 15, 1998)
• Deletion of items 20 and 21, "ISDN device supports auto-SPID detection algorithms and standard SPID format" and "ISDN driver supports switch detection":
  These capabilities are not required for PC 98. (Change date: July 15, 1998)

Scanners and Digital Cameras

Clarification to requirement referred to in item 7, "USB device meets PC 98 USB requirements":
Compliance with the related USB imaging device class specification becomes a requirement for the 1998-99 "Designed for Windows" logo when the revision number of that specification reaches 1.0.

The USB Imaging Class Device Working Group is working on three specifications that together will comprise the category "USB Imaging Class," as referred to in PC 98 System Design Guide. The first of the specifications expected to reach revision 1.0 (expected in Q3 1998) is the USB Video Camera Device Definition, which addresses digital moving images.

The other two USB Imaging Class specifications (to be released after the USB Video Camera Device Definition) are the specifications that will contain requirements for still images. The first of these, which may be titled USB Dual-Mode Video Camera and Digital Still Camera Device Definition, will contain requirements for still images produced by dual-mode video cameras or digital still cameras. The second of these may be titled USB Still Image Device Definition, and will contain requirements for still images produced by scanners.

You are urged to join the USB Imaging Class Working Group (see the USB developers web site at http://www.usb.org  for information) and to urge your competitors and peers to also join. The more companies that participate in creating the specifications, the sooner they will be released. (Change date: March 24, 1998)

Appendix A -- Icons

Clarification of logo icon requirements for input devices:
Icons are required on the plug end of peripheral device cables connected to PC 97 or PC 98 systems. Icons are not required for peripherals or for the peripheral end of the cable. The recommended set of standard icons that can be used for connectors on a personal computer are provided in Appendix A of both PC 97 Hardware Design Guide and PC 98 System Design Guide. You are not required to use the exact icons displayed in these guides, but an icon of your choice on the plug end of a connector cable is required to pass Microsoft WHQL logo requirements. Files that contain art for these icons, plus alternative designs from Hewlett-Packard, are available at http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/desguid/icons.htm.

For PC cases and cable plug housings, the icon can be molded into the plastic. Printed icons on labels that can be permanently affixed are also acceptable. PC 97 and PC 98 guidelines do not make any definitive requirements or recommendations for color coding connectors and other cable markings, but the PC designer is free to implement color coding to enhance the ease-of-use experience of users. See the proposal for recommended color coding provided with the PC 99 draft guidelines. (Change date: April 30, 1998)